150k+ miles experience?

Tommy92

Active Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2011
Messages
889
Reaction score
24
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I'm shopping around for a Mustang right now and stumbled upon a 2001 Cobra in white for 8000 dollars. I plan on buying it 7500 dollars at the highest. I'm a bit iffy about the purchase though because the car has 150k+ miles on it. The owner told me the engine is rebuilt with 15k miles and has paperwork for it. But I know the engine isn't half of the problems a car can have like transmission, brakes, power steering, ac, etc. Does anyone have experience with high mileages mustangs and can guide me through the purchase?

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/4098459021.html
 

mcglsr2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2011
Messages
3,410
Reaction score
43
Location
Orlando
I purchased my Mustang with "unknown" miles. The odo read 107K, I later found out through Carfax that it was reported "unknown" on the title like 5 years before I bought it. So I'm sure it had A LOT of miles before I got to it.

I had already planned on replacing a lot of things like the suspension and brakes before I bought it (I was going to use it as a road race/auto-x car), so I wasn't as concerned to the condition - as long as I could drive it home and it was straight. I've worked on it quite a bit since buying it (I bought it for a little over $2K). I would say plan to replace certain things, like the rotor/cap, pads and brake fluid, oil change, maybe motor mounts, fuel filter, air filter, plugs and wires, stuff like that. Depending on how it has been taken care of (or recent mods), the suspension might be in good shape. Mine was okay, the big problem areas were all the bushings, most were rotted out. The car drove okay, it made a lot of noises (groaning and such because of the wiggle room from the bushings). Make sure the car is straight, check all the seams in the body panels - different sized gaps imply body work/damage. I got lucky with the engine; while the POs neglected the interior and paint, they apparently took excellent care of the engine with regular oil changes. My car also had different tires on all 4 wheels, none were the same, implying the kid I bought it from didn't have a lot of money to take care of it, so what else did he gloss over... Also plan on a LSD replacement - you may not need it depending on whether it's been done or how it's been treated. On my car, the Trac-Loc was shot. It was pretty much an open diff. The water pump gasket was shot, and the timing chain also needed replacing.

In summary, it was in fairly rough shape - dirty and stuff like that, but overall not too bad. At that mileage, there are some "big" things to do, like timing belt/chain, maybe the clutch is getting worn, how's the transmission shifting - worn synchros? There are also a lot of minor things to do, like pads and fluids, but you should be planning on doing those anyway. Ultimately, how well do you think this car was taken care of? Is it clean, good looking paint, something that might imply that the PO took pride in the car and thus probably took care of it? Or is it dirty, crappy paint, sloppy fixes (like only 2 bolts holding the driver seat down) that might imply that the owner could care less. If it's the latter, then you obviously run a bigger risk of something being an issue. I took a chance (my Mustang was the latter, it looked and sounded like shit) but got lucky. The engine is stock and strong. This was okay for me since I was replacing just about everything anyway, so this was the perfect car for me. If you are looking for something you can buy and drive with little extra work, then it's obviously more important the car looks well cared for, things replaced, no broken items, etc.
 
OP
OP
T

Tommy92

Active Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2011
Messages
889
Reaction score
24
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I purchased my Mustang with "unknown" miles. The odo read 107K, I later found out through Carfax that it was reported "unknown" on the title like 5 years before I bought it. So I'm sure it had A LOT of miles before I got to it.

I had already planned on replacing a lot of things like the suspension and brakes before I bought it (I was going to use it as a road race/auto-x car), so I wasn't as concerned to the condition - as long as I could drive it home and it was straight. I've worked on it quite a bit since buying it (I bought it for a little over $2K). I would say plan to replace certain things, like the rotor/cap, pads and brake fluid, oil change, maybe motor mounts, fuel filter, air filter, plugs and wires, stuff like that. Depending on how it has been taken care of (or recent mods), the suspension might be in good shape. Mine was okay, the big problem areas were all the bushings, most were rotted out. The car drove okay, it made a lot of noises (groaning and such because of the wiggle room from the bushings). Make sure the car is straight, check all the seams in the body panels - different sized gaps imply body work/damage. I got lucky with the engine; while the POs neglected the interior and paint, they apparently took excellent care of the engine with regular oil changes. Also plan on a LSD replacement - you may not need it depending on whether it's been done or how it's been treated. On my car, the Trac-Loc was shot. It was pretty much an open diff. The water pump gasket was shot, and the timing chain also needed replacing.

In summary, it was in fairly rough shape - dirty and stuff like that, but overall not too bad. At that mileage, there are some "big" things to do, like timing belt/chain. There are also a lot of minor things to do, like pads and fluids, but you should be planning on doing those anyway. Ultimately, how well do you think this car was taken care of? Is it clean, good looking paint, something that might imply that the PO took pride in the car and thus probably took care of it? Or is it dirty, crappy paint, sloppy fixes (like only 2 bolts holding the driver seat down) that might imply that the owner could care less. If it's the latter, then you obviously run a bigger risk of something being an issue. I took a chance (my Mustang was the latter, it looked and sounded like shit) but got lucky. The engine is stock and strong.

I'm not too concerned with the motor since it has been rebuilt and he will provide me with the paperwork for the rebuild. I'm more concerned with everything else that wears down with miles like you mentioned. Judging by the modifications it looks like he liked this car a lot. I certainly wouldn't cash out the money for a Borla cat-back system. And looking at the pictures it looks like he got new shocks and springs. There are obviously some risk in buying a high mileage car, but since I've never gone down that road I wanted to know generally if high mileage means small tune ups or big expensive fixes.
 

mcglsr2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2011
Messages
3,410
Reaction score
43
Location
Orlando
It depends on how the car was cared for. Even my crappy-shaped car was probably more towards the small tune-ups. I didn't have to replace all the stuff I did, I just chose to. Driving it that way might have sucked though. I would say the biggies are timing chain/belt, transmission issues, clutch issues. If he rebuilt the engine, he probably replaced the belt/chain, so you are good there. I don't know if he did any work to the trans. I'd go out on a limb and say you are probably looking a minor type things. It's always hard to say for sure though until you get it and drive it (and then it either breaks or doesn't).
 
OP
OP
T

Tommy92

Active Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2011
Messages
889
Reaction score
24
Location
Los Angeles, CA
It depends on how the car was cared for. Even my crappy-shaped car was probably more towards the small tune-ups. I didn't have to replace all the stuff I did, I just chose to. Driving it that way might have sucked though. I would say the biggies are timing chain/belt, transmission issues, clutch issues. If he rebuilt the engine, he probably replaced the belt/chain, so you are good there. I don't know if he did any work to the trans. I'd go out on a limb and say you are probably looking a minor type things. It's always hard to say for sure though until you get it and drive it (and then it either breaks or doesn't).

So when I test drive it and the transmission shifts smooth even when I shift it hard, that's a good sign that the transmission is healthy?
 

mcglsr2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2011
Messages
3,410
Reaction score
43
Location
Orlando
Yes that's a good indication. On my trans (T5) I had a hell of a time getting into 1, 2 and reverse. And that was because the synchros were shot and the gear teeth rounded. There can still be wear on a smooth shifting trans, but if it shifts smooth and goes into gears without abnormal complaint I'd say that's a good indicator.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
78,527
Messages
1,535,648
Members
16,185
Latest member
dmen76

Members online

Top