clentonz

****I am NOT posting this to look for a car on the forums or any financial trading; I know that is for the classifieds....But I'm not sure if this is the right forum either...****


Hello everyone,
Remember me? The guy who posted the poll/thread about mustang prices dropping when the 2010's come out?

Short Version:
Anyways, my current car just died on me(not fixable) out of no where; so I need to push that GT purchase date up ASAP. Preferably this weekend/week, but being desperate is one of the worst attributes you can have when purchasing a vehicle. I go to Texas Tech but live in Dallas TX, and already missed the 1st day of this semester; and would like to find one before the monday classes....but I doubt that that will happen. I could fly back for the week, while still looking; but I need a car soon

I used autotrader, ebay, cars, and a couple local online dealers; but have not really found anything that I feel completely comfortable with.

Up until a month or so ago, I had my mind and money set on a New Edge; but since the S197's came into my price range...I cannot go back..these cars are much much more refined. But I have spent years researching the SN95's, but only a month on the S197's; so I feel like I should know a lot more..... especially when it comes to talking with these sales guys.....they can tell if you know what your talking about or not(and could possible get you a better deal). I thought I had 6-8 months to research, but this came out of left field; and I feel completely out of my element/knowledge base. So if anyone could share some info or links on the "need to know" things about the S197; that would be greatly appreciated

My second question, I have used all of those online website's(autotrader, etc); but I feel as if I am over looking a lot of mustangs for some reason....If anyone could share some info/tips on where to look; that would help immensely!

Thanks guys, I am very sorry for such a long/confusing post It's just that I am exhausted from all of this, and other non car related problems going on. So, sorry about the long rant; its just the S197 is my dream car(too me)....and I will not settle for anything less, the car is amazing(as I rant some more....) But thanks guys, any information would be greatly appreciated...if you can decipher what my question is....lol....Well, off to the search button and research

This is just the short/main questions, but if you want to read my whole situation; than you can read below....

The Whole Story
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To make this short as possible:

I go to Texas Tech, and drive a jeep grand cherokee 5.2l, and I was planning on purchasing a 05+ when/if the used prices dropped this fall. So, before I am about to go back to college, I fill up the jeep for the road trip ahead...but when I started her up, it started having bad vibrations(shaking the car, idle dropping, etc)....

So I the next morning, the check engine light comes on....so I go to the mechanic, they can't really figure it out; they just replaced the tension pulley and did some checks on the codes but cam up with nothing. The next morning, I go back in to see the main mechanic(he wasn't there yesterday) and he starts doing some compression checks(the whole time whispering to himself, "um uh oh, this isn't good...not good at all") and to keep it short...I will get straight to the point, compression is low, with 166K miles on it....the engine is dead...

***If you don't want to read that^^^ its just about my engine taking a S***, cannot be fixed...car is no more***

So, it is not Jan. 9(Friday), and I have school on Monday...I have already missed two days for other non car related issues....And I have to find a new vehicle ASAP(I live in Dallas, but go to school in Lubbock) So my plans of waiting until the fall( for the 2010 mustangs) to hopefully get a 05-06 stang at a lower price; just went out the window

***The "particulars":

- Need to find a good deal on a preferably 06' Mustang GT 5spd ASAP, wish the perfect one would just fall into my hands over the next two days; but I doubt I will have the car in time to drive back up to Lubbock for school. And this is the WORST position to be in when buying a car; in a hurry/desperate....the dealers can smell weakness...

-Price of around 13k-14K, but basically the lower the better

-A GT that has not been beat on....this is hard for me b/c I know why people get mustangs(for the most part), is to "go fast....err burn rubber, etc"...which is fine, as long as it is well maintained by a responsible owner...y'all know what I mean.

-I could hitch a ride to Lubbock for the week, and keep looking until I feel comfortable with a deal; but I cannot last to long w/o a vehicle. My father even offered to loan me his car, bless his heart. But I know he has work(Pilot), and his schedule can be a little flexible; but I don't want to put my problems on him, and all that he has done for me.

