2002 Ford Mustang GT from North America - Comments

Belt Tension Arm Broke off the Motor.

Passager Seat Came Lose from the Mounting Bracket on Floor.

With no warning and only 3000 miles on my new GT the tension arm that keeps the belt for the power steering and power brakes tight broke right off the car causing the belt to fall off. Without any warning and going 40 mph while in a turn I realized very quickly that I had no way of steering or stopping the car! My car went right up over the curb and into a ditch within a matter of seconds. When roadside assistance came and towed my vehicle away they left me stranded in the middle of no where at 3:20 am 50 miles from home and alone! Several weeks later after paying for a rental care I was told that this was a factory defect and would be fixed at no charge. I was not reimbursed for the rental car, hotel, I had to stay at the first night, the long distace calls to the dealership fixing my car and to top it off received a late charge from ford for not getting my payment in on time!! Now that's what I call excellent customer service!

I recently purchased a 2002 Ford Mustang GT. Are you aware of any other 2002 model year mustang owners that have experienced the belt tension arm problem that your mustang experienced and if so has Ford issued any sort of factory recall for this problem? Is this an isolated case of poor worksmanship on the assembly line or is it typical of a series of stangs that rolled off the line on a particular day? Your review says without any advance warning the tension arm broke off. I will check my stang over and call my dealership to see if there are any reported cases of this problem. Thankyou for making all of us proud mustang owners aware of this situation and my sympathies for such a catastrophic event which rocked the core of your world and left you feeling abandoned at a time when you needed customer service most. Obviously the system failed.

Don't feel bad. The Ford 'service' dept. let me down too. It's notoriously poor. That reason alone would keep me from ever buying a Ford again.

If you go to a small service dept, they will treat you about like a cook at Mcdonalds would. They don't make enough to care about you and your problems. Go to a respected and well known dealership, and explain your problems first before you get all huffy and start demanding. Nobody is perfect, and the same goes with cars and dealerships "Know It All"... If you feel that way, go join the crew and get you an import and add a Fartcan muffler for 187 more horsepower!lol! Also, I heard if you put letters on cars such as SI or GT-S, or even S, you get at least 20% gains... LOL.

I have always liked Mustangs and have generally always been a fan of Ford products. I have a 2002 Mustang GT - Premium, manual transmission that I bought brand new in July 2002. A few months ago, my car wouldn't start and the dealer had to replace the "Idle Air Control Valve Assembly" and reset the car's computer. About the same time, my car started knocking around 1500 RPMs; the knock could only be heard from the inside of the car due to engine noise on the outside that drowned it out. The dealer checked the knock which could also be felt in the gear shifter knob. The service manager called their Ford representative who told them that it was an issue called "Gear Rollover" and was considered a characteristic of the GT with the manual, 5-speed transmission. After having the Ford representative come and drive my car himself, he said the same thing, but they extended the warranty on my transmission to 5 years/ 75,000 miles. I'm glad they did that, but I'm still left with a car that only has 19,000 miles on it and knocks. We test drove an identical car that was on the dealer's lot and it made the same noise. Has anyone else with a 2002 Mustang GT had this same problem with "Gear Rollover?"

I'm sitting at my computer, it's 7:42am, I'm waiting for my dealership to open up because my '02 GT wouldn't start this morning. I love my Stang. It would have to magically turn into dung before I disliked it. I know sh*t happens, but I'm losing pay at the moment, so I'm a bit annoyed. Thanks for mentioning why yours didn't start. I'll run that by service when they open.

I recently purchased a used 2002 GT with the 5 speed that only had 4700 miles on it. I noticed the transmission knock after the first week that I owned it. It only has 7100 miles on it today. Are you sure the warranty has been extended to 7 years 75,000 miles, or is that just in your case? This is my first car of this type in my life, I'm 52 years old and have 2 Dodge mini-vans and a Saturn Ion. I just love driving the Mustang, knock and all.

I purchased a 2002 Mustang GT in June of 2006. I have owned this car for exactly 1 year and it is flawless. I love that car, it has given me zero problems, nothing at all. Everything is working great & my car has never stalled out. I drive it every day and it has 80,000 miles and running strong. I guess I'm a lucky guy.

Umm, even if the belt fell off you just lose power steering. So you can still steer the car... same with the brakes, even if they lose vacuum pressure they still function as manual brakes. You just have to push the pedal harder... and at speed the power steering really isn't noticeable... power steering is really only used at slow speeds... so not sure what your issue was...

I doubt that the original reviewer is still checking this post after so long (it was reviewed 5 years ago), but for the benefit of others who are stranded because of a defect that the manufacturer acknowledges responsibility for, you ARE entitled to ALL incurred expenses, including motels, rental car and even your meals and food for any PET you have with you.

DO NOT let the dealership bully you on this (and they will try to), but call their bluff and go directly to the manufacturer's complaint office.

A few years ago I got a recall from Ford regarding a possibly defective ignition part. At that point my car had 75,000+ miles on it (and the part had NOT failed). The letter clearly stated that ANY incurred expenses would be reimbursed if the part had already failed, including lodging, towing, food (even for a pet) and repair costs. This is the LAW. If a company is liable through defects in its product, you are subject to ALL expenses you incur as a result.

Don't be WIMPS!! Go to the head office, and if that does not work, file a claim with both the Better Business Bureau IN THE CITY WHERE THE COMPANY HEADQUARTERS ARE LOCATED, NOT THE DEALERSHIP, and the Attorney General's office (in the same state as the company headquarters). You can get this information off the Internet. Of course, this will not work with imports, as the company headquarters is located outside the United States.

I have owned many different cars; Honda, Mazda, Plymouth, VW, and Nissan. and now I have a 2002 Mustang GT Premium that I bought used in 2004. She now has 80k on her, and I just did my first major repair, and it was really just a lot of labor and some sensors. Out of all the cars I have had, my wife's VW and the Mustang have been the best cars ever.

I have just recently purchased a 2002 Mustang GT with around 92,000 miles on it. The car is a 5-speed manual and the clutch catches around mid way up. My first gear is some what normal, but my second gear is just plain out slow. I used to own a 99 Mustang GT, and it picked up so much faster. What is the problem?