Need advice on a Mustang purchase
11-26-2010, 11:01 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Illinois
Posts: 20
Need advice on a Mustang purchase
I'm new to the forum guy's so please forgive me if this topic has already been discussed. I'm getting ready to retire and I plan on treating myself to a muscle car in late summer 2011. I would appreciate input on the following questions-
1-How reliable are the supercharged cars like the GT500, Rousch/Saleen models? Does the supercharger reduce the engines life expectancy and if so what number of miles could a person reasonably expect to get out of a supercharged motor before it needs to be rebuilt?
2-The last muscle car I owned was in 1988-a 1987 Mustang GT. I loved that car and it didn't give me minutes worth of trouble. But the 87 GT didn't have near the power that a GT500 would have. Would I possibly be better off buying a 5.0 or older model GT and becoming accustomed to the car before purchasing the more powerful GT500? I recently drove a GT500 and it was frighteningly fast.
3-Am I correct in thinking the GT500 would hold it's resale value better than the 5.0/Saleen/Rousch models?
Anyone with experience in this matter your input or response would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dan
1-How reliable are the supercharged cars like the GT500, Rousch/Saleen models? Does the supercharger reduce the engines life expectancy and if so what number of miles could a person reasonably expect to get out of a supercharged motor before it needs to be rebuilt?
2-The last muscle car I owned was in 1988-a 1987 Mustang GT. I loved that car and it didn't give me minutes worth of trouble. But the 87 GT didn't have near the power that a GT500 would have. Would I possibly be better off buying a 5.0 or older model GT and becoming accustomed to the car before purchasing the more powerful GT500? I recently drove a GT500 and it was frighteningly fast.
3-Am I correct in thinking the GT500 would hold it's resale value better than the 5.0/Saleen/Rousch models?
Anyone with experience in this matter your input or response would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dan
11-26-2010, 11:47 AM
#2
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 4,256
I'm new to the forum guy's so please forgive me if this topic has already been discussed. I'm getting ready to retire and I plan on treating myself to a muscle car in late summer 2011. I would appreciate input on the following questions-
1-How reliable are the supercharged cars like the GT500, Rousch/Saleen models? Does the supercharger reduce the engines life expectancy and if so what number of miles could a person reasonably expect to get out of a supercharged motor before it needs to be rebuilt?
In my opinion, a lot of it is in the tune and the maintenance of the car. If you beat the hell out of it, don't maintain it and/or run too much power through it, it's not going to last. A GT500 isn't something that you drive everyday, all over either. To me, it's a weekend/fun car for when you're not putting the miles on a beater.
Someone else could probably give you a better, more technical answer on this
2-The last muscle car I owned was in 1988-a 1987 Mustang GT. I loved that car and it didn't give me minutes worth of trouble. But the 87 GT didn't have near the power that a GT500 would have. Would I possibly be better off buying a 5.0 or older model GT and becoming accustomed to the car before purchasing the more powerful GT500? I recently drove a GT500 and it was frighteningly fast.
I'd say that would be a very good idea. Buy an older GT to get used to it and then keep it as a daily driver if/when you get a GT500
3-Am I correct in thinking the GT500 would hold it's resale value better than the 5.0/Saleen/Rousch models?
I hate to say it, but realistically Carroll Shelby isn't going to live forever and when he passes I see the prices on Shelbys skyrocketing. And the GT500/Saleens/Roushs will hold their value a lot better than the 5.0. They're a lot more exclusive and rare. Look at the 03-04 Cobras, they're 6-7 years old and I very, very rarely see one under $20k
Welcome and good luck with the car search
1-How reliable are the supercharged cars like the GT500, Rousch/Saleen models? Does the supercharger reduce the engines life expectancy and if so what number of miles could a person reasonably expect to get out of a supercharged motor before it needs to be rebuilt?
In my opinion, a lot of it is in the tune and the maintenance of the car. If you beat the hell out of it, don't maintain it and/or run too much power through it, it's not going to last. A GT500 isn't something that you drive everyday, all over either. To me, it's a weekend/fun car for when you're not putting the miles on a beater.