I live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and have searched using autotrader, Cars.com, ebay, and a few online Dallas dealerships; but I have only came up with about 2 prospects...

1st is a 06' and slightly overpriced(14.9k) and on ebay(I have NO experience w/ buying a vehicle on eBay). But I love the color and mileage( 27k), and basically looks great to me...besides the eBay & price aspect. **But it is located about 250 miles outside of Dallas, but don't want to drive all the way out there to look at it; and it be a dud or he sticks firmly to his price

2nd one is a 05' only 19 miles from me, and looks great....But it has 61k miles on it and aftermarket rimes(which makes me think that it was beat on, as mentioned above)

***As my jeep is shot, but still barely runs; I can apply for the AirCheckTexas....Which is a Government program that is trying to get old cars off the road. They will give you up too a $3500 voucher for your trade-in, on a vehicle that is 3 model years old(06')...So I am mainly leaning towards the 06's***

I just feel that I am short on knowledge, I researched the New Edge's for years(the car I was set on).But once the S197 came into my price range about a month or so ago, I have been trying to learn as much as possible; but I would not feel comfortable going to a dealer to purchase one as I would if it were a SN95. So if there is any info/tips/guides that you guys could share on things that I need to know about these cars; I would be so thankful

Last question, I have used all of those online website's(autotrader, etc); but I feel as if I am over looking a lot of mustangs that these website are not sharing....So if anyone has any tips/info on other sources on buying these cars, I would be very grateful for anything. I just feel as if there are a lot of mustangs not listed in these major auto search websites, that could possibly be the one for me...

This is getting too long....

Thanks guys, any and all information would be greatly appreciated!! Again, I am very sorry for it being so long, and any spelling/english accidents; I am just exhausted and in a hurry at the same time.. I will continue to search in the mean time.

clentonz

Wow.....that is long, and I sound like a idiot....

Shard Phoenix

What are you needing knowledge on? A month of study seems like a long time to not know anything.

Forget about the GT thats 250 miles away unless you can get in touch with the guy and talk price, if its already on ebay he may be pretty firm on that price, and a 500 mile round trip is gonna make heartbreak seem a lot worse.

Rims dont neccasarily mean it was beat on. Look under the rear fender wells for melted rubber, that would be a much better give away. Also look at the tires for little chunks missing out of the edges of the treads, that would also indicate lots of wheel spin.

I think at your price range your going to find cars with a little more mileage that are overall in good condition, or cars with less mileage that are possibly more flawed.

I would personally rather find a car with more miles that was in overall better shape, body work and interior issues can be annoying to look at and expensive. Most mechanical maintanence issues wont be very costly in comparison.

You wont find perfection for what your willing to pay, but whatever you decide to go with, take your time as best you can and choose carefully. If you are dealing with a salesman dont be afraid to walk away, there are plenty of used cars for sale, not so many buyers.... why do you need his mustang! Usually if you walk away they will try much harder for the sales anyway.

shanec

You don't need to know a lot about Mustangs to get a deal on a Mustang. Cary buying is all the same regardless of what you're buying.

You: "I'm interested in XYZ"

Dealer: "blah blah blah...best price..blah blah...these are real popular, can't come down much blah blah blah"

Step 1) Walk in there with a plan to buy the car somewhere else.

Step 2) Make an offer. If he doesn't accept, tell him about your alternative

Step 3) He'll say the alternative is no good. Tell him if that's the case it will be your loss, but it is a risk you are willing to take.

Step 4) Thank him for his time, and walk out. Show no remorse or anxiety at all over not buying a car with this dealer.

Step 5) I bet you dollars to donuts he interrupts and asks for a second chance to "talk to his manager and see if he can get you a better deal".

Step 6) if Step 5 doesn't happen, walk out. Don't look back. Don't call him. He will call you later (make sure you have him your card or phone number at some point earlier) and deal.

clentonz

Thanks Shard,
I just like to have general/advanced knowledge about the vehicle that I plan on purchasing for three reasons:
1. I just generally love cars, and especially mustangs. And since I now have the opportunity to afford a S197, I am really excited to learn what it can do, visually and physically.

