Buying a Cobra, NEED HELP

[BlackenedSVT]

Well, i'm never really in this secluded "SVT" section much But im selling my 98GT and getting a 99 Cobra now, and i need some input from you SVT guys...


Ok, so i have this 45 year old guy not too far from me, has a 99 bone stock SVT Cobra (w/ the fix). He bought the car from his friend when it had 13,000miles on it. And now the car has 56k. He is selling the car to me for $13,500. And when i asked him about the car he said its always been adult driven, and never abused. BUT he said he changed the oil every 5,000 miles I guess he thought that was good? What do you think about this? I dont know what kind of oil he used, but *I* use Mobil one every 3k miles on my car, whether it needs a change or not...and i just have a GT!

Could this be ok or bad for the car and me? What do you think. I've seen pictures of the car, it looks clean, except for the engine, looks kinda dirty, which surprised me. The blue cobra emblem on the engine is almost all faded, not much blue left on it. Honestly doesn't look like its been taken care of all that well. I'm sure it hasn't been beat on with two older guys and no teenagers ever driven it...but what do you think about this situation as well as the price too? Any input would be helpful

I'm trying to get him to come down to my house 2 hours away from him so my mechanic can check the car out. He sounds like a real nice guy, and he is selling the car because he needs a winter car, because he gave his truck to his daughter going to college. I was HONESTLY in the market for a 99+ Cobra with like 30k miles....but this was a pretty good deal. Again let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

PS: What should the first mods be? I'm thinking about 4.10's and SLP Exhaust

 

[Silver2003Cobra]

Well, i'm never really in this secluded "SVT" section much But im selling my 98GT and getting a 99 Cobra now, and i need some input from you SVT guys...


Ok, so i have this 45 year old guy not too far from me, has a 99 bone stock SVT Cobra (w/ the fix). He bought the car from his friend when it had 13,000miles on it. And now the car has 56k. He is selling the car to me for $13,500. And when i asked him about the car he said its always been adult driven, and never abused. BUT he said he changed the oil every 5,000 miles I guess he thought that was good? What do you think about this? I dont know what kind of oil he used, but *I* use Mobil one every 3k miles on my car, whether it needs a change or not...and i just have a GT!

Could this be ok or bad for the car and me? What do you think. I've seen pictures of the car, it looks clean, except for the engine, looks kinda dirty, which surprised me. The blue cobra emblem on the engine is almost all faded, not much blue left on it. Honestly doesn't look like its been taken care of all that well. I'm sure it hasn't been beat on with two older guys and no teenagers ever driven it...but what do you think about this situation as well as the price too? Any input would be helpful

I'm trying to get him to come down to my house 2 hours away from him so my mechanic can check the car out. He sounds like a real nice guy, and he is selling the car because he needs a winter car, because he gave his truck to his daughter going to college. I was HONESTLY in the market for a 99+ Cobra with like 30k miles....but this was a pretty good deal. Again let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

PS: What should the first mods be? I'm thinking about 4.10's and SLP Exhaust

if it was driven by a little old lady, 45 mph from her driveway to the church and grocery store 3 miles away,(the hardest driving you can do to a vehicle) then a 5000 mile oil change is IMHO not enough, but if it was warmed up with a 10 mile or more drive atleast once a week, that's fine..

I don't change the oil in my vehicles till atleast 7500 miles, yes I use Mobil1 and yes I drive them atleast 40 to 50 miles once a week, in the 98 Vette I had, I'd go till about 10K miles between oil changes(following the oil life indicator, using the factory fill Mobil1)

 

[BlackenedSVT]

geeeeeze! 10k miles!!! 3,000 miles for an oil change for me. no more! But thanks a lot. I guess these new synthetic oils really work wonders, daaaaamn!

 

[cerp]

sounds good.

thats a good price I would bring up how you feel about this not changing the oil problem and see if he wont deduct a few hundreds off the price. 50,000 miles is supercharger rebuild time territory so see if you cant get it cheaper.

no not all adults take good care of their cars as teenagers do its 2004 and were talking mustang not accord stationwagons for crying out loud...

 

[COBRA90GT]

...PS: What should the first mods be? I'm thinking about 4.10's and SLP Exhaust...

Yes, gears are great!


BTW - I wouldn't worry too much about the guy's "5000 mile oil change interval" habit. As long as it was a synthetic oil, I'm sure it's nothing that would have done any harm - a good amount of folks out there do run extended oil change intervals with synthetic oil. If the rest of the car checks out OK, and you are happy with it and the price, then purchase it!

 

[BlackenedSVT]

Just talked to the guy now. He said he always had ford do the oil change every 5,000 miles. Now im starting to worry about it, because i know ford does NOT use expensive synthetic oils... what do u guys think?

 

[stvdman]

Do you really think 5000 mile oil change intervals will hurt a modern car? Maybe back in "the day" it would have been bad, but in todays cars most have 5000-7500 mile oil change intervals, synthetic or not.

As long as it doesent eat oil, I wouldnt be too worried.

I changed mine in my 03 with 1000 miles on her and am just now getting ready to do it again at 8000. Granted its AMSOIL, and I am still changing it early as far as mileage but it has been almost a year, with one filter change at 4000 miles.

 

[vennom]

Still think you should check out my car. It already has the 4.10 gears, the fix, and it gets full synthetic mobile 1 every 3k miles. Plus its only $15000, how could you go wrong?

 

[BLK_ROUSH]

Don't get wrapped around the axle on th 5K oil change ... just have the car checked out. Pay to get it smoged, leak down/ compression check and verify it had the fix.

Good price, sounds like a good car { your descriptions anyway} purchase and enjoy.