civicowner

Hey,

First of all I dont own a Mustang ( I drive a civic), but have always liked this generation of Mustangs and have always wanted to own one. The two things that attract me about them is 1) The body style 2) theyre fast 3) theyre cheap. Im considering buying one and wanted to ask a few questions.

Ok, the first thing I want to own is how hard is it to find one thats in good condition? By condition I mean body, interior and most important the engine. Im not a mechanic, and dont really know any ( my moms bf works on school buses for a living but I dont think hed want to be constantly working on my car) so reliability is VERY important to me. This is why I currently drive a civic. Oh ya, and I live in southern california, Orange County to be exact.

If you can find one in decent shape, how much do they usually cost? a few grand? I understand they werent that popular and gas is way too expensive these days so im guessing theyd be pretty cheap by now.

Another thing I wanted to ask about is the manual transmissions. How good are these in this perticular generation of Mustangs? Were they better built than say the automatic transmissions? and is the speed difference between auto and manual transmissions like jap cars? Which one is faster.

Thanks for any help.

hatingyou

To find one in good condition you just need to spend some time looking for one. If reliability is what worries you most, try to find one that is 100% stock. This would most likely mean that it wasn't beat on too hard. Plus try to buy from an adult. These cars are getting pretty old though and most any you find will need some work. They do last a long time though if cared for properly (200,000+ miles), and have engines that can take quite a bit of abuse. i would imagine one in a pretty nice condition would go for around $4,000, though prices seem to vary between different parts of the US.

As far as popularity goes. These things were kings of the drag strip for a long time and still can deal an @$$ beating when modded. Just don't expect to be the fastest thing in town when stock.

Manuels are generally faster stock as long as you can drive. The autos when stock are definately not for racing. But you can slap on a torque converter and shift kit to the auto and you will be slapping manuels around.

Hope this helps.

civicowner

Cool, thanks.

And yeah if I got one of these I would definately get a manual. They are just funner to drive and I fell in love wiht them after driving my friends 99 SI and my brothers 04WRX. The only thing that bothers me is the age of these cars. But I think you can find a good one if you put some effort into looking. I know my uncle has bought cars much older than this and they have all ran pretty good.

90Mustangfan

Heres a good tip when looking at 87-93 stangs....the odometer doesnt have the 100th digit.....be careful when people say "it has 60,000 original miles.....Its probally 160,000 miles. For example When I bought my stang the pervious owner said it has 50,000 miles on it, but when I car faxed it, it really has 150,000. people will lie and say it has lower miles than it.....lokking ofr always check for oil leaks, see where they parked the car and see if there are any drip makes, listen to the engine for ticking noises. Generally is it has lots of mods, it was probally raced. look over the car real good, esp the engine, check for aging parts, and check for new part, to see why they were replaced. And when people say For example, the clutch just needs adjustment....the clutch will probally need to be replaced...if it were really just an adjustment, the owner would have already done it....Or if the guy is retarded, then I probally wouldnt buy it, who knows if he even changed the oil....I live about an hour from Orange county....il live in victorville......for transmission, the manual is better, and faster....always check when shifting if it grinds in between shift and if the shifts are smooth. A decent stang areound this area will run anywhere between 3000 and 4500 for nice stangs, anything thats around 2000-2500 will probally be not that great....and when looking through autotrader and cars.com....ask lots of question....Ive looked at probally 30 cars before I found the one...people tend to describe thing better than they really are for example, He says the paint is ok...in reality the paint sucks and it will need to be repainted, like I said ask alot of questions.....and on the test drive, Dont be afraid to beat on it, cause if going to break, its better to find out on the test drive rather than 3 days later, and you find out you got ripped off....manual trans is always better, auto in these years stang suck, they really do, unless its built, (shift kit, stall converter etc.), but stock for stock the manual is alot faster, about 3 tenths faster.

dc_mann8

for the get a 90-92 if possible, because they are forged pistons, MAF, and in 90 they upgraded the t5 tranny to handle 300 ft pounds of torque. other ones will blow real easy if you like to get on er, worst things IMO about the 90s is the leather wrapped wheel.. i dont like it, and, the ugly map pockets on the doors.

vfast

hey now mine does has 55k on it and you can have mine shipped to your door

grabbem88

88's and 89's had forged piston's also,and ford did sneak hyper's in 92,and all t5's are junk by a performance stand point.

88BlueGT

Just make sure that its not under a 89 because it wasnt mass air. But I guess if you do not plan on modding it than it really dosent matter. But if you are; no matter what you say, if you own one you will than def. get mass air. Its not worth it to have to go through a conversion. I am about to order mine soon for my 88 and its going to cost me about 600 bucks. Like 90mustangfan said, just dont be afraid to ask questions, thats probally the worst thing that you can do. I didnt ask any questions when I baught my car and I got screwed. Also, try not to think like this.... "I can fix that its only a little thing". Because if there are alot of little things that are wrong with the car that you know of from looking at it in 10 minutes; in a week there will be a LOT more little things and it turns into one big nightmare. Trust me, I know from experience. Also, def. get a manual (another mistake I made, but getting C4 soon to make up for it ) There much more fun to drive, more reliable, and can handle more power. You should be able to find a good condition stang for about 4-5k. Dont forget to check all of the little stuff, its really easy to get caught up in a car and forget to check the little things... Ex: wipers, lights, brakes, brake lights, widows (both sides), hazards, horn, signals, radio, speakers (make sure they arent blown or anything), check weather stripping, exhaust leaks, body damage, etc. And if I were you I wouldnt ever trust carfax or anything like that. The car fax on my car was clean but the whole thing was wrecked and thrown back together horribly. Now I want it to look decent and I have to replace the rad support, lights, fenders, bumper, bumper support, brackets, and all hardwear. Just be careful, there are alot of scams out there. Just try not to get caught up in one. Good luck with everything. Hope you get something nice. Also, go blue!

OneFine89Mustang

let the car run check for knocks and oil leaks for the tranny its up to you... if you wanna all out performance track car go for the auto. auto's can handle more horsepower when worked and you dont have to worry about missin shifts that might cost you a race. but if you want that fun street car go for the stick they are alot of fun to drive. i bought my car with the aod for the intention of a drag car i already did some work to it and i am already smokin my buddies 93 gt 5 speed.. just my 2 cents

dc_mann8

yes i know.. i wasnt clear though, thanks.. 88 and 89 had forged pistons too.. but i was giving the best years becasue it had them, maf, and the upgraded tranny.. i know they are all junk, but the earlier ones are even worse.