Anything I should look for in an '03/'04 Cobra?

[GEKicker08]

My dad and i are looking into buying an '03/'04 cobra when we are done with the project car. He thinks we should get an 04 b/c he says that all of the "defects" (if there are any) will have been worked out. Is there anything we should look for when looking at these, and are there really any differences in the years. I'll read up in Car and Driver and some others as well, but i figured you guys would know something either first hand or close to it. Thanks

 

[AaRoN]

Definitely ask who owned it before you. You don't want to something that has been overly abused.

 

[snoball]

Ask if its had a revised head put on. Take a good look at the pulley because a lot of them are stripped/pressed on wrong because people dont use the correct tools.

 

[Black97GT]

One of the major problems with the 03 was the head tick. If you got an 04 you wouldn't have to worry about that. The blue book value is higher on the 04's than the 03's though. Like Aaron said you probably don't want one that has been abused. Look for what modifications were done. Pulleys are a big one to watch out for because if it is running more boost than it has been tuned for there could be issues there. CobraBob did a huge write-up on what to look for in an 03/04 Cobra..see if you can pm him and ask him for a link :thumb:.

 

[98saleen88]

any 03/04 cobra over 75000 miles dont get= only buying an expensive project......

 

[scarface]

any 03/04 cobra over 75000 miles dont get= only buying an expensive project......

thats a silly statement with no facts to back it up... you are saying the 4v is only good till 75k miles. :nonono:

Do a compression test, leak down tests, check the oil, listen for ticks... pretty much anything you would normally look for in a used car.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Head tick shows up regardless of revisions, it's from the lack of cooling, at least that's what I found in my research.

Make sure it has the right damn bumper on it!

And there's no reason not to buy a high mileage one, except the normaly reasons not to buy any high mileage car. If you look hard you can get one still under warranty though.

 

[Javi]

Make sure it has the right damn bumper on it!

:rollinglaugh: :rollinglaugh: for sure

 

[Jrgunn5150]

If you want an unmodded one, look and see that the belt cover is still on it, and look in the center of the pulley for the little dimple as evidence it was pulled before also.

 

[uncltrvlnmatt]

Make sure it has that air sucker on top, that makes that beautiful whiny noise.

 

[AaRoN]

Make sure it has that air sucker on top, that makes that beautiful whiny noise.

Really? I thought it was a natural vacuum leak :dunno:


:hammer: :hammer:

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Stone stock, they are actually pretty quiet.

 

[Danimal]

Stone stock, they are actually pretty quiet.

Not when you step on the gas. Its almost eerie, you can't hear any exhaust noise, only the blower whine. It almost sounds like an electric car.

-Dan

 

[98saleen88]

any 03/04 cobra over 75000 miles dont get= only buying an expensive project......

thats a silly statement with no facts to back it up... you are saying the 4v is only good till 75k miles. :nonono:

Do a compression test, leak down tests, check the oil, listen for ticks... pretty much anything you would normally look for in a used car.

well in my experiences i dont really need facts...i inheriated a 98 cobra from my late godfather who drove hes car normally and had about 76000 miles with he passed..he was an older guy who drove it normally and would once and a while get on it..around 78500 with above normal matience, little things here and there started happening...i had to get ride of the car cuz i couldnt afford.....also all my friends with cobras (yrs range from 96 to 04) start having problems...a close friend just picked up a 04 cobra with 58000 miles and hes tranny and rear end just blew out....a friend with a 01 cobra just replaces a the block cuz it cranked at about 69000..on the other hand a close friend has a 96 cobra with 200000 (yea 2 hundred) and doesnt even have a tick....im not tryin to discourage anyone from buying a cobra with high miles..just do deep research into it..dont want anyone to burn holes in there pockets......

