Thursday 30th April 2015

Ford Mustang: Delivery Miles

Demand is running high over here for new Mustangs - but are imports worth £10K over list price?

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So now we have loads more info about the new Ford Mustang, the first pony to be marketed officially in the UK in right-hand drive.

I've been unconvinced that Ford's latest Mustang stands any chance of being the Next Big Thing in the UK's uber-refined performance car market. While the new 'Stang looks great, previous incarnations have been embarrassingly outpaced by Europe's best. So I was sure that the Ford would suffer the same paltry UK market share ignominy as the Vauxhall VXR8.

Big UK demand but they're not here til October

But I'm wrong: the pony is rampant, it seems. Brits have placed more than 1,200 orders for the new Mustang, making us the biggest market in the EU (where 3,400 orders have been received so far).

Maybe it's the bargain pricing that's attracting buyers. Just £29,000 buys you a new Mustang (with a 317hp, 2.3-litre four-cylinder EcoBoost engine). Add £4,005 and you get a pukka 5.0-litre V8 version and 418hp. Auto adds £1,500, and a Convertible costs £4,000 more than a Coupe.

Maybe also it's the fact you can buy a Mustang in right-hand drive form for the first time in decades. Except... you can't, not quite yet. You can certainly configure your carand place your order now, but the first cars don't actually arrive in UK dealerships until October. And the waiting list for RHD Mustangs is now over a year.

What all this means is exactly the right conditions for a niche 'bubble' market. And sure enough, several dealers are advertising the first US imports to land physically in the UK - but in left-hand drive form, obviously.

Allegedly the first 'Stang in the UK

Claimed to be the very first brand new and unregistered car in the UK is a black V8 auto coupe with black leather. Because the US spec isn't quite as generous as the official UK spec, this import wears 18-inch wheels (UK cars all have 19s) and does without the bigger brake package that UK cars will have. On the other hand, it does have climate front seats (a £495 option in the UK).

One big advantage of being an American import is that it's taxed at £230 per year, rather than the £1,100 first year and £505 annual rate that the 281g/km V8 auto will be stiffed in official RHD form. One other difference is the warranty: the dealer (Bill Shepherd Mustang) provides a two-year ticket - Ford will give you a three-year/60,000-mile warranty on an official car.

So here's the big question: how much? £43,950 is the asking price for this LHD import, which is nearly £10K more than the £34,505 list price of a V8 Auto coupe in RHD. Ouch.

The cheapest manual V8 Mustang in the UK is £42,995, taxes paid again pretty much £10K over UK list. The same dealer is offering builds to order from £39,995.

Very nice spec, but it is nearly £45K...

Another V8 Mustang, in race red with black leather, Recaro seats, GT performance pack, Brembo brakes, upgraded suspension and 19-inch black alloys is up for £44,500.

And temptingly, US imports can be ordered with 'Wild' upgrades, including stainless exhausts, lowered suspension and - most temptingly of all - a water-cooled supercharger upgrade to 605hp.

So is it worth spending so much on a left-hooker import that will inevitably depreciate much quicker than an RHD one? All depends on what value you place on being the first person on your block to smack that pony, I guess. But £10K over the odds? I'm out.

[Repent]

It's a well styled thing but I'm yet to see one that makes me think "Corrrrr" like a little kid, as the previous model did in certain specs. I'm sure I will though once the tuners get hold of them. I loved the masculinity of the previous models and this ones a bit to svelte in standard trim for me.

Look forward to seeing them on the road though and hugely glad they've made them such an impressive and financially approachable package.

Edited by Repent on Thursday 30th April 10:10

[MIP1983]

Needs more stripe.

[SteveSteveson]

I don't really see the Mustang being equivalent to the VXR8. The 'Stang has a whole heap of mythos and history behind it. It can be crude, brutal and unrefined because it is a 'Stang. The VXR8 had a joy to it, but people would always compare it to what else you could get for the same money. You can't by any other car that is a Mustang.

[C997]

I've just handed one back (convertible) to Sixt in Miami after having it for a month. It looks great, the interior is good, seats are excellent, the audio is good, loads of toys, etc. It's reasonably quick but the gearbox is very slow to react and the paddle shift is what you would expect from paddles on an auto box.

All in all, a good package apart from the handling. It's scary at times when cornering. Maybe it's the concrete slab road surfaces over there but the back end literally skips sideways going round tight bends - bearing in mind tight is the on/off ramps on the freeways so not really tight. The scuttle shake has to be seen to be believed as well but obviously the hard tops wont have that issue.

I did a lot of miles in it over the month and really enjoyed it but a sports car it isn't.

