your opinon/experience on 96-98 cobra

[I_luv_HP&trq]

I read the post from two years ago on this style of cobra but thought i'd ask again to get some fresh insight.

I'm interested in a 96 cobra that has 75k miles on it. It's at a dealership and they're asking $13,998 for it even though retail on KBB says $10,700.
I want a car i can fix up with performance parts but not crap out on me before I get the money. I need it to be reliable to take me to school, which is about 100 miles a week.

I don't know if there's anything I need to look out for when i go to test drive it. It's not often that I see cobras like this for sale around here. 75k miles seemed low compared to this 99 cobra i saw that had 100k on it and asking almost the same price.
as always any help is appreciated.
thanks.

[Danger Dude]

The mileage is low for that year but the price is way high. I would expect that car to be around no more than $10,000 at the very most and that is a 100% garage kept beauty. I have seen a few around $8,000 that were in good shape

[I_luv_HP&trq]

Quote: Originally Posted by Danger Dude The mileage is low for that year but the price is way high. I would expect that car to be around no more than $10,000 at the very most and that is a 100% garage kept beauty. I have seen a few around $8,000 that were in good shape

i know this is a stupid question, but do you think it would be a huge risk to buy something that old? i can do light repairs and stuff myself but i don't want to have to rebuild parts of the drivetrain. at least not right away.

[Danger Dude]

No the cars made after the 80's hold up real well and the Mustang is a pretty well built car and the 4.6 is a very dependable engine. Just make sure it was not someones track car that hammered it with nitrous

[SpectorV]

see how it drives look in the fender wells for rubber. They seem to be good cars and last good.

[bbunt302]

The 96-98 Cobras are nice cars that respond very well to mods. I'm sure you can talk them down on the price to a reasonable amount.

[Zim]

Those cobras are great, only thing you may want to do is clean the IMRC's if you end up getting it. 75k miles is decent, but like others said the price is too high. Id say 11,500 is the most id pay for that car in perfect condition. That block those came with is basically bulletproof... you can throw 700 hp at those things and not have to worry about the block. They respond great to boost, and are deep in the 13s stock with a good driver.

[powerhungry966]

craigstlist cali homie! also, i think if u were to get that car, you better get everything and i mean everything serviced.. Also check the bottom of it make sure it's clear of leaks. In my oppinion, it is risky because you and i go to school and we need "faster" dependable cars, but with the right know how and spare changed for "preventive maintainance" you'll be fine.. I just recently bought a 89 5.0 coupe for the price of 100 lbs of dirt. its leaks, needs this, needs that, needs to replace this and that! but it runs supper strong.. all i'm going to do now is replace the seals and service everything.. and the car will be in good running order... Preventive maintanence is key brotha yadadaymean?

[SpectorV]

they wont take 700hp lol 03 cobra motors dont like over 600rwhp the you go into the danger zone, may be ok may not but you dont know.

[I_luv_HP&trq]

Well I took it for a test drive a couple days ago and it was a blast. I'm never going back to an automatic. Previous owner put some flowmasters on there and it sounded great.
Only problem I noticed is the fuel, temp, and oil gauge were stuck at the halfway mark. I was set on getting this car but these little faults I find make me hesitant. I don't want to find out the dude tried to mess witht he odometer or something like that. i'm the worse at making decisions when it involves money.

[SpectorV]

run a carfax and go to ford for a full history record you can see the miles on the car at EVERY instance it was serviced. You can then see if it was mile fraud or not. The oil pressure and temp pretty much do stay in the middle... the gas should not though. It may be due to they had some white face gauges in it and put the stock ones back on~ and put the needles down to hard or not hard enough etc etc. See if you can get in touch with the ones who traded it in to find out for sure.

Get it on a lift as well and inspect the underside for leaks and what not. Some little spots here and there are fine but you can tell bad leaks and what not.

[I_luv_HP&trq]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpectorV run a carfax and go to ford for a full history record you can see the miles on the car at EVERY instance it was serviced. You can then see if it was mile fraud or not. The oil pressure and temp pretty much do stay in the middle... the gas should not though. It may be due to they had some white face gauges in it and put the stock ones back on~ and put the needles down to hard or not hard enough etc etc. See if you can get in touch with the ones who traded it in to find out for sure. Get it on a lift as well and inspect the underside for leaks and what not. Some little spots here and there are fine but you can tell bad leaks and what not.

i know they're suppose to be up near the middle but this was with the car shut off and the gauges stayed where they were... the dealership is hard to get to and out of my way so I called them and said i won't come back up to take a look at it unless i can get out the door for 10k. if not, that's cool cuz i'm headed up to S.F. tomorrow to check out a 99 cobra.

[SpectorV]

cool, hang in there and get what you want... it may take a while but one will pop up. OH do not buy black ever.

[I_luv_HP&trq]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpectorV cool, hang in there and get what you want... it may take a while but one will pop up. OH do not buy black ever.

why not black? the 99 i'm interested in is black on black. Is that the color where the paint had a bad texture? I read some of the TSB's on All Data and they mentioned something screwy about paint colors of that year.

also there seemed to be a handful of problems relating to the PCM. There were about 40 complaints listed under customer concerns.
But then I looked at a few other car makers and they had just as many TSB's for their cars as well so i guess it's something normal....

[SpectorV]

black is an evil color that once you own you will understand. You can not keep it clean you CAN NOT wash it with water EVER with out spots you basically will wish you didnt have black (I kept mine perfect but red is SOOOOOO much either)

Once you own one you will wish you had listened to me.

[nckissfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpectorV they wont take 700hp lol 03 cobra motors dont like over 600rwhp the you go into the danger zone, may be ok may not but you dont know.

I have a friend with a '01 putting close to 650hp to the rear wheels, no problems. These motors are awesome, and will take the power. I know another guy shooting over 800hp on an '04, seeking 1000hp twin turboed.

[SpectorV]

the 03/04s generally see problems after 550-600rwhp and the 01's internals are not as strong so they will have issues before that mark (with a roots blower). Keep this in mind, this is on a roots blower which is harder on the car. The basic thing I was trying to get across is stock for stock the 03/04 has stronger internals than the 99-02 cobra.

[nckissfan]

I understand what you are saying, but I have several friends with blown Cobras, and have no problems what soever. It all depends on how well the car is tuned. Another friend, has over 140,000 miles on his blown 99. I can't remember the hp rating, but his is driven hard. These motors are strong, no matter the year.

Oh yeah, no Cobras in '02, except for the few that were shipped to Australia as a 2002 model.