1994 GT: Good deal?
 

Hello.

I'm looking at buying a 1994 Mustang GT. It has the 5.0, a 5-speed tranny and almost every option available. The only downside is that it has 114K on it, but they were mainly highway miles. The guy has it listed for $5800, but I'm gonna offer him $5500 out the door. Do you think that it's a good deal - or not?

Thanks.

As long as everything works and it runs good it sounds like a good deal.

1994 Mustang deal
 

Retail is about $7500. for that Mustang so, unless it's been abused or hit badly, $5500. is a very fair price. Inspect it carefully, first and try to verify those 'highway miles'.

Good luck.

If it's a private party, the car will book out at about $4500. Get me a VIN number and I'll run a little check for you. Trade in value out of the book is about $3500-$4000. He won't get that by trading it in, I'll tell you that right now. So his true trade value is about $3000-$3500. He's asking $1300 over book value from a private party.

1994-2002.5 = 8.5 years. 115k = only 13-14k per year. That's not a ton of mileage.

Here's what you should be looking to replace/rebuild.

Engine It's probably getting tired.
Transmission If it hasn't been replaced, don't expect too much longer out of it
Rear End Making any noise? Traction lok working?

Things to be looking at that could very well be toast.

Tires
Exhaust
Catalytic Converters
Oil Leakage.
Shocks/Struts.

Body lines: Make sure they are straight and even. Look at the body lines around the trunk where the 1/4 panels attach. Look at the fenderwells to see any crumpling, run a VIN check, have it inspected by a mechanic for things like engine compression, alignment, and suspension components.

What you are considering is buying a car with well over half of the major component life expectancy over. Make sure you know they are good right now. You might think you're getting a really good deal at $5500, but if you have to make $3000 of repairs right away, it might not be so good after all.

Good luck!

Book Value vs The Real World
 

So his true trade value is about $3000-$3500. He's asking $1300 over book value from a private party.

Perhaps, but it's a heavily-optioned Mustang GT with a 5.0 - 5 speed. I'm assuming it's in good to excellent condition with no obvious problems.

'Book Value' is most important when trading with a dealer; in private party sales, other, more emotional factors come into play all the time including how many decent, older 5.0 five-speed GT's are available in his area. That's crucial as is market demand which can vary from place to place. All of these factor into the real-world price that has little to do with what a dealer would offer or what the 'book' states as the private party price. Those are only a guide, not written in stone, as you know.

I get offers twice the 'book value' for my '90 LX with 116,000 miles on it (and light mods) because it's had one (adult) owner, looks and runs good and Fox bodied LX's are getting harder to find in good condition in the northeast. Think I'll be trading it to a dealer when I sell or asking 'book value'? Not a chance. Neither will the owner of that '94 GT and I'll bet he can get his price, too. A lot of folks who want to buy an older, affordable performance car want a Mustang GT, especially a 5.0 with manual transmission.

$5500. is not a huge bargain but it's a reasonable price if it's got an honest 114,000 miles, is in good mechanical shape and hasn't been beat on or hit hard and fixed badly.

Still, let's remember that it's an eight year old car with over 100,000 miles on it. Things wear out and break, even on Mustangs. Caveat Emptor.

I agree that book value isn't set in stone, but it's a pretty good indicator of what he should be asking for an average car. Emotional attachment can play a part in asking price, but the buyer doesn't want to pay the seller for his "attachment." With summer coming up the seller will be able to demand more, but you have to be careful when buying way over book because the numbers say you should be able to get a similar car for less money. If the car is really nice; however, it could certainly go for more than book.

As far as the options go, I fail to see how it's relevent. All GT's come standard with the options piled on.