what to look for in a used mustang.

Unit 5302 · 10-11-2001, 07:05 PM

Honda drivers know nothing about domestic vehicles quite frankly. They don't know, they don't care to know, and they would rather believe that all domestic cars are junk.

The Mustang 5.0 from 1987-1993 consistantly had a 5 star reliability record.

It sounds like you want to save about $5000 of the $12000 you got and use it somewhere else. That's okay, but you can do much more for $3000 than you can for $2000. For 2 grand, here is what I would do.

Things to look for become sore thumbs easy to spot on the fox bodies now. The most important thing to look for is RUST. Take a look at the bottom of the doors, the rim around the quarter panel, the decklid on the inside too, and the underbody. A good look over will tell you either somebody has an attention to detail, or not. Check the inside of the fenders for wrinkles, the radiator support for kinks or bends and the alignment of the hood to fenders, doors to A pillars and the hood to the nose (should only be very small gap). In the back, where the rear lower control arms attach to the frame, look at the torque boxes, make sure there isn't any evidence of them being loose. Dripping oil from the rear main seal. Fogging up when you turn on the heater or defroster (heater core nightmare). Check the front floor pans underneath for cracking. Coolant shouldn't have any brown stop leak, or rust coloration. Oil should be clean, there shouldn't be any leakage from the valve covers. Look at the exhaust, there should not be muffler clamps at the end of the H pipe. If there are, the guy was a hack. Also flip all the switches inside that thing. Make sure the electrical system doesn't have any gremlins. Run the windows up and down to check for proper function. Grab the door and pick up on it while it's open, there shouldn't be much play if any. If it has a bunch, chances are it has a bunch of miles to go along with it. Look at the seats, is the drivers side way more worn? If it looks good, and everything lines up chances are it's been taken care of. Make sure it's a stick if you want it to go.

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10-11-2001, 07:05 PM	#2
Unit 5302 Registered Member Join Date: May 1999 Posts: 5,246	Honda drivers know nothing about domestic vehicles quite frankly. They don't know, they don't care to know, and they would rather believe that all domestic cars are junk. The Mustang 5.0 from 1987-1993 consistantly had a 5 star reliability record. It sounds like you want to save about $5000 of the $12000 you got and use it somewhere else. That's okay, but you can do much more for $3000 than you can for $2000. For 2 grand, here is what I would do. Things to look for become sore thumbs easy to spot on the fox bodies now. The most important thing to look for is RUST. Take a look at the bottom of the doors, the rim around the quarter panel, the decklid on the inside too, and the underbody. A good look over will tell you either somebody has an attention to detail, or not. Check the inside of the fenders for wrinkles, the radiator support for kinks or bends and the alignment of the hood to fenders, doors to A pillars and the hood to the nose (should only be very small gap). In the back, where the rear lower control arms attach to the frame, look at the torque boxes, make sure there isn't any evidence of them being loose. Dripping oil from the rear main seal. Fogging up when you turn on the heater or defroster (heater core nightmare). Check the front floor pans underneath for cracking. Coolant shouldn't have any brown stop leak, or rust coloration. Oil should be clean, there shouldn't be any leakage from the valve covers. Look at the exhaust, there should not be muffler clamps at the end of the H pipe. If there are, the guy was a hack. Also flip all the switches inside that thing. Make sure the electrical system doesn't have any gremlins. Run the windows up and down to check for proper function. Grab the door and pick up on it while it's open, there shouldn't be much play if any. If it has a bunch, chances are it has a bunch of miles to go along with it. Look at the seats, is the drivers side way more worn? If it looks good, and everything lines up chances are it's been taken care of. Make sure it's a stick if you want it to go.