Considering A Mustang Gt But.....

Hudson

New Member
Mar 3, 2014
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Hey Guys,

Considering a 2004 Mustang GT 40th Anniversary but there's some issues with the car that my be a deal breaker. I was originally looking for a Terminator but I came across this and thought it might be worth looking into.

Here is the car:
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detai...dId=21712&sf1Dir=DESC&aff=national&listType=1

I'm new to the Mustang scene but not new to the modding scene in general. I'm coming from an 08 Mitsubishi Evo X that was fairly well modded and tuned. This Mustang looks to have a fair amount of upgrades according to the description including a Kenne Bell SC, brakes and suspension work.

So far so good until I called the dealership and was informed that while at the dealer lot the motor was blown. I asked what happened and the salesman explained to me that "this is warm weather car and when it was started in the cold weather the motor simply blew." So there is one big red flag right there. The salesman also stated that the dealership was rebuilding the car and putting all the mods back on. I asked who was going to tune the car after the work was completed and he really didn't have an answer.

I'm not in a rush to get this or any car since this will be a summer car only but I thought I'd ask the community if this would be worth pursuing or best to walk away from. I take everything any dealer says with a grain of salt so i'm not too concerned with the half-ass answer I got as long as the car is put back together properly.

Any and all opinions are welcome and I appreciate your input.

Right now I have an email into the dealership requesting a list of all the mods on the car and who tuned it originally as well as the real reason the motor blew up. I also asked who would be tuning the car after all the work is completed.

I'll update this thread once I hear back.

Thanks again!
 
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Its an 04 but not a true anniversary car. I find the whole car a little suspicious. The mods are great but dealership salesman probably have no clue about highly modified cars. Divide that price by four to get the proper value to risk ratio.

Maybe keep looking for that Termi.
 
Its an 04 but not a true anniversary car. I find the whole car a little suspicious. The mods are great but dealership salesman probably have no clue about highly modified cars. Divide that price by four to get the proper value to risk ratio.

Maybe keep looking for that Termi.

Thanks Matt. The salesman is going to call me tomorrow to go over the information I requested but I agree that the whole situation is suspect. I don't expect a salesman to know everything about such a highly modified car but at least know something. I also agree with you that the caliber to which this car is modified is well beyond the knowledge of most dealerships, including this once, hence the reason they put a window in the block. I'll hear him out but I already have a line on a few Terminators.
 
All 04's have the 40th anniversary badge but, not all of them have the 40th anniversary package. 1st dead give away are the non color matched side mirrors, missing the Arizona Beige stripes, the wheels are wrong and, that's just on the outside. As far as the inside goes, nothing about it is 40th anniversary. That being said, I don't think its a bad car. I would just be worried about rust being a northern car. The low miles would lead me to believe that it was garage kept which would help with the rust. If you really want it, take it to a reputable place that knows what they are looking at with cars like that. If there is nothing wrong with it then, I see no reason to not pursue it. Just try and work on the price. All of those mods are on the higher end of pricing compared to other brands. I would take the badges off the trunk area and put the right ones back on IMO.
 
All 04's have the 40th anniversary badge but, not all of them have the 40th anniversary package. 1st dead give away are the non color matched side mirrors, missing the Arizona Beige stripes, the wheels are wrong and, that's just on the outside. As far as the inside goes, nothing about it is 40th anniversary. That being said, I don't think its a bad car. I would just be worried about rust being a northern car. The low miles would lead me to believe that it was garage kept which would help with the rust. If you really want it, take it to a reputable place that knows what they are looking at with cars like that. If there is nothing wrong with it then, I see no reason to not pursue it. Just try and work on the price. All of those mods are on the higher end of pricing compared to other brands. I would take the badges off the trunk area and put the right ones back on IMO.

What are the proper badges for the car?

^ this

While it is a low mileage car, i'd still worry, especially since the motor was blown. Another vote to look for a terminator!

Yes. Still looking for a Termi first and foremost.

I'm betting a salesman was playing around on the car and fuked it up

My first thought as well.

Thanks for all the input guys. Sent a long winded email to the salesman yesterday and I just got off the phone with him. Asked what the deal was with the blown motor and he stated a customer was doing some highway pulls in the car in sub-zero weather when it popped. It definitely has been a cold winter in the Northeast i can attest to that so I guess it's reasonable especially if the car was cold.

As it stands now they're putting a brand new crate motor in the car. The tech doing the work is going to call me this afternoon with a parts list and who is going to tune the vehicle.

As for their price, I'm not going to pay what they're asking. We all know you don't get your money back with mods.
 
What are the proper badges for the car?

For the trunk, that SVT badge is only for the Cobras. That should just be a regular "GT" badge. And where the 40th Anniversary badge is, that should just be a Ford emblem.

Can't really tell what badges are on the fenders-certainly don't look like anything from any Mustang-but for a 2004, those should be the 40th Anniversary badges like seen (incorrectly) on this one's trunklid. 2000-2003s had the "GT" badge there as well, if it was a GT.
 
the side mirrors should be painted to match the car, there should be arizona beige rocker stripes, 2 hood stripes and 2 trunk stripes. as far as the interior, they are all parchemnt in color. the shifter bezel, door locks, and pedals should be sourced from a mach one/bullit/termi and there should be a small plaque just above the shifter that has the pony and say 4oth anniversary. the wheels should be 5 spoke bullit style with a polished lip and the spokes should be painted arizona beige to match the stripes. lastly the floormats should have 40th anniversary embroidered on them and the head reasts should be the large 4 way adjustable one. i think thats it.
 
Badge crazy indeed. It's a real turn off. Kind of distasteful. Throwing around the SVT badge is an especially big no-no. Makes me think their trying to mislead or take advantage of a buyer who may not know better.

I worked at a Ford dealership years ago. The cool cars sometimes got spirited test drives by the staff and salesmen sometimes made promises or stated facts that were, to put it gingerly, untruths.
 
$17k asking price? Aren't (actual) Terminators on the market for $20k or so?

I dunno, there are a lot of red flags going up in this situation. I mean the wacky badging alone suggests the previous owner was kind of a dumbass. Personally, I'd probably either hold out for a Termi or find a stock '04 GT in good condition and mod it up myself.
 
$17k asking price? Aren't (actual) Terminators on the market for $20k or so?

I dunno, there are a lot of red flags going up in this situation. I mean the wacky badging alone suggests the previous owner was kind of a dumbass. Personally, I'd probably either hold out for a Termi or find a stock '04 GT in good condition and mod it up myself.

Yeah I've pretty much abandoned this vehicle for the reasons you stated and more. The badging is off putting enough but then they're going to put the supercharger on a brand new motor with stock internals? OK. I also told the dealer their asking price was ridiculous and I wouldn't pay more than $13k for that vehicle regardless of the "work" they put into it. Since then I haven't heard a peep from them but it's for the best.

At $17 I could find a decent Terminator anyway.

I've been looking at a few nice Mach 1's in the meantime.
 
why would you even communicate with that stealership as long as you did? Get your head straight man do not focus on a particular car and make a solid deal damn... Wtf?
 
why would you even communicate with that stealership as long as you did? Get your head straight man do not focus on a particular car and make a solid deal damn... Wtf?

You're absolutely right man, just needed some educated opinions to put me back on the straight and narrow. Way too many ponies on the farm to get focused on this one particular car. Plus the salesman emailed me a little while ago with these words" Where we at with the Mustang." I didn't reply.