ORIGINAL: sidewayz4.6

It could also mean that it was a lease return, or that it sat on a dealers lot too long and he wanted to get rid of it...Or someone traded it in at some hillbilly dealership where they usually only sell pick up and the dealer knew he'd never sell it, so it sent it to the auction. 90% of used cars see an auction at one point in their lives. I wouldn't worry about that.

Look all over the car, make sure the paint matches. Check for the sticker on the drivers side door. Look under the hood. See if the fender bolts have been turned. Open the trunk, pull the trunk liner up, look for signs of repair. Check along the inside of the trunk where the tail lights are to see if a new 1/4 has been welded in. Notice if there is orange peel anywhere on the paint. If there isn't it's a good sign that the car has been painted. Many body shops make the mistake of doing too good of job. The factory paint always has orange peel on it. The car isn't sanded by hand at the factory. There are a number of things to look for. If you put it up on the rack, look along the frame rails. PASS on the car if there are clamp marks on the frame. This is usually a sign of the car being on a frame machine. You don't want a Mustang with frame damage. Even if it's been straightened.

Most importantly...Drive it. Turn the radio off, roll the windows up, and tell everyone in the car to be quiet. Just listen for anything that sounds out of the ordinary. Just keep in mind, the car is 6 years old. So it's not going to be perfect. I'd be a little sketchy on it having 5 owners and such low miles. What do they know that you don't?


Edit: Reading that carfax, I wouldn't be scared of that car. Looks like it went from dealer to dealer a couple of times. And it happened during the winter months. That happens a lot with cars like Mustang during the winter.

ORIGINAL: karak567

Well, I told the dealer I would pass. I called up my local Ford dealership and they looked up the warranty history on the car and found the transmission had been repaired FOUR times in the warranty period and then twice after. So I'm passing.

I found a 99 SVT Cobra with 36,000 miles, woman driven, totally stock, perfect condition who is looking at around 15,000 dollars for it. I'm hoping to talk her down to 13,500-14,000 but she doesn't really seem like she's going to budge, we'll see.

Thanks for all the help guys! I appreciate it :-).