I really don't know what to tell you. I paid half of what you did for the same car 4-5 years ago(3rd 96-98gt). Wasn't a ****box.
Just funny that you seem to know everything, have been around the block, etc... Welcome, and yes, I'm still 17.
You're telling me you bought an 8 year old Mustang GT for $3900 bucks and it wasn't a pile? With all due respect, I call complete BS.
I don't mean to butt in, but you really did overpay for that car. As long as you're happy with the purchase than obviously that's what matters. However, $8K for a stock 98 GT with 80K miles is retarded.
I paid $7500 for my 02 with 50,000 miles and its a lot faster and just as clean (if not cleaner) as your 98. Just sayin....
Right, but your car isn't what I wanted. FYI, stock cars are worth more than modified ones, and the last thing I wanted was someone else's modified problem with mods I may or may not have wanted.
While I think it's incredibly childish to bring up my thread in a discussion about new V6 Mustangs, as it has zero relevance to this discussion, perhaps I should remind you guys of a few things:
--I live in Japan, and bought the car from overseas. Not a lot of dealers were willing to deal with that. I needed a dealer willing to work with me