1996 Ford Mustang GT problems
The 1996 Ford Mustang GT has 33 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (58%) concerns engine. After that come exhaust system (30%) and cooling system (18%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 33 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 58% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 1 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 89,000 miles 26 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 2 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 10 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 5 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 26 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 88,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 88,000 miles (15 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 1 complaint mentions a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1996 ranks 9th most-complained-about out of 10 model years of the Ford Mustang GT with enough data (4 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
On 4/12/06 I was going westbound toward tacoma, I made a left turn into a highway divide to cross traffic to go to the doctors office. Traffic was heavy because of the time of day. So I decided to make a left hand turn and go another direction. I waited for traffic so I could proceed. I made a left hand turn into traffic and it felt like my car 1996 mustang, fishtailed (sunny day dry pavement) so I tried to correct it and the steering wheel was locked and the car took off, so I proceeded to step on the brake as…
While driving 55 MPH consumer noticed smoke coming from under hood, pulled over, opened hood, and saw fire. Fire put out by fire department. Fire department stated cooling fan caused fire. Damage to vehicle unknown at this time.
Tl*the contact owns a 1996 ford mustang gt. While parked in the driveway, the vehicle caught fire underneath the hood. The front end of the vehicle up to the dashboard was destroyed. There were no injuries. Ford was notified and they stated that nothing could be done. The current and failure mileages were 152,000.
Hello please forgive my poor english but my problem is that I had just bought my first car from a car dealer within 35 days the plastic intake started spray out of the engine area every time the gas pedal was push then causing other problem to the engine. The 1996 mustang gt 4.6 has a cracked plastic intake that should never been on this car please help it cost a lot of time and money.
I bought a used 1996 ford mustang gt, soon after having the vehicle I noticed that the car ran hot and could sometimes smell coolant when exiting the car, after my husband changed many parts in the cooling system, which did not resolve the issue, we called a local ford dealership and explained the issue the parts department employee stated that he thought there was a recall so he sent us to talk to a service manager, after giving the VIN # to the service manager we were informed that our car did not have any…