Hello,

I am new here and have been doing some research before purchasing this car. I found this Mustang on Craig's List which has caught my eye and I'm going to look at it on March 1st when I'm back in state. But before I waste any time, I want to know if it's worth buying for the mileage it has. My dad and his friend are good with car repairs and whatnot, so I won't be paying out the butt for shops etc.. so what am I in on this if I buy it? Also, I don't plan on doing any mods on it right now.

Here's some things to know:
- 170K miles.
- Automatic transmission (preference).
- Brand new alternator.
- Brand new battery.
- Brand new tires (wider in the back + chrome rims).
- Flowmaster exhaust.
- X Pipe with chrome tips.
- Brand new headlights with HID's.
- Blows cold A/C and heat.
- Full tune up a month ago (New spark plugs, oil change, air filter, etc).
- Aftermarket intake installed.
- Has a check engine light (EGR valve needs replaced - no big deal).
- Extremely clean interior.
- Body is 8/10 (has small crack on bumper).
- The lady (owner) says it has been well kept and maintained and is her daily driver with no problems.

Is there any questions I should ask the seller beforehand? She wants $3,000 cash but I can easily talk her down on it. If I do go look at it and all is well, I plan on low balling $1,400 then up by $200 until I hit $1,800. If she declines, I plan on walking away because KBB says in "Good Condition," it's $1,400 and "Very Good Condition," it's $1,600. But I'm willing to go $1,800 max due to the mods installed.

Thanks!

 

Sounds fair to me.

 

Thank you. What do you think the longevity of the car to or past 200K miles will be like? What can I do to assure myself the car will be good around there? It'll be my daily driver as it'll be my first car if they pull through.

 

If its been taken care of well it can go many more miles. Maintenance like all fluids changed and maintained the best way to find out would be an oil sample test? And send it in for analysis and find what kind of material that might be in there.

 

if you can get it for 1600 and it looks, runs, drives and stops accordingly. Sounds like it may be a alright deal. If you get another 20k miles out of it with out to much extra cash going into it its a score. That being said I don't know how long the the v6 will last. I haven't heard a whole lot about them going to 200k.

 

What he said. Check for any leaks in the engine and under and how well the car is taken care of. Believe it or not, you can tell from the interior and exterior how well the engine was probably cared for. If the car was loved and cared for, then you will know right away before popping the hood.

That's if you can get it for 1600 then that's a good deal and if that's your Max budget.

Personally, Id consider saving a bit longer for the 01-03 GTs with lower miles.

 

I was thinking the same with what both of you said. I just don't want to drop $1,400 - $1,800 and it require tons more cash to get it to 20k more miles. I want to go look at it but I'm not sure as well. My budget isn't only $1,600 but I'm not spending any more than $1,800 on this car itself due to the miles. By the sounds of it and being a woman's daily driver and how she got a tune up on it a month ago, it seems it has been well kept. The interior is 10/10 and the body is 8.5/10 and I say that due to a small crack on the bumper.

Here are some pics of the car:
http://imgur.com/1SPH0MO,v97z26j,IDD...dkAWWM,GiUTaIJ

https://i.imgur.com/TSQhW2l.jpg

 

Take it for a 20 minute or so test drive and turn on as much stuff at once as you can. When you get back from the test drive shut it off wait 30 seconds or so and then see how it restarts.

 

The mileage wouldn't bother me. Especially if it was well cared for. What would concern me is the age of the wiring harness.

Before I got rid of mine, which was very well cared for, I started having electrical issues. Mostly due to insulation breaking down in places on the wiring harness. Had one very frustrating incident that was intermittent causing misfires something horrible. Ended up being a short in the pigtail of the engine wiring harness going to the crank positioning sensor.

 

I have an 04 3.8 with 168k miles. Still starts and runs like new and I haven't had to do anything to it except routine maintenance and ball joints. I just had to change out the thermostat a couple weeks ago but that was the first time I've even opened it up. I expect mine to continue running well over 200k. Mine sees redline almost everyday at least once lol