Someone else could probably give you a better, more technical answer on this
2-The last muscle car I owned was in 1988-a 1987 Mustang GT. I loved that car and it didn't give me minutes worth of trouble. But the 87 GT didn't have near the power that a GT500 would have. Would I possibly be better off buying a 5.0 or older model GT and becoming accustomed to the car before purchasing the more powerful GT500? I recently drove a GT500 and it was frighteningly fast.
I'd say that would be a very good idea. Buy an older GT to get used to it and then keep it as a daily driver if/when you get a GT500
3-Am I correct in thinking the GT500 would hold it's resale value better than the 5.0/Saleen/Rousch models?
I hate to say it, but realistically Carroll Shelby isn't going to live forever and when he passes I see the prices on Shelbys skyrocketing. And the GT500/Saleens/Roushs will hold their value a lot better than the 5.0. They're a lot more exclusive and rare. Look at the 03-04 Cobras, they're 6-7 years old and I very, very rarely see one under $20k
Welcome and good luck with the car search
11-26-2010, 02:21 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Illinois
Posts: 20
"In my opinion, a lot of it is in the tune and the maintenance of the car. If you beat the hell out of it, don't maintain it and/or run too much power through it, it's not going to last. A GT500 isn't something that you drive everyday, all over either. To me, it's a weekend/fun car for when you're not putting the miles on a beater."
Actually I was thinking of maybe purchasing a used GT500. But I was curious at what point would the mileage be considered too high? I frequently see GT500's with 30-40K on them and was wondering if that is considered high mileage for a supercharged motor? Whatever I purchase I would expect to rack up 8-10K miles a year driving it.
Actually I was thinking of maybe purchasing a used GT500. But I was curious at what point would the mileage be considered too high? I frequently see GT500's with 30-40K on them and was wondering if that is considered high mileage for a supercharged motor? Whatever I purchase I would expect to rack up 8-10K miles a year driving it.
01-07-2011, 06:53 PM
#4
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 26
Factory supercharger vehicles like the GT500 go through a durability test that would scare the hell out of you. I would not be even a little bit fearful of a OEM equiped supercharged car, now if you start tweaking then all bets are off. Companies like Saleen and Roush do quite a bit of testing but it will never equal what an OEM does and those companies will push the limits a bit harder that Ford/GM/Mopar would on something off the lot. GT500 has been designed as a driver by Ford and can be used pretty comfortably as a driver and should take wear and tear well but if your commuting 50 miles a day 7 days a week......get a GT for the drive. Remember that Ford doesn't want to put out a car with a glass jaw that requires a rebuild in 70k miles, with modern fuel injected engines they will run for hundreds of thousands of miles without rebuilds.
01-08-2011, 07:43 PM
#8
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: LA
Posts: 33
Welcome to the forum.
A number of people bought Shelby's expecting them to retain value to increase, unfortunately people paid $50k for them in 2006/7 and are now selling them for $35k with mods.
You could pick up some really amazing GT500's with low mileage for about $40k.. You just have to look.
I hate to say it, but realistically Carroll Shelby isn't going to live forever and when he passes I see the prices on Shelbys skyrocketing. And the GT500/Saleens/Roushs will hold their value a lot better than the 5.0. They're a lot more exclusive and rare. Look at the 03-04 Cobras, they're 6-7 years old and I very, very rarely see one under $20k
Welcome and good luck with the car search
Welcome and good luck with the car search
"In my opinion, a lot of it is in the tune and the maintenance of the car. If you beat the hell out of it, don't maintain it and/or run too much power through it, it's not going to last. A GT500 isn't something that you drive everyday, all over either. To me, it's a weekend/fun car for when you're not putting the miles on a beater."
Actually I was thinking of maybe purchasing a used GT500. But I was curious at what point would the mileage be considered too high? I frequently see GT500's with 30-40K on them and was wondering if that is considered high mileage for a supercharged motor? Whatever I purchase I would expect to rack up 8-10K miles a year driving it.
Actually I was thinking of maybe purchasing a used GT500. But I was curious at what point would the mileage be considered too high? I frequently see GT500's with 30-40K on them and was wondering if that is considered high mileage for a supercharged motor? Whatever I purchase I would expect to rack up 8-10K miles a year driving it.
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