Ford Mustang coupe - Reliability & safety
The Mustang's simple engineering should be reliable, while safety technology has been improved
Some sports cars have a reputation for being fragile and highly strung, but this isn't really the case for the Mustang, which is famously even available as a rental car in the USA. Ford subjects the Mustang to the same rigorous reliability and safety testing as its more mainstream models.
Ford Mustang reliability
Reliability isn’t the top reason to buy a sports car but it’s important nonetheless. Having parts shared with other Fords should inspire confidence and the car has always had a good record for reliability in the US. Enthusiasts have high expectations, and it has been the world’s best-selling sports coupe for the past three years. This means we’d expect the latest Mustang to be pretty durable.
In our 2021 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, Ford was 25th overall out of 29 manufacturers, only ahead of Citroen and budget brands like MG and Dacia. A slightly worrying 21.4% of owners reported one or more faults with their car within the first year of ownership - although only a tiny proportion of respondents will be Mustang owners.
Safety
The Mustang was given a dreadful two-star overall rating out of a possible five by independent crash safety experts Euro NCAP. It scored middling 72% for its adult occupant protection and a disappointing 32% for the way children are looked after in an accident.
Its overall rating was also tempered by a very low 16% score for its safety assistance systems. Following improvements by Ford, the Mustang was tested again in 2017 and scored three stars, with 61% in the safety assistance category. The Adi A5 and BMW Z4 get five stars.
Autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection as standard, along with a system to help keep you from drifting out of a lane. The design of the front airbags was also improved.
The facelifted 2018 car is offered with adaptive cruise control, safe distance warnings, lane-departure warning and a system designed to help you stay in lane, all for the first time in the Mustang. Ford is hoping these additions will lead to an improved Euro NCAP rating.
Standard safety equipment includes a total of eight airbags, a tyre pressure-monitoring system, electronic stability control, traction control and anti-lock brakes, while Emergency Brake Assist can increase braking force to bring the car to a halt sooner if it detects you’re making an emergency stop.
