Need opinions on what do do with my car.
10-08-2008, 08:52 PM
#1
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Ohio
Posts: 86
Need opinions on what do do with my car.
First off I just want to say this is going to be a long boring story probably, but I feel that it is necessary for everyone to know the history of this problem. About mid december of last year, I got my first car, a 2001 Mustang GT. Right away we had problems with the emergency brake sticking. Ok, no big deal, the dealership fixed it for free except parts. Well they didn't fix it. They tried again, but after the problems continued again, we just took it to an independent mechanic.
After 2 times, it appeared that he had the problem fixed. Next up, the throwout bearing went, not a big deal, took it to a Ford Dealership this time instead of the used car one, and got this fixed, and while they were at it, they installed a new clutch. Then, the brakes locked up again, took it to the ford dealer, and they claim to have fixed it.
Ok, I'll admit most of that wasn't too necessary, just emphasizing that we have put several thousand extra on top of the $9500 that was paid for this car in the first place. About 2 weeks ago I was at a friends house, when his dad backed into the drivers side rear quarter panel/bumper of my car. I took the car to a body shop that is known to do pretty good work. Right away, the owner noticed that the rear quarter panel, and possibly the entire drivers side has been repainted, this along with the yellow paint splashes on the exhaust, except where the tips had been taped off, led him to believe that the car had been cheaply repainted, possibly due to a wreck.
Yesterday, I took it to Penzoil to get my oil changed, and they found several signs that the front had possibly been in a front end collision, and I hadn't mentioned anything to them about the car in any way. One was there was a spot in the oil pan that had been welded back shut at some point in time. Another was something about brackets, or braces underneath the engine, I couldn't hear what he was saying, as he was underneath the car. Then a second worker had me step out of the car, and showed me where some pieces had been taped off under the hood when the car was painted, and the tape hadn't been removed.
These last few things could just be poor care by the previous owner, but here they are. Most of the vents for A/C, heat etc... have the directional blades in them broken. Also I found more signs where the car has been poorly repainted around the hood.
I appologize for the length of this, but I now need opinions. Would it be worth keeping this car and all of it's potential problems if it has been in a front end collision, or worse since there may have been damage to the rear as well. Or get rid of it. I hate to pass on these problems to someone else, but it has a clean Carfax, and I could probably get a fair price out of it. I want to eventually end up with a reliable car that I can build up to somewhere around 350-400hp and occasionally take to the track. That leads to one final question especially if you think I would be better off to get rid of my current car, what would be a better car build up to 400 or so reliably, a 99-04 GT with maybe 60-70k miles, or a 96-98 cobra with possibly over 100k miles.
I personally am leaning towards get rid of it, partly because I am scared that if it was in an accident, and it wasn't reported, the repair job might not have been very good at all.
Thanks to any who actually read this far, I really don't know what I should do right now.
After 2 times, it appeared that he had the problem fixed. Next up, the throwout bearing went, not a big deal, took it to a Ford Dealership this time instead of the used car one, and got this fixed, and while they were at it, they installed a new clutch. Then, the brakes locked up again, took it to the ford dealer, and they claim to have fixed it.
Ok, I'll admit most of that wasn't too necessary, just emphasizing that we have put several thousand extra on top of the $9500 that was paid for this car in the first place. About 2 weeks ago I was at a friends house, when his dad backed into the drivers side rear quarter panel/bumper of my car. I took the car to a body shop that is known to do pretty good work. Right away, the owner noticed that the rear quarter panel, and possibly the entire drivers side has been repainted, this along with the yellow paint splashes on the exhaust, except where the tips had been taped off, led him to believe that the car had been cheaply repainted, possibly due to a wreck.
Yesterday, I took it to Penzoil to get my oil changed, and they found several signs that the front had possibly been in a front end collision, and I hadn't mentioned anything to them about the car in any way. One was there was a spot in the oil pan that had been welded back shut at some point in time. Another was something about brackets, or braces underneath the engine, I couldn't hear what he was saying, as he was underneath the car. Then a second worker had me step out of the car, and showed me where some pieces had been taped off under the hood when the car was painted, and the tape hadn't been removed.
