Buying 2002 GT

[2E151]

Hey guys, first post here!

I'm looking to buy a 2002 Mustang GT with a 5 speed and leather interior. It's listed at 156K miles and $6999.

Normally I wouldn't consider a sports car with that many miles simply because people have a tendency to use and abuse cars like this and pawn them off as trade ins. However my wife went and looked at it yesterday and said this car looks practically brand new.

Having seen and drove it I have to agree. I would have thought it might have 60-80K but not much over. Cold AC, all power accessories work and the upholstering is perfect except the white mustangs have rubbed off the front seats.

It runs leaps and bounds better than my current 02 Grand Am which has more service lights than I can count right now. And the wife doesn't appreciate me driving her Prix every day...

Anyways, what are thoughts on this? It would obviously be a daily driver. If a vehicle was properly maintained would this kind of mileage be significant? What am I getting myself into?

Next big question I hope I can get answered quickly; where would you recommend for an inspection? I was thinking about a local Ford dealership because who would know the car better? I'm hoping to find somewhere who can do a through inspection with a compression check. Or would my local mechanic be a better bet?

 

[pupapup]

Nice car, get it man.
Prediction: Several people will tell you the price is too high for that many miles. Don't worry about it, prices are specific to different regions in the country, yours may be higher or lower than others. Only you can decide if the price is right for you.
I agree that you can usually tell how a car was driven by the condition, but yes, you definitely need to get a mechanic to look at it. If I remember correctly, the dealership charges $85 for a diagnostic test, if I was you I would call them and work out price and details over the phone, then bring it in and reconfirm in person. Dollar for dollar, I would rather the dealership checked it, but if you know someone reliable who's much cheaper, go with them instead.

 

[nancygrl]

Well the price of Mustangs will vary depending on what part of the country you're in. I picked up my 99GT with 102k miles 2 yrs ago here in NC for $6500 but then it was November when I bought it. I think if I tried to get it in the spring or summer I would've had to pay a lot more. Check the carfax, make sure that nothing seems out of place. And if you know a mechanic bring it to someone to check out.

 

[RedDaemon]

the white mustangs have rubbed off the front seats.

what?

my 99 has ponys in the front seats but theyre stitched in with thread

 

[2E151]

Perhaps I should clarify- I think the pongs were orginally painted white over the studying and I believe the white page rubbed off.

 

[2E151]

Ponys - stupid auto correct

 

[N8Dogg98]

Perhaps I should clarify- I think the pongs were orginally painted white over the studying and I believe the white page rubbed off.

by autocorrect

I think that sounds like a real solid deal man. These are great cars and are very reliable. Other than rebuilding the rear end and replacing the clutch I haven't had any issues with mine other than routine maintenance and she's 13 years old with almost 140K on the clock.

 

[2E151]

Wow- feels good to hear I'm not the only one who thinks this is a fair deal. I had fully expected to catch a lot of flak for paying 7 grand for a high mileage car.

My only experience with sports cars has been with 80s 5.0/5.7 Fox bodies and Camaros and it seems universal advice with those to stay away from high mileage engines.

Are build qualities that much better these days?

 

[N8Dogg98]

Wow- feels good to hear I'm not the only one who thinks this is a fair deal. I had fully expected to catch a lot of flak for paying 7 grand for a high mileage car.

My only experience with sports cars has been with 80s 5.0/5.7 Fox bodies and Camaros and it seems universal advice with those to stay away from high mileage engines.

Are build qualities that much better these days?

I don't want to go into details why, but the 4.6 Ford engine is incredibly reliable. Taxi cabs and police interceptors have used these engines with great success and reliability. In fact I'm sure there are a good handful of 4.6 engines with damn near 500K miles still running just fine. If it's had regular maintenance it should run problem free for a long time for you. It's relatively common to find 4.6 engines w/ 200K+ miles that still have good compression in all 8 cylinders and can be torn apart to find the cross hatch in each of the cylinder bores. It certainly isn't much of a performance engine, but damn is it reliable!

I just installed a pair of cams on mine last week (140K miles and 13 years old) and the cam bearing faces, the timing chain, timing gears, crank gears, tensioners, chain guides, lifters, and rockers all looked brand new and I beat the piss out of my car.

