cph125

Here's my experience with fit and finish with my '16 GT ordered last October: I noticed three flaws when doing the initial walk around: 1) The black trunk lid panel had a scratch near the GT emblem. The scratch was too deep to buff out so the dealer immediately put in for a new panel which had to be approved first by Ford, which it was. Once it arrived, which took about 2 weeks, I set up an appointment for the dealer to install it. When I came in for the appointment the body shop gave me some bad news: the panel arrived damaged from Ford, which unfortunately they didn't check before I got there. They ordered a new one (which I later heard run around $1000 each) and I set up a new appointment. By that time I decided that flaw 3 was not something I could live with so I called Ford Customer Service and they approved the repair, along with a loaner car for the day. (which they didn't initially approve until I pushed them on it.) 2) Trunk rear panel gaps were off slightly, left vs right. The dealer indicated all their Mustangs were coming in this way. Mine is not very noticeable from ~10 feet but I'm pretty particular about this stuff and picked it up on close inspection. 3) The tip of the front quarter panel versus the hood were off by ~3/8" which is huge - and it was very noticeable. Again the dealer indicated they were seeing most coming through that way. The alignment on the right side is very good. The repair turned out to be a fairly simple realignment of the left quarter panel. The body shop had to loosen the bolt at the top of the panel and near the front and push it forward as well as left to right to get the lines straight. Sounds like the factory is omitting a check for this for some reason, but who knows. See the photos of before and after repairs which took a day and while it was there they also repaired a good size chip at the tip of the hood over the left headlight at no charge. Interestingly I recall someone on this forum from Michigan who ordered a gray '16 GT and was having a hard time figuring out why it was held up in a distribution facility. He posted photos of the car and I zoomed in on the left front headlight to see if his car had the same alignment issue. Sure enough, his car looked identical to mine, which backs my dealers comments about the cars they receive.

If the Grabber and Lightning blue had been available in '16 the choice might have been very difficult, but I have no regrets choosing Race Red for my 5.0.

Thanks Ice-capades, should be helpful to a friend who's considering a purchase in March.

Thanks Pioneer. I debated back and forth about the color, mainly because I've never owned a red car before. The car is truly a pleasure to drive, everything from the color and interior features to the performance and the sound of the exhaust. So far all I've heard from friends and family is raves, including my sons first reaction, "very luxurious interior". Ford and their employees should be very proud.

Here's a couple of pics of the car

Sure I can post some pics but unfortunately it's raining this afternoon. I'm going to wash & wax it tomorrow and will post some pics afterwards.

MA requires a valid registration and insurance stamp to put a car on the road. For new cars you have 7 days to obtain a safety/emissions inspection. I believe the dealers insurance covers test drives since most dealers only ask to see a valid drivers license. I was a little surprised to see 150 lb ft myself. It's in the 2016 Mustang GT owners manual, page 267 and makes no reference to a particular type of wheel, just the type/size of lug nut: M14 x 1.5. I have the 19" Dark Stainless wheels.

The car arrived on Friday October 2nd. The dealer advised it came in late that day but didn't notify me until Monday morning because the they knew I couldn't put it on the road over the weekend. (State registry and insurance offices closed) So I picked up the car the afternoon of Monday October 5th. It was delivered almost perfect, just a couple of small scratches on the rear panel of the trunk, unfortunately too deep to buff out. Who knows where they occurred but the dealer is putting in for a replacement. The car "pops" in Race Red and the Ceramic interior was a great choice. Panel fit is very good with some very minor alignment issues, but the overall build quality is excellent and the interior is just leaps and bounds over what I've seen in car reviews for older models and what I recall from past test drives of a 2003 GT. I ordered the car with the security package but the dealer didn't install the wheel locks, so I installed them over the weekend. According to the owners manual, lug nut torque is 150 ft lbs. I installed the locks using a Craftsmen 1/2" drive, 250 ft lb capacity click torque wrench. But before doing so, I checked the break torque on a few of the lug nuts - about 135 ft lbs or about 10% low, so I went around and re-torqued them all to 150. Just curious, has anyone else checked the break torque of GT wheel lug nuts as received from the factory? ...and thanks again to Pioneer and ice capades for the delivery status and info, it was a learning experience.

