IIGood

Underneath the car, right in front of the fuel tank. Jack up the rear of the car for easiest access. It is a bit tough to get out...I unfortunately ended up giving up and letting the shop do it. I felt defeated.

Eh...the actual replacement probably isn't. Getting to it may be a different story. I probably wouldn't do it either...but I dunno.

There aren't any. That trim panel pops off...it's just clipped on. First you take the trim around the shifter off (it's all clipped on...gotta "pull" firmly), disconnect the power port, pop the trim off that's around the radio and heater controls, disconnect the 3 connections to the fog lights, trac control, and rear defrost, and then the heater unit is just sitting in place there. Probably held in by two 7 mm bolts.

Not really. Once you see how the wiper blades are clipped in place, you'll see how ridiculously easy it is.

Eh, from what I understand it's not too difficult. Like changing oil...but I have yet to tackle that myself.

Everybody starts somewhere. I've done all the maintenance on my car...the only thing it's seen the inside of a shop for (besides the fuel filter) was the couple accidents and when the rear axle housing was cracked. I've done the exhaust, the air intake, the springs, the shocks, the shifter, brakes, etc.

Hey, if nothing else, ask a friend in the know to give you a hand with some of the stuff. I did that too for most of the bigger things...mainly because I didn't have the tools or other resources they had.

ripped camel

WTF? That's not that bad for the price bro! You paid just shy of 10k for it. You definitely got a good price.

I paid 19k out the door after rolling 1k from my truck, and after adding in tax and $500 for GAP insurance. (Price before tax was $16900)

I also have an 03 GT 5spd but mines a vert. It had 66k when I bought it.The exterior paint was in great shape, as was the interior. Within 2 days of driving it the TOB went and luckily the dealer fixed it. I too had extremely hazy and scratched to hell lights which cost about $30 for the stuff to fix that, one of the side vents on the body was loose and the snap plugs cost $35 to replace, my rear tranny seal went bad and leaks tranny fluid, and now the alternator& battery are bad. That's not including the fact that I spent probably $250 plus for regular maintenance stuff as mentioned below.

I did the usual reg maintenance stuff which I always think you should do on a used car since you don't know what the other owner had done, or how they take care of the car...

Plugs, Oil change, Flush & fill coolant, tranny fluid, cleaners to clean the MAF & TB, Grease for the doors etc, Fuel filter, Fuel injector cleaner, and a new air filter (or clean & re-oil filter if it's an aftermarket K&N style). Those aren't things you should be complaining to much about, because you should basically do all of that with any used car over 50k.

I think you're having buyers remorse. Just chill out, take one thing at a time, and enjoy your purchase. You got a good deal. If you take away the small issues are you happy with your purchase?

texas_stang02

well hey man you bought a used car... these are the kinds of things you'll run into when buying used. sometimes you're just buying someone else's problem. most of that stuff doesn't seem too major except the tranny possibly needing to be replaced. before you go and replace the clutch, i'd invest in an adjustable cable or firewall adjuster and see if the mechanic can adjust it a bit. i guess it depends on how the miles were put on the car, but i replaced my clutch at 74,000 miles (Spec stage 2 to handle the supercharger i'm putting on soon) and the stock clutch still looked good. even if the clutch needs to be replaced, you still might want to get an adjuster, you can get a Steeda firewall adjuster for about $35-$40.

but honestly, $800 for all of that isn't that bad. i was going to tell you that the $100 for spark plugs is a little steep, but if you're getting a free oil change with synthetic then go for it. the fuel filter isn't too bad, you use a certain tool (not sure if you have to have it, but it makes it easier) and i think you can get that for like $5 or less at any parts store. if you get under the back of your car, the fuel filter is right in front of the gas tank in the center, hanging up there in between the gas tank and the rear end. if you try to do the fuel filter yourself, be sure to release the pressure on the tank by taking off the gas cap. otherwise you'll get a face full of fuel when you pull the lines off. and before you ever get under your car, make sure you use jack stands and not just a hydraulic jack to hold the car up. your jack may never fail on you, but you sure don't want to be under the car if it does.

if you want to try to do the coolant flush yourself, there's a platic drain **** on the passenger side of the radiator. lay down under the car (from the front) and if you look at the bottom passenger side corner of the radiator, you'll see a white plastic drain plug. youcan use a wrench or even channel-lock pliers to loosen it. it doesn't come all the way out, you just loosen it and it'll drain. i'd recommend leaving the radiator cap on while loosening the drain that way coolant doesn't gush out at you. then once it's loose, take the cap off the coolant reservoir (sp?). just make sure you have something to catch it in cause you wouldn't wanna kill the neighbor's pets if they decide to come into your driveway and drink some of it. i was working on my car in the garage one night and we have these neighbors who just let their cats roam around their front yard and the entire neighborhood. i had drained some coolant from my radiator and had it in a drain pan sitting on my garage floor and i went inside the house to get some water, and when i came out one of their damn cats was in the garage drinking the antifreeze. needless to say that cat will never get on top of my car and scratch it again. the neighbors acted like it was my fault, hell i was working in the garage and went inside for 2 minutes.. it's not my fault they can't keep the damn cats in their back yard or in the house or something.

but for most of your maintenance, if you're not mechanically inclined then get a haynes or chilton manual, or a ford manual or something, and they usually explain pretty well where everything is and how to do most of your maintenance. you can save a lot of money over time and you learn a lot about your car in the process. there's also a pretty cool web site someone posted on here a while ago that has some videos you can watch, i believe either most of them or all of them are of Mustangs, and they show you how to perform routine maintenance as well as some other stuff (clutch installation, pulley install, etc).

http://www.autohow.tv/

breakinloose96

On the upside man all that can be done very easily by yourself in under a day and a case of beer. If you were around houston I would give you a hand and knock it out in no time.