ludude1975

Yea i'm still looking at mustangs and still haven't gotten one yet.

Still looking in the 99-01s for something in my price range.

From what i've been reading the 3.8 is quite a decent engine from years past. But now the manual transmissions I read about are junk.

Is this true?

I test drove a 2000 3.8 5sp which has about 98k mi. on it and though is started fine and everything ran quite ok once I left the lot I was not at all impressed with how it shifted nor all the vibration it made when I gave it the gas. Ok i guess it shifted ok but the cluch was verry stiff and you practillay had to let it all the way out before it caught which mad a initial jerky ride till I got used to it. Even then it did not accellrate very smooth through any of the gears.

Reading edmunds.com and some other places that do personal reviews you either get somewhere on the 8-10 scale for quality or 1-2 with people mostly pissed about their manual transmission.

I also see quite a few of the 2000 mustangs around here with a hefty price difference between manual to automatic.

I'm talkin $7k for a manual and $10k for a automatic! These are in the lower mileage range. the one I test drove with 98k was closer to $5k.

I really like the 05's & up but outta my price range and I don't see many good reviews on the 05's. Yet 06's & up are alot better.

It reminds me, don't buy the first year of any new style until the second year. Then they get the bugs worked out lol.

ewgoetz

If the pedal was so high than it will either need the pedal adjusted or the clutch will be needing replacement soon. With that high of a milage i would lean towrds the clutch, but I maybe wrong on that. auto's have always been more expensive. Even if you go to a dealer to order one you can see the price difference also which is around 2 to 3k.

onesickstang01

yea but you wont be happy with the performance of an auto, at least i wasnt. i had a shift kit installed and it was better but i still prefer manual be far. honestly though the v6 model isnt going to perform like a v8 so id save the extra grand or so and buy a v8. dont buy from dealers though you will get ripped off big time, i have alot of friends at dealerships and they will tell you the same thing. also you never know how well a car is taken care of from a dealership if you buy it from the owner you can get an idea from them and a much better price.

boduke0220

look on autotrader for $7k you could gte a nice GT

i was looking on there yesterday and there were GT's on there for as low as $6k and with under 100k on the clock too

steph3k

If you find a manual that you like be sure to have the clutch checked by a mechanic. You never know if the previous owner trashed it.

GreyStang

Check the rear wheelwells & see how much rubber is caked in there from burnouts[:@]

945LSTANG

3.8 mustangs are poop. they are just sooo slow.

if you are going to buy a mustang, be sure its a v8.

as for bad m/ts ,i havent heard of any issues.

bacon57

Usually from what I have seen its not the transmission thats bad but the driver. They may have drove it real hard and messed up the clutch.

ludude1975

Sorry didn't get back, Guess I forgot to set up auto notify of replys.

I'm not really looking for speed just something to replace my tired old 92 tbird.

The 3.8 gets decent mileage "22-25mpg" for a 6 banger and i'm not quite ready for a little 4cyl.

I already got one gas guzzler 5.4 truck which gets a whoppin 16mpg.

I do kinda miss the ol stick as I grew up on one for 10 yrs and the last 8yrs have been automatic.

Margarita Girl

I have owned 3 stangs all 5 speed manual: '89 LX, '99 GT and '05 GT.

My '05 is much easier to drive than the previous two.