OK, thanks. With the expected delivery date gradually reduced from Oct 5 to Oct 2 I figured it was a good possibility the system would show an update and possibly delivery today.

Pioneer, Any chance you can give me an update on delivery? It's supposed to be there today but may have been delayed with all the bad weather we've had. Everyone at the dealer who knows is either off for the day or tied up. thanks

Really close now but all it does is RAIN around here!!! Luckily it's not a convertible, otherwise I'd be really PO'ed.

Thanks Pioneer. Of course we knew it wasn't in Ohio, the dealer obviously isn't interested in these matters. You would think they would be considering this was a special order, not a car they had to take on as inventory and sell off the lot. So it looks like 9/29 to 10/1 is very likely. Appreciate your assistance.

Ice-capades, Pioneer: While discussing other details, the dealer volnteered a status last Tuesday and said it was in-transit at Bellvue, Ohio. I asked for a status today and they indicated it was still in Ohio, explaining that Ford's tracking system is notoriously inaccurate and cars often just show up even thought the VVR says its in transit. But according to the VVR sample you provided - which also happens to include Bellvue, OH - the locations vary several times a day and shows being in 3 different states within the span of just 3 days. I know delivery is imminent, probably between 9/29 and 10/1 - but would one of you guys mind providing me with an update? The dealer is 40 minutes away and getting into it with them over this is probably not the best thing for me to do.

The sales manager told me he checks out these forums regularly, so I wouldn't be surprised if he already got the message. But I'll run it by him - especially if the car ends up being delayed for some reason. After the 15th they should be able to track the entire transit route. There's really no excuse for not providing this information, afterall they prioritize special orders so this should be expected.

Thanks Pioneer, appreciate your assistance!

Pioneer, Thanks for offering to look this up for me. The VIN is: 1FA6P8CF6G5227622

Ice-capades, Thanks, very useful information. I've read about the vehicle status report on this and other forums but have never seen an example until now. Makes sense the dealers would be kept in the loop with a report like this. From what I've gathered about this dealer, it seems only the sales manager has access to the dealer portal and can be difficult to reach at times. But with your insight it's a little annoying that just last week one of the floor sales people said something to the effect "customers think we know when the delivery dates are but we know as much as they do". Not sure if it's just laziness or they've had bad experiences giving this info to customers, then Ford changes the schedule by a few days or a week and they get caught in the middle? So going by your example: I got the VIN on 9/5, Ford Marketing advised it was in Order Processing on 9/7 and from what I can tell the build date is scheduled for 9/15. From what I read, it takes about 18 hours to build a Mustang, so call that a couple of days. Add approx. 10 days of transit time, delivery in the 9/28 to 10/5 time frame makes sense.

Fuzzymoomoo, Thanks for your reply. Very cool if you worked on my car, quite the coincidence. From what I've seen for dealer inventories, my configuration is a little unusual: 6 Spd Coupe, Race Red, Ceramic interior, 3.55 rear end.

The date I'm referring to is at the top near the blend number. I believe the date you're referring to is the invoice date which appears below "TOTAL MSRP" and "SPECIAL ORDER", which for my car is 09/09/2015.

Hi, I'm new to Ford and purchased a 2016 Mustang GT in mid August. My sticker indicates the date 120150915 at the top near the blend number. It's a bit confusing but best I've been able to research on Blue Oval and other forums this is the build date. The dealer told me more than once there is no way for them to track it except to call Ford. On my own I spoke to Ford Marketing who indicated 5 days ago that delivery is scheduled for 9/28/2015. Yesterday they updated the delivery date to 10/5/2015. From what I've read so far it seems that some Ford employees can assist customers with detailed tracking info which would be much appreciated.