So I'm not much of a Mustang guy, never have been and probably never will be. Just not my style. But my boyfriend likes them...he knows nothing about them, he just thinks they're pretty So he is seriously considering getting one for his first car soon, as it's about time he gets a car to keep at college with him. Since he's on spring break right now he's trying to get it this week, and has enlisted me in helping him pick out a good 'Stang as I know a fair amount about cars and neither he nor anyone else in his family knows anything about them. However, I have to do this long distance. All that aside, his budget is around $10,000 or so, and he cannot drive a manual transmission, nor does he have ANY desire to own one, which does eliminate about half our options. He would prefer the V8 but could do a V6 if he got a good deal on one. Anyway, down to my question. In your experiences, what have you heard about the reliability of Mustangs, both the V6 and the V8? Especially those with higher miles on them...for example, he really likes this one, and will be looking at it tomorrow. From the pictures it seems like it's been taken care of, but not knowing much about these cars, I don't know how reliability is once the miles start approaching 100K. I've never known anyone who has owned one for any period of time either, so I have no experience in the Mustang department at all. I really wish he had a desire to own a manual, because this one looks like a much better deal...a little over budget but he could still afford it, and a helluva lot less miles plus three years newer and the newer body style which IMO looks better. It is a V6 but he doesn't care about speed or power anyway, he only wants the V8 'cos I said that if I had one I'd have the V8 :headbang: I feel like Mustangs are pretty reliable and that if he falls in love with the grey one, he would be safe to buy it. I see Mustangs all over the place, including some of them that look like they've seen better days but are still on the road. But considering this is my boyfriend's car (that I will also be spending a lot of the time behind the wheel of, he hates driving) I want to make sure that I'm correct in my assessment of the reliability of these vehicles before I advise him to buy a car or stay away from it.
I had a 2003 mustang GT. Good car, didnt have any issues with it. Sold it with under 40k miles though.
Or, I've just found this Scion, which I personally would choose over the Mustang. He seems to like it as well.
Both seem pretty decent. Wouldn't worry too much about the mileage as I would about service history and who the previous owner and what they did with the car. Cars usually have a big maintenance scheduled around 80k miles so look into that. Scion is alright all I've heard are good things about them from friends with the car, and you cant go wrong with a Toyota, but the ford will definitely be cheaper to service in the long run.
The only problem I see with a stang is what did the previous owner do to it? I had a 2000 GT with a lot of work and drag races it at local tracks atleast 2x a month but it was maintained well. In 5 years and 70k miles I replaced an oil seal on the crank sensor and reatached the trans cooler hose that blew off one morning
Not exactly true. While the parts for the Scion may be 5% more expensive, the hourly labor charge is probably the same and the Yota will break and need replacement parts much less often. Rusty, I'm curious as why he would want an automatic and a V8...it just doesn't make sense. If he's getting it auto, it's because he likes the look of it and doesn't care for performance (as you've mentioned) so why get the V8? It just makes little sense to pay more and get the same looks. Also, chances are the V6 has been less trashed around than the V8.
He would want the V8 'cos it's still faster than the V6, I think he cares somewhat about performance but has no desire to learn to drive a manual...even though he's not bad at it. I had him drive my GTI once and before he started panicking and stalling out the car he was doing really really good. Another consideration is this one. I don't think it's as nice looking as the V8 that I posted earlier (minus the horrible pinstriping on it) but it is cheaper with the same mileage. Honestly with Mustangs I worry what the owner has done to them, period...V8 or V6, automatic or manual. In high school my friends brother briefly owned a V6 automatic Mustang...and he thrashed the hell outta that thing. And he wasn't the only one, there were a few kids with V6 'Stangs who drove them really hard. With a car like a Mustang (especially one with a lot of miles on it) I just worry that it may have been owned by someone who liked to really hot rod it. Scions have become really popular among people my age but they seem to be more of a fashion statement than the kind of car kids drive really hard and fast. Plus like has been said before, it's a Toyota and will just be more reliable in general, plus it's newer than the Mustangs so it'll have a more up-to-date interior (something my boyfriend really would appreciate) plus I feel like it's just more him...he wears dark clothes and lots of Calvin Klein things. Scion seems much more fitting.
If he likes mustangs, definitely look at some Cobras. Goddam I love the sound they make. Plus they look amazing.
I had an '02 GT with full bolt-ons and 4.10s back in the day. Never had any issues, and had a lot of fun with it. I sold it with around 46,000 miles, so I can't speak on high mileage reliability first hand. With the number of Mustangs out there, you shouldn't have an issue finding one that was enthusiast owned, and well maintained. A 99/01 Cobra should still pull more than $10k, although a friend of mine sold his for almost that cheap a little while ago, so who knows what you could find. A well maintained 03/4 Cobra should still be listed $20k+. Edit: Come to think of it, a good friend of mine just picked up a mint 04 Mach 1 with 19,600 miles for $14,000. Check the Mustang forums, you should be able to put yourself in a GT with way less miles than what you're linking for $10,000.
Welllll the information I posted is most likely null and void. His mother (funding his car) told him he cannot get his car this week, but must wait till the weekend after this weekend, which is his birthday weekend, before she will buy him a car. Rather inconvenient for everyone involved, as that requires his mother to make another 4 hour drive and back to Lexington to pick him up so he can go back home and pick out a car, and it means he and I have to research cars again as the ones we found probably won't be around in almost two weeks
