Looking at getting a 1999 V6 Mustang, a few questions....

GM Dude

New Member
Jan 15, 2004
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Sanford, MI
Test drove a 1999 V6 Ford Mustang today, silver, 90,000 miles, 5 speed manual, charcoal cloth interior, all options, They've owned it since brand new, she said they had no accidents of any kind, and the only problem they ever had was the alternator died. The mileage is higher than annual estimates due to being driven to california and back to michigan twice. Anyways, some questions:

No body rust that I could see, popping the hood, the edges of the metal seams have some rust around the shock towers, and underneath none of the main panels except for the metal edge seams have rust. I figure that would be normal right?

The rear bumper has the MUSTANG name embossed in it, I thought that all 99's didn't have this, or was it a mid-year change?

She says that the check engine light comes on everytime it comes due for its oil change (she told me this on the phone, and that the light was on and that they forgot to reset it when it had its oil change , and when I arrived she had taken it out, and had it reset), is this true for ford's or is she bs'ing? She also said her newer Ford Explorer does the same thing when it hits 3,000 miles. Also the light didn't come on at all while driving it for about 10 miles, so I don't know?

Today while test driving was a pretty sucky rain for test driving, is it normal for them to act squirelly and wanna break loose? I broke it loose while turning, but I figure its normal for rwd on wet roads.

Taking off at some lights, I took off in 2nd gear so I wouldn't break loose, but also noticed the engine felt like it was lagging, and sounded like it was bogging, was it only because of taking off in 2nd? I basically gave it some gas and dropped the clutch right away, which was probably too fast for it anyways, but I dunno?

Did the Ford 3.8's still have problems with the headgaskets during this time, or was that for the earlier engines?

Anything else I should know guys? She had an asking price of $6500 or best offer on it, while driving, I asked if she would go down to $6k, she said she would after thinking for a few seconds, and I told her everything is dependent on my dad and the loan, and that I was also looking at prizm's and toyota's and stuff, and after that she thought a little more and said she would go as low as $5700. Is it a deal? I can afford the car, even the insurance being $160 a month, while paying for my half of college (My dad is price matching me for college, and I already have a $2500 scholarship) My college is only $2700 a year (local communiy college). The car payment would be for a 3 year loan at $178, and insurance of $160 a month. My income is between $500-$700 a month (fast-food) I've got $800 in the credit union for a cushion, which I'll probably have to dip into for tax, title and registration.
 
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i dont know the answers to all your questions...but the whole check engine light sounds a little fishy to me. im pretty sure all the bumpers had mustang embossed in them. the head gasket problem was just in the 94-95 3.8's i beleive. my car always breaks loose when it is wet (especially on newer pavement). sounds like a nice car...but the check engine thing scares me, maybe its the truth, but on my '98, thats not how it works...
 
The check engine lite could be something to do the the EGR system. I had mine lite come on a while ago and that is what my mechanic said, and pointed out the box under the hood and said if it comes on again just replace the box, fairly inexpensive fix. You should get a mechanic you know to read the code and see what the problem is. Last time my oil was changed we did not reset the computer.
In the rain the six will fishtail when you apply power, after all it is a 'Stang!! You can take off in second with the six fairly easily just give a a few more revs than normal, I do it a lot in heavy traffic.
That rust you see should not be a problem if you get the car sprayed with a rust compound, up here in Canada we have a system called 'Krown' it's really good.
Anyway sounds like a decent car, good luck.
 
In my GT if i take off in 2nd it will bog down a bit as well. I don't really have any probs with fishtailing in the rain. Good tires and common sense will take care of that...but it is a RWD Mustang and stick cars will break em loose a bit easier with no converter to soften the driveline shock.

All 99+ Mustangs have MUSTANG on the rear bumper
 
All factory bumpers has either MUSTANG or COBRA on them.

Saleens say SALEEN on them.

If you get into an accident, cheap aftermarket repros could be blank, but why would youi want to??
 
Hey, just to let you know, i have a 00 V6 for sale, with the same miles, leather int. lots of mods, 17" rims, GT premium package, intake, headers, h-pipe, flows, 3.73 gears, and so on.. and im only askin 7.... Lemme know if interested, or if you other guys can pass the word... Oh, and there is no fishy check engine light problem..
Im in NJ..
Mike
732-991-8048
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