[Mattd76]

I am looking at buying a 1988 LX 5.0, It has 110,000 and its a 5 speed. Is there anything in particular I should look for that could be wrong with the car? It looks to be in excellent condition by the photos of it. Also, what would be a good price to offer because right now its listed at $4,500 which seems pretty high to me. This will be my first mustang so I'm hoping everything is good with the car.

[93hatch]

start at 3500, with the price of gas these things are gettin cheaper to buy every day

[Mattd76]

I was thinking of starting at $3000, do you think that this is to low?

[White Thunder]

try it....

[Smirnoff]

buy it

[93hatch]

Originally Posted by Mattd76 I was thinking of starting at $3000, do you think that this is to low?

never just try it, if it doesnt work, go up, but dont go over 4k

[Mattd76]

I think next week I'm going to talk to my dad and see if we can take a ride down there to look at it in person.

[White Thunder]

thats your best bet

[Mattd76]

So there's nothing in particular that I have to look for with this car? Like any parts that usually could go wrong.

[White Thunder]

give it a good inspection and look for rust....check all fluids and look for fluid build up on or around the engine. drive the car.....look up under at the rear end and trans....

[86_Notch]

look under the car for rust at the floor pan, also check the gaps on the body panels, they won't be perfect but if there is a large gap or if the gap is completely close then the car's probably been wrecked , check to make sure the heater core hoses are connected to the heater core ( if the hoses are looped bypassing the heater core then it leaks and need to be replaced ) also check the oil , make sure it holds decent oil pressure ( especially when the car warms up ) , and pop the radiator cap, if the coolant is brown then most likely the car hasn't been well maintained and nothing beats a good old test drive , this will expose any serious flaw and all the squeaks and rattles

[Mattd76]

Ok sounds like nothing out of the ordinary when buying a used car. I hope next week when I take a look at it everything is good because I am sick of driving my damn mountaineer around.

[1slo5.0]

Originally Posted by Mattd76 I was thinking of starting at $3000, do you think that this is to low?

$3000-$3500 is fair. Anymore than that and I'd be looking around for another car. Fox bodies are all over the place. Some people think they are worth their weight in gold but there are others that are more realistic with their prices.

[flyin ryan]

Take a look at the underside of the car.. check the torque boxes if there damaged then the car has been beat on bad and will require a few hundred dollars in welding work to repair those torque boxes.. also check all the floor pans for any rust, check under the hatchback area for any rust(very common on these cars) and like normal car check all fluids and the color/smell of them.. I always cringe when I see a super clean motor under the hood of a car im looking to buy simply because iwth it being all cleaned up you can't see if it was a leaker or gauge how well it's been maintained. Also when the car is good and warmed up take the oil fill cap off and check for any smoke coming out.. if there is a decent amount then it'll need rings, or put your hand over the fill tube and if there's a good amount of pressure pushing out on you then it's got a good amount of blue by and will need rings and more soon.

after the car's been warmed up and test driven turn it off and check the over flow to see if the coolent bubbles.. if so the head gasket could be bad or on it's way out

Just some ideas to take into consideration when checking out these cars

[88_5.0_Mustang]

The great thing about email is you can test the waters without the person knowing who you are. If I find a car on craigslist I often send a bunch of lowball offers(from different email addresses) to make my real offer look a little better(plus, you never know if the person may accept a lowball offer).

[Mattd76]

Could someone please tell me what torque boxes are? I have never heard of them.

[Hunt_chevs]

Originally Posted by Mattd76 I was thinking of starting at $3000, do you think that this is to low?

i paid 2k for mines,... did need a bunch of work but at the time i had been searching for months, maybe years. 2k seemed like a low price at the time compared to the junkbox's i was looking at that barely idled going for 4500ish

[93hatch]

Originally Posted by Mattd76 Could someone please tell me what torque boxes are? I have never heard of them.

im almost positive its where the lower control arms connect to the car

[Mattd76]

Originally Posted by 93hatch im almost positive its where the lower control arms connect to the car

Thanks for the answer maybe someone else could chime in to confirm

[Burn'nRubber]

There are two sets of torque boxes(uppers and lowers) they are located where the upper and lower control arms connect to the body.