Shopping for the Mustang GT Stinks!

[Unit 5302]

Man, I'm getting tired of looking for stuff. Don't know who else has noticed, but the price on the Mustang GT's has sure been slow to drop. I've having a hard time finding what I'm looking for too. That's led to a whole lot of wondering what I should be looking for!

As it stands right now, 1994-1998 Mustang GT. Blue. 5spd. Under 80,000mi. Leather, all options other than that infernal AOD. Trying to find one in blue is like looking for a set of keys in a snow drift.

Basically, I'm looking to make a N/A combo with about 320hp that retains most of the stock driving characteristics. I've chosen a GT40P combination for the 5.0, or a 99GT+ set of 4.6L heads. I think either combo will run me about 2k when all is said and done, but I have questions if the 4.6L will make the hp I desire, or if it's reliable at high CRs for more than just a few thousand miles. I've had a real hard time pulling up technical data on the head and piston specifications on the Gen I 4.6's. I want to be able to calculate exact CR on the 96-98 when the 99GT head swap is done. I've heard 11:1 or so, which makes me leary.

There are way more nice looking quality 96-98GT's in blue though, so it just makes things hard. I've also considered the Saleen S281, outside of blue (cause it already looks pretty killer, lol) That REALLY requires some extra oomph under the hood though. Those early S281's in N/A form are pretty sorry.

I've considered the 99GT, as I like the looks more, but they aren't any quicker than my current car, and they are hard to find for a decent price around here.

Arggh. Makes it hard. If I wanted red/white/black I'd have no problems That and the price between a real nice 94GT and a real nice 99GT can vary as little as about $4,000.

[Jeb_Bush_2000]

Let me know if you want a nice black ragtop Cobra, Unit.


Gotta make room in the garage for the 427 roadster...

[fiveohpatrol]

Why not find one that needs a little body work and paint? That way it wouldn't matter what color it was and you could paint it ANY shade of blue you wanted.

Have you seen the new color Blue on the new lightnings (not sure if its on anything else too) That is the most beautiful color blue I've ever seen.

There wasn't a blue in 94-98 stangs that I was really crazy about.

The dark blue on the 97-up trucks is really nice too.

Just throwin a bunch of rambling out there.

good luck with your search

[Crazy Horse GT]

kell you need to take a little road trip down here stang's are cheap,after i bought mine new last year ,a guy told me he just sold a blue oogt for 12,000with very few miles,he just let the guy get a loan & take over payment's so bring your butt down this way ,you could probably find a good deal in nashville ,or atlanta,l8ter.

[Unit 5302]

Jeb_Bush_2000: Cobra Vert?? You think I'm made of money? LOL. Seriously though, I'm pretty dead set on blue. I'd love a 1998 Cobra in Atlantic Blue, but since I don't have 20k that I'm gonna be giving up anytime soon.... Hehe, since I'm playing with the 1998, why not make it a 1999? I really love those Cobra's.

fiveohpatrol: I'm going to be financing, and I can't finance a paint job, new nose, fenders, hood etc... Otherwise I might think about doing a repair job. The other thing is cars are never the same after an accident. There is always that one panel that doesn't want to line up right, or the wrinkle in the inside fender. I have a car like that now, and I just want something nice.

Funny you should mention GT shopping in another part of the country, Marty. I went shopping for the GT I currently have in Oklahoma and Texas almost 3 years ago now. What I found was a bunch of junk. It was either needing paint (oxydized all to hell), just thrashed, or in bad mechanical shape. I loved the "temporary heater core" that I saw in one of the cars I looked at. LOL, what the heck is a temporary heater core you ask? It's a metal box radiator looking a lot like a space heater with coolant hoses running into it that sits on the passenger side floorboard, hahhahaha. Those Texans crack me up! That car also had a shot AOD, which made it neigh impossible to drive back to Minnesota, hehe. I gave up on the search, and headed back to Minnesota in my disposable car. Rolling back with the heater on, windows down, and foot stuck on the pedal so the thing wouldn't die (apparently, the EGR completely plugged with carbon, hahah). Oh well, the trashed Lincoln Mark VII my dad was just going to have me drop off at a local junkyard in Oklahoma, but it made the trip all the way back up. Over 200,000mi on it. In despiration, I settled on this white 1987 Mustang GT. It had 113k on it, needed exhaust (screwed up as usual by a redneck), heater core, and some minor maintenance. $3400 and I was out of there with a car that originated, or at least spent a great deal of it's life well south of MN. I know just by looking at the tell tale signs. Perfect no rust 1/4's, bleached out dash. Now it's rusting thanks to a crappy paint job that was put on it before I got it, and she's crankin over 160k.

