Buying a Mustang...

[JLanphear]

I remember a thread on here a while back talking a lot about Mustangs and Camaro's and etc, so I figured I'd post just to get some input.

I've been looking for a "toy" car for a while now. I had been wanting to get a newer Vette, but can't justify it at this time due to a potential career change in the near future.

However I still had the urge to get something to tinker on and mess around with, so I decided I'd get a Camaro, Trans-Am, or Mustang, something like that. Year ranges are like 98-early 2000's.

I found a few cars that I was interested in. I really liked this '01 Camaro SS that I had found, but I couldn't get the price to where I wanted it, and my wife really wasn't a huge fan (she's always liked mustangs).

I like the LS1's in the F-body's much better than the 4.6's in the Stang's, but I did run across some pretty decent mustangs in my search, and I think I have decided on one.

An '03 GT with a Vortech supercharger, intercooler, greddy BOV's, 4:10 gears, X-pipe, and other bolt ons, wheels & tires, and some other misc. cosmetics.

I've seen some videos of similiar setup cars on youtube and they seem really decent.

What do you guys think? Like I said I really would like an LS1, but I like the looks of the Trans AM's better than the Camaro's and the price on them are outrageous (at least around here). The camaro's seem a bit more reasonable, but this mustang I am looking at is still $2500 less than the Camaro SS I was considering.

Like I said, the SC'd mustangs I have seen on youtube seem really fun. I'm not looking to be the fastest guy in town, and this car will probably never see a drag strip, but I do want something with some decent power that's fun to cruise in.

I've been out of the car scene for quite a while, so just looking for any feedback you guys wanna give. Feel free to start a Chevy vs. Ford war if you want, any info I get out of it is appreciated.

Thanks.

-Josh

[Kickstarts-suck]

How many miles are on the Mustang? What is your budget?

Im a huge ford fan but yesterday at work there was a badass Camaro sitting in the parking lot with a crazy loping idle. He then got onto the road and spun 1st and 2nd then let off. Made my day.

I dont really care what it is as long as its fast.

[JLanphear]

Originally posted by Kickstarts-suck
How many miles are on the Mustang? What is your budget?

Im a huge ford fan but yesterday at work there was a badass Camaro sitting in the parking lot with a crazy loping idle. He then got onto the road and spun 1st and 2nd then let off. Made my day.

I dont really care what it is as long as its fast.

The car has 80k on it. A little more than I wanted, but it seems very well taken care of and the guy that owns it seems to know his stuff. Also, I talked him down to $7000 for the car. Another mustang I was look at was an '02 with 70k miles, but I couldn't get it for less than $8000. That car is very nice also, but only has an aftermarket exhaust and maybe a couple other minor bolt ons. Nothing like the Supercharged one I believe I'm getting.

My budget is pretty much in the $8000 area, but it really depends on the deal.

I'm not really biased to Chevy or Ford, but do prefer the Chevy's in the year/price range that I am looking at right now.

I gotta say though, I do like a lot of the bodykits available for Mustangs (and no I'm not talking about Fast and Furious type either don't worry...lol).

-Josh

Just throwing my .02 in but you can find 98-02 Z-28's for around 3-4k and they have the LS1 as well. Buy a cowl and some SS badges and no one would know the difference and you'll still have 2500-3k to buy some goodies. Just throwin' out my .02.

[JLanphear]

Originally posted by Nova
Just throwing my .02 in but you can find 98-02 Z-28's for around 3-4k and they have the LS1 as well. Buy a cowl and some SS badges and no one would know the difference and you'll still have 2500-3k to buy some goodies. Just throwin' out my .02.

Trust me, I would love to do that. With the Camaro's I don't care if they are SS's or not because they really are no different than besides what you mentioned, and that's easy enough to change. Unfortunately around here they don't come that cheap. It's hard to find any 98+ V8 Camaro for less than 7-8000 unless it has a ton of miles or something else wrong with it.

I don't know what it is about our area, we have less "Summer" than most places, but all the seasonal vehicles cost an arm and a leg. Sports cars, bikes, etc...

[muddy400EX]

get a fbody man! lol. stangs are everywhere, there are so many girls around here that drive v6 mustangs it makes me never want to drive one, lol. ive got an LT1 firebird, pretty much stock and it hauls, so i couldnt imagine how an LS1 would be:eek:

[jesseweaver]

Originally posted by JLanphear

An '03 GT with a Vortech supercharger, intercooler, greddy BOV's, 4:10 gears, X-pipe, and other bolt ons, wheels & tires, and some other misc. cosmetics.



you can pretty much count on it being beat with that stuff done to it. but im sure thats pushing 450 hp and thats gonna really jump especially with the 4.10s..

i agree, i love the LS1s just not the cars they're in. i eventually would like to get a "toy" car also, but im laying off for now and saving up for an 3-04 SVT Cobra. my friend has a black 02 i think it is trans am WS6 with 20,000 on it and not a scratch, never seen snow, only been in rain a few times, that car is NICE. i love those ram iar hoods.

overall though i'd say thats a good deal on that mustang, i've never seen any SC'd GTs around here for under 10g really.