These last few things could just be poor care by the previous owner, but here they are. Most of the vents for A/C, heat etc... have the directional blades in them broken. Also I found more signs where the car has been poorly repainted around the hood.
I appologize for the length of this, but I now need opinions. Would it be worth keeping this car and all of it's potential problems if it has been in a front end collision, or worse since there may have been damage to the rear as well. Or get rid of it. I hate to pass on these problems to someone else, but it has a clean Carfax, and I could probably get a fair price out of it. I want to eventually end up with a reliable car that I can build up to somewhere around 350-400hp and occasionally take to the track. That leads to one final question especially if you think I would be better off to get rid of my current car, what would be a better car build up to 400 or so reliably, a 99-04 GT with maybe 60-70k miles, or a 96-98 cobra with possibly over 100k miles.
I personally am leaning towards get rid of it, partly because I am scared that if it was in an accident, and it wasn't reported, the repair job might not have been very good at all.
Thanks to any who actually read this far, I really don't know what I should do right now.
10-08-2008, 10:15 PM
#3
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 53
well to tell ya the truth if everything mechanical is working well, I would just keep it depending on how many miles are on the car. If there is a lot I might consider selling it and finding another. But again its up to you its you car and your money.
10-08-2008, 11:19 PM
#4
sorry to hear about that, what i would do is id try selling it, unless you really really want to fix the car, but to me it honestly doesnt seem worth it. for starters you dont know how good of body work the body shop did, if anything got bent and was/wasn't repaired. you dont know if the cars been dogged out, you say youve taken it to numerous shops and claim to have it fixed and havnt. if it was me id sell it, but its your car. and if the body shop stilll left tape on the car after being done painting it, that would tell me they obviously didnt do a good job.
10-09-2008, 01:15 AM
#5
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: KS
Posts: 1,016
No matter what learn from this. If you sell it and get a new car take it to a shop and have them check everything(motor,trans,suspension,brakes,body.etc. ) I would think that with the problems you have had since you got it I wouldnt want to keep it around long, although they may be the only problems for a while.
10-09-2008, 06:25 AM
#6
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Ohio
Posts: 86
02 Ninja- I gotta admit, that idea has crossed my mind on several occasions, usually right after I would get home to find smoke rolling out of my rear brakes.
***** Mo- I don't exactly know what would be considered high mileage for these cars, but mine only has 83k, so I am assuming that is a pretty normal mileage.
Ecstacy and Jwarner- Thats about what I was thinking, who knows how good of a job they did. But no matter what, I have defineetly learnt from this like you siad Jwarner, can't just go by the fact that the car looks good, and runs decent on a test drive.
So if anyone else has opinions, please share them.
***** Mo- I don't exactly know what would be considered high mileage for these cars, but mine only has 83k, so I am assuming that is a pretty normal mileage.
Ecstacy and Jwarner- Thats about what I was thinking, who knows how good of a job they did. But no matter what, I have defineetly learnt from this like you siad Jwarner, can't just go by the fact that the car looks good, and runs decent on a test drive.
So if anyone else has opinions, please share them.
10-09-2008, 08:20 AM
#7
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: NC
Posts: 1,185
The problem with these cars is they are really hard to sell at the price you want to get for it. You'll probably not get $9500 back unless you're willing to wait a LONG time for someone to buy it. You could sell it for less and eat the loss, which wouldn't be a bad idea considering how much you're putting into it now.
Which leads me to another point. Mustangs are VERY easy to work on. I had no real experience working on cars when I got my first one, but after me and a buddy of mine started upgrading parts you get the idea pretty quick. Point is, DO NOT take a Mustang to the dealership. They charge too much. The best thing to do with these cars is find a friend that knows what he's doing and have him help you work on it. Afterwards, you buy him lunch/dinner and call it even. That's how these cars are meant to be worked on.
I would try to sell it if I were you. One way you could do it is go to a good dealership (one with lots of good/new cars) and buy another Mustang from their lot. Tell them you'll only buy it if they pay the $9500 you paid for your car. Sometimes it'll work and then you have the small warranty that comes with cars from dealerships.