I've been lookin around the country via Autotrader (site bites compared to the now defunct Classifieds2000), and I'm not seeing much that's attracting my attention. If ya see one, let me know!!

[Crazy Horse GT]

i will look unit,i saw a red vert the other day that i was drooling over ,looked closer & it was a v-6 crap, but they have been having 0% financinc etc but we have to have heaters here because it does get cold,you want blue right? i will look around, i got my 00gt for 20,000 premium but i will check around for you.l8ter.marty

[MustangKelly96]

Hey Kell,
I don't know the price range you want to stay in, but I know a guy that has a 96 Cobra for $14,000. It has been garage kept and the miles are less than 5,000. It's not blue, but has a custom paint job. Kind of a purplish color that changes in the light. He is the head mechanic at a local Ford dealship so I'm sure the car is in excellent condition.

[Mustangbelle306]

well I bought my 94 GT back in 99 for $7900, and she was bone stock, with the body kit, 58K miles, and nothing else...ran like a dream *sigh* those were the days! I should have let well enough alone!!!

If you can, I would get a loan from the bank for whatever couple thousand you need to buy the car from a private owner...hell a cash advance for a few thousand would probably end up SAVING you money (now how many times do we actually hear "save" and "cash advance" in the same sentence??? ) since you could save a pretty penny on the price, and pay off that money in a relatively short time.

[Mr 5 0]

Unit 5302:

I believe that banks only loan you about 70% of the vehicle's NADA retail price, so on a $10,000. car you'll only get $7,000. This may vary with the bank and the area of the country.

Getting the year, model, engine, tranny and color you want in a used car is a daunting challenge. I bought my last three cars new; my 'Stang and two (separate) cars for the wife, but when buying used, I just settle for getting the make, model and engine/trans combo I want and color is a toss-up because it's just too hard to find specific colors, especially if they weren't too popular to begin with.

Using the net and being willing to travel should help a lot but you may still be disappointed.
Hope not.

Good luck.

[fiveohpatrol]

MustangKelly96, sounds to me like you just described a Mystic Cobra. Only made in 96 and were painted with that purple/green/blue color change "mystic" paint.

Where in Indiana is it? I may have to take a look at it

[MustangKelly96]

I was under the impression that the guy had it painted himself. I could be wrong, it's happened before.
It belongs to my supervisor's brother, so all the info I have is second hand. If you want, I could get the owner's number and e-mail it to you. BTW, I live in Evansville.

[fiveohpatrol]

One of my good friends here at college (Rose Hulman) went to high school in Evansville. I know its a long shot, but do you know Jim Walter? would have graduated high school in 2000

[MTU 50]

Originally posted by Mr 5 0
Unit 5302:

I believe that banks only loan you about 70% of the vehicle's NADA retail price, so on a $10,000. car you'll only get $7,000. This may vary with the bank and the area of the country.

Getting the year, model, engine, tranny and color you want in a used car is a daunting challenge. I bought my last three cars new; my 'Stang and two (separate) cars for the wife, but when buying used, I just settle for getting the make, model and engine/trans combo I want and color is a toss-up because it's just too hard to find specific colors, especially if they weren't too popular to begin with.

Using the net and being willing to travel should help a lot but you may still be disappointed.
Hope not.

Good luck.

That is the experience I've had when buying my two Mustangs used. I was looking for clean 91-93 GT's with as low of mileage as possible and for under $7000. I was also looking for 5-speeds which failed to happen in both occasions. My color preference was black on black, but that was forced to take a back seat to the aformentioned traits, because low miles, price, and condition were more important.

