Purchasing a '24 GT Plus Minor Changes I've Noticed From My '21 Premium and GTPE

[Mach-Lee]

Thanks for the detailed list of changes. I'm wondering about another one, it looks like the new windshield doesn't have the IRR coating anymore? IIRC you have to get the glass roof to get IRR windshield now.

If you replace the front windows with laminated, I'd be hopeful for a short write up on that and how much a difference it makes. I'm debating that one but it's expensive if it doesn't help much.

The top end 75+ MPH is really where the new GT's shine because of the removed 5 second limit. I agree down low they are mostly the same unless you can get enough grip to notice the extra torque.

Also curious about the headlights, do the high beams still fade in and out? I know it's a new design but didn't get to test it out in the dark. Are the low beams as bright and do they still have the nice sharp cutoff with wide coverage?

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[markboris]

I am a bit younger than you and have owned only seven cars. The Mustang is my second favorite, after my '98 Lexus LS400. I suspect my criteria are not the same as yours. I loved the Lexus, and drove it for 25 years. But the Mustang is growing on me!

Yes, Iconic Silver is nice, hope it makes a comeback.

Not sure if age has a lot to do with how many cars I've had because some people keep cars a very long time and others change them out more often. Also some one have one car, some multiple. Prior to being 60 I usually always had three vehicles. A work truck, a daily driver or beater car and a specialty (weekend) car. The work truck and DD I would change out every 3-5 years and the specialty 5-7. Since 60 just two now. No work truck anyone, just DD and specialty. So you can see how I've had quite a few vehicles in my lifetime. Winding down now for sure. I will have had my GT500 (weekender) 5 years this coming January and never getting rid of it. Only has 7500 miles on her but they are some of the best. The Mach-E is my DD of course and only drive 15K miles a year now. For over 35 years, I was driving 35K-45K per year between all the vehicles. My second favorite besides the Mach-E was my 2007 F-150 King Ranch. I know it's a truck but was such a great vehicle. Had it for 7 years and put 285K miles on it before selling it and never had one major issue with it at all.

Iconic Silver is a beautiful color. Much darker than Ingot Silver that I had several other Ford's in and it has so much more metallic in it. Silver is usually listed as being in the top 3 or 4 most popular colors of any vehicle on the road. Why Ford offers it in every other vehicle they make but not the Mach-E (only had it in '21) is a mystery to me. Now Ford has a new silver called Space Silver and it is available only on the Expedition and Escape so far. I have not seen this color in person yet but anxious to find out what it is like.

 

[FriendlyLightning]

Art is probably one of the best salespersons I've ever met. We talked about racing, Shelby's, EV's and all sorts of things. He is the only one that gets to drive the Ford GT (supercar) in the showroom once a month to keep it fresh. We've been texting photos and stories back and forth the last couple of weeks. I really wanted to buy my car from him. I should have when Joe bought his car as they had one at that time (beginning of October). I don't even want to talk about San Tan.

I didn’t know he’s the one that gets to drive the Shelby! ? that’s awesome!

At the time of my purchase, I sent a photo of the Shelby to my car-oblivious mother, telling her that’s the one I bought. Purposefully took a pic from the back where the cord comes out so I could say, “They’re charging it up for me” ?

 

[ack154]

All these crazy lease deals and I'll probably never be able to lease unless it's a second vehicle. 18k in my first year. Not paying that overage on a lease.

 

[dpnelson]

Most all of the "cheapening" does not really concern or affect me except the front side windows. Joe buys his '24 GT last month built in June and it has acoustic windows. I buy mine built last month and it does not. I ordered both windows this morning which won't be in for a couple of weeks since Ford does not have them in stock and they are coming directly from the supplier. They are very easy to install so won't be a problem there, however they are expensive at about $350 each. Not sure exactly how much they will quiet down the wind noise and exterior car and truck sounds but this car is a bit louder in that area than my '21 was. I would not concern yourself about the lack of acoustic padding behind the door panels. I don't think it does all that much and if you want, also easy to put some of that back in there.

I agree. That's a really big change to make as a mid-year running update. It's not obvious, and anyone cross-shopping other brands and relying on media reviews will be reading/watching reviews that were done on a model with laminated glass.

I'm looking to buy either a GT or a Hyundai/Kia equivalent once all of the 2025 updates and EPA ranges shake out. It's good to know that a new GT will at least a little louder than the one I tested at Electrify Expo last year. (I was amazed how quiet it was, and liked it better than the Kia I tested)

Hyundai/Kia is ADDING sound deadening with their 2025 updates.

 

[markboris]

I'm so happy for you Mark. What a steal of a deal! I've only ever heard great things about The Ford Store at Morgan Hill and I'm glad that tradition continues. If/when I go shopping again they'll definitely be very high on my list of places to go.

Now that you've had the car for a whole 24 hours, how do you like the Glacier Grey Metallic?