Also worth noting is the durability of the suspension on these cars. Most of my front end stuff is all stock (save for my lowering springs and struts). I've only had to replace the tie rod ends and one wheel bearing in the 8 years I've owned it. It's been through tough MN and ND winters where the roads are full of potholes, and I don't hear any clunks, rattles, or squeaks when I drive it. She still drives tight and turns as a drum and the alignment is perfect.

 

[2E151]

I need to do some research on these engines as my only V8 experience is with older short block chevies.

I know on those old legacy ford and chevy V8 they slowly tended to spring leaks. No matter how much you seemed to baby them after a certain point they would begin to drip and or burn oil and any other assortment of fluids or exhaust.

I know when looking at used Chevies with some age you expected to see some signs of the above- it was just a matter of how badly.

Does any of this apply to a post 00' 4.6l- or would you assume it to be more of a sign of poor maintenance and rough driving than an inevitable condition of age?

 

[N8Dogg98]

It's fairly common for the 4.6 to burn 1 quart of oil every 1500-3000 miles. It's typically worn rings, worn valve seals, or a bad PCV. Worn valve seals are fairly easy to detect. Let the car idle for a while and then step on the gas. If you see a small puff of blue smoke it's probably got worn valve seals. Another check is while driving let off the accellerator for a few seconds and then get back on it hard and see if theres any smoke. Again, if you see smoke it's probably worn valve seals.

Other than that these engines really don't have the same type of leaky reputation the old pushrod engines do. My car doesn't drip any oil and despite driving it like I stole it all the time, I don't burn hardly any oil. Probably around 1 quart every 3000 miles. I think its impressive given it's age and mileage.

 

[2E151]

Thanks for taking the time to spell things out for me. I'm going to be dropping the GT off at my mechanic today to see what he says- hopefully the verdict will be a clean bill of health.

In the meantime I suppose I need to do my own homework on the 4.6l SOHC compared to the older 5.0 pushrods.

 

[N8Dogg98]

Glad to help. Good luck with the inspection and let us know how it turns out. Always happy to help if you have more questions.

 

[2E151]

Good news; the mechanic gave the car a clean bill of health. Out of a 44 point inspection the only recommendations were a tune up, brake lights, right turn signal and rear brake pads. He did recommend to have the timing case cover gasket replaced as it was the only spot where it looked like anything might leak; he described it more as a suggestive preventive maintenance than because of any serious leak.

Dealer took this into consideration during negotiations and I'll be able to get everything taken care of without extra out of pocket money.

I seal the deal tomorrow afternoon =)

 

[txredgt]

Awesome to hear man, so around 6500 for the car then or is the dealership going to do them for the full price? good luck with her, only thing looks like to me is someone painted the stock gt mirrors which i have mixed feelings on, if its quality though its ok. Either way congrats

 

[03_TrueBlue_GT]

Looks like a great car man, Im sure you will have a lot of fun with her. Btw change out the rear gears and ditch the stock 3.27's and get the 3.73's. It will be a good excuse to say you had to change the diff fluid, and since it was already apart gears seemed like a win win situation!

 

[2E151]

Awesome to hear man, so around 6500 for the car then or is the dealership going to do them for the full price?

I had the dealership include the service for 6800

ditch the stock 3.27's and get the 3.73's.

lol, only concern I have with that is how badly will it affect my gas mileage? I'm gonna be driving this 4 hours to drill each month.

 

[1fun281]

I had the dealership include the service for 6800

lol, only concern I have with that is how badly will it affect my gas mileage? I'm gonna be driving this 4 hours to drill each month.

I daily drive 4.30's and love them, the car feels a million times healthier, and makes the motor work alot less to get the car moving, even though on the highway your cruising at like 3k rpms, because your not accelerating just cruising its not to loud, with 4.10's you would probably be around 2700 at 80 someone correct me if im wrong but id highly reccomend it you will never regret it!

Ohhh and i have an offroad x pipe with dronemasters and the drone stopped completely with the bigger gears!

 

[N8Dogg98]

I had the dealership include the service for 6800

lol, only concern I have with that is how badly will it affect my gas mileage? I'm gonna be driving this 4 hours to drill each month.

I have 3.73's and get 20-22 mpg mixed highway/city driving in a state where 87 octane fuel is 15% ethanol. Not bad IMO

 

[2E151]

N8- did you originally start with 3.27s? If so was there a noticable "seat of the pants" increase with the 3.73? I suppose I want to maximize torque or HP- if I wanted a 400 HP car like some of my coworkers I would have gotten something newer with a stout engine and the correspondingly high bank note...