This sucks. I bought a 2003 two weeks ago with 51k miles on it for $9125. I figured the price was so good and at only 51k miles, how bad could it possibly be? These mustangs are tough and reliable after all. So after two weeks of driving it, here is everything that I've found wrong so far:

-The passengers side panel with the power windows is loose and can be pulled out.

-The fake AC vent all the way to the left on the driver's side dash is missing.

-When you turn the headlights on, the module with the AC controls only lights up on the left hand side, the other half stays dark.

-When you open the hood, the browninsulation underneath the hood is supposedly there to contain fires. On the left hand side, part of it looks scratched up and rough. My friend says that's a sign that the car might've caught on fire before.

-I only received one key and no keyless entry remotes. I bought a keyless entry remote so I'm ok now.

-The right rear tire doesn't match the other three tires and is almost out of tread. I know that's $150right there.

-The left side of the rearbumper appears to have been hit and shoddily repaired

-Car has paint chips on the front hood.

-The headlights have thehaze syndrome already. I know this is common but 2003s shouldnt have it yet. I see it on 99-01s frequently and barely starting to creep up on 2002s. It'snot horrible butit's not cleanable either (I tried for an hour scrubbing.)

-There is a distinct burning smell whenyou turn the heat on. Doesn't happen with cold AC.

-The car is the ugly midnight blue color.

-The carfax is clean but I'm the third owner. It appears thefirst owner took care of it as some oil changes came up on the carfax. He had it until 30k miles. The second owner wasa fleetvehicle for the motor vehicle department. I don't think it was used for test drivesbecause it's a manual but the second owner put 21k miles on it inthe six months ofownership.

-One of the owners was a smoker.

-There was no windshield wiper fluid and the windshield wipers are shot.

-It has that annoying seatbelt play problem.

-The worst problem of all: My tranny might be shot. First of all, the clutch is really really light. Maybe it was adjusted, I don't know. The car doesn't slip when I shift but sometimes when I shift to second gear, it grinds like I let off the clutch too soon. This happens 1/25 shifts. Even happens when I hold it in second when I let off the clutch. I hope it's not an expensive or hard fix. Wouldn't be so bad if it was third bc I could skip over that gear but second is just too crucial.

Everything else seems ok on the car. Brakes and steers good. Accelerates good. Engine bay is pretty clean and fluids are good.

So.. about how much money in repairs am I looking at here? Some of this stuff I don't think I need to fix right away. What stuff would you fix before using it as a daily driver?

Do you guys think it's possible this car could go to 200k?

 

ok all that.... WHY THE **** DID YOU BUY THE CAR? didnt you see all this before purchasing? or you just wanted a mustang and bought it blindsighted?

 

if you bought that car in that kind of condition, your adumbass. You should have look over the car before you bought it.

 

Because when I test drove the car it seemed fine aside from the cosmetic problems. I didn't notice some of it. I noticed the rear bumper, the tire, the passenger window panel, the fake AC vent and the headlights and figured I could fix some and live with the rest of the cosmetic blemishes and still have a 2003 with low miles for cheap.

I didn't notice the heat burning problem until a week ago and the second gear problem until today when I confirmed it by driving it around for an hour. Not easy stuff to spot. Even if I took it to a mechanic they wouldn't of known because all they do is check fluids, belts and the suspension. This is stuff you find when you drive it around for awhile.

 

COOOOOOOOL DUDE......... just messen with ya [&:]. Just trade it in for an 03-04 Cobra

 

calm down..it's all repairable stuff. do the easy stuff first..then solve the harder problems and start enjoying.

 

+1, and this is not a Tech thread, moving

 

The bald right rear tire could be a sign of the posi clutches being worn out.Now the rear end does the "one wheel peel" instead of both tires spinning.
Cost; about $60 for parts and a couple of hours for labor.(maybe)
Of course you could get a Detriot Tru-Trac that has no clutches to wear out but they cost about $500.

 

I doubt that the posi clutches are worn out just because the one tire is different, previous owner probably just had a flat and just threw some old tire on it and didnt worry about it.

 

Ok so what's the easy stuff? What order would you guys fix the problems in?

Some of the problems I don't know where to get the parts (I'd rather not buy through Ford because they are such ripoffs).

The passenger window panel I guess I could glue in or double sided duct tape.

The fake AC vent on the left-most part of the dash.. not sure where to get another one of those.

I know where to get new smoked headlights for $125 but they look like a bitch to install.

No idea how to fix the light behind the AC controls.

The burning smell when I turn on the heat, no idea what even causes that.

No idea what's wrong with the transmission either.

Will fix the tire this weekend.

I can leave the rear bumper for now. It's not that bad. And it would be an expensive fix because the chances of finding a midnight blue bumper in a junkyard (because its not a common color) are pretty rare.