Thanks John! Yes, cannot say enough good things about The Ford Store Morgan Hill. Honestly this is the first time dealing with them for sales so maybe I just got lucky but I doubt it. Seems like everyone there I talked to was super nice. I have a Ford dealership (Sonora Ford) literally 2 1/2 miles from my home. The are a super small dealership and also carry Subaru. I have had friends from out of town actually come here to buy vehicles because they do offer really good deals and I know the general manager and parts manager personally. Super people but they just don't have the volume of vehicles to choose from. While I do all of my own maintenance and light duty repairs, as far as warranty service or major repairs, you and I both know Serramonte Ford has been my favorite. It is 2 1/2 hours away from me but Jason (close personal friend for over 30 years) takes very good care of my vehicles if they need any major work.

Glacier Gray is growing on me. It is a different color with a different tone in every light. For some reason, a camera does not really show that color and tone properly. Every photo I take, the color looks brighter than it actually is. In person in my garage with just overhead lighting, it looks like a darker gray with a bluish tint but take a photo of it and it looks much lighter. Outside though, with the sun and ambient light coming from all angles, it looks much lighter and has a greenish-yellowish tint to it. Here is an example. My friend Joe in AZ bought the same car last month and I was there a couple of weeks ago helping him with some mods. Sound deadening, tinting lenses, installed JL Sub among other things. In the two days I was there, it seemed like I saw three different colors of that car.

I have posted these in the Glacier Gray Club thread but will post them here also. You would swear you are looking at three different colors.

Glacier Gray late afternoon and slightly cloudy.

Glacier Gray in early morning direct sunlight:

Glacier Gray in garage with only overhead LED 3000K lighting:

 

[RickMachE]

I posted back in 2022 I compared the 2021 with acoustic glass vs the 2022 without, and there was zero difference. I think you're wasting $700.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...mpered-front-windows-make-a-difference.18320/

 

[markboris]

Thanks for the detailed list of changes. I'm wondering about another one, it looks like the new windshield doesn't have the IRR coating anymore? IIRC you have to get the glass roof to get IRR windshield now.

If you replace the front windows with laminated, I'd be hopeful for a short write up on that and how much a difference it makes. I'm debating that one but it's expensive if it doesn't help much.

The top end 75+ MPH is really where the new GT's shine because of the removed 5 second limit. I agree down low they are mostly the same unless you can get enough grip to notice the extra torque.

Also curious about the headlights, do the high beams still fade in and out? I know it's a new design but didn't get to test it out in the dark. Are the low beams as bright and do they still have the nice sharp cutoff with wide coverage?

Hi Lee, how would I know if the windshield has the IRR coating on it? Should I check to see if the numbers on my windshield are different than a car with the glass roof?

I am going to replace the front windows with the laminated type. I ordered them yesterday. Not sure how much of a difference it will make but I like a quiet car and anything I can do to make it quieter I will do it. There was a slight difference in wind and road noise on my drive home compared to my '21 and the '24 had more noticeable noise coming through that window. It will not be very easy to compare and doubt measuring it with a decibel meter would show up anything. Replacing the window is very easy. Take off the door panel, lower the window down about half way until you can see the two mounting screws in the inspection holes in the window regulator panel and remove them. Lift out the window. I am going to have those side windows tinted to match the rear windows prior to me installing them.

Yes having that 3 hours drive home on long stretch back roads allowed for a lot of passing and was happy to see the car just kept going and going. No more reduction of power above 75-80. I mean it seemed like my Premium was faster passing than the GT. Also, after passing, I only had one or two gray bars (didn't have my glasses on) which went away quickly afterwards.

The high beams do still fade in and out. On my GT being a '21 I had to enable that feature through FORScan so I have had it all along and was hoping the '24 still had it. Around where I live it is very very dark. There are NO streetlights anywhere on any streets except right in the downtown. The high beams are always going on automatically and I noticed right away they were just slightly less bright than the ones on my '21. They are still plenty bright though. The low beams seem to be exactly the same. Same brightness and the very sharp cutoff with a wide dispersion.

 

[markboris]

I didn’t know he’s the one that gets to drive the Shelby! ? that’s awesome!

At the time of my purchase, I sent a photo of the Shelby to my car-oblivious mother, telling her that’s the one I bought. Purposefully took a pic from the back where the cord comes out so I could say, “They’re charging it up for me” ?

Yep, that's the car Art gets to drive once a month. I took that same photo when I was there. It's not actually a Shelby though. Just called a Ford GT. It is their supercar kind of like a Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, etc. They were recently offered 1.9M for it from a customer and they refused to sell it. I would have like to have bought one when they first came out for the retail price of $450K but no way could afford it.

 

[markboris]

I posted back in 2022 I compared the 2021 with acoustic glass vs the 2022 without, and there was zero difference. I think you're wasting $700.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...mpered-front-windows-make-a-difference.18320/

I remember you posting that now that you mentioned it. While there may not have been a difference in the cars you tested, there was a difference for me. It was slight but noticeable. I spent 3 full hours driving down in my '21 and a couple of hours later spend 3 hours driving back in my '24 and it was noticeable. It's hard to explain. It is not a huge difference at all and NOT louder, just you notice sounds more. I don't think it is anything I can actually measure with a decibel meter because I wouldn't see a difference. I can hear certain noises more pronounced.