MY OPINION:

BODY= mustang > trans am > camaro
ENGINE= LS1 > stock Mustang
SC'd mustang > LS1

[JLanphear]

Originally posted by muddy400EX
get a fbody man! lol. stangs are everywhere, there are so many girls around here that drive v6 mustangs it makes me never want to drive one, lol. ive got an LT1 firebird, pretty much stock and it hauls, so i couldnt imagine how an LS1 would be:eek:

I hear ya there. Same goes for here though too with the early 4th Gen Camaro's and Firebirds. Lot's of 6cyl's rollin around. I do prefer the F-body's over the Stang's typically, but there is something about the way the mustangs dress up that makes me like them. Most of the female owned V6 mustangs you see around here are very stock, so when you see a nice GT with some cosmetic mods and of course the sound of a supercharger & exhaust you know it isn't your typical grocery getter.

Jesseweaver, I gotta agree with you on most everything. The car "seems" to be well taken care of though, so besides the extra stress on everything due to the power it's putting out, I would guess it's probably no more abused than most on the road. Who the heck knows though. I wish it had a few less miles though.

I'd love a WS6 Trans Am...it's hard to touch those around here for under $13k or more though unless it's got 100k miles on it, then it's still $10k. Makes me sick...haha.

[Wheelie]

I'm a Mustang owner, so my vote goes to Mustang.

If you want power, stay away from the 96-98 4.6's unless it's the 32v Cobra. The 99-up 2 valve cars are much better in the performance department than their 96-98 counterparts.


F-Bodys have only one thing going for them IMO, the LS1. It's a brilliant engine, smooth with great power and killer gains with bolt-ons. It's a shame that GM put that engine in such a poorly designed POS car.

The interiors feel cheap, the car feels massive--unnervingly so--from the drivers seat, poor visibility, just poor ergonomics in general. I'm only 5' 8" and I feel clausterphobic in an F-body. And it gets only worse in the passenger seat.

[JLanphear]

Originally posted by Wheelie
I'm a Mustang owner, so my vote goes to Mustang.

Thanks for the Input. I actually havent' spent much time in either car, so it's good to know about ergonomics and things like that.

At this point it's pretty much set in stone that I'm getting the mustang, but wanted to hear some input first just to help incase there was something major that I didn't know about.

I was absolutely going with a 99+ Stang, or 98+ F-body though either way due to the upgrades over the previous years.

I'm really excited to get behind the wheel of the SC'd Mustang. Hopefully I can pick it up tomorrow. I had my woman grab the cash out of the bank today, now just waiting on the guy to have some time off from work. :devil:

Originally posted by JLanphear
Trust me, I would love to do that. With the Camaro's I don't care if they are SS's or not because they really are no different than besides what you mentioned, and that's easy enough to change. Unfortunately around here they don't come that cheap. It's hard to find any 98+ V8 Camaro for less than 7-8000 unless it has a ton of miles or something else wrong with it.

I don't know what it is about our area, we have less "Summer" than most places, but all the seasonal vehicles cost an arm and a leg. Sports cars, bikes, etc...

Yeah I forgot about dif. prices around the states. Maybe it would be worth it to spend a couple hundred in fuel and a weekend to drive and pick one up. Only disadvantage of that is if the seller doesn't tell you everything truthfully. I'm waiting for my camaro to sell to drive up to Idaho for a '91 TSI Talon.

[JLanphear]

Originally posted by Nova
Yeah I forgot about dif. prices around the states. Maybe it would be worth it to spend a couple hundred in fuel and a weekend to drive and pick one up. Only disadvantage of that is if the seller doesn't tell you everything truthfully. I'm waiting for my camaro to sell to drive up to Idaho for a '91 TSI Talon.

Yeah I'm driving a couple hundred miles to get this Mustang. I've been looking all over New England and Upstate NY and prices seem to be about the same around here. Like I said it's crazy because the whether is normally crappy, and most of the roads are trashed, so you'd think the value of them would be less up here than a place with better weather. Funny how it works.

