Re: Mustang GT - Advice needed

I don't mean to go OT but, the wife and I are looking at an '04 Honda Odyssey. Can you give me a brief overview of ya'lls. any pros or cons that stick out in your mind. We are looking at an EX with leather.

Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.

I forgot which model my mom's is... it has a very beautiful & luxurious-feeling leather interior.. it doesn't have the navigation system or the entertainment center though... she's going to install a sunroof (or have one installed that is).. the ran rides VERY smoothly and so far has given us absolutely no trouble... I have to maintain it for her.. she pays for everything though.. so that car is getting 5W30 Mobil 1 synthetic every

3000 miles.. I regularly check all fluids & tire pressures.. overall that minivan is the best she's ever owned & she's been through a *lot* of 'em... if you can get a good price man... go for it.. it's a REAL nice vehicle. If I had to drive a minivan then that's definitely the one I'd pick.

-Mike

thanks for the info. we are looking at the Freestar also. but it has very few options/ammenities as compared to the Honda. I am affraid they are going to win this battle. The only advantage I am finding in the Ford is the price and that isn't an issue when you start making comparisons.

Scott

basically Ford tries to make a torque motor out of the 4.6 Gt engine,it's finished around 5200 rpm, the 4.6 sohc should make power in the upper rpm range but doesn't and the torque it makes down low is affected by the the weight of the car.

WOW!

Talk about OVERKILL my friend !!

I've done ALOT of research on Oil, Filters and Oil Change intervals.

One can SAFELY run Synthetic Oil to upwards of 10,000 miles with NO real loss in properties! Just change out the filter at 5,000 miles and you'll have NO problems at all.

You're only making someone else RICH and wasting your $$ and resources with

3,000 mile Oil Changes (ESPECIALLY with Synthetics!).

I regularly check all fluids & tire pressures.. overall that

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Ok, but what about unburned fuel and condensation etc that makes it's way into the crankcase over time? I have not studied this myself in a scientific manner, but I change my oil regularly at 3,000 miles (regardless of whatever oil is in the crankcase) to rid the crankcase of such bad contaminants. Due to this reasoning, I do not use super expensive synthetic oil because I think using synthetic in and of itself is overkill. Good quality non-synthetic oil should be fine in most cases for up to at least

3,000 miles, so this sounds like the best plan... use non-synthetic, and just change it every 3,000 miles. Perhaps for extended trips where you cannot change your oil at 3,000 miles, or for extreme operation (like maybe towing a yacht up and down mountains in 105 degrees F etc) synthetic would perhaps be worth using. But finally, my point is, even with syntheitc, wouldn't you still have the issue of "blow-by" (fuel), condensation (water) and perhaps others things collecting in the crankcase? Or perhaps synthetic is so good that it can totally resist these contaminants, or...??? But even if the synthetic can resist contaminants and retain excellent properties, the contaminants are still in the crankcase... that can't be such a good thing. It just seems to make more sense to me to change the oil every 3,000 which can be viewed as constantly "flushing" the system... keeping the crankcase "clean" regardless of the type of oil... can't really go wrong this way.

at 01 Apr 2004, WideGlide [ snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net] wrote in news:DIXac.9673$ snipped-for-privacy@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net:

On the risk of contributing to the neverending synth vs dino debate. :)

I've started using Mobil1 in our vehicles last year. (1995 Mustang,

1992 geo Storm and a 2002 GMC 1500) and extended the oil change interval from 3000 to 5000 miles (actually, that appears standard for the GMC) Rather than having the oil change done, I am now doing it myself. So I'm basically out the same amount of money but have better oil.

My observations so far:

The 92 Geo seems to be running smoother on Mobil1 than it did on dino oil. This is my wife's commuter and she does about 50 miles a day on it. No ill effects or very nasty oil at the 5000 mile change interval. The Mobil1 may actually last longer.

My 95 Mustang seems to do fine on Mobil1 5W30. When I had the engine changed last year, the replacement one got the oil system fully flushed and has been running Mobil1 ever since. Also, no ill effects or nasty oil at the 5000 mark...

The 2002 GMC was switched to Mobil1 5W20 at the first change (5000 miles) and oil gets changed about every 5K miles when the 'change oil' light comes on. No ill effects. Can't comment on the oil as we had 2 'free oil change' coupons from the dealer and had them do it using Mobil1 we brought in. (Believe me, $23 for 6Qt at WallyWorld is way lower than what the dealer wanted for that amount).

Is it overkill? Perhaps, perhaps not, but at least I know there is excellent quality oil in our vehicles and that should help extent their lifespan.

Yeah I agree. That 2003 Honda Oddyssey wasn't a cheap minivan & my mom wants it lasting a *LONG* time. I have faith in Mobil 1 & other high-quality synthetic oils. I believe they lubricate better than non-synth oils.

-Mike

Scott,

I hate to have to do this... but I have been steering families to the Toyota Sienna... much to my Ford chagrin... it beats the Odyssey and the Freestar in every major category including safety, interior space, economy, performance, fit & finish, versatility & others and even PRICE, even though there are few deviations to the three basic trim levels. See Consumer Reports, too, they found the same thing.

Rob

at 01 Apr 2004, [ snipped-for-privacy@recorddeal.com] wrote in news:0f%ac.4153$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com:

Agreed. When my engine was swapped last year, the speedshop put redline synth tranny fluid in the t5 standard as it is their opinion, based on their experience, the synth lasts longer and works better.

One of these days I'll get brave (hopefully on a day when my allergies totally stuff up my nose) and drain the rear differential so I can put synth in there as well.

Changing rear diff. fluid is piss easy. I put in Castrol syntec... it was the only synthetic I could find.

-Mike

My mom really didn't like the look of the Toyota Sienna

-Mike

ha , try adding all the stuff to a GT and add it up and see what's cheaper.... Remove NO-SPAM from email address when replying

yeah , but are you keeping your car that long ? IF not, the second owner will be thankful ! :-)

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at 01 Apr 2004, Rein [ snipped-for-privacy@NO-SPAMyahoo.com] wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Sell Pony? Are you out of your mind? :-) My first Mustang, no way I'm parting with her even if I end up buying an 06 ragtop.

not too hard.. most work I thought was removing the swaybar so I could get to it.. oh and getting the old goop off the cover. filling it is easy if youjack the car up and the rear axle hangs free.

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that nose on the Sienna is just FUGLY. But I suppose i should look into all the options. Thanks for the suggestions.