[heretic81]

Hey there. I just bought a white 94 Mustang V6 5-speed coupe with several mods. This is what the guy said he did to it:

"I have a 94 mustang 5 speed manual transmition! 3.8 L it has lots of mods done to it. i have cold air intake, long tube headers, flowmaster 40 series exhaust short throw shifter, racing clutch, 17 inch rims, the cylinders have been boared out so its like a 4.0L...Its got power windows and locks. its got plenty of power. needs nothing, had clutch replaced about 6 thousand miles ago. oil changed every 3000 miles. i am a mechaic so this car is running very nice.Has 163,000 miles and no rust. just had the egr valve cleaned, new plugs and wires. head gasket replaced less than 3000 miles ago. this car is ready to roll. And i forgot to mention the awesome sound system it has, alpine speakers an amplifier and a subwoofer. this car looks awesome and runs very nice!!"

As far as the "needs nothing" part goes, he neglected to mention that it had been in an accident where the airbags had both been deployed, which caused the frame to bend a little, I just had to buy four new tires and get an all-wheel alignment, and was told that the tie rods are loose, and the wheel bearings may be shot. On top of that, while I was driving home from the tire shop, I shifted kind of funny, and all of a sudden, the engine started sputtering, and the smell of gasoline just inundated the whole passenger cabin. I drove it home, and by the end of the drive, it just smelt mostly like exhaust, and continues to do so.

Also, there's a high-pitched whine that comes from the speakers, that seems to follow the engine somehow. Oh, and the front passenger side wheel well is sagging and rubbing on the tire, and the after-market headlights seem as if they were incorrectly installed (they seem loose). Oh yeah, and the front bumper isn't connected properly underneath, and the pony emblem is gone.

So, taking her to the shop tomorrow. I'm sure they'll have a laundry list of crap for me, but I'm hoping it'll at least pass inspection for now.

Any idea on where a broke guy should start with fixing this wonderful piece of machinery back up to her true potential, or do you think I should trade her in for something better? Remember- I'm broker than broke and unemployed at the moment, so be gentle! heh I plan on getting a job ASAP, and using all my extra $ to get myself a reliable, safe, and FAST Mustang!

[WhtStang00]

pics?

[heretic81]

Originally Posted by WhtStang00 pics?

He had some on his listing, but I'm pretty sure they weren't this car... I'll try to put one up soon.

[HMUSN]

Pretty sure you should take that car back.

Sounds like a pile.

[IloveMYcar]

heres some advice, take it back and buy a GT...

but seriously how much you pay for it if you dont mind me askin

[RFM 40th V6]

Unfortunately I have to agree. If you want a fast car go back and get the GT. He may already have some things done to it but unless you got the car for a grand it's probably not worth it.

I just got my 2000 GT for $1700. I'm more than certain there are some affordable GT's in your area.

Best of luck on whatever you decide to do though.

[WhtStang00]

i agree with all the previous statements...it sounds like it was talked up ALOT, but you should see how much you can get for it

[heretic81]

Well, because I love Mustangs, I was "blinded by the light" and overlooked a lot of the problems. I definitely did not take my time looking it over. You see, I just bought an '01 Mustang for $1,300 6 months ago that had 260,000 miles on it, tons of rust, and all kinds of problems with it. But it ran, and it was the best I could do. So, when I saw this Mustang I thought right off the bat that this one was much better than the last one I bought, and I figured I'd be willing to spend at least twice as much on it. So I did!

There really aren't any good deals around here on Mustangs for some reason. I looked all over craigslist, vehix.com, and I looked through some local print ads. The only Mustangs in the >$3,000 range were 3rd or 4th gens, and none of them seemed really attractive. This was, as far as I could tell, the best deal around, and I talked the guy down $400.

However, after careful consideration (and everybody's comments here), I'm going to call the guy today and tell him that I'm going to stop payment on the $2,000 check I wrote to him (gave him that and $600 cash), and offer to either return the car for the rest of my money and just take the $350 hit on the tires/alignment, or I can give him another check for $1,000 and keep the car. Does anybody think that's a good idea, taking into consideration the fact that I LOVE Mustangs and really don't have the money or the opportunity to find a better one?

[Triple A]

get rid of that car. spend your money on something reliable. just because you love something doesn't mean you should buy a piece of shit. there are a lot of reliable cars you can buy for under 3 grand, just settle one of those and save up until you can afford a newer mustang.

and never buy a project car if you're broke.

[heretic81]

Originally Posted by Triple A get rid of that car. spend your money on something reliable. just because you love something doesn't mean you should buy a piece of shit. there are a lot of reliable cars you can buy for under 3 grand, just settle one of those and save up until you can afford a newer mustang. and never buy a project car if you're broke.

