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Help finding a good Mustang gt

2K views 27 replies 12 participants last post by  V6 stang 
#1 ·
I am looking to buy a 99 to 04 mustang gt. Is it best to buy a heavily modded car from somebody who is selling the car? I sometimes worry about buying a car that somebody dogged out.. Any advice
 
#3 ·
Get it as close to stock as you can. I wouldn't buy one with any major engine work done without paperwork. But exhaust/gears/CAI and things like that i'm fine with. But if it's got heads/cams/ or forged internals but have no paperwork showing who did the work, then i'd pass. But seriously, there are a lot of near stock new edges out there. Shouldn't be too hard to find one that wasn't beaten to hell.
 
#6 ·
The next car I'm gonna buy is gonna probably be modded, the way I plan on going about making sure it was done right is finding a guy with one of those huge build threads that you see on major forums and has great rep from other members. But that's cause mods don't add value so I might as well cash in on a $40k build for $20k.

Bolt-ons won't really need paperwork unless it has a tune, if it's tuned I personally would like to know by who and if the tuner comes with the car.
 
#7 ·
Bone ass stock is always best. If its got mods you need documentation. Basic bolt ons you can see is one thing. And if you CAN see them look at the brands and look at how it was installed. If you see no name or junk brand stuff on the car walk away unless the price is dirt cheap. The BEST modded cars are ones owned by a member of one of the bigger forums with a build thread or at least ppl who can vouch for the car/owner. My 98 had a ton of bolt ons when I bought it and the ONLY reason I did was because the owner was well known and multiple ppl had seen the car in person and vouched for it.

Biggest thing I can tell you about a modded car is that if the owner tells you it has something that you can't physically see and has 0 documentation it doesn't exist, PERIOD. It may very well have been done like a lower mileage engine than the rest of the car, rebuilt trans, big money clutch etc... but if the owner has no documentation you have to assume its not true. Kind of have to be an ass but that's how it is.
 
#8 ·
I agree on the documentation part because when I was looking to buy a car and EVERY craigslist ad had " rebuilt engine or trans". Also this dude that I went to school with had this nice sentra and traded for a modified Honda lol and not even a month later and the Damn car would always heat up
 
#9 ·
Honestly, you are better of buying a Mach I (manual) or Cobra if you are going to want to "soup-up" your car. It will probably be cheaper and you can go further with the 4V than a 2V(the GT). Personally I would say to go with the Mach, because it has a straight real axle (better for drag strip) and looks better. They have the same engine (the automatic Mach has less power for some reason), but the Cobra has a supercharger (which you will probably want to upgrade anyway.)
 
#10 ·
Any good Terminator with lower miles is going to be in the $18k+ range. A Mach is a great car but the problem is finding one with low miles that the owner will let go for a reasonable price. Book value on them is also in the mid-high $teens but street value is lower $teens because pricing them higher is in Termi territory and nobody in their right mind would buy a Mach for $18k when they can get a Termi. The auto Mach does not have less power, it is de-tuned and has a cast crank for whatever the hell reason Ford deemed to put a cast crank in the car. Regardless, the cast crank is fine for what the stock 4V will make and a tuner can fix the shift points/redline etc...

Now... as far as price. It is HARD to beat a lower mileage 2V as far as price and availability. They are a dime a dozen, cheap, and respond to mods GREAT. As far as modding down the road, these days the 2V vs 4V playing field is pretty level and both the 2V and the 4V (minus the terminator) are limited to around 400-425 ft lbs due to the stock rods. Both motors can hit that number easily via a supercharger so pick your poison.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, I would say look for the right deal. Hell I got my Mach 1 for $8k and im in Canada. It was a total steal! Receipt for a complete factory overhaul and replacement of the engine less than 6k miles before I bought it (worth more than what I paid for the car!) Bone stock and aside from an abs module, trouble free. It's all about finding the right deal for you. It might be a nicely modded gt for 6k$ or a stock gt for 4k. Or hell, you might spend 11 on a nice Mach or cobra. Just keep looking and don't jump for anything until you are confident you aren't getting screwed over.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Overall price of modifying is likely going to go to the 2V. Less parts to worry about, less rotating assembly, no issues finding good revised C head cores if you ever need a new set of heads etc... Unless you buy a terminator both engines are limited by the stock rods to the same power level which both can hit easily with a power adder. If you are just talking about a NA bolt on car then yeah the 4V will be better but generally is going to cost twice as much as the 2V.

Like I said its up to the buyer of what they want. A low mileage Mach is generally going to command $10k+, the $8k Canuck monies car was a steal and is not the norm. The same 2V will be near half the price, they come with the SRA too and, like the 04 Machs, the 04 GTs got the 4R75w if you are want the SRA/Auto combination for the best drag racing experience.

If you can't tell I'm a 2V fan, but that's just my opinion. They are cheap, parts are everywhere, brand new heads are still being produced and the TFS heads leveled the playing field a few years ago. With that said, there is always the Coyote swap.
 
#18 · (Edited)
You get the updated SN95 body with the fox powerplant. Cobras came with the GT40 motors vs the E7 crap the GT got. Not to say the GT40 motor was some sort of monster powerplant but it could move out. Think of it as a PI motor that actually has a pair down low.
 
#20 ·
Although prices for the cars are a little off (at least for Texas - I looked for over 6 months) I will 100% agree the pi 2v is a good value. A nice GT will go for 8k area with decent mileage. 15k area for a Mach with under 100k miles. Buy a GT, an out that extra 7k on the motor and you'll walk the Mach for the same price tag. Plus there are tons of them so you pay the extra cash "for a Mach 1"
 
#25 ·
I looked from Lubbock to dfw, central Texas, easy Texas, the whole metro area. The only decent prices I could find was down near Austin which was way too far. I agree. I'd rather dish out 3k more and get a nice termi.

When I mean nice, I mean under 120-140k miles. People in the dfw area was wanting near 10k on ones with less than 100k miles. That are stupidly inflated around here. Even another friend on here was helping me look and said it's a bad time to buy a stang near me cuz they are all high mileage, and high priced.
 
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