One Year Ownership Review

[Alan Applegate]

My 2024 Mustang Eco-Boost Premium will be in my hands for one full year beginning the 22nd of this month. It is essentially a second vehicle, as I also own a 2019 Ranger. It was delivered with 283 miles on the OD, and it is now just over 2,500 miles. Here are my comments about it, compared to my Ranger.

The road noise is almost a din! Part of the issue I believe are the lousy Continental OEM tires. They’re supposed to be all-weather, but driving in the rain is still a cautionary endeavor at best. Fact is, they aren’t much better in dry surface adhesion. They’ll get replaced soon.

The only knob on the dash is the radio volume. We wouldn’t have that feature if owners hadn’t complained ad nauseam. Touch-glass might be good for a lot of things, but full knob replacement isn’t one of them! Familiarity breeds contempt they say, but when utilizing glass-based controls it becomes a necessity. These issues say nothing about the distraction factor, which should be evident.

Not having paddle shifting in a Premium is an oversight. The Ranger has the feature, albeit located on the shift knob. What’s more the Ranger allows you to start out in second gear which aids driving is slick conditions. There is another issue with the 10R80 I don’t like—the fuzzy logic is not well executed. For example, if you use Sports mode most of the time as I do, you’ll soon discover its faults, not the least of which which is part-throttle harsh shifts that will even chirp the tires! I find myself shifting to Neutral and back to Drive to keep this from happening. Full throttle shifts in Sports mode feel like they should—fast and firm. You just hope you remembered to turn off the Stability control, least you get sideways when you didn’t expect it! This should be an on-off feature included in the Sports mode settings.

I don’t like the Apple Car Play adaption. The one in the Ranger is easier to use and understands more commands. Even using the correct phasing, verbally-switching screens in the Mustang is frustrating. Sometimes it works, and other times it doesn’t. An example is when you have more than one number saved under one name. You have to use the glassware to select the correct one, or you get the “I didn’t understand…” message. This issue becomes a real problem when using Apple and/or Google maps.

Speaking of Car Play! I’m an Apple Developer, and thus use the latest Developer Beta, as well as the Public Beta version. It appears that Ford is going to have fun keeping up with the requisite updates coming in the near future. I say this as the voice command issues are exacerbated when using the latest Public Beta version, and nearly impossible with the latest Developer Beta.

The Mustang is fun to drive, and in Sports mode, it is very responsive. But again I miss being able to row my own gear selection. Yes, you can throw money at it and get the feature, but you get other things you might not want.

I know others have had build issues like rattles and funny noises, but I’ve not had any! Knock-on-wood! Fact is, the only complaints I’ve had are listed above.

All in all, I enjoy driving the Mustang especially in start-stop traffic. I sure don’t miss the 1998 Mercury Mystic Sport, which was the last manual shifter I owned.

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[Sofa King]

Nice write up. I have almost two years on my 24 Ecoboost Premium HPP (sept 23).

Trans issue, perhaps a reset/relearn will help. I am still on the fence with the sport mode... either normal or track seem to be my favs. Though the trans is better (than S550), I'm hoping a FP tune for the Eco does for it like the S550 one did.

I also have had no issues... I even like the touch screen. However, I develop touch screen interfaces for industrial and manufacturing... some customers want everything on screen (like a cell phone or tablet)... though my rule of thumb is, any controls used often should still be physical buttons/switches. So a few things I would have done differently.

 

[BimmerDriver]

The road noise is almost a din! Part of the issue I believe are the lousy Continental OEM tires.

I'm glad that your issues aren't major and that you're overall happy with the car.

One of my biggest gripes with my former 6G car was the road noise. In that case it wasn't the tires, they were fine, it was just the lack of sound insulation and thin cheap plastics. Oh well.

In fact, that's one of the things that is keeping me from buying a 7G right now, I know that it's going to be a loud sucker on the highway, and my commute is 98% cement highway.

 

[steveo1960]

While of course I look at recall data, I am more interested in long term ie: out or near end of warranty issues and the reputation of the brand repairing these issues. So for example Hyundai/Kia engines blowing up which is a well known issue. Reading the various forums, the dealers are looking for any nit they can find to deny service. To me, that's poor customer service. Stellantis, GM also have their issues but from what I'm reading online, as long as you have some reasonable proof that you did maintenance they make good on the warranty because they realize there are problems with some of the cars. Every car has issues, especially new models ,either long term or short term.
How the brand addresses them is what is most important.
Bottom line, do your homework but also put things into perspective. when comparing.

 

[Frogdog1]

Kia and Hyundai are playing hardball on their issues and GM's oiling fix would be a joke if it were funny. They just f-d up big time. It seems the bigger the recall numerically, the more manufacturers get stupid on the "cures". Could it be, because they can't properly fix the problems....answer: yes.

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