[Fartgalen]

Depreciation on the current models in LHD has been better than any standard UK sold car.
How this will be with the introduction of RHD Mustangs remains to be seen.

[DonkeyApple]

That's a lot of premium for something that is likely to have its residual decimated the moment the RHD hits the streets?

[PhantomPH]

£505 tax? Ouch!

[J4CKO]

C997 said:

I've just handed one back (convertible) to Sixt in Miami after having it for a month. It looks great, the interior is good, seats are excellent, the audio is good, loads of toys, etc. It's reasonably quick but the gearbox is very slow to react and the paddle shift is what you would expect from paddles on an auto box.

All in all, a good package apart from the handling. It's scary at times when cornering. Maybe it's the concrete slab road surfaces over there but the back end literally skips sideways going round tight bends - bearing in mind tight is the on/off ramps on the freeways so not really tight. The scuttle shake has to be seen to be believed as well but obviously the hard tops wont have that issue.

I did a lot of miles in it over the month and really enjoyed it but a sports car it isn't.

Was it a 2015 as that sounds like a trait of the earlier models with the live axle, which definitely do that, but I thought the new independent rear suspension had eliminated it ?

45 grand, ten grand over list to get one a few months early with the wheel on the wrong side, no ta, that will be a twenty grand loss if you keep it a couple of years.

[C997]

It was brand new almost, had 1000 miles on it when I got it. The Sixt rep specifically said that they had given me the lowest mileage one because I had it for a month.

That's exactly what it reminded me of, a live axle. As I say, maybe it was the poor quality of the road surfaces that was making it worse than normal but it was really poor.

[unpc]

J4CKO said:

C997 said:

I've just handed one back (convertible) to Sixt in Miami after having it for a month. It looks great, the interior is good, seats are excellent, the audio is good, loads of toys, etc. It's reasonably quick but the gearbox is very slow to react and the paddle shift is what you would expect from paddles on an auto box.

All in all, a good package apart from the handling. It's scary at times when cornering. Maybe it's the concrete slab road surfaces over there but the back end literally skips sideways going round tight bends - bearing in mind tight is the on/off ramps on the freeways so not really tight. The scuttle shake has to be seen to be believed as well but obviously the hard tops wont have that issue.

I did a lot of miles in it over the month and really enjoyed it but a sports car it isn't.

Was it a 2015 as that sounds like a trait of the earlier models with the live axle, which definitely do that, but I thought the new independent rear suspension had eliminated it ?

45 grand, ten grand over list to get one a few months early with the wheel on the wrong side, no ta, that will be a twenty grand loss if you keep it a couple of years.

I had a 2015 in florida last month and it handled very tidily indeed. As you say, that kind of behavior smacks of a live axled one. The auto box is not the best though. That's why I ordered a V8 manual.

[soad]

PhantomPH said:

£505 tax? Ouch!

You want the imported one. Preferably with a water-cooled supercharger upgrade to 605hp.

[XBOW]

Would buy a new RHD V8 tomorrow, but after quick call to Ford garage I was just quoted end of 2016 now for new orders

Seems Ford have missed a trick here, as they could sell a lot more cars

Ah well, probably end up with some german mobile instead.

[unpc]

XBOW said:

Would buy a new RHD V8 tomorrow, but after quick call to Ford garage I was just quoted end of 2016 now for new orders

Seems Ford have missed a trick here, as they could sell a lot more cars

Ah well, probably end up with some german mobile instead.

On the plus side, if there's a waiting list, the residuals should be good. IME German stuff tends to lose a load.

[Hooli]

soad said:

PhantomPH said:

£505 tax? Ouch!

You want the imported one. Preferably with a water-cooled supercharger upgrade to 605hp.

That upgrade sounds interesting...

[dc2rr07]

DonkeyApple said:

That's a lot of premium for something that is likely to have its residual decimated the moment the RHD hits the streets?

Exactly what I was thinking, with depreciation that will be about 20k in six months probably;)

[The Hypno-Toad]

Local Ford dealer has taken deposits for over 50...

Going to be very popular, methinks.

[BlitzE34]

This is the best car on the market right now. No European equivilant looks as cool.

[Burnham]

Worth the £10k premium? No chance, but the Indys will still sell them to people without a care for the depreciation.

Back end of 2017 will be a good time to pick one of these up I reckon, and the Supercharger upgrade would be bonkers.

Never considered one previously, its amazing what effect swapping which side the wheel sits will have one Fords Sales figures.

[RobertDawson]

These are going to be big in Britain, make no mistake about that.

[SkinnyPete]

I can't help but think you'll have huge trouble shifting a LHD model when the market is flooded with RHD.