bm2088hp

+1. Deff have some money in the reserve for emergencies. And shop around for financing. Tell guy B what guy A is offering insurance wise and see if they can match it or even give you a better deal. Good Luck

MUFC 18

Grab a line of credit instead of a loan. That way if your say 6 months into your "loan" and an emergency happens, the money that you've paid towards the loan is available again so you can reborrow it to fix the car with no penalties. Also this can allow you to put the full amount towards the down payment. Plus having a line of credit is always nice once you have the car payed off.

alkemist

Painting is not cheap. You will dish out a lot of $$. I would wait for a screaming yellow or if you like grabber orange, those are easier to find in v6. That car has a bit of mileage on it already to do something big like that. IMO, if you're going to repaint, save that money for a GT instead!! In yellow!!

Edit: didn't see your post about having someone paint it for you, but that is a lot of shock on your car to repaint.

Matafy

What do you mean by shock?

ZoomyX

My first s197 mustang was a v6 and I regretted it for 5 years. I finally now have my GT and it is a world of difference. If it is at all financially possible look into getting into a GT.

replica

GT's aren't much more. Maybe $12,000-$13,000 on the cheap end? No point spending a penny on something you'll possibly hate later on.

Frantz

Eh... the GT is the way to go if you're gonna ever want to race anyone.. but there is something to be said for a simple 6 banger (though I admit I'm still a Rambler guy at heart). Make sure the repaint is not just a quick job.. it will lower the value of the car if the engine bay and other "hidden areas" aren't the same color, looks like there was damage at some point.

I agree with the financing the whole thing if you can and paying off a big chunk when you have the extra money.. also strech it out as long as possible while keeping the same interest rate (ie.. if 60 mo and 72 mo have the same rate go 72). The reason is you have more leg room if you get in a bind. Make sure you pay at the 60 mo schedual and in the end you'll have the car paid off without paying extra interest, but that extra breathing room can come in handy if you're hand to mouth at the moment.

And how to get a deal? find another car at another dealership for less, you don't have to want it and it doesn't have to be a mustang or a compariable model even. When the sales guy calls you next tell him your looking at it (and make up a reason why its so awesome) and like the lower price. point out that being a v6 it doesn't really matter too much how sporty the car is. give him your offer. It wouldn't hurt to play hard ball and say... "if you could sell it for $8k I could come in this afternoon" or something like that and see what the counter offer is. Dealerships will lose money on a car if there is a great risk at losing more by not selling it. They have to move vehicles, not make huge profits on each one.

-former Chyrsler sales guy (if you can sell a chrysler in 2008, you can sell anything!)

alkemist

You have to consider you are stripping off all the paint on your car and putting on a new coat. Any mishap in the painting or a poor paint job (not implying anything here) can lead to massive problems in the future. I can't remember the name of the member (sorry I know who you are though) but that fixed a paint scratch and ended up having to redo his whole car. I would stick with factory paint.

thailand

Just a thought, try a local credit union. They usually have the best rates...usually. I got an auto draft when I bought my GT. Basically a blank check with a limit, but dealers kinda look at it as cash on hand. Makes negotiation much easier.

Also, check out bankrate or the edmunds auto loan calculator. It'll give you a good idea of what your payments will be after taxes, title, and tags.

thailand

Oh, and a paint job will basically take all the money you want to put down...