[arvad]

There is this flawless looking 2006 Mustang for $8,950. Its in great condition and looks nice, but.... it has 119,671 miles on it. That's about 23k miles a year, did the owner over use it? How many miles until it starts having trouble? I will be using it to drive to school and work daily.. Buy or Ignore??

 

[hansel]

save some cash and buy off craigslist if not already.
if this is from a private seller as it seems, then that is a HUGE price

Or if you can get it for maybe 7000-7500, then get it. If you can get it for 6000 then definitely get it.
Mustangs last for 200k miles, and you could sell that one in 20-30k miles more for about 7000 if you really press for it.
i resell mustangs alot, so i am familiar with pricing

So, either look on craigslist and pay 6000 for the same one, or talk that one down alot

Check for signs of abuse, but the mileage is not excessive.
good luck

 

[quigley]

If it is on a Ford dealers lot, then it is a pretty good risk. Dealerships tend to wholesale out high risk cars when they are the same make as they normally carry. But if it is on a different make car lot, sometimes they will keep a high risk car so that you get disgusted with the brand and or can be reasonably sure you will use their service department.
To tell you the truth, I would prefer one with high mileage to one with low mileage.
Check for how the car was detailed, look into the area in front of the door that you can see when you have the door open from the drivers seat. A lot of detailers can make a trashy car look great, but miss that area.
It is still a roll of the dice. A lot depends on how you take care of it. I have a brother that can trash a brand new car in 500 miles, while I can take a clunker and get 50000 miles out of it.
Good luck.

 

[Armondo]

Perform a 'leak down' test on the cylinders, NOT a cranking compression test.
Ask the owner questions about maintenance habits, what oil used, etc.
The maintenance records(for an airplane) will make or brake the sell. (Incidentally, outside of my experience source listed below, I'm a private/corporate aircraft broker)