It wasn’t until the tail end of my junior year in high school that I finally got my first car, a 1996 Ford Mustang. This wasn’t the most special car ever, but it was something I enjoyed for the most part. It wasn’t really even my choice. My dad had a co-worker who was selling it, and was trying to talk me into it. I was leaning towards a 90’s Honda Accord at the time, but the car I was looking at didn’t have a title. So, the Mustang was it. We needed something because we were putting insane miles on my dads Nissan Altima, and his Dodge Dakota before that.
The Mustang was a V6 Automatic, and had a quirk. In first gear, the car would not move until it got up in the RPM’s a little bit, then take off in a semi-violent fashion. I started by taking it into my auto class, pulling the transmission pan, replacing the filter, and replacing as much fluid as I could. Nothing. I kept trying to diagnose the issue well after graduation, calling transmission shops and explain the issue. Most of them insisted the car had a shift kit installed. Nevermind that the issue was intermittent, and it was a V6 Mustang. I spent some amount of time trying to get the car to drive normal. Eventually, I ended up buying another transmission from a local wrecking yard, and tried to swap it in the driveway with a friend, which went horribly wrong. I ended up paying a shop to install it. Once it was in, it was much better, for a few months. When the transmission started acting up again, I was annoyed. I wanted to rip it out and do a manual swap, and dreamed of a 302 swap. But the budget of a McDonalds worker doesn’t support that kind of dream.
Overtime, despite trying to keep the car alive, it was starting to leak from the rear main, and was giving me more issues. Things I didn’t dream of doing, and with little money, It was draining me. Around 2008 I was working full time and had a better paying job, so the car was traded in.. on another 2004 Ford Mustang V6. They both couldn’t be bad, right? The 2004 Mustang and 1996 Mustang share almost the exact same everything. The only real difference is probably the exterior. The interior was even the same, but this 40th Anniversary Edition had some better upgrades. Bose audio, 6 CD Changer, Black interior instead of tan, and my Ford Racing alloys would fit on it still. So what it was $400 a month for both the payment and insurance.. I wanted it. It was cool. It did really well for a long time. Until I crashed it in the stupidest way possible. It found a Versa head on in the road around the mall. I tried to make a left so I could hurry up and eat my lunch then return to work, and when I made my left, I couldn’t see the van, blocked by the A-Pillar.
Since this was the midst of the housing crash, when the car should have been totaled, the shop cut a lot of corners to save the car, and get the car repaired. It went back several times for things that were wrong. Headlights, Hood, Bumper, multiple things that were different for the 40th Anniversary model, they didn’t account for or care to pay attention to. After the crash, the transmission issues of the last car started to show up again. I drove it “spiritedly” but didn’t abuse it. I was starting to believe this was normal. As I got my hours cut, and eventually laid off, the car was repossessed. I ended up picking up a 1992 Buick Century V6 for $900 through my dealership jobs to drive alongside the Mustang, and found that car to be much more reliable, and honestly, fun. This told me, the Mustangs were flawed.
Fast forward a few years, surviving the economic meltdown, and eventually buying a new car, after selling my precious Buick, I ended with with a small fleet of cars. A 1970 Volkswagen Beetle, a 1992 Toyota Celica, and a 1993 Ford Escort Wagon. The wagon was a car that got passed around the friend group for $500. It had even been painted matte black, and was used as a band equipment hauler. It had some quirks that made it not fun to drive, like a completely disintegrated head liner that would kill your eyes if anyone ever breathed on it. Why we didn’t do anything to try and resolve it, no idea.
The Escort was a good car, but it also had transmission issues. Namely, when you came to a stop, the car had to be put in neutral, otherwise it would likely stall and die. Eventually, I ended up calling shops and trying to get it resolved, but ultimately, nobody would touch it. The car ended up getting passed around a few more times before going to someone else outside of the circle. That was now the 3rd Ford, and 4th transmission issue.
Several years later, I finally found my stride of reliability in the form of manual Hondas. Two Integra’s, a 8th generation Civic coupe, and a RSX Type S later, I found myself needing a truck. Something that was more of a daily with good AC, and that could tow a car home if needed or haul parts. I ended up with the cheapest truck at my friends car lot. A 2006 F150 STX Stepside. Now, I know what you might be thinking, “Are you stupid?” Clearly my luck with Ford’s has been subpar at best, but surely it couldn’t be all of the late-90’s, early-2000’s V6 Fords that were crap right? You wouldn’t believe it.
The F150 had the same issue, and ended up getting a new transmission. It also had an issue with a spark plug cracking and causing a misfire, while not throwing and storing a misfire code, and eventually it even started having a panic attack, electrically speaking. Something shorting, or back-feeding. Something wild. At this point, Ford ownership for me was over. No more Mustangs, Escorts, F150’s, nothing. I have pretty much swore off anything automatic as well, replacing it with a 6-Speed 2013 Toyota Tacoma. These days, I don’t drive automatics. All 4 of my current cars are manuals, and if I can help it, I will keep it Ford-free and manual only.