Looking to buy a Mustang and need advice, hope I came to the right place.
 

Hey everyone - I don't really post here I just sort of browse the forums and pics, but it's about time I ask a very important question because the time is near! I'm looking to buy a Mustang. I know that sounds vague, but I need some tips and advice.

I would like a 1999 to 2004 GT, non convertible, stick and completely stock with under 60,000 miles and I'm not looking to spend more than $8,000 and it must be from a dealer - does that sound reasonable? Or am I asking for too much? The absolute ideal car would be a silver 03/04 GT with the above options, garaged and owned by an older person which was traded in and is now at a dealer.

I'll put down around $4,000 and simply finance the rest. So, does anyone have any advice/recommendations/tips? This will be my first mustang, I currently own a 94 Honda Accord econo-box, no fun.

Thanks everyone! Fingers crossed!

i hate that question. a price thats reasonable where you live may or may not be even remotely close to whats reasonable where someone else lives. car values are not absolute, the city you live in can play a big part of that.

that aside, you SHOULD be able to pick a nice one up for that. try to stick to the 01.5-04 though. 99-01.5 is fine if you find one you really like but the 01.5+ has the aluminum crossover intake manifold, hood scoop, better side scoops, etc... nothing terribly important, but they are a little better.

you have everything you want even down to the color. and your "ideal" used car, is what we would all like, but life doesnt hand all of us garaged old lady driven cars. you will be hard pressed enough to find one under 60k miles as is. even a 2004 is 6 years old now. the average american puts 10k+ a year. not saying they arent out there i know they are, but you are getting WAY too choosey right now. just start looking around and see what you find. if you find something that interests you then post up the links here and you'll get some opinions.

I live in charlotte and I bought my GT from a dealer. They let it go for ~ $15k w/ 32k miles on the dash.

A mustang for 8k exists, but you will NOT find that deal from a dealer... no way.

^^^^agreed. it's going to be very hard finding a GT w/60,000 miles for 8 grand from a dealer. You might wanna start looking at private party sellers but then you run into the problem of the car being stock..

yea +1 i dont see you getting one from a dealer for that price. i found one in Maryland that i wanted. it was an 01 convertable with 55,000 miles. manual GT black on black on black. he was asking $10,000 for it. i found an 02 (i think) stage 2 roush with 60,000 miles on it in Maryland. the guy wanted $8,500 for it and i think i probably should have jumped on it but
i bought mine from a guy on ebay. or at least thats were i found it, i bought it after the auction ended. i ending up paying 11,000 for it. 2002 with 23,000 miles owned by an older man. it was his weekend play toy.

I'd check the local ads & craigslist for a stock mustang. They do exist for that price. Although you'll be (like others said) hard pressed to find what your asking for from a dealer. Even if it's above 60K a bit.... being stock imo is more important then mid-mileage issues. There are owners out there that are selling mustang that aren't beaten. Good Luck in you quest.

Wow, thanks guys! I'm sorry I didn't give my location - Bronx, New York.

I'm thinking I may be able to stretch my budget to $9,000 with a 2 year loan, instead of 1 year. I'm sure there is one out there for me! Once I get it I'll be sure to post pics/details in this thread.

Any other help/advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks again!

no problem and good luck. if it is financing that is your issue, avoid going through the dealer. if your have 4000 to put down then just take out a loan for 5 or 6,000 from the bank and get what you want from a private sale. avoid the stealerships though. and again good luck, post up when you find one.

p.s grey is my second favorite color. especially the dark shadow grey. they look amazing with the black mach 1 chin spoiler and tinted headlights. but i will always buy black mustangs

Thanks for the replies guys! i didn't add this bit of information - the car I have always always wanted and still dream about quite often, is a Fox Body Mustang GT. MUST be a GT, not an LX or Notchback. I'll give a quick history/rundown of my car experience for anyone interested/helping.


I managed to save up $4,000 about a year or so ago and test drove 2 Fox Body GT's and 1 1995 Rio Red 5.0 - they were all nice but just had too many caveats for the price that was being asked. For instance, the Red 5.0 was worth about 3500 AT MOST at the time and the guy was asking 4800 (and it was automatic). Anyway, I ended up buying a 1994 Honda Accord LX, 5 Speed, 102K miles, from a friend of the family. It is perfect for me - a traveling college student, but I regret it almost everyday. Whenever I see someone in a GT I look around my car and want to cry.

The only reason I am trying to finance and purchase a newer car is because I can't really convince myself to buy a 20+ year old Fox and drive it everyday. I'm not saying they aren't reliable - it just doesn't feel right to me.

So what should I do? Get what I want, a Fox, or spend an extra 4-5k for something else, details of which are in my first post.

And yes, I do sincerely dream about it quite often.




http://i56.tinypic.com/1zgycyw.jpg

Ok guys, so I've stumbled across this. It looks clean and stock, but the only thing that is puzzling me are the wheels. It says it is a 2004, but aren't the wheels in the picture from the 1999 model year? It's got me scratching my head.

http://www.abetterwaywholesaleauto.com/