I feel sick to the pit of my stomach - what have I done?
07-31-2009, 09:18 PM
#1
5th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,401
I feel sick to the pit of my stomach - what have I done?
I frikkin love my mustang. i bought it stock and made it what it is. I bought and tried mods, parts, cosmetics I ended up not liking and had the nuts to stand up, admit it and remove them.
I cherry picked the parts and she rewarded me with total reliability and the ability to attract positive attention from pretty much everybody.
The local dealership guys just freaked over it every time I took her in for an oil change/TSB or any work, show'n'shines are a joy and road course track days just awesome. Kids wave, guys drool and, well, women like it cos it's got a glass roof
She runs like a raped ape with the Whipple, she stops equally as good thanks to the Brembos and she circulates on a road course like a champ thanks to the handling setup. The list of other mods is almost endless.
Why go to these lengths? Simple - I never thought we'd part..................................... but we have !
So what happened??
Well today, this morning, I learn that the local Ford dealer who are new SVT dealers now BTW, had an 03 Cobra in the showroom - The utter bastards.
Now, I always said, rather glibbly, that if/when my local stealership ever got a nice stock Terminator in, I would go buy it. You see, arguably I should have taken the plunge by tracking down and buying a Terminator 2 years ago instead of buying the GT but I was just too busy with house buying and stuff and didn't have the time to drop into the States all the time to look at prospective Cobras. So i took the easy route and spent the following 2 years pouring my soul into the GT to make it what it is. I never managed to shake the Terminator bug though.
I drive there this morning, about 5 minutes after I learn the Cobra is there to be precise, and park the GT in the sun, on the lot out front. It's not long before the staff and customers are sniffing round it but I don't care, I'm inside looking at an 03 Black vert Cobra, 17k km one owner, BONE STOCK and utterly perfect in every way. Owner was an older guy who put it in against a new GT500 (loser). he brought it to the dealership on a trailer ! Window stickers, paperwork, brochure, it's all there.
I'm twitching like a loon at this point but keep my cool. "Can I get somebody to help you"? came the soft female voice - "Yes" my reply with a delay of perhaps 15 milliseconds LOL
I reckoned they would try to bend me over huge.
- The 17,000km Cobra was up for $35k
- Mine is an 06 GT heavily modded with 19,500km
And I know the trade in value on a stock 06 GT is around 14-15k
Well the negotiations went super smooth helped by the fact that I declared with my poker face that all I wanted were the numbers and no double talk. "You don't have to sell me the car, you just have to give me the right number so I can walk across the road to the TD bank and get you a bankers chq"
I'm such a tool.
There was no doubt the sales guy wanted my car in his showroom, he said it flat out, but talk is cheap right.
Their own appraisal guy wasn't comfortable giving a value on the car so we had to wait 40 minutes whilst an independent appraisal guy drove down from Orrilia - Gulp. When he arrived it turned out he'd seen the car and chatted about it to me at a show'n'shine before and was "pretty familiar with it". He sniffed round it, drove it (with me in the car) and declared that it drove looked and behaved better than any so-called modified Mustang he'd tried before and he would be sure that I'd be happy with his estimate. After he'd confered with the sales manager and made a call to check the car was indeed lien free, they came out and offered me $30k.
So cutting to the chase
I'm taking my Pioneer Z2 out and filling the hole with the original Shaker500. Removing my data logger, shift light, MSD dash hawk and taking out my Corbeau seats and putting the stock ones in. Then I'm cutting Barrie Ford a cheque for $5k to include taxes and licensing.
In return they are fitting 4 new tires (current tires are fine but original equipment and I made a fuss about their integrity age-wise) new rotors and pads to the Cobra.
I pick it up Tuesday unless flood, earthquake, famine or perhaps good sense strike in between.
Am I looking forward to the Cobra? yes of course although I do wish it were a coupe
Will I miss my GT? Oh God, you don't even know it. To be utterly honest I felt sick to my stomach in there. I kept looking out the window at it and in the end I had my wife leave because she was starting to make me choke up by reminding me just how much that darn car meant to me.
What do you do though, the Cobra thing has been a festering wound in my dreams for the longest time and I had pretty much decided it was done, I'd never have one. I HAD to do it, I was a passenger in my own body.
I begged the guy to NOT sell it locally, and to TRY to find a buyer out of town. He's pretty sure he can sell it over the phone in quick time and it'll find it's way down to Toronto.
God, what have I done ???
I cherry picked the parts and she rewarded me with total reliability and the ability to attract positive attention from pretty much everybody.
The local dealership guys just freaked over it every time I took her in for an oil change/TSB or any work, show'n'shines are a joy and road course track days just awesome. Kids wave, guys drool and, well, women like it cos it's got a glass roof
She runs like a raped ape with the Whipple, she stops equally as good thanks to the Brembos and she circulates on a road course like a champ thanks to the handling setup. The list of other mods is almost endless.
Why go to these lengths? Simple - I never thought we'd part..................................... but we have !
So what happened??
Well today, this morning, I learn that the local Ford dealer who are new SVT dealers now BTW, had an 03 Cobra in the showroom - The utter bastards.
