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Last week I traded in my 2011 Mustang GT (5.0) 6 speed on a CPO 2015 FR-S. The mustang isn't without its merits, but I felt that the car was too far off from where I wanted it to be. I got a great trade-in on my Mustang, which I had gotten a great price for 2.5 years ago. At first I was intoxicated by the power and the sound of the car with only the GT500 axleback installed on the car. After that wore off and I realized I was breaking the law every time I stepped on the gas the car, I started looking at different cars.
I cross shopped cars over all different segments. I thought about taking on more debt and stepping up to a Cayman S, C6 Z06, or an e90 M3. Ultimately I decided I didn't want a bigger car payment so I started looking in the "cheap & fun" category. That narrowed the cars down to the twins, focus ST, and the fiesta st. I was a big fan of the ST's but honestly loved the feel & look of the FR-S better.
Another thing that I would caution people about looking at 2011-2014 Mustangs is that there is a nagging traction control issue that has not even gotten a TSB let alone a recall. The issue will pop up randomly while you are driving and the traction control will start applying the brakes seemingly at random and it causes the car to shake violently. I took the car to the dealer while it was under warranty and they couldn't find or reproduce the issue. Other owners that drive their mustangs a lot more than me had to have the dealership put a black box in the car for months before they could track the issue down. It never popped up for me a second time, but it always stuck in the back of my mind as a potentially huge safety issue.
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