Welcome ShelbyQuest18 to the forum.
Lot's of great info and folks here. Unfortunately, I'm still awaiting the delivery of my 2017 GT350 so can't address some of your questions above. However, in my case I paid cash for the car and upon notification of arrival by my dealer, I have a 48 hour "right of refusal" window, and can get a full refund for any reason. This is evidenced by a form from the dealer outlining the deal numbers and signed by both the dealer and myself. I would think you would have the same rights, but make sure you are clear about it (and get it in writing) from your dealer.
I have also seen the vids of the guy who ordered multiple Shelby's. IMO, he is a rather "exacting" individual as the first Shelby had a miner touch up near the drivers door jamb, which can happen during the shipping/transport process, but he was within his rights to decline the car. I have been doing a lot of reading up on the GT 350 in this and other GT350 forums and haven't seen a common concern about build quality.
I have seen the oil consumption concern, and while it (appears) to be a small % of the Shelby's, it does appear to be real. Back in '09 I purchased a new 911 Carrera S that burned about a qt per 1000 miles and was told "that's life with Porsche" (as a matter of fact they handed me a new quart of oil when I bought the car and told me to keep it handy). My 2012 Carrera S never burned a drop of oil...so hard to predict oil consumption. Part of the issue (IMO, from what I've read) is that Ford used a special cylinder bore pattern and liner to reduce friction, so it's taking more time for the rings to seat/seal? Combine that with the heavy use/track nature of this car and it makes sense to me that there would be increased oil consumption until everything seats. Having said that, I have read about a few cases where the oil consumption was unusually high and Ford either replaced the engine or is monitoring the consumption levels and could end up replacing the engine.
Check into the availability of the "convenience package" as (from what I've read) Ford initially underestimated the level of demand for this package and some of the customers who ordered the Convenience package had unusually long waiting time for their orders. Not sure though if this is still the case for the 2018 model year or not. I have also read that the 2018's will only be built during the latter part of this year, then production will be halted until mid-Spring and will resume for several months, so total production of 2018 models will be less than the 2016/2017 model years. Translated, if you do order the convenience package you could be in for a long wait AND if you are going to order a 2018 I'd get it in soon. I was initially going to order a 2018 with the convenience package and dealers were quoting me $10K to $15K over MSRP for the 2018 (not going to happen), so I ended up buying a 2017 on order at MSRP. Appears there are still a decent number of 2017's available and they can be found for MSRP, or even at a <slight> discount.
Good luck and hope to see you join the Shelby community - the GT350 really is a great car!!
Lot's of great info and folks here. Unfortunately, I'm still awaiting the delivery of my 2017 GT350 so can't address some of your questions above. However, in my case I paid cash for the car and upon notification of arrival by my dealer, I have a 48 hour "right of refusal" window, and can get a full refund for any reason. This is evidenced by a form from the dealer outlining the deal numbers and signed by both the dealer and myself. I would think you would have the same rights, but make sure you are clear about it (and get it in writing) from your dealer.
I have also seen the vids of the guy who ordered multiple Shelby's. IMO, he is a rather "exacting" individual as the first Shelby had a miner touch up near the drivers door jamb, which can happen during the shipping/transport process, but he was within his rights to decline the car. I have been doing a lot of reading up on the GT 350 in this and other GT350 forums and haven't seen a common concern about build quality.
I have seen the oil consumption concern, and while it (appears) to be a small % of the Shelby's, it does appear to be real. Back in '09 I purchased a new 911 Carrera S that burned about a qt per 1000 miles and was told "that's life with Porsche" (as a matter of fact they handed me a new quart of oil when I bought the car and told me to keep it handy). My 2012 Carrera S never burned a drop of oil...so hard to predict oil consumption. Part of the issue (IMO, from what I've read) is that Ford used a special cylinder bore pattern and liner to reduce friction, so it's taking more time for the rings to seat/seal? Combine that with the heavy use/track nature of this car and it makes sense to me that there would be increased oil consumption until everything seats. Having said that, I have read about a few cases where the oil consumption was unusually high and Ford either replaced the engine or is monitoring the consumption levels and could end up replacing the engine.
Check into the availability of the "convenience package" as (from what I've read) Ford initially underestimated the level of demand for this package and some of the customers who ordered the Convenience package had unusually long waiting time for their orders. Not sure though if this is still the case for the 2018 model year or not. I have also read that the 2018's will only be built during the latter part of this year, then production will be halted until mid-Spring and will resume for several months, so total production of 2018 models will be less than the 2016/2017 model years. Translated, if you do order the convenience package you could be in for a long wait AND if you are going to order a 2018 I'd get it in soon. I was initially going to order a 2018 with the convenience package and dealers were quoting me $10K to $15K over MSRP for the 2018 (not going to happen), so I ended up buying a 2017 on order at MSRP. Appears there are still a decent number of 2017's available and they can be found for MSRP, or even at a <slight> discount.
Good luck and hope to see you join the Shelby community - the GT350 really is a great car!!