Which leads me to another point. Mustangs are VERY easy to work on. I had no real experience working on cars when I got my first one, but after me and a buddy of mine started upgrading parts you get the idea pretty quick. Point is, DO NOT take a Mustang to the dealership. They charge too much. The best thing to do with these cars is find a friend that knows what he's doing and have him help you work on it. Afterwards, you buy him lunch/dinner and call it even. That's how these cars are meant to be worked on.
I would try to sell it if I were you. One way you could do it is go to a good dealership (one with lots of good/new cars) and buy another Mustang from their lot. Tell them you'll only buy it if they pay the $9500 you paid for your car. Sometimes it'll work and then you have the small warranty that comes with cars from dealerships.
10-09-2008, 10:59 AM
#8
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location:
Posts: 2,028
It kinda depends on how much you depend on your car!
If you need it to get to work and it leaves you stranded and you get fired,how much money will that end up costing you.
If you have time and some extra money you can try fixing it just to get it to be a reliable DD but never much else.
If there's any way to get rid of it and not lose too much money then that's what I would do.This car is on the same level as a rolling basket case and will be an ongoing project with very little return on the investment.
Sorry about your luck but how did you end up with a car like this in the first place? Anyone on these forums will tell anybody to do a complete and detailed inspection of ANY car you're buying.Mustangs and other high performance cars espcially!
If you need it to get to work and it leaves you stranded and you get fired,how much money will that end up costing you.
If you have time and some extra money you can try fixing it just to get it to be a reliable DD but never much else.
If there's any way to get rid of it and not lose too much money then that's what I would do.This car is on the same level as a rolling basket case and will be an ongoing project with very little return on the investment.
Sorry about your luck but how did you end up with a car like this in the first place? Anyone on these forums will tell anybody to do a complete and detailed inspection of ANY car you're buying.Mustangs and other high performance cars espcially!
10-09-2008, 07:10 PM
#9
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Ohio
Posts: 86
trickdriller- I'm glad to hear someone who at first didn't have much experience say that these cars are easy to work on. I am starting to do some of the work myself, but really I never cared about how engines or cars worked, until I got old enough to own one. So everything I know has come from reading posts on this forum. About everyone I know is even more ignorant about cars, but we are all trying to learn, and I think between several of us, we will be able to get the job done if parts need installed on the next car.
Chopper- Guess I might as well explain how this mess came about. Like I said in my first post this is my first car, I turned 16 back at the beginning of this year. My dad was determined he had to buy my first car. After going back and forth between getting a truck, and a Mustang, he found this car on a used car lot. We checked it out, got a car fax report, and took it for a test drive, and all seemed well. I seem to remember suggesting getting it checked out, but he didn't see a reason to since the car drove well, didn't have much rust or anything underneath, and only had 79000 miles on it. I figured he had bought enough cars over the years that he must have known what he was doing, and didn't say another word about it. And the rest of the story has been told in the above posts.
Probably going to trade the car off on a truck so that I can definetly get to school this winter, then get another car in the spring with some money that I should have saved up. That is unless I can find a cheapish Mustang, as in under 9k here soon.
Chopper- Guess I might as well explain how this mess came about. Like I said in my first post this is my first car, I turned 16 back at the beginning of this year. My dad was determined he had to buy my first car. After going back and forth between getting a truck, and a Mustang, he found this car on a used car lot. We checked it out, got a car fax report, and took it for a test drive, and all seemed well. I seem to remember suggesting getting it checked out, but he didn't see a reason to since the car drove well, didn't have much rust or anything underneath, and only had 79000 miles on it. I figured he had bought enough cars over the years that he must have known what he was doing, and didn't say another word about it. And the rest of the story has been told in the above posts.
Probably going to trade the car off on a truck so that I can definetly get to school this winter, then get another car in the spring with some money that I should have saved up. That is unless I can find a cheapish Mustang, as in under 9k here soon.
10-09-2008, 11:15 PM
#10
yea, well carfax only shows what was reported through the police and/or insurance company, if they use their own pocket money to fix then carfax never gets. where do you live, i know a good bit about mustangs and what i dont know this guy i know seems to know EVERYTHING and im sure between me and him we can fix it, but where are you located? thats if your brake thing is still an issue.