2006 Ford Mustang Base from North America - Comments

Weather Strip around the inside of the hood pealed off. (Dealer Fixed)

Air Leak in the back passenger rear window.

Would not easily shift into reverse.

Stick-shift boot had holes wearing in it.

Very loose door side mirrors.

Had to get front rotors cut after 1,800 miles.

Steering Wheel vibrated at high speeds.

This was a very flashy and Awesome looking car, but the problems I had with the car over shadowed the awesomeness of the car.

Oh man! That's too bad what happened to your car!

Keep in mind that the steering wheel vibration is actually normal. My steering wheel vibrates as well.

I also own a manual V6 Mustang and the T-5 Tremec transmission is hard. You have to shift it in 1st gear, move a bit forward and shift it back into reverse.

About the rotors, that is strange. My friend owns a 2005 Mustang GT, and to this day (5/15/07) he hasn't changed or cut the rotors. And it's his daily driver. Also, he races and competes in drift events, with the stock rotors.

As for the other things, seems like some unmotivated worker at the factory installed your car. That is too bad. I hope you have resolved your car troubles!

The T-5 transmission has been used in Ford Mustangs for at least two decades (that I know of). It's an OK German-designed transmission. I used to own a 1990 5.0 liter LX hatchback with one. The reason it won't shift into reverse is there is no synchro for reverse, and it is a straight cut gear instead of a helical. Put the car in first and move it about an inch or so forward and then put it in reverse. Be very careful with that transmission. I blew up three of them before I wised up and bought a G-FORCE replacement. The T-5 transmission is only good for 300 ft-lbs of torque. If you do any motor upgrades or put 4:10 gears in the rear end, you will just be buying time until it blows. Each of my T-5's lasted two years. Also, never rev the motor up and drop the clutch on the freeway when shifting into fifth gear. In fact, never drop the clutch in fifth gear. Fifth gear is a helical gear that is about 3 inches in diameter. It's very easy to blow. Lightly shift into fifth and then pound on it. Third gear is also a very common gear to lose. The biggest thing you should be wary of is the self-adjusting clutch mechanism. It's made of plastic and if I were you...I'd chuck it over my head and buy an aftermarket replacement as soon as possible. I went to straight wire with an aluminum cam. The stock self-adjusting clutch mechanism will work good for two years and then it will start malfunctioning. If you put the clutch to the floorboard and feel a slight resistance as you are putting the T-5 into any gear, then stop immediately, pump the clutch again and then shift. I guarantee you will grind the gear if you don't. Once you miss a gear in the T-5, you will always have a vibration in the tranny and you are just buying your time from there on. Vibrations = transmission failure. I hope this helps you.

I'm baffled that I keep reading about Mustang steering wheels vibrating, and see comments that "This is normal". NO, it ISN'T normal!!! As a car enthusiast and mechanic, I can assure you that a vibrating steering wheel in ANY car is not "normal".

I'm now driving my 7th Mustang (a 2007) and only one of mine has ever had the slightest shake or vibration in the steering wheel, except for one that had an out of balance tire (taken care of under warranty). If I had a vibration in the steering wheel, I'd demand that the problem be corrected. A dealer who tells you it is "normal" is just trying to avoid finding the real cause and fixing it. If your dealers are refusing to fix the vibration, you should go to a Ford district office and insist that the problem be corrected. My current Mustang is smooth as silk and vibration free up to the engine cut-off limit. If it weren't it would go back to the dealer pronto.

I saw a lot of shaky steering wheel claims too on the Mustang. How can you feel like that is a normal thing? I had 2 fox body Mustangs and never experienced any steering wheel shake in either of them. It seems like these newer cars are really built to less tolerance for quality control (which is sad for what they now cost). I guess they can get away with it, though, as long as people continue to accept this as "normal" and "sporty feeling". To the guy with the T-5 problems: buy an automatic. If you are frying T-5 trannies you evidently don't have a clue how to drive a stick. These things are rock solid after many years of speed shifting and spinning the tires well into third gear with NO problems. I would never replace one of mine with an expensive aftermarket unit. Lack of driving skill and knowledge can get pretty expensive, don't you think?

I agree... There shouldn't be any vibrations like that in your steering wheel. In response to both T5 comments I would have to agree with the first T-5 comment. They do blow easy if you miss a few shifts and the self adjusting clutch mechanism failing can be a very quick cause to transmission failure. Any major engine upgrade or installing low rear end ratio gears like 4.10's will greatly increase the chances of blowing up at stock T5 transmission. The reason being is all engineered products have safety factors put in them to reduce failure. If the T5 is rated at 300ft-lbs of torque and you increase the torque output of your motor with upgrades and/or drive the car like your racing it everyday compared to driving the speedlimit and not dropping the clutch while the motor is wrapped out you will greatly reduce the safety factor of the product, thus increasing the chance of failure and definitely decreasing the amount of cycles the transmission can perform in a lifetime. I don't know about the driving skills of the person in the first comment, but it is very lame to just say someone sucks at driving a stick if they blow up a transmission. I've blown up at least one T5 while owning my mustang for five years and I definitely had the self adjusting clutch mechanism to thank on one occasion. Not much you can do when your clutch is all the way to the floorboard and you do an easy 2800rpm shift into third gear and it blows up. I have at least three other friends who blew up at T5. One friend even blew up fifth gear after he floored it on the highway... he wasn't even shifting... He did have a few engine upgrades like me though. The Mustang is a great car! If you upgrade your engine be prepared to upgrade the rest of your powertrain or else you'll break parts left and right. As for the person in the second comment... never buy and automatic in a sportscar... it defeats the purpose of owning one. I've driven a mustang with an automatic as well as the five speed and the five speed blows the automatic out of the water. Not being able to shift the exact moment when you want to is a horrible thing. I would recommend a mustang to anyone. I still am a proud owner.

I also owned a fox body and for a while it did have a shakey steering wheel. Then I replaced the rack and pinnion steering after 220,000 miles and it stiffened up pretty nice. I also blew up a T5 at 200,000 miles. The previous owner of the car said he replaced the transmission while he owned it too. I bought the car with 150,000 miles on it. I think the Mustang is the biggest bang for your buck, but I have to agree that they should of improved on the T5 a while ago instead of going with the same old design for so many years. I've driven sticks for years and never had one blow up on me until my Mustang. I also replaced the self adjusting clutch mechanism in my car when it seemed like my clutch was still partially engaged when I put the clutch pedal to the floor. I wouldn't call an aftermarket transmission a waste of money. The Tremec is a sweet aftermarket transmission and everyone I've talked to haven't had a problem with it. It can't be bad if Ford started putting it in some of their newer Mustangs. I've also heard good things about a G-force T5 as well. I also know that if you build your car you have to do it right. That means that you do have to put money into the drivetrain as well as into your motor. If you don't have a stock engine anymore than you can't run the basic stock transmission and expect it to hold up when you do burnouts all the time. You have to build the rest of the car to handle the new power gain. Subframe connectors are a good investment too. I've heard some nasty stories about people tweaking the unibody on the fox bodies.

I love the new Mustangs. As far as a manual tranny over an automatic. With the shift kits available for automatics, you can beef up and change shift points and even make one to only shift manually. Some guys I know on the drag strip won't have anything but an automatic. They work fine in big block old muscle cars. I had an old '70 Sport Fury with a 3-speed auto and out ran a lot of Trans Ams, etc.Romp on the accelerator of it, and nothing but smoke out of both rear wheel wells. So don't knock automatics until you've ran one after it is modified.