Thanks, man. I have read some of your other posts and get the impression that you're a pretty sensible guy. I realizethat it's possible to find a better car for $3,000, but I seriously LOVE Mustangs, and hate driving other cars. I've had a Shadow, a Protege, a Sunfire, and even an Econoline conversion van, and every time I drove them, I saw Mustangs everywhere and it always sent a little shock of pain to think that I wasn't in one. Being in a Mustang when I see another Mustang makes me feel all warm inside, and I don't want to go back! Even if it means having a bit of a POS for a while until I can get the money to fix it up.

However, I agree that this particular Mustang is an especially big POS, and it was a mistake to pay more than $1,000 for it. But I know I can fix it up reasonably well if I have that extra grand, and then wait for next year's taxes to do the rest.

No? I don't think this guy will still have the $600 I gave him, and I really don't think he'll agree to pay for the $350 worth of tires I just put on it, which my wife says she refuses to take the hit on. So, the chances of getting this guy to give me $1,000 to take his car back are pretty slim. So I don't really know what to do otherwise. My wife just put a stop-payment on the $2k check, though, so I guess that's a step in the right direction.

[Triple A]

no prob, man. just remember that there is always gonna be a better deal down the line, you've just gotta be patient.

[b1gdaddy98]

That's tough man, i'm sorry to hear about your misfortune. That is why I usually won't buy anything from a Mechanic. Nothing against mechanics but most of the low key ones will buy wrecked stuff and barely get it running so they can sell it. I just purchased a 98 v6 3.8 convertible mustang with only 85,000 miles on it for 3gs so there are def some mustangs out there for you. I wish you well and hope everything comes out how you want it to. Let us know how everything turns out.

[stangcharger]

look into a fox body 5.0L IMO. Cheap mods and can usually find them cheap. Hell we bought my dad's 91 fox for $4500 with a 30k miles gt40p motor in it, plus some other goodies.

Make sure and look it over though.

[WhtStang00]

^+1

around me, you can get a GOOD foxbody with decent miles for around 2.5k

[heretic81]

I'm not really big on the 3rd gens. IMO, that was the worst era for Mustangs, at least as far as styling is concerned. I really love 5th gens, and wish the last one I bought was better, cuz I'd still have it. I probably should have been patient and looked around, but I actually sold my vehicle kind of unexpectedly the morning that I was supposed to look at the Stang, so there was a bit of a rush to get A car... My bad, but hey, as it stands now, I really only paid $600 for it, and if this guy wants to be a jerk, that's all I'll pay for it (well, up front anyway).

[WhtStang00]

yeah i feel ya bro. well this time, i would definitely say to try to take as much time as possible because you never know what you will find

[b1gdaddy98]

yeah, whenever i'm looking at a used car I always ask the owner if I can drive it for a few hours or so and take it to my Mechanic/Computer and get everything looked at (cost me around 40-50$) which I feel is WELL worth it, I took a chance on my Mustang that i bought monday but so far so good! Good Luck man check Craigslist around your area or so.

[heretic81]

Originally Posted by b1gdaddy98 yeah, whenever i'm looking at a used car I always ask the owner if I can drive it for a few hours or so and take it to my Mechanic/Computer and get everything looked at (cost me around 40-50$) which I feel is WELL worth it, I took a chance on my Mustang that i bought monday but so far so good! Good Luck man check Craigslist around your area or so.

Yeah, I found one other Stang on craigslist (that's where I found the one I got), it's a 95 GT, but it's an automatic, and I am set on getting a manual. I might have been willing to compromise on that, but it also has a red leather interior (gross!). Here's the link, in case you're interested:

1995 FORD MUSTANG GT

That really was the only other option I could find in my area right now for $3k or less.

[b1gdaddy98]

Yeah that red interior is UGLY as can be, I'm highly satisfied with mine right now it's a automatic also I originally wanted a Manual but for the deal I got on mine I'm not worried about it at all. lol it's going to look pretty sweet when i'm done with it.

[stangcharger]

Originally Posted by heretic81 I'm not really big on the 3rd gens. IMO, that was the worst era for Mustangs, at least as far as styling is concerned. I really love 5th gens, and wish the last one I bought was better, cuz I'd still have it. I probably should have been patient and looked around, but I actually sold my vehicle kind of unexpectedly the morning that I was supposed to look at the Stang, so there was a bit of a rush to get A car... My bad, but hey, as it stands now, I really only paid $600 for it, and if this guy wants to be a jerk, that's all I'll pay for it (well, up front anyway).

You crazy man.

This is my dad's 5.0L, sexy as hell. Needs some Rims though and wider rear tires.




To each his own i guess.