1 year further and still bad panels

[RaceRedder]

I remember that there was a guy on this forum who talked about bad panel alignments on the "pre-production" Mustang pictures that were shared on the internet months before the production model came out.

Many people defended Ford by saying that the panel gaps were only because it was a pre-production car.

Many people reacted very tense and the topic got so heated that the admins closed it, because that guy stood his ground while people tried to burn him with arguments that it was only a pre-production model.

There were even people who said th Ford isn't a Ferrari and that's why it has panel gaps. As if only expensive cars have good panels. Almost all Japanese cheap ass models have no panel issues, so it's not a luxury thing to have good panels.

Now we are 1 year further and we have seen so many panel gaps that we can conclude that Ford did not learn from the previous panel gap mistakes on the S550 and kept making the same flaws on the S650.

- Panel gap hood
- Panel gap front hood cone
- panel gap front bumper
- panel gap below the headlights
- panel gap trunk
- panel gap rear bumper next to tail light

There are even a few topics on this forum where many people talked about the gap below the headlights and that almost every Mustang at the dealer had the same issue.

It's a shame that brand new cars come like this out of the factory.

Just an example, this white Mustang here. Look at the front. I will never take a brand new car from the dealer that looks like this.

This looks like a salvaged title who was rebuilt by a cheap mechanic with no diploms. The front bumper looks like a cheap after market bumper that does not fit correctly.

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[Zengineer]

Noted...

 

[Zig]

This looks like a salvaged title who was rebuilt by a cheap mechanic with no diploms.

Sounds more like a life lesson yet to be learned, lather rinse and repeat until complete.

not all edumacated individuals have a lick of sense. They may have been provided ‘knowledge’ but the wisdom how to use remains lacking, only comes from experience.

what has prior experience regarding this topic demonstrated?

specific issues work best with a demonstration of the item in question and either propose a fix, request suggestions or share the resolution but jumping up and down screaming about ‘generalized’ ideas simply because (solely based upon speculation as a result of posted information) one was unable to obtain the diplom…

 

[BrianJ77]

Interesting to see this thread. I saw a 2 week old Mustang GT non-PP last week with awful panel gaps! Blows me away because mine are perfect. It was disappointing, and frankly a little embarrassing, to see. C'mon, Ford. You can do better!

 

[UniqueDoug]

My OCD locked in on my front gaps after seeing that video on how "easy" the fix is (it isn't). After settling for the 11th version, I learned what the main engineering problem is: the front bumper/hood cone.

Lowering the front hood hinge about 2mm solved 99% of that wacky front misalignment, but then you're left with this:

Perfectly aligned/flush at each edge (and nearly flush at hood center) but the cone doesn't follow the curve of the hood at the other locations.

The front looked great, but I moved on from version 7 because couldn't stand that "ledge".

 

[UniqueDoug]

The front after lowering the hood hinge. If you can stand the ledge from the other angle this adjustment will solve most of the issues from the frontal view.

 

[RaceRedder]

The front after lowering the hood hinge. If you can stand the ledge from the other angle this adjustment will solve most of the issues from the frontal view.

This looks more acceptable, but there is an issue with the hoodcone or the bumper. As you said, the lines don't follow each other correctly. It's something you can adjust to make it look acceptable, but it isn't hiw it should be. This is something Ford will never fix because otherwise they have to remodel the whole thing, cancel all the bumpers that are already made and produce new ones.

 

[Zengineer]

Much like all cars get dirty but dark cars show it...the blacks and dark grays mask a lot of Ford's sins. My Dark Matter Gray GT isn't bad at all and what is funky doesn't jump out at you.

 

[UniqueDoug]

This looks more acceptable, but there is an issue with the hoodcone or the bumper. As you said, the lines don't follow each other correctly. It's something you can adjust to make it look acceptable, but it isn't hiw it should be. This is something Ford will never fix because otherwise they have to remodel the whole thing, cancel all the bumpers that are already made and produce new ones.

Agree on all points, trying to reach perfection was a hilarious exercise that reached the perfect level of compromise after 11 versions.

But it sucks we're in a position to even have to make that compromise. Here is V11 after I did the multiple adjustments available along with some creative improvised fixes.

 

[RaceRedder]

Agree on all points, trying to reach perfection was a hilarious exercise that reached the perfect level of compromise after 11 versions.

But it sucks we're in a position to even have to make that compromise. Here is V11 after I did the multiple adjustments available along with some creative improvised fixes.

This is the best fix I've seen so far. Happy that you managed to do so. A white car showed the gaps even more because of the black lines. This should be fixed by the dealer. I really would be ashamed to show my car to friends with crazy panel gaps especially if others have the same eye as mine and ask me about what happend to my car because of the gaps. Those gaps occur when you have an accident and they try to fit a new bumper on your car, but a brand new car that comes like this is really CRAZY!

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