2. I hope that this knowledge would pay off when I buy the car. I bet I would have a better chance of getting a better price and not buying a lemon or car with problems if I know more. And if I would feel much more confident if I knew more than the sales guys do about the car; like being able to shoot down any BS they try to give me. Also, it kind of rules out the sales guy if I learn enough, I can just visually look the car over and see if its good or not; while he sits in the corner mumbling to himself.

3. My main concern with vehicles, is the reliability of it...So I like to learn all of the known issues, or being able to diagnose and repair any future problems.

Also, thank you for the information on the wheels.I dunno, I just associate any aftermarket part on a mustang, with the owner driving it "hard". I know that this is a dumb way of thinking, and not true; I am just really concerned about getting a lemon you know?

You are also right about the price to mileage correlation, I see a lot of wow low miles and a low price(probably somthing wrong); but than there are the higher mileage stangs for the same price, that are probably in excellent shape.

Thanks for the help man

Thank you shanec,
This is exactly what I need to do, but I know that I will probably get a little nervous; just because this will be the first time buying/dealing with dealership sales guys....I guess I will just have to grow a pair, b/c this has got to happen soon; I just got to get it through my head.....that there are other fish in the sea...as you have explained.
Appreciate it bro,

I think that is exactly what I was asking for, within that big azz post; is just knowing how to deal with these "sales guys" when it comes to stangs

EagleStroker

It's a buyer market man stick to yours guns. I just haggled for my mom to get her into a new expedition, sticker was 42 and out the door price we paid was right under 28. The key is to play them, go in with another option already (even if it's not what you want, just make it a comparable car/price). If your looking to finance, they gave us 750 or so for financing through Ford (if you go through a dealer), and if you can get a better interest rate from your bank do it, pay the Ford one off, and you've got $$ in your pocket

Jersey Stang

I like the two man approach when buying a car.
you and your friend (dad or spouse works better), go into a dealership. you need to show little interest and your friend or dad do most of the talking or convincing. look at many cars, test drive and keep saying, "i donno". also mention, you don't want to purchase today, maybe in a month or two. after taking up hours of the salesperson's time, have your friend or dad convince the salesperson, for the right price, you might purchase today. have your friend or dad ask the salesperson for some time alone, so he can convince you to buy the car. its all in the acting. we already know the whole "let me see what my manager can do" and the, "look at the price we paid for it" we know that's all crap. but if they THINK they are turning a non-buyer into a buyer, they'll be high-fiving each other all over...and you get a great discount.
My dad and I used that routine on August 2 in a mercedez dealership. He received an C300 '09 (just delivered the day before) for $4k below sticker. remember, it wasn't such a buyer's market in August. you can probably score an even bigger discount.

shanec

Good poing, Jersey.

Years ago, I bought an Explorer with my wife. She HATES spending money (good for me). We didn't plan it this way, but she was visibly uncomfortable and ready to leave during negotiations. I wasn't getting my price and she said "I want to go home". So I shrugged my shoulders and got up - and then the sales guy said "OK".

Didn't plan it, but it worked like a champ.

Jersey Stang

Sometimes we ignore the fact that salespeople are the people just like us. They probably don't like their job anymore than we do. We went to the dealers at 2pm. we knew the guy's shift was most likely going to be over in an hour or two. we ended up keeping him there until 8pm. At that point, he was just about desperate to sell the car. Imagine spending your entire day on a project, putting in extra hours--and then end up with nothing. They missed their dinner, put off personal activities just to get this big sale. At the end of a long day like that...people will give up a lot, just to say the day wasn't a total loss.

Shadow7874

time always helps, you may need a car asap but dont rush into it. My 07 gt still under the manufactures warranty was a mere $8k. runs amazingly but does have some dents on the door and key marks on it. Either way, your could get a top of the line paintjob and body work done and still be under the price your looking for. If you have the time explore all your options. craigslist is great but there are lots of scams. look around on craigslist for your city and surrounding cities