Now, I always said, rather glibbly, that if/when my local stealership ever got a nice stock Terminator in, I would go buy it. You see, arguably I should have taken the plunge by tracking down and buying a Terminator 2 years ago instead of buying the GT but I was just too busy with house buying and stuff and didn't have the time to drop into the States all the time to look at prospective Cobras. So i took the easy route and spent the following 2 years pouring my soul into the GT to make it what it is. I never managed to shake the Terminator bug though.
I drive there this morning, about 5 minutes after I learn the Cobra is there to be precise, and park the GT in the sun, on the lot out front. It's not long before the staff and customers are sniffing round it but I don't care, I'm inside looking at an 03 Black vert Cobra, 17k km one owner, BONE STOCK and utterly perfect in every way. Owner was an older guy who put it in against a new GT500 (loser). he brought it to the dealership on a trailer ! Window stickers, paperwork, brochure, it's all there.
I'm twitching like a loon at this point but keep my cool. "Can I get somebody to help you"? came the soft female voice - "Yes" my reply with a delay of perhaps 15 milliseconds LOL
I reckoned they would try to bend me over huge.
- The 17,000km Cobra was up for $35k
- Mine is an 06 GT heavily modded with 19,500km
And I know the trade in value on a stock 06 GT is around 14-15k
Well the negotiations went super smooth helped by the fact that I declared with my poker face that all I wanted were the numbers and no double talk. "You don't have to sell me the car, you just have to give me the right number so I can walk across the road to the TD bank and get you a bankers chq"
I'm such a tool.
There was no doubt the sales guy wanted my car in his showroom, he said it flat out, but talk is cheap right.
Their own appraisal guy wasn't comfortable giving a value on the car so we had to wait 40 minutes whilst an independent appraisal guy drove down from Orrilia - Gulp. When he arrived it turned out he'd seen the car and chatted about it to me at a show'n'shine before and was "pretty familiar with it". He sniffed round it, drove it (with me in the car) and declared that it drove looked and behaved better than any so-called modified Mustang he'd tried before and he would be sure that I'd be happy with his estimate. After he'd confered with the sales manager and made a call to check the car was indeed lien free, they came out and offered me $30k.
So cutting to the chase
I'm taking my Pioneer Z2 out and filling the hole with the original Shaker500. Removing my data logger, shift light, MSD dash hawk and taking out my Corbeau seats and putting the stock ones in. Then I'm cutting Barrie Ford a cheque for $5k to include taxes and licensing.
In return they are fitting 4 new tires (current tires are fine but original equipment and I made a fuss about their integrity age-wise) new rotors and pads to the Cobra.
I pick it up Tuesday unless flood, earthquake, famine or perhaps good sense strike in between.
Am I looking forward to the Cobra? yes of course although I do wish it were a coupe
Will I miss my GT? Oh God, you don't even know it. To be utterly honest I felt sick to my stomach in there. I kept looking out the window at it and in the end I had my wife leave because she was starting to make me choke up by reminding me just how much that darn car meant to me.
What do you do though, the Cobra thing has been a festering wound in my dreams for the longest time and I had pretty much decided it was done, I'd never have one. I HAD to do it, I was a passenger in my own body.
I begged the guy to NOT sell it locally, and to TRY to find a buyer out of town. He's pretty sure he can sell it over the phone in quick time and it'll find it's way down to Toronto.
God, what have I done ???
08-03-2009, 11:48 AM
#9
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 1,956
No worries man, its not the destination in life its the journey there. Just think about it this way, you're going to get to build that Cobra up to be your own and when you're done it will be all that much better than the GT....plus it will still sound like dying babies when you gas it. Always a plus.
08-03-2009, 01:02 PM
#10
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Maryland
Posts: 649
I am utterly choked up by this story. What a DECISION..........
Personally, I would have kept my GT. But, that being said, this is my first mustang, EVER. It would be hard to part with it. It being you, and this being your dream of a lifetime, I would have gone for it as well. Like all the others said, this was your dream car. You can now make it your own and better it! In the end, you will ALWAYS miss your GT, but you will love the termi so much more. It hurts now, but when you first pull off the lot in that cobra you will have the biggest shyt-eatting grin on your face and in that moment you will forget about your GT.
Have fun with it! Who knows, maybe one day you will be able to buy your GT back, or even buy a new one and mod the hell out of it too.
I am sooooooo jealous!! ENJOY!
Personally, I would have kept my GT. But, that being said, this is my first mustang, EVER. It would be hard to part with it. It being you, and this being your dream of a lifetime, I would have gone for it as well. Like all the others said, this was your dream car. You can now make it your own and better it! In the end, you will ALWAYS miss your GT, but you will love the termi so much more. It hurts now, but when you first pull off the lot in that cobra you will have the biggest shyt-eatting grin on your face and in that moment you will forget about your GT.
Have fun with it! Who knows, maybe one day you will be able to buy your GT back, or even buy a new one and mod the hell out of it too.
I am sooooooo jealous!! ENJOY!