 

[scarface]

any 03/04 cobra over 75000 miles dont get= only buying an expensive project......

thats a silly statement with no facts to back it up... you are saying the 4v is only good till 75k miles. :nonono:

Do a compression test, leak down tests, check the oil, listen for ticks... pretty much anything you would normally look for in a used car.

well in my experiences i dont really need facts...i inheriated a 98 cobra from my late godfather who drove hes car normally and had about 76000 miles with he passed..he was an older guy who drove it normally and would once and a while get on it..around 78500 with above normal matience, little things here and there started happening...i had to get ride of the car cuz i couldnt afford.....also all my friends with cobras (yrs range from 96 to 04) start having problems...a close friend just picked up a 04 cobra with 58000 miles and hes tranny and rear end just blew out....a friend with a 01 cobra just replaces a the block cuz it cranked at about 69000..on the other hand a close friend has a 96 cobra with 200000 (yea 2 hundred) and doesnt even have a tick....im not tryin to discourage anyone from buying a cobra with high miles..just do deep research into it..dont want anyone to burn holes in there pockets......

ok. sorry for your experience. I have a 99 w/ 84k on it and it purrs like brand new.

 

[98saleen88]

any 03/04 cobra over 75000 miles dont get= only buying an expensive project......

thats a silly statement with no facts to back it up... you are saying the 4v is only good till 75k miles. :nonono:

Do a compression test, leak down tests, check the oil, listen for ticks... pretty much anything you would normally look for in a used car.

well in my experiences i dont really need facts...i inheriated a 98 cobra from my late godfather who drove hes car normally and had about 76000 miles with he passed..he was an older guy who drove it normally and would once and a while get on it..around 78500 with above normal matience, little things here and there started happening...i had to get ride of the car cuz i couldnt afford.....also all my friends with cobras (yrs range from 96 to 04) start having problems...a close friend just picked up a 04 cobra with 58000 miles and hes tranny and rear end just blew out....a friend with a 01 cobra just replaces a the block cuz it cranked at about 69000..on the other hand a close friend has a 96 cobra with 200000 (yea 2 hundred) and doesnt even have a tick....im not tryin to discourage anyone from buying a cobra with high miles..just do deep research into it..dont want anyone to burn holes in there pockets......

ok. sorry for your experience. I have a 99 w/ 84k on it and it purrs like brand new.

wish i coulda had that luck with that car...i loved it...but who knows if i woulda kept that i would not have had my dream saleen now :dancing6:

 

[Knuckles@Empire]

im also shopping around for a terminator to pick up within the next month or so and what i look for is for the car to be as close to stock as posible. thats not to say that you cant find some modified ones that run perfectly, but you do run the risk that the previous owner is passing on his problems. goodluck with your search some of these guys have great tips to finding a good car :thumb:

and +1 for getting a compression/leak down test if the owner allows it assuming its private buy.

 

[snoball]

Yeah a ton of my friends have 4v's with high miles, and a ton of abuse, of course the t45 synchros went bad but thats common but other than that and things like alternators and maitenence, we havent had a problem.

 

[uncltrvlnmatt]

any 03/04 cobra over 75000 miles dont get= only buying an expensive project......

thats a silly statement with no facts to back it up... you are saying the 4v is only good till 75k miles. :nonono:

Do a compression test, leak down tests, check the oil, listen for ticks... pretty much anything you would normally look for in a used car.

well in my experiences i dont really need facts...i inheriated a 98 cobra from my late godfather who drove hes car normally and had about 76000 miles with he passed..he was an older guy who drove it normally and would once and a while get on it..around 78500 with above normal matience, little things here and there started happening...i had to get ride of the car cuz i couldnt afford.....also all my friends with cobras (yrs range from 96 to 04) start having problems...a close friend just picked up a 04 cobra with 58000 miles and hes tranny and rear end just blew out....a friend with a 01 cobra just replaces a the block cuz it cranked at about 69000..on the other hand a close friend has a 96 cobra with 200000 (yea 2 hundred) and doesnt even have a tick....im not tryin to discourage anyone from buying a cobra with high miles..just do deep research into it..dont want anyone to burn holes in there pockets......

My 97 Cobra has 156k on the clock. it sounds and runs great. The car was never abused and is bone stock. It even has the original exhaust on it. I brought her in for a tune and it is putting out 258rwhp and 250rwt.

 

[Danimal]

wish i coulda had that luck with that car...i loved it...but who knows if i woulda kept that i would not have had my dream saleen now :dancing6:

Your dream Saleen that you are selling for a different Mustang in this thread?

http://www.sn95forums.com/forum/index.php?topic=20187.0

You use the word, "dream" pretty lightly I guess...

My experience with having many Mustangs (all 4.6's, over half of them 4V) between myself, my dad and my brother is completely opposite of your observations. It is best to serve things up as merely one persons opinion, and not a fact.

-Dan.