Looking at a 2004 Mustang - V6 Auto

vagabond · 09-03-2009, 09:37 PM

Yeah yeah, I've read all around that I should get a V8, I should get a manual, blah blah. I would but here's the deal:

My wife and I currently have one car, a 2004 Jeep Cherokee. We recently introduced our first child into the world and he's nearly six months now. About a year ago her junker 1993 Civic died so we never replaced it because there was no need. However, we need another car. I was looking at Altimas, Civics, Accords etc as nice family cars when I saw a Mustang. For nearly the same price. I've ALWAYS wanted an American sports car. However, my parents wouldn't let me get one.. which, I'm halfway glad because I probably would have killed myself or someone else.

I'm 26 now, so the insurance would be cheap and my driving record is clean. I convinced my wife to let me get a Mustang but she laid down two rules:

1. No V8. She sees it as a gas guzzler and the insurance would be more expensive.
2. Automatic. She has no patience to learn.

I do plan on down the line getting my own car to play around with as a manual with a huge engine that I can have as a toy, but right now I have to look at a daily driver, and as I drive in alot of city traffic and have no reason to try and show off or race I figure it's fine for me.

My question is:

Are there any KNOWN issues with these year/models that I should look at prior to purchasing it. It's from a dealership and I spoke to the Sales GM over the phone who told me it only had one previous owner and wasn't driven in the winter (I live in Toronto). The stats on it are:

2004
V6
Auto
20,000 miles
Base package: cloth seats, cruise control, cd player, power windows etc etc.
Dark Blue Exterior color (I like )

The price is currently ~13k, I'll probably get them down to ~11k by the end. It has VERY low mileage. I will be taking it for a test drive and making a stop at my mechanic to have him look at it, but from what I've seen and been told I doubt he will tell me it's a lemon.

I'm pretty excited about it myself. The only cars I had previous to the Jeep was an old stock Civic DX and a stock Mitsubishi Eclipse (with the 1.5 ;x) so even as a V6, it should be a huge jump for me...

So, what do you think and is there anything I should watch out for?

Thanks in advance!

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stangant · 09-03-2009, 10:03 PM

that's extreamly low miles and honestly an auto is more of a family transmission so that is good, you don't want to worry bout kid and shifting lol. the price is high though but if i'm sure you can get it down.

RyansQuick6 · 09-03-2009, 10:10 PM

I'm just gonna assume those are canadian prices, but in USD even with the tremendously low mileage, I wouldn't pay more than $10k.

vagabond · 09-03-2009, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyansQuick6

I'm just gonna assume those are canadian prices, but in USD even with the tremendously low mileage, I wouldn't pay more than $10k.

Yeah, it's CAD. I'm looking for $11k Canadian, which would be just under $10k USD.

RyansQuick6 · 09-04-2009, 12:08 AM

Then that sounds like a good del to me, just have it checked over for any previous incidents by a 3rd party

fordforlife0225 · 09-04-2009, 10:25 AM

buy mine. no problems, im just going into the coast guard in a few months and will be selling my car and motorcycle. a little high on milage (105,000) but still runs beautifully. new shocks and struts from kyb. $7300. best part is its a maryland car but i have a house in ontario so easy delivery.

torkk · 09-04-2009, 07:02 PM

The 8 prlly burns the same amount of gas that the 6 does. And stick=better mpg. Its mostly in how you drive the car. just my 2cts

vagabond · 09-05-2009, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordforlife0225

buy mine. no problems, im just going into the coast guard in a few months and will be selling my car and motorcycle. a little high on milage (105,000) but still runs beautifully. new shocks and struts from kyb. $7300. best part is its a maryland car but i have a house in ontario so easy delivery.

IIRC changing an American car over to a Canadian car is a pain. I brought my Eclipse up here and got drowned in paper work. I'd rather just purchase something in Canada and not have to think about all that. Thanks for the offer though.

vagabond · 09-05-2009, 10:49 AM

(copied over from the 4.6 forums where I posted this thread originally mistakenly)

Hey guys.. first off, thanks for all of the responses!

To be honest, if I wanted the GT, I could get it. It's mainly the manual thing she is worried about and since I'm a daily driver in the city, I don't mind an auto myself.

Maybe it's just me, but I cannot find ANY GT's in my area (Toronto) that are not convertibles in my price range. I am restricting myself to dealerships due to a couple of bad private deals, though I can talk dealers down pretty easy.

My budget is just over 11k and here that'll buy you a nice late fourth gen V6. Now, for about 1k more I could get a GT, but it's a convertible. I guess the coupes don't exist. I will not get a convertible btw.. Canada + my sister had one and I saw how much of a pita it was.

If you guys want to take a look at any auto sells sites around here, or direct me to any better ones than cars.com or autotrader.com by all means, please. These are what I'm going off of besides driving to every dealership within a 100km distance. I've also checked the websites of every dealership within the area as well and this is the best deal I have found. There are fifth gen GT's around, but then they are 15k+ and that's way out of my budget...

Getting this car is not only about having a fun daily driver for myself but trying to start a trend where my daily driver is a sports car. I feel if I give in and get some 4D economy car I'll give in and let go of the part of me that wants to drive something nice. So, I'd much rather stick in my budget, get a V6 with low mileage and then 5 years from now when we're better off financially grab something bigger and meaner.

Thanks again guys, this has given me alot of insight. I also kinda wish I still lived in the States cause I'm sure I could get a GT for a whole hell of a lot cheaper..

Shaunmac9128 · 09-05-2009, 10:54 AM

There aren't any common problems really except the exhaust manifold on the passengers side I believe which in some cars is prone to cracking because of an a/c drip. Other than that these cars are very reliable, the mileage isn't bad either, if you know how to drive it you can see 25+ mpg. Fun cars just don't start modding it because you'll get addicted and I'm sure you'll need that money for the kid sooner or later. Congrats on having your first child too