New Ride

[Trigger]

In January I purchased my first "new" car in 21 years. I previously refused to ante up the big bucks just to get major depreciation as soon as I drove off a Ford lot, especially since the Dearborn guys lately kept their vehicles looking the same for 8-15 years! So, I typically did the Program vehicle route, which usually saved me at least $10,000 from the cost of a new car.
Well, the 2005 Mustang was my downfall. After having driven FWD cars since 1982, I went out in a major Michigan snowstorm to test drive a RWD 'Stang with ABS and traction control. Okay, you can call me crazy (my wife still does after 4 weeks of owning the car).
I've found the car to be a mixture of highs and lows. It seems that Ford decided to spend most of their design money on the GT's engine, so the base is still left somewhere in a 1980's timewarp of solid rear axles and McStruts (and don't give me the Ford PR line about wanting to swap axle gearing for racing - it's a cost thing!!). Also, does a low starting price point mean that such things as heated outside mirrors, a sunroof, usable door map pockets, AdvanceTrac, or a V6 suspension upgrade can't be had at ANY price?
Still, despite my wishes for some improvements, I love the car. Yeah, admittedly there aren't a lot of '05 Mustangs running around in snow ravaged Michigan yet, but this thing draws stares and comments everywhere I've gone. And, unlike the bulbous Chrysler 300, I haven't yet heard one disparaging remark from 84 to 5 year olds that have given me the "thumbs up". In fact, the first day that I owned it, my 16 year old daughter had friends that drove by our house 3 times just to look it over.
Ford has finally got at least one non-truck winner on it's hands. Now, if they could just do something about those useless map pockets...