2019 Mustang GT

[TireSmoker]

Here is the car I bought to replace the Cobalt -- my new-to-me 2019 Mustang GT 5.0/6sp with 25k miles! I had test drove an '18 locally @ Montrose Ford and liked it a lot. (March 27) After the test-drive, I got the high-pressure sales push and wasnt thrilled. I walked out a little annoyed. I went home I found this car online that I liked better from a company called Vroom. Honestly, it was the 5.0/6sp, in black, decent miles, cool wheels, very reasonable price. It had a clean carfax, and I bought it almost immediately. Like, test driving in Fairlawn at 1pm, bought this online around 4pm.

I bought it from a company called Vroom, which delivers the car to you, allegedly similar to Carvana. I bought and financed the car through them, and all of that was really pretty easy and painless. There is some electronic document signing, but also some paper documents sent back and forth via FedEx. So I think it was April 1, by the time everything was completed/approved. I got an email saying the car would arrive on April 9 -- a friday, SWEET. On the 7th I get a call to confirm my address from a trucker/shipper. On Thursday 2pm, I get a call to confirm my address one more time, that they would be there within 3-4 hours. HELL YEAH! At 3:30, I get a text, 'sorry, car won't be delivered till tomorrow.' uggghh.

This morning, I texted back at 8:45 to get an update. They said the driver was in Akron. I kinda figured he'd be there by 945-1015.. he finally showed up just before 12pm, with my car on the back of a 18-wheeler with a Grand Cherokee up there. My car was FILTHY outside. And the hood was popped open. My spidey senses are a little on edge. The driver's door couldn't open far enough (clearance against trailer). He asked if I wanted to try getting in -- hellll no, I don't want any liability if something goes wrong. So he climbs in from the passenger side relatively easy.** He gets the car off the trailer without any further issue, but man, the car is really dirty. I looked under the hood and it was very clean under there, the inside and trunk were very clean. They either really drove through some shit, or never cleaned it well before it shipped. That part was really disappointing.

** After seeing the hood release in the car, Im guessing it got kicked from someone climbing out the passenger side when they loaded it, which is why it was popped.

I went up to the car wash and got a gold wash to clean it off. After, I went down to fill up the tank and noticed there were still significant dirty spots on the car. Wow. I went back to the car wash, and they were cool and ran me through again. But, it *still* really needs a thorough cleaning on the outside.

There's nothing super fancy about it, aside from maybe the wheels, which are 20s. Otherwise, I think it's a pretty base car, but it does have some interesting features. For being a manual, probably the coolest thing is the Rev Match feature. When it's enabled, say you're in 4th, clutch in, go for 3rd, it'll blip the motor to the correct RPM to match the speed. It works really well, and makes driving a manual smoothly really effortless. It knows what gear you're going into, so even if you do something like 4-2, it works as it should. On the downside, with it disabled, the throttle response through the pedal doesn't seem to accommodate quick throttle blips for downshifts.

When I was looking through the controls, I also found a line-lock -- I mean, they're begging you to do a burnout with it!! I engaged it once in the garage, but I haven't actually tried it. It also has adjustable launch control, from 3000-5500 RPM.

This thing is just super cool -- I like it a LOT!! The Coyote 5.0 is really an amazing engine. It runs well at any RPM, even in 6th gear under 1500 rpm. It sounds fantastic, and the factory redline is an amazing 7500. DOHC is cool. The 6sp shifts super-smooth, and the ratios and nicely spaced. But 7500 rpm in 2nd is already like 80 mph! With 460hp, it really pulls on the top end. But you can just drive it around normal and it's totally normal and civilized. The ride is firm, but it handles rougher roads pretty well. There's pretty good visibility out of it, something I thought the Challenger really lacked. But the WRX was even better in this regard.

The oil is a little low, but looks very clean otherwise. Oil life says 36%, so who knows. I'll get it changed this week. It has Nitto tires with decent tread. Put some miles on it tonight, and the only real flaw was the telescoping wheel comes out when it should'nt. Paul discovered that one at about 6500 rpm!

More to come...

-Dave

[MostMint]

My guess is it was clean when it went on the truck. Riding for 10 hours directly behind a semi is going to bring a lot of road grime.

[wxo]

The Mustang aside, although it looks like a "mighty", cool ride, I'd like to hear your evaluation of the online buying process and especially this particular company. Would you use them again? Would you recommend them to a friend?

[Maverick]

BEAUTIFUL!!! Congratulations on another interesting, fun car.