So, my first Mustang in 1998 was a Red, 1991, Automatic equipped GT with a grey cloth interior and 52,000 miles on the clock. All this for the low low price of only $6700. I had saved up enough cash and she was mine. This was a good deal given the state of the used Mustang market in the Metro Detroit area in the Spring of 98'. I can still remember the freeway ride home. I have never felt better driving a car than I did on that day. That was the car I had wanted since second grade and I have that in writing on one of my cheesy elementary school homework assignments to prove it. Unfortunately it was totaled in Dec of 98', but that is another story in and of it self.

Fast forward to the Spring of 99, and I am in the same boat as I was a year ago, only this time I am up at college and only have a short 5-days of Easter break to find a Mustang. School is 550 miles away and there is no used Mustang market, so I had to wait until I was home. I was looking for the same Black GT, blah, blah, blah with the same features as above, except for the fact that money was a little more tight given the fact I was in college and the accident had "adjusted" my insurance somewhat. And not in a favorable way.

So, I ended up finding a White 1991 GT, AOD again (woohoo), but with the black interior I wanted and the interior was in excellent shape. It had 97,000 one owner miles on the clock, 3.73's, pulleys, and 3-chamber flowmasters for $6200. Again, not too bad given the current Mustang market at the time. And I didn't care. I would not be Stangless for the summer. I was thoroughly addicted by now. Plus, the original owner had kept every single record and reciept since ownership and he had the original window sticker too. And he had the AOD rebuilt around 70,000 miles thrice because he kept taking it back until the bozos got it right and it has been basically trouble free for me. The car currently sports the additional mods located below in my sig. If I ever graduate and get some positive cash flow, I plan on doing a whole bunch of things, but then again who on this site doesn't plan to make modifications when financial conditions permit.

So, to sum up, good luck Unit. I know how frustating it can be to find exactly what you want. And even if comprimises have to be made, at least its a red, black, blue, mystic, white, chrome yellow or even primer colored Mustang and not, well, any color Camaro.

Jeff

BTW, I found both of my Stangs on Autotrader.com back before it sucked. In the second case it paid off b/c the car wasn't in the autotrader magazine yet.

[MustangKelly96]

One of my good friends here at college (Rose Hulman) went to high school in Evansville. I know its a long shot, but do you know Jim Walter? would have graduated high school in 2000

No, but my oldest son might.

He just graduated in 2001

[Unit 5302]

Yeah MustangKelly96, sounds like a Mystic. They are cool from the point of view that they are very rare, but they are a total pita to take care of. Special requisitions for paint at the dealer only, etc. It's a serious collector car, and I'm going to be driving mine. Thanks for the info though. The price is actually very good on it.

I have decided not to settle. Mostly because that's what I've always done, and I'm set on getting something I want. Financing 70% is no big deal, but getting a private party car older than 5 years or so is usually a serious hassle.

My search has kind of expanded, to whatever catches my eye. Who knows, maybe I'll get a blue Fbody so I can spend less time on the computer and practice my mechanical skills more, LOL!

[spyguy]

why don't you wait a year and buy one of these?

[MTU 50]

Originally posted by spyguy
why don't you wait a year and buy one of these?

If you were not joking(I can't tell) then:

A) because they are not coming out until sometime in 2005
B) sure as hell better not look like that - Uggghhhh!
and C) price will probably be $25,000 by the time you get the options you want.

[andy669]

Unit

Follow this link

I made the 2.5 hour trip to Chicago back in Jan. of '97 to buy my 94. I got a good price on it and the dealership was excellent! They were alot friendlier than the dealers around here. Be sure to do a Carfax though. Let me know if you need one. (in the next 2 weeks anyway)

andy

[Skeeter]

Unit,
You mentioned possibly a Saleen.
There's a used car lot off of Hwy 61 and CTY RD E (White Bear Lake?) that has a white Saleen (1997?) sitting out front. Noticed it this weekend. Not sure what they're asking for it, or even what sort of shape it's in, but it might be worth a look. Not sure the name of the place either. Good Luck w/ your search.

Skeeter

[Skyman]

Looks like a damn Integra, or should i say RSX.

UGLY