karak567

I am a newbie (as you can tell from my post count) taking my first dive into the Mustang world. I found an 02' Mustang GT only 50 miles or so from my house for sale privately. The owner wants 12,500 dollars for it. It has a Flomaster exhaust in it and KJ air filter. It has 38,000 miles.

There are, however, some cosmetic issues with the 'Stang. On the passenger side door there is a half-dollar sized ding/scratch (he lost control in the snow and hit a bush) and on the driver door there are two small scratches. How much am I looking to pay to get these removed/touched up at a shop? Will it look like new again?

Three of the four tires also need to be replaced within the next 1000 miles or so.

One of the biggest issues is the rims (17" alloy premium wheels?) have heavy scratch damage on them from hitting a curb. One of them is bent in, it looks like it can be easily hammered out and the rims buffed... but should I be concerned about anything else?

Also, when I test drive it (I already have once) for the last time before writing the check, what should I look for? Any specific things I should try/listen for to make sure everything is alright? I will also be getting it checked out at my mechanic as well.

Any other tips?

I appreciate the help, thanks!

-Eric

krafty02

Let me be the first...... WELCOME to the wonderful world of mustangs !

I bought my 02 GT from a dealer for $12,900 with no damage, no mods, and 31,000 miles. (also, brand new tires)

You cannot repair the rim.

The scratches/dings can be repaired and will look new, but sounds like your looking at $300 - $600 as a guess w/o seeing it.

Tires will run you $600 (ish) to cover cost, mounting, balancing. (you should not replace just one or three tires, all 4 need replacing, if both rears, ok, if both fronts, ok, but not 3....)

Explain to the owner that you are planning on returning the car to A-1 condition and that will require $1,000 to $1,500 and is he willing to accept $11,000. That would be a fair price for both of you. If he is not willing to come down, there are hundreds of used mustangs out there. I found seven on the internet that met my "requirements" in my local area. Use searches like carsdirect.com or ebay.com with sellers in your local area so you can go see the vehicle.

For the test drive, feel how it drives, vibrations, etc. Listen (put the windows down) for noises, creaks, moans, from suspension, clutch, engine area. Crawl under the car from the front after a test drive and look for leaks, also rear end. With his mileage, should be none.

Good luck, keep us posted and it's ok to make an offer and leave, just be sure he has your number so he can call with a counter offer.

Krafty.

Dancing Chicken

Krafty has it right! There are way too many used Stangs out there to settle on one that you have a good potential for not being happy with after the deal is done. I would make the offer like he said but be totally ready to keep shopping. Just use common sense (not so common) on the test drive. If something doesn't sound right and he can't explain it......walk!

karak567

Thanks for the welcome guys! That's great advice, I will definitely do all that when talking to him today. I want to have a perfect conditiong 'Stang and I have no qualms with having the repair guys look at it, but with the rim and scratch damage, I definitely think an 11,000 dollar offer makes me feel a LOT better. You guys just saved 1500 dollars! I really appreciate it. I will definitely keep you informed.

Also another quick question. He is a smoker and there is a light smell of cigarette smoke in the car. My local ford dealer told me that they can do an "ozone" thing to it to get the cigarette smell out. Is that true? Is it worth it?

There's also a very small burn mark (I'm assuming from a cigarette) on the leather in the back. Barely noticable, but like I said I want the thing to be perfect. Is that easy to patch up?

Also, what would you suggest doing about the rims then? Buffing them out to make them as good as I can or just getting new wheels (expensive)?

Thanks for your help!

Klaven911

From the sounds of things it sounds like this car got a little abused. I would be curious as to why only 3 of the 4 tires need replacing. I would take it in and have the alignment looked at, but that is something you would prolly have done with the purchase of new tires. The scratches are minimal and any good detailer should be able to get them out/make them go away. All it takes usually is a quick hit with a buffing wheel and some light/mid grit compound. The ding shouldnt be too bad but the body shop might have to repaint a small area where the ding is, and I would be concerned with color match issues. The ding should probably only run you $200....material cost is prolly less than $50 and most likely about $150 for labor(if that). 38k miles doesnt sound bad at all....I ask him questions about how often he changes the oil and such, and if he has kept records of them. Some people, for god knows what reason, get a new car and never change the oil. You may also be able to squeeze a few more bucks off him by checking normal wear items (ie. brake pads, air filter, etc.) Also with that mileage he should have replaced the fuel filter....see if he has done that. Im personally pretty **** about purchasing a used car and if I was currently in the market for a ride, I would make sure that the car was very well maintained. Also the burn mark in the leather shouldnt be bad either. Im pretty sure I have seen repair kits for leather that are widely commercially available. Also if your trying to get it in prestine condition, since he is a smoker check the carpet between the seats and the middle console, it is a good spot for a cigarette to fall- and difficult to get it out. Perhaps you might be able to speeze a few dollars out of him for this too, if such condition exists. If so, it is really easy to fix, just take a razor blade and go up underneath the dash and get a small amount of shavings from the carpet. Then apply some clear RTV silicon to the burn hole with a flathead screwdriver and gently push the shavings down on top of it. Let it sit and dry, then its good as new. Of course he doesnt have to know how easy/cheap the repair is. Remember, its a buyers market out there.

langod

You know Karak -- Mustangs are a dime-a-dozen out there. This one sounds like it was not cared for at all. I would RUN not walk away from this car. You don't want to find out in 20 or 30K miles that it has problems because it was beat up. Why save 2 grand now, only to have to rebuild the motor in a couple of years?
I bought my 02 Gt a few months ago -- $14K for a CHERRY condition hardtop with only about 25,000 miles.

badsp0rk

I just bought an '02 GT with 13k miles (actually less, because it has 3.73's put in about 5,000 miles ago) for $16k (up north that's an amazing deal). Also has k+n filter (not much.. but still something!), absolutely perfect condition never driven in snow garaged during winter etc..
Only found one problem with it; in the rear where the window meets the metal the plastic waterproofing thing is coming undone... besides that it's a beautiful car with all leather interior etc..

So I'd say you can find a better deal than the one you're looking at; especially knowing that it was clearly driven HARD by someone who doesn't know what they're doing.

karak567

Thanks for the tips guys. I was a little unsure about this deal too.

He says the one ding/scratch is from one minor incident running into a bush off of black ice and that the rim damage is from just hitting a curb while parking.

He said he took care of it and has been driving mustangs all his life and said it was his "baby." He said this is the one Mustang he never took to the track, though.

He also said he has used nothing less than 93 octane in it since he got it.

That was pretty reinforcing of how he treated it, he also gave the name of the mechanic that he had do oil changes/tune ups on it and said we could ask him if we wanted a reference for how he treated his car.

What do you guys think of that?