I'm buying my first mustang soon and have a few questions. The car is in good condition but it has been sitting for a while and I have to drive it about an hour away. What I was wondering is what you guys think I should do to make it capable of making the trip. It's getting a new battery and I was thinking fluid change like oil and coolant. Anything else?

 

How do you know it runs well enough to drive? No offense, but you're being a bit optimistic if you're unsure about the motor's condition. If it's been sitting, it'll need an oil change at the least. Who knows what condition anything else in the drivetrain or suspension is in.

 

when I got mine the guy didn't tell me that 1/4 tank was empty... Lucky I filled it up right down the street. Also when it sits for a while stuff gets gummed up. My air filter caused a few stalls. Like Starfury says, oil is a must. The guy that sold me mine left 1/2 a litre of oil in the car. I couldn't believe it when he told me he let a few people tear up the road in it.
Ask the guy about the drivetrain and suspension. The guy that sold me mine tried to tell me a 4 speed was a 3 speed. I knew right away there was something fishy. Rusted Linkages dissabled the 4th gear and a slipping clutch did not help...
Another suggestion is getting a friend to follow behind you just incase something goes wrong because some drivers are very impatient and aggressive. Also make sure your 4 ways work to just incase it dies on the way home. Carry a cellphone to just incase!!

 

I would also verify the brakes are in good shape. Unless you have had the car checked over I would suggest renting a car carrier from U Haul.

 

Tow it or trailer it. It's not worth finding out when you are already driving it that something like the brakes don't work.

Safety first-- make sure the brakes work-- change fluid and bleed them properly.

 

Well, here is my story. I bought a 1966 GT fastback with the A-code engine, 4 speed, and pony interior in 1987 for $5k. For that price at that time, you expect at least a #2 car. I saw a ton of pictures (no Internet, he had to mail them!). I was living in NJ and the car was in TN. I flew in and he picked me up at the airport. The car looked great and drove great. 2 miles from the place on my way home, the engine quit. I managed to find a phone, called him, and he came over. It started right up. Off I went and it quit again 2 minutes later. I coasted into a gas station. We replaced the coil (they had one in stock-remember those days?!). That fixed it. The car had a vibration that got worse the faster I went. I thought it was a 302 balancer on a 289 or something simple (I didn't think about the fact that it didn't vibrate if you held in the clutch and reved it). It took me 12 hours to get home and I arrived at 4 a.m. I was so stressed from the drive that I slept until the next day. Later that day, I found the vibration. The front u-joint was broken and only holding on by 2 of the four bearings! For those of you that don't know, that is usually caused by a lot of burn outs and can pole vault the car if it lets loose.

Do yourself a favor, trailer it home. You may save yourself damage to the car or worse yet, yourself.

 

I bought my car about 5 hours from home. I flew in, checked the car out (had gotten a bunch of pictures before making the trip). When I started it up, the carb blew gas all over the engine compartment. After going through the carb, and a 10 mile test drive, I purchased the car. I proceeded to the gas station, filled up, and headed home. The car vibrated like mad the whole way home and had so many vacuum leaks, that it was just pouring gas out of the tail pipes. I smelled like a refinery after a few miles. About half way home, it started pouring rain. The tires were in terrible shape and the brakes not much better. I almost Dukes of Hazzarded on the Interstate in Austin. The tires broke loose and I did about a 60 degree wabble heading straight for an overpass embankment, but managed to get headed in the right direction and avoid the car next to me! When I shut the car off to fill up again, I found out the charging system wiring was all wrong and the battery was totally dead (Alt light was disconnected). After getting a new battery, I limped on home.

Everything was fixable and the car was drivable and reliable after a few days of going through everything, but heading off on a 300 mile trip was not very smart. I would DEFINITELY trailer it if I had to do it all over again.

 

My suggestion is to trailer it.

However, if you drive it...check the tires, change the oil, etc. Also, if it has been sitting for a long time I would drain the gas out of it and put in new gas.

I had an old F150 that sat for a couple years when I was in high school. The dye had separated from the gas and caused me serious grief at first till I got it straightened out via draining and some serious aftermarket fuel filters in the fuel line, etc.

 

I found my car less than a mile from my house. Drove it home and had it in my garage for 2 weeks. Took it to my mechanic and it's been having "little things" fixed since the first of May. Still working on fixing all the problems.

I would recommend trailering it if its a good distance from your house.

 

im going to be test driving the car before i purchase it. the place that im getting it is only about an hour away from my house and its all straight deserted highway cuz this place is in the middle of nowhere so im not too worried about the drive. im going to make sure that everything will be safe for the ride back and i know mechanically that the car is not in bad shape. its just that its been sitting is what is bugging me

oh and i am planning on having a friend drive me there and follow me back