[TireSmoker]

The Mustang aside, although it looks like a "mighty", cool ride, I'd like to hear your evaluation of the online buying process and especially this particular company. Would you use them again? Would you recommend them to a friend?

Honestly, the dirty car aside, everything was really easy. There were tons of good pics on the website, and in the end nothing was mis-represented. You sign up on the website when you want to buy a car, but then there is some time on the phone with an agent. Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of financing. You sign some documents online, they send some other paper documents you have to sign via FedEx with a return envelope to take back to FedEx. They did warn me it could take a few days for everything to process.

One of the things is, I test-drove a car like the one I bought. I already had a good idea whether or not I would like it, and the agent guy said that their model tends to work better for people like that. With Vroom, you're on the hook $700 for the delivery. If there is something wrong with the car, you can absolutely send it back for a different car without paying another $700 delivery fee. Communication around the delivery process itself was a bit muddled, but we got through it easy enough.

To directly answer, yeah, I think I could buy from them again and recommend them to someone else, with caveat that you may get a really dirty car (outside) delivered to you. I 'bought' it on March 27, and received it on April 9, so 13 days.

-Dave

[wxo]

Did the attractive price offset the $700 delivery charge?

[TireSmoker]

All said and done, I'm happy with the price.

-Dave

[MostMint]

Any dealer going to hit you with costs, just make sure you get the "out the door" price before you sing anything.

Seems like a decent way to get a car. I assume most of the process of getting the right price is done before you contacted them. I'm curious if they will negotiate on price - did they have any wiggle room? https://youtu.be/34r4-yzCyVw

[Fred32v]

With his need to drive his new car somewhere, 'Smoke drove out to the 32V Ranch.
This Mustang looked even better in real life than the photos. He asked me if I'd like to drive it,
wow, suddenly I'm excited and just a little bite intimated. Once I settled in, it has a starter button,
Dave pushed it and it was running. I grabbed the shifter and let out the clutch, forward, hummm,
missed the reverse lockout. Ok, with a little maneuvering I was able to have the Mustang pointed out the
driveway. Off I went to the first stop sign, then a few gear changes to the stop sign by the highway.
With the rev matching on the down shifting this 5.0 was telling me it had my back and things will be ok.
This was much different than the TrackBird. The shifting is so smooth and the car is so strong,
you rarely need to shift unless you want to just for fun. I'm in 5th (6 to choose from) and asked it to go
and it was willing. If you didn't see the mileage on the odometer you would believe this car is new,
it just feels solid. I can't wait to see it perform at TRP and ride in it at Nelson Ledges.

Thanks for the thrill Dave!

[Basement Paul]

In it's current stock form, this car will make an amazing daily driver and a perfect replacement for the Cobalt. It's easy to drive and super fast, but also rides well and is mostly quiet. Once it's in the rpms it pulls like a monster. And I'm guessing the drivetrain will last a long time.

Plus it's really comfortable and looks great with the black paint and cool wheels. I understand why people like these so much and get a premium over the other pony cars.

-BP

[TireSmoker]

25.891 miles

Did the first oil change on it tonight. The oil looked pretty decent, but the oil life indicator was only at 36%. Installed a new air filter too. Tires look good.

A few fun facts:

The oil pan & and oil pan plug are plastic!
5.0 and 3.5 Ecoboost use same oil filter, Motorcraft FL-500S
It takes 10 quarts of oil. But you're good for 10,000 miles.
10 quarts of oil comes gushing out the drain waaaay harder and farther than a 5-6 qt system

-Dave

[Basement Paul]

HaHa! An unexpected mess for sure. All that extra oil creates a LOT more head pressure. Plus, do you have a 10 quart pan? I know I don't. The 6-7 quart oil changes almost max me out.

-BP

[TireSmoker]

I have my 5 gallon oil drain thing for under the lift, but it almost overflowed the top of it, it comes out so fast. Good thing I won't have to do again for a year.

-Dave

[TireSmoker]

Dropped the car off at Nick Mayer Ford in Mayfield to have the steering column lock fixed. The telescoping portion could still be pulled out (with clicking!) when it shouldn't. The in-service date was said to be May '19, so only 2yr in for warranty purposes. So I think I have 1yr/10k coverage remaining of the 3yr/36k.

Sadly, the dealer confirmed my radio is not SAT capable. WTF, really Ford?? I never even considered it a possibility that a car wouldn't have it these days, let alone selling for $35k+ when new.

-Dave

[Basement Paul]

Yeah, that is crazy! My work truck Ram even had it. I didn't go past the free period, but still there. AND for a long trip like you're planning, it would be sweet to have. Come to think of it, I don't think my new Ranger has it either.

-BP