1998 Ford Mustang GT

No clear pattern

0% of complaints about the 1998 Ford Mustang GT arrived in its first year of service. That is an unusual figure for a 1998 vehicle, but with only 56 complaints on record the sample is too small to call it a pattern — the margin of error covers the range where ordinary vehicles sit. The figures below are reported without a verdict. The most-reported system is engine cooling (45 complaints), typically at 7.2 yr or about 84,782 miles.

Complaints: 56
Median age at failure: 7.2 yr
Median mileage: 82,000 n=42
Crash / fire / tow: 8.9% of reports
Safety recalls: 0

In owners’ own words

Engine cooling mileage not reported 5.2 yr in service

THE PLASTIC INTAKE MANIFOLD CRACKED AND LEAKED COOLANT ONTO THE ENGINE AND OTHER RELATED COMPONETS. *JB

Engine cooling 50,000 mi 5.6 yr in service

PLASTIC INTAKE MANIFOLD CRACKED, LEAKING RADIATOR FLUID. FORD WILL FIX THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM ON THE 97 MUSTANG, BUT NOT THE 98. *NLM

Engine cooling 60,000 mi 6.2 yr in service

INTAKE MANIFOLD FAILED, CAUSING ANTIFREEZE TO LEAK. THIS PROBLEM MAKES IT HARD FOR CONSUMER TO START VEHICLE. DEALERSHIP WAS NOTIFIED, BUT THE PROBLEM WAS NOT RESOLVED.*AK

Other Mustang GT model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

1998 Ford Mustang GT

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

In owners’ own words

Other Mustang GT model years

How to read this