JAMAMAN

I agree with all the comments. I was not fortunate to have a mustang as my first car; however, once I drove one, I jumped on the band wagon and now im on my fourth one. I kept as loyal customer to this brand and model because it is rugged, looks good, never had major issues, and the horsepower to price ratio is very good. There are also so many submodes in the Mustang model to cater to many customers. The insurance is a bit of a headache, but there are ways around that game. Im sure there are many post on that topic. My advice is start at the bottom of the model scale and work your way up if you want more power. This way the insurance wont hurt your pocket book and you can gauge what you want out this car. Take care

vese

Wow this thread got really popular. So much help and info. All I need now is a good deal and Im set. Feel free to keep responding though. This is pretty good reference material

Silver_sixxer05

I have had my 2005 v6 since I was 15, I'm 20 now. I'm on my parents insurance till I finish college, I believe it is something like 2500 every 6 months (I have 1 speeding ticket, and 1 at fault accident). I usually avg. about 23mpg every fill up. If you can manage a 2011-2012 v6 I'd say go for it, I'm working on upgrading to one of those myself, if not, the 05-10 will be fine, I find it is a bit underwhelming in terms of noise and performance in the 1/4, but hey, I'm comparing it to a buddies SRT Challenger.. lmao. As long as you don't drive like a crazy person, you'll be fine in a Mustang.

TheYeti

and once you get one, go ahead and put in an order for a CAI + Tune. Its money well spent :-). What part of AZ are you from?

vese

North. And yeah if I get a v6 ill put some $$ in performance.

JAMAMAN

I found my v8 saved more money in gas than than the v6. That was only under the premise that I drove it normally and not in an aggressive manner. I always kept the RPM low using my standard transmission. The way I look at it is, the bigger the engine means the less output it needs to dispense in order to move your vehicle , thus saving you more gas. And the bonus is, that when you want the power to smoke some suckka chump off the line, just push on the pedal and you got a V8 that got your back. Thats my 2 cents !!

There is a misconception that V8's are gas guzzlers. Although it may be true in many cases, its not necessarily a generalization one must take at face value. Bottom line is, your foot is connected to your wallet. The harder you push the pedal, the deeper you go in your wallet. Can I get a witness !!!!!!

vese

I completely agree with your point here. The v8 can get great gas mileage too, just dont drive it more aggressively because its a v8. The only reason Im hesitant on the v8 is the higher insurance price but I'd want some quotes before I decided. The price difference isn't a huge issue if I'm looking at used cars.

pdonket

Lol this is a bit over dramatic I think. Yes, less throttle is required with more power, to move the car x-distance, but that doesn't mean you aren't burning more or the same amount of gas. You have to remember that while 6 cylinders might burn more gas PER cylinder while accelerating at the same rate, 8 cylinders will generally burn more gas on the whole at the same pace of acceleration.

I know it all depends on which 6, which 8, which 4 etc but for the most part, an 8 cylinder engine accelerating on pace with a 6 is going to do it with more fuel. That's just the way system scaling works, generally there's large amounts of inefficiency on very small systems and very big systems, and in general V8s work as large systems. Not to mention that everything about a V8 encourages gas guzzling sound, getting pressed into your seat, impressing the ladies, etc. lol

TheYeti

thats cool. Yeah I was skeptical at the beginning about a CAI + Tune...especially being ~$600 but it was totally worth it.

I was surprised by the insurance rate that I got. Especially coming from a honda and other cars that I looked at before the mustang, were all higher.

Topless89GT

As far as the purchase goes for a first car, the V-6 will help some. Get a serial number off a Mustang on autotrader.com or someplace and walk to the insurance company with it. Tell them you want to buy the car and you want to know how much in advance of purchase. Going older doesn't really save that much.

Gas is astronomical, so while you have been saving up for the car - I'd ask where are you working and do you think you'll be there 2 years from now. Registration fees, gas, tires, oil changes add up and then I'm sure like most folks here, you want to do something to the car. $$$$$ My son basically works so he can pay his insurance. He isn't getting ahead fast, that is for sure. Vehicles are big dollars these days.

As far as mileage goes, we never get over 20 mpg on anything in the driveway.
Going to an econobox may get you more MPG, but I just can't stand driving Blaaaaah.
You are going to have gasoline costs no matter what car, so likely I spend an extra $100 a month above and beyond to drive Mustangs. I could cut that with an econobox, but wouldn't have near the fun. Ask your parents now for help, not later. Find out if they have any ideas and will support your PONY habit. Better to know up front than later.
Tough decision ahead.