Vehicle Mileage, Warranties, Problems, and Enjoyment

[Glocker]

This is just more a reflection on the status of my vehicles brought on from getting my Mustang out of the garage this past weekend for a drive.

We own three cars in our household; my 2014 Mustang GT, my 2019 Ranger XLT FX4, and my wife's 2023 Bronco Sport Badlands.

In my previous career, in 2014 I bought the Mustang new and it was my "daily driver" for about 9 months. I had a police car that was assigned to me, but in 2014 we weren't allowed to take them out of the county, so I parked it near the county line and swapped into it each work day. Early in 2015 the rules changed and the Mustang stayed home in the garage while the police car was the daily driver, and on the off days I was driving my wife around in her car.

I blew the warranty away on that Mustang with in 2 yrs of ownership - lots of mods to include suspension, brakes, and a supercharger.

That car is now 12 years old and has only 14,775 miles. The only issue I've ever had with it is an overheating problem, caused by mods! (A fan-to-radiator gasket got pulled into the fan, locked it up, and caused the motor to overheat when the fan relay got melty.)

In 2019 I bought my Ranger, used with 12,000 miles. (It literally ticked over to 12,000 miles on my test drive). I was still daily driving a police car for work, but wanted something to pull a boat on a boat ramp and to also keep miles off the Mustang. I've modded the truck a fair bit, but largely kept the warranty intact. I haven't really had any issues at all with the truck, other than the fan clutch support hose failing (and that wiring harness being chewed up by the fan), and something that has resulted from having preventative maintenance done.

I had the trans fluid and filter changed, and the diff. fluid changed out as well. I am pretty sure the dealership overfilled the transmission on me and it has now "burped" on me twice.

My Ford ESP has expired. The truck has 37, 032 miles on it - not bad for a 2019! But I'm wondering what it's going to cost me as the miles eventually catch up.

I retired from policing in 2022, and did a small stint working from an office until 2024. Now I don't leave the house as I work from home! HAHAHAHA

It has me wondering what issues I will see in the next handful of years on the occasional drives I take with the truck. And more importantly, will I see the cost of ownership go sideways on it.

I have started getting my wife to take the truck to work once a week in place of her little Bronco Sport. I feel it's needed to get it up to operating temperature and to maintain the battery.

Meanwhile, my wife drives that Bronco Sport we bought used with 226 miles on it, just 16 miles a day during the work week. The warranty expired about 2 months ago, and we have rolled the dice and not purchased the Ford ESP, although we heavily considered it. We looked at average cost of repairs and decided we would do worse than break even on it.

On a side note, I have pretty much broken even with my now expired Ford ESP. When that fan clutch wiring harness got chewed up by the fan, the cost of the repairs and the rental vehicle pretty much was what I paid for the ESP.

But I have a feeling I will need it now that it's expired. HAHAHAHA

I did drive my truck to pick something up the other day, and as I was returning to my house, I contemplated how I felt about it. I was thinking how nice it would be to have a new, F150 with a Coyote V8, but I realized I really like my seven year old truck!

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[Dr_Strangelove]

I'm always interested to hear the experiences of low-mile vehicle owners as someone that drives 15,000 miles a year. Do you ever feel like you just need to drive a car because it has been sitting for too long? What is your threshold for that? 6 mos?

I'm just curious because I'm guilty of driving my daily into the ground and letting my fun car "appreciate" in the garage

 

[Glocker]

I'm always interested to hear the experiences of low-mile vehicle owners as someone that drives 15,000 miles a year. Do you ever feel like you just need to drive a car because it has been sitting for too long? What is your threshold for that? 6 mos?

I'm just curious because I'm guilty of driving my daily into the ground and letting my fun car "appreciate" in the garage

Yeah! I think we're in the same boat. Its funny because I was trying to remember the last time I drove my Mustang and I think it's been about 6 months.

I would love to drive it more, and I absolutely love that car. But to be honest, I'm afraid to drive it down here in South Florida. The insanity of the driv9ng is nothing I've ever seen before.

