Ok, here is my dilemma. I have wanted a Premium manual GT with the Dark IUP, Active Anti-Theft and the Dark Charcoal interior as my “must haves” category. Bullets or Fan Blades and a rear spoiler delete are in the “would be nice to have” category. Now, a local dealer is getting in an 06 Deluxe manual GT with no options. Now with the cash back at $2,000 this makes the car pretty affordable. It might be another year before I afford a Premium GT. What do you think? Should I go for it and replace my 97 GT that is getting long in the tooth, or wait until I can afford a Premium? What am I giving up if I go for the base Deluxe?
Some things to consider:
I tend to keep a car about 10 years.
I intend on customizing my next Mustang.
I have been overall happy with my 97 GT and the interiors are comparable as my 97 has a cloth interior. My wife would like leather but says this is my car get what I want.
The major HP and handling improvements as well as styling are the main reasons to buy the S-197.
Your opinions please.
Thanks,
John

 

I was sort of in the same boat in looking at a '07 Grabber Orange with 3.55 gear as the only option. They were willing to give me a good price, but once I saw the basic interior, I decided that having the IUP was a must have. It adds a lot to the interior. I'm not particularly thrilled with the pattern on the cloth seats, but I probably could have lived with it. If a Premium is what you really want, I'd say you're probably better off trying to find a deal on one now or just waiting. I would think you'd lose too much in trade-in in a year or so. JMHO...

 

My advice is to get what you want (and can afford). I debated cloth and leather for a while, and I finally went for the premium package (leather). The leather in this car, IMHO, top notch. I can't tell the difference between the leather and pleather in the front and back.

My opinion is go premium.

 

Yeah, if you keep cars for 10 years then by all means get EXACTLY what you want. Don't compromise on your car, you spend too much time in it

 

Unless part of your planned mods is to replace the seats, I'd recommend the Premium package.

 

Well GT's come with the power seat no matter what. The shaker 500 and leather costs more then the premium(the two options that make one a 'deluxe' or 'premium'). You can also get aftermarket leather in a myriad of custom colors, perf, suede, whatever and custom stitching with better quality leather for about 900 later. We do aftermarket leather all the time and add it to used cars regularly, you're not stuck with cloth(or factory leather) forever. I'm skipping factory leather on my next one and getting something custom.

The IUP/mycolor is not cost feesable to change, but they have a lot of dash appliques now you can get later. I switched mycolor to blue 10 minutes after I bought it and never touched it again. The main thing about the IUP that I really like is the upgraded steering wheel, but plan on dumping that for wood on the next one too. If they want to give it away at invoice plus the rebates I would make some exceptions, and it would have to be in a color I loved to even consider it. But if you have to have IUP, or want something like factory wheel upgrades, the 'savings' can evaporate quickly.

 

I like the steering wheel as well on the IUP but I haven't seen any alternatives to dress up the non-IUP steering wheel.
Also, does the "Global Window" feature work without the active anti-theft? I thought I saw that somewheres where it wouldn't.
As far as the wheels go I really like the Konig Beyonds. Some other upgrades would be a chip tune, Hurst shifter and the FRRP suspension.

 

Exactly my thoughts. You're paying for it so get exactly what you want. If you don't, you will never be completely happy with it.

-Chip in SC

 

Said well!! That's pretty much what I did - except I have IUP.......

 

There is NO Global Window feature. It was on some of the first 05's that came out and has since been discontinued because of a lot of problems...

 

Yeah you're going to have to live with this car for years to come. Don't compromise. I put in a custom order for mine because the dealer didn't have what I was looking for (The combo of manual trans, satin IUP, Tungsten Gray, Dark charcoal interior, and 17" wheels) and neither did any other dealers in a 700 mile radius. You can order exactly what you want and get everything you need, nothing you don't, so you can minimize the cost. It's also great to know that you and only a couple ford personel have driven your car (I got mine with 4.5 miles on it!), so there are no idiots beating on the thing during a test drive. It's about a $250 charge for the order, but I think it's worth it. Plus while you're waiting, you can save up a down payment. Or there's another route. My dealer was telling me that because of all the business they do, they have a high priority in terms of dealer stock, and can adjust their orders to include a car to match my specs. And they did it, got a perfect match to my car, but I wasn't ready to buy at the time. So if you can find a dealer in your area that would do the same thing, you might want to try it. The wait on the custom order as of this past spring was 8 weeks, probably shorter now, but I think they won't start taking orders till October.

 

This is wrong. There is no charge to custom order what you want. Also you can walk in today and place an order for an 07. My 2 cents get the premium, It's not much more for what you get. I have the dark IUP and love it. If you can get an x-plan pin cost will be less than invoice. Another cool thing about ordering yours via x-plan is that it will have your name on the sticker.

 

You could get the wood wheel and simply buy the aluminum stick on dress up plates We also have a company that installs the new Ford factory nav(from the Explorer/500 lines) 6-cd player for $1899

 

Usually it's even cheaper to order than it is to buy dealer stock because a custom order doesn't count against a dealer's allotment.

 

Don't get the wood wheel, it's looks like crap

 

Well, I'm going retro, wood wheel, center console wood overlay, vertical pleat seats, and white cueball shifter

 

Well, it is a moot point. The Deluxe was on the site due to an error of some kind and they are not getting one.
At this point I really don't have the money to pick-up a Premium whether I want one or not and even the base Deluxe would have been a bit of a stretch. So I guess I will just have to wait, continue to dream and maybe by next spring it will happen. Thanks for your input and suggestions.

 

Maybe not now, but there was a charge back when I ordered the car this past January, independently quoted by 2 different major dealers. Also, back when I ordered my car the window was October-April for custom orders, probably because it was a relatively early in production of the new platform. Sorry, this is just what I went through when I got mine.

 

Let's do a group buy on the wood wheel?? You, me , Krazed, any more????

 

There should not be any extra charge. Usually orders don't stay on the lot and are cheaper for the dealer to own, if anything.