CLOCKWO12K

Hey guys purchasing a car a little later today, maybe tomorrow or wednesday at the latest, and basically it has come down to the '03 cobra or the '04 cobra, and i have heard a few bad things about both. Unfortunately for some reason the '03 has worse ratings in reliability (tranny & engine [both minor and major]) than the '04 cobra, however the '04s obviously run a few thousand more. The reliability ratings i was looking at have all been through consumer reports, and i was just curious as to how many people had problems, if any, with their cobras regular maintenance, and if there are any well known transmission or engine problems i would have to worry about.
as well i thought that the '03 and '04 were the exact same car, however their maintenance records(not the cars specifically, but the overall average for the year produced) differ greatly. '03 listed as tranny and engine problems, '04 listed as only having suspension problems, which i found interesting as i thought the cars were the exact same in all aspects(mechanicaly).

Personally i only know well a handful of people that have '03 cobras, however none have had any problems and all are moderately to heavily modified. On the same note though, all of their cars are driven rarely, and the owners are either mechanics, or mechanically inclined so im not sure that i would have heard of any problems if there were any.

Obviously i am leaning towards the '03 just because i could save a few grand, and thats also money i could throw into parts for the car once i get it

thanks and input is well appreciated.

562cobra

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these cars are reliable. as long as as you give them the maintnance (sp) they need they wont give you any problems.

as you can see i have an 03 with just under 100K miles and the only problem i have received is the alternator going out on me twice.

the car was purchased stock. as soon as you get into modifying it and running it hard, the more stress it puts on your engine. like the saying goes "if you aint braking stuff, you're not driving fast enough"

and if you decide to lower your car, always remember

white venom

DANG your cobra has just under 100k miles?!!??!? mines around 42,000

Derf00

I believe he might be referring to some issues the first few hundred 2003 Cobras had with respect to the Traction Control and improper tune (which yielded less than 390hp/TQ). Also there is "fix" for a potential cooling problem with drivers side head (rear of the head) because of the way the cooling system is routed. It's a hotspot of sorts but there are some simple fixes to make this work and also a few companies sell kits to fix this.

To the OP: Other than that the 03/04 Cobras are pretty reliable. Most of the horror stories you may have heard are from negligence of the driver. If you don't change your oil ordon't do regular maintenance of course the car will have problems.