In my '21 I never heard wind noise from the mirror unless I was going about 80 mph or faster. This car, I can hear that same wind noise starting around 60 mph. Now, maybe this car has an issue with the mirror and wind noise which is causing me to hear it more. That is entirely possible. Then there was the occasional loud semi-truck that went by and I sure noticed that more than I had before. Another thing that may be causing this difference is I sound deadened my doors in the '21 and that will quiet down the vehicles that are passing by but I'm pretty sure the noise I was hearing was coming from outside the window. I will be sound deadening the doors this weekend then replacing the windows when they come in in a couple of weeks. I may be wasting $700 but at least I know I've done the best I can to make the car as quiet as possible.

 

[RickMachE]

The Mach-E is just a noisy car. Our 2021 was overall quieter than our 2022. I complained about the 22, asked the dealer to install the strip of rubber on the front edge that was a fix for the 21s, and they refused. I asked them to take it for a drive with a roll of tape so they could verify what I had found, they said they sub it out to a glass shop, who might choose to pull the roof and or windshield in the solution. I asked them to talk to the shop to say I'd approve up to replacements, but didn't want them pulled, and never heard back.

The Lightning is quieter at all speeds than the Mach-E, not even close. It's also a better ride. And the Lariat in Sport Mode blows away the Premium in any mode. Too bad it's 40% less efficient.

 

[markboris]

I agree. That's a really big change to make as a mid-year running update. It's not obvious, and anyone cross-shopping other brands and relying on media reviews will be reading/watching reviews that were done on a model with laminated glass.

I'm looking to buy either a GT or a Hyundai/Kia equivalent once all of the 2025 updates and EPA ranges shake out. It's good to know that a new GT will at least a little louder than the one I tested at Electrify Expo last year. (I was amazed how quiet it was, and liked it better than the Kia I tested)

Hyundai/Kia is ADDING sound deadening with their 2025 updates.

I posted a reply above to Rick about this acoustic (laminated) window and it's really not a huge difference in sound. The non-acoustic glass is NOT any louder, you can just hear noises a little more pronounced. It is very easy to see if the model you are looking at has the acoustic window or not. It will either say laminated or tempered right on the glass. One thing I will mention that I did not before is the windshield is acoustic and has the words SoundScreen on it in the lower left corner. I can definitely tell you that windshield makes a big difference in the sound. I had two F-150's, both 2007 and one was an XL with a standard windshield and the other was a King Ranch with the SoundScreen windshield. The lesser wind noise that the SoundScreen windshield had was dramatic. Had a SoundScreen windshield on my 2014 Escape which had less noise than my friend's 2013 Escape without it.

I don't know how much of a difference in cost it is for Ford between the acoustic and non-acoustic side windows but at a retail price, the acoustic window is $100 more than non-acoustic. I will assume they are saving a ton of money by going with the non-acoustic front side windows.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I owed less than you probably because I put down a hefty down payment. I think it was $20K.

I have two Emporia EV charges, one on each side of the garage (inside) so no did not take advantage of their charge station and yes I took the $1K which was part of the $15K rebates.

I put down something in the same neighborhood ($25.9K), but there was a string of paperwork mix-ups at Ford Credit so my first payment wasn’t due until a couple of months after I got the car, so it’s a combination of my car’s financing starting a few months after yours and the 4 year Options term I signed on for. ??

 

[markboris]

The Mach-E is just a noisy car. Our 2021 was overall quieter than our 2022. I complained about the 22, asked the dealer to install the strip of rubber on the front edge that was a fix for the 21s, and they refused. I asked them to take it for a drive with a roll of tape so they could verify what I had found, they said they sub it out to a glass shop, who might choose to pull the roof and or windshield in the solution. I asked them to talk to the shop to say I'd approve up to replacements, but didn't want them pulled, and never heard back.

The Lightning is quieter at all speeds than the Mach-E, not even close. It's also a better ride. And the Lariat in Sport Mode blows away the Premium in any mode. Too bad it's 40% less efficient.

I agree with you that the Mach-E is a noisy car. Definitely up there with one of the more noisier cars I have had. That is why I try to do what I can to make it quieter. Sound deadening, tires with acoustic foam and this '24 has no glass roof which is one of my main reasons for purchasing it. In my '21 I actually covered the glass roof inside with foam then the shade over that. I also agree with you on the Lightning. I think some of the quieter vehicles I've had were my F-150's believe it or not. Riding in a Platinum F-150 is like being in a library.

 

[BugStomper]

@markboris If I only read your bullet list of changes between the '21 and '24 model, I would have concluded that the '24 is noticeable lower quality with respect to driver amenities. What is the fit and finish like ?

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