The Boss just turned 10,000 miles. In spite of some attitude from time-to-time, she continues to satisfy me daily. We drive to work, we get groceries, we have had a couple track days (not nearly enough), and we have even gone on a road trip. On one occasion, I shoehorned a kid into the back seat and my mother has even been in the Boss. The car behaves beautifully in every situation. Well, almost.
There are a few bad notations in the logbook:
- On at least two occasions, both on the street, when I was WOT and at very high RPM- I would go to shift into 4th gear and the gear lever would balk in neutral and not go into gear. That is a very disconcerting event under those circumstances. In both cases, I was able to slow the car (clutch still in), double-clutch and shift into gear. This has not occurred on the track. A few Boss forum members have reported the same behavior. Exact causation is still unknown. The shifter and the clutch are both suspect.
- The clutch pedal squeaks badly. I do not think this is related to the other problem. The noise is just an annoyance, but I plan to take the car by the dealership to have it checked.
- The Boss got a check engine light (CEL) while on the track. It did not go into limp mode, nor did the car seem to be affected in any way. The light went out after a couple of days and then started to go on and off again every other day or so. I took the car to the dealer and they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. They reset the light and it has not recurred.
- The last time I got the oil changed, it was a little low and I suspect that the Boss loses oil through the crankcase ventilation (PCV) system, especially at the track. All of the Boss race cars use aftermarket oil separators. I plan to get an oil separator and if possible, have the scavenged oil drain back into the oil pan.
- Gas mileage is dismal and nowhere near what the EPA claims is possible. I’m only getting 15.6 MPG in mixed driving.
The CEL happened to coincide with a scheduled oil change, so technically, I have had no unscheduled maintenance. The dealership has charged me $192.79 for two oil changes. No kiss and no car wash. The squeaky clutch pedal and poor gas mileage are the only issues that I have to contend with on a daily basis. This is still a great car.
This next month or so will be a big one for the Boss. We will be taking a very long road trip to Miller Motorsports Park in Utah for the Boss TrackAttack. There are some substantial modifications that will be made to the car soon. And then the Boss will be celebrating her first birthday on May 31.
This is her latest portrait. We took a road trip to the Double-First Ranch in Cross Plains, Texas to see my best friend David Sylvester and his girls. As I drove through Zephyr, Texas, I stopped and took this photo. I just thought the dilapidated building made a nice backdrop for the Boss. Nobody will believe me, but it wasn’t until after I got home and looked at the photo that I saw the faded, serendipitous name on the building – FORD MOTOR CO.
Please pin, tweet, and share! Most importantly, let me know what you think in the comments below.