 

[Burnt Money]

I’m probably in the minority when it comes to issues. I bought the Ranger new in October 2020. Currently at 113,000 miles. I installed the Livernois tune at 5k miles. The only issue I have had was the part in the bucking, surging thread. It was cheap and took 20min to replace. I tow my boat year around and use it as a truck. I change the oil every 5k miles, differential and transfer case once a year. I changed the transmission fluid and filter plus added LubeGuard Platinum at about 80k miles. I did the spark plugs at around 100k miles. I’m still on the original brakes but the time is coming for new ones. Hopefully yours is trouble free for years to come!

 

[Cabose-1]

I feel your pain. I am not worried about mechanical issues, those are easy. But infotainment screens, modules, all the eletronic stuff gets super expensive. I am at 18 months and out of factory warranty i have extended warranty and hope its never used.
All i can say is, i am keeping my truck till it starts getting expensive to repair. Problem after problem that is. I do spend money for upkeep and maintenance. So hopefully that helps.
That is my plan though, once i start spending thousands for repairs or small hundreds every few weeks, time for a new truck just dont make em like they used to, to many modules and parts that need programming

 

[ScarzRanger21(2.0)]

I think with any vehicle, it’s a crap shoot these days. I have 79k miles on my ranger, other than the transmission starting to act up at around 60k miles, it’s been a solid truck. I’ve had a few minor issues here and there but nothing I couldn’t handle on my own. If I’m being honest, most of the issues I’ve had with my truck are from mods I’ve done and trying to save a buck using cheap, low-end parts. Like Rough Country…

The only problem I’ve really had with this truck, aside from the transmission starting to act up, is the AC drain getting clogged and soaking the floorboard. When I get my tax return for this year, the transmission will be getting replaced. Hopefully that brings new life to the ranger and I’ll get another 150k miles out of her!

 

[Glocker]

I feel your pain. I am not worried about mechanical issues, those are easy. But infotainment screens, modules, all the eletronic stuff gets super expensive. I am at 18 months and out of factory warranty i have extended warranty and hope its never used.
All i can say is, i am keeping my truck till it starts getting expensive to repair. Problem after problem that is. I do spend money for upkeep and maintenance. So hopefully that helps.
That is my plan though, once i start spending thousands for repairs or small hundreds every few weeks, time for a new truck just dont make em like they used to, to many modules and parts that need programming

When i bought the Mustang, I wanted the V8 and the 6-speed manual, and nothing else. I purposely stayed away from the fancier infotainment system and additional LCD screen between the gauges.

My reasoning was that I plan on owning the Mustang for a loooonnnngggg time. I take very good care of it and it is clean! I don't want to n have the issue of dealing with a broken infotainment system in the car in the year 2046.

Well, that's assuming my wife let's me live that long.

I wish some of the other systems were a little simpler in the car. It does have electric assisted steering and breaking, and electronically controlled throttle. So it's not analog by any means.

 

[Rtball]

If you live only to wait for the next breakdown, you will never enjoy your ride. Having a garage full of vehicles only means you have a storage lot! Drive, enjoy, and maybe cross your fingers all the while you are building a small contingency fund.

 

[Glocker]

If you live only to wait for the next breakdown, you will never enjoy your ride. Having a garage full of vehicles only means you have a storage lot! Drive, enjoy, and maybe cross your fingers all the while you are building a small contingency fund.

It's not so much living only to wait for the breakdown. I just don't drive anymore because I don't have to. And honestly, it's not a bad thing - I hate driving down here. The people just absolutely suck. In the long wrong, I'll probably end up on the positive side from staying home and not being involved in another collision!

 

[Caliope]

I bought my 2019 Ranger Lariet Sport Screw new. I bought a Ford ESP through Ziegler in 2022 when I bought my 2022 Bronco Sport Outer Banks. I was able to cover both vehicles for the same price that the dealership was quoting one. I bought the ESP after reading about the expensive repairs that some on this site were experiencing.

My 2019 currently has 23k on it and the only issues I have had are the battery and the modem. The battery was replaced twice in two years prior to the ESP. The modem failed early last year and was replaced under the ESP which paid back the price I paid for the ESP. I struggled with the decision to renew ESP or not. I finally pulled the trigger two days before the plan expired and kept the coverage.

I sometimes think I want a 6G Ranger, but I don't like any of the new colors as much as I like my Saber. Plus, there are options on my current truck that I would have to give up. So, it is very likely that I will drive it until the wheels fall off.

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