01 V8 vs 03 V8

fbird18

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Sorry, this is not a race thread, in case thats what you thought. I have a 01 V8 Luxury with 110,000 mi. I recently drove a 03 V8 Sport with 53,000 mi. and I love it. I had never been in or drove a 03 or newer. I'm just starting to wonder though if I would be in for more headaches with the 03 than I am with the 01? Things are good with my 01 (besides replacing every injector, and now my sway bar bushings). Should I wait till a 04 or newer one is in the $14,000 range? I guess my question is, if and when I upgrade to the the 2nd gen, would the 03 be a mistake?
 
A mistake? Not really. If it's an early model 2003, the coils, valve cover gaskets and plugs are covered by Ford for 10 years or 100,000 miles. This is complete separate from any extended warranty coverage you might get with the car.

I have an '03 and love it. More power, more features, better looking interior (IMO). If you can swing it, go for it.

:Beer
 
Having driven both - they do have a different 'feel' with the 03+ having little less connection to the road - the power steernig, throttle-by-wire and brakes are a tad more 'assisted'. Not a bad thing, but depends on what you are looking for in the driving experience.

The 03 is the start of the Gen2 model - and had more issues as a result (similar to the 2000 having the most issue of the Gen1 LSes).

The Gen2 have more power out of the box, the Gen1 reacts better to mods.

A few more mods available for Gen1.
 
Alright thanks guys. So when I finally do switch to the 2nd gen, buying an 04 over an 03 wouldnt necessarily give me any less mechanical problems? Or would it? I remember seeing somewhere a breakdown of each year and the percentage of problems and which ones were more mechanically sound than others. Don't know if it was here or in a consumers report or what. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Thanks again.
 
2003 0r 2004?

I have a 2003 V-8 and really like it a lot!! 65K miles and some small problems. window regulator, transmission solenoid pack and one coil and one ABS sensor. All under warranty which ended at 50K miles. Also got a new 6-CD player because we messed up and put some home made CD's with labels in it that got stuck! I have one problem now with the heater being too cool. I will change the coolant and replace the DCCV ($100 at Rock Auto).

2004 is newer so probably a bit better BUT Ford started to decontent the LS after the 2003 year. I think they already decided that the LS was going to be canceled. I like the rear door threshold guards with the LS on them. And the rain sensitive wipers. The 2004 does get you SAT radio and is much easier to install a ipod interface. I would look for one with backing sensors and the side curtain airbags. The factory NAV is OK but not great. After market units seem better? Really the cars are so close I would try to get the best deal with the lowest miles.
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