[trick450r]

You should look at 94=97 LT1 cars too. People love to rule them out but the bottom line is you can make the same power out of either one. I picked up mine almost stock last year for $6500.

[trick450r]

BTW if you were to pick up an LT1 car for $6500 which is very doable in this economy, you could go to eportworks.com and get an le2 head and cam kit and put down over 400 rwhp with boltons.

And they are also VERY nitrous friendly, if your into that, stock short block is good for 150 shot reliably. And with the 6 speed you can pull 25 mpg highway and still have 400+ hp!

just food for thought.

[JLanphear]

I am not really biased about the LT1's. My first ever car was an IROC with TPI and I remember drooling when the LT1's came out wishing I had one in mine.

If I ran across a really good deal on an LT1 I would have snatched it up. Based on the other cars in this area I think $7000 for a pretty well set up '03 Mustang is hard to pass up though.

[450r ride red]

my friend has a 91 5.0 ford mustang with a 331 stroker with h pipe to 2 flowmsters

[muddy400EX]

Originally posted by trick450r
You should look at 94=97 LT1 cars too. People love to rule them out but the bottom line is you can make the same power out of either one. I picked up mine almost stock last year for $6500.

hells ya another LT1 fan! and mines a formula with the v8 stickers taken off so it looks like a v6:blah: i love when mustangs pull up and think there gonna smoke me:devil:

[CDALEMX301]

Any idea how much boost that mustang you were looking at is running? Stock bottom end?

I would be leary buying a SC'd car....Someone can tell you built bottom end but a may not be and could be living on borrowed time....Could have a good tune or a bad tune...I had my car dyno'd at 10 psi it put down 430 but blew up 2 hours later...That is an 07 3V mustang...Should have held the power but the tune was off....

My buddy has a 01 GT running right around 415 hp on a stock bottom end running around on borrowed time...

Where abouts in VT are you located? I got a buddy in Southern VT and run a local "New England" club but is really mostly central MA guys....

[JLanphear]

Originally posted by CDALEMX301
Any idea how much boost that mustang you were looking at is running? Stock bottom end?

I would be leary buying a SC'd car....Someone can tell you built bottom end but a may not be and could be living on borrowed time....Could have a good tune or a bad tune...I had my car dyno'd at 10 psi it put down 430 but blew up 2 hours later...That is an 07 3V mustang...Should have held the power but the tune was off....

My buddy has a 01 GT running right around 415 hp on a stock bottom end running around on borrowed time...

Where abouts in VT are you located? I got a buddy in Southern VT and run a local "New England" club but is really mostly central MA guys....

You know how sometimes you just get a weird feeling about something? I was all set to go get the car this afternoon, but got an email from the guy last night saying he took it for one last ride and it threw a rod.

Not really sure if that's just a friendly way of backing out of the deal, or if it really happened. If it did happen, then I guess I really lucked out.

I found it amusing to read your post this morning though after hearing the news.

So looks like I'm gonna start looking around again. Thanks everybody for posting! If you know of any good deals in the New England area on any type of sports car feel free to shoot me a line!

Thanks!

-Josh

[8my_Cash]

Lanphear


I am a mustang fan myself and I would definitly look for an older cobra with the 32v NA motor. The internals are much more stronger than a stock 16v 4.6. The blocks are bullit proof and the internals can handle a good amount of HP, perfect powerplant to add some goodies to it.

Also I had a friend that purchased a camaro with an LT1 and that motor was very strong for the wear and tear that it seen. He eventually rebuilt it to a 355 full roller motor with roughly a .500 lift cam (dont kno the exact number) and it was a mean power plant.



But Mustang, pefferably a cobra, get my vote :blah:

[muddy400EX]

ive always been weary about s'c cars. i would love to have a s'c on mine but, LT1's ive always heard if there charged even with a small boost they'll blow within a year:eek: i think if i ever put money into my engine ill stick to straight motor:cool:

sux about the the car tho man, keep lookin tho, youll find somethin!

[416exfreak]

Originally posted by Wheelie
I'm a Mustang owner, so my vote goes to Mustang.

If you want power, stay away from the 96-98 4.6's unless it's the 32v Cobra. The 99-up 2 valve cars are much better in the performance department than their 96-98 counterparts.

The 32V engines were better than the other 4.6 engines, but even the 32V engine was lacking until 03 and 04 when the SC'd them from the factory.

I dont know why you free your search up some and look for an 85-93 stang too. Fox body cars are fun to drive and look drop dead sexy.

My dad's in the process of building a 91 GT hatch with a 514 and a glyde. I'll get some pictures next time it comes out of the trailer.:)

[416exfreak]

Double post. My B.