StangFan

hey guys, im considering purchasing a 99 gt coupe. the car im looking at has 66,000 miles. i havent driven it yet since its about a half hour away from me. but i was wondering about the reliability of the 99-04 gts. now i imagine its pretty good since these are mass produced cars and it seems that ford got most of the kinks worked out with the sn95's by 1999.

it would just help if you guys could share your experiences with your 99-04 gt's. this car would be my daily driver and i would need it to be reliable for another 3-4 years. i dont do a lot of commuting...i live at school so the only real driving i do during the school year is to home and back (20 minutes away). during the summer ill be driving to work which isnt too far away.

oh yeah, the car im looking at is silver, auto, and has a black leather interior.

thanks

Fordracing200

4.6 2v auto is a real reliabvle car. one thing to consider, the 99-00 gts did not have hood scoops, smoked headlights, or bullit wheels. only the 01-04 had those things. but they have nothing to do with reliability. i would say go test drive it.

bucky

i bought mine a year ago, 2001 gt automatic with 63k on it.

no problems to speak of on it. had lots of mods added, and everything runs smoothly.

being as old as the car is (mine and yours), you might want to look at getting a new suspension kit. i have heard that cars as old as these benifit from a newer suspension (springs and such).

Fordracing200

for handling purposes they do, but their is nothing wrong with the stock stuff.

joker

The true beauty of a mustang, from 5.0's until now is that you can beat the crap out of them and the keep coming back for more. For an every day driver / mildly abused street strip car the hold up wonderfully. However, once you start getting radical, ie nitrous, s/c, 6k clutch drop on slicks, you can and often will break stuff, but that is just racing.

Fordracing200

Edit-
wow, this post made no sense

and this is in the 99-04 V8 not specific GT forums.

StangFan

thanks guys...

also, anything i should look for in particular if i test drive the car? my parents would prefer that we take it to our mechanic before i buy it but the car is actually at a dealership about an hour away. the car has a 3 month 3000 mile warranty from the dealer...but im still a little leary of buying a 6 year old car with 66000 miles without having a mechanic check it first. any suggestions?

StangFan

yeah. actually im a huge mustang enthusiast and i check this site all the time though i dont post much. i did know that the 01's up have those features which is cool...but most of the 01 gt's have lower miles and cost a lot more. i really cant spend more than 9000 on this car. ill be paying for most of it myself with my savings and by working full time this summer. my favorite color is true blue metallic but its only available on 01's and up so it doesnt look like ill be able to get that as long as i want a gt.

TheSickness

:scratch: How does that post have anything to do with 99-04 GT's??



...

i can honestly say my 03 GT has been a great car for the every one of the 16,000 miles I've put on it. :P

The Rock 326

That doesn't have anything to do with his post either!

TheSickness

he asked about the reliablility of 99-04 gt's, I stated my had been great so far (even if it has only been for 16K)

UA2k1GT

my 01 auto GT with 55,000 miles and probably 100 or more passes down the 1/4 mile strip has held up perfectly. Only thing I've replaced are tires and an IAC valve which was under warranty, and only like a $60 part.

StangFan

awesome, this is the kind of stuff i wanted to hear. anyone elses experience would be appreciated.

also...originally the ad for the car i want to go see said that there was still a warranty on it. when i talked to to the guy at the dealership he said he would call me back and let me know about the terms. when he called me back he said "oh the warranty from ford actually expired in february. but i still give you a 3 month 3000 mile one."

what this tells me is that hes had the car on the lot AT LEAST since february, probably well before. so im also wondering...is that a real bad thing? anything in particular i should look for? im thinking he might lower the price a good bit if hes had it so long...or maybe he just doesnt care about selling it?

joker

Just look for all the normal stuff you do when you buy any car. Check the oil for any signs of water, make sure the trans shifts out well. Listen for any odd noise coming from the engine, check for signs of rust, on a mustang I would check the torque boxes as well. Look for any sign in general that the car has been abused. Definiltey pull a car fax on it.

He may very well lower the price, you never can tell. If he is a car salesmen, then he definitely cares about selling the car, that is there nature. Kinda of like anyone that works cares about getting a paycheck, that is how they get payed so i am sure he wants you to buy the car.

Scothew

the PI 4.6's have been great. I know quite a few stock longblock racers that have well over 100k miles and hundreds of 1/4mi passes.

On my cobra motor, i've got 134k miles and at least 100 passes on it and its running great. Not to mention 6 trips through the tail of the dragon which is basically holding it near redline through curves for 11miles each way.

Fordracing200

ok, i just wanted to make sure you knew

joker

Oh yea, look at the underside of the hood for dents, in case it shot out a plug or two

Seriously though I forgot about it, but there has been more than one 4.6 to shoot a plug out of the heads, so I would look around the area where the plgus are for dents, or really bad scrathes as well as look at the hood as well. Come time for your first plug change, look and see if the heads have been helicoiled.

1999 Black 35th GT

99-04's are extremely reliable. Never had a problem with mine at all. In fact the 04's were just rated "most reliable american car" by Consumer Reports. The 99 is essentially the same. Some minor differences but other than that identical.

StangFan

just a quick update...

the place had been asking $9995 for the mustang but i noticed that they just dropped the price to $8995. hopefully i can get at least another $500 off that. im supposed to be going to see it tommorow. wish me luck

StangFan

another update...i found a 99 black gt near the one im going to see tomorrow. its a private seller. 5 speed, cloth, 50k miles. asking 10000. blue book is around 8200-8700 so thats what im looking to offer if it looks good.

ill be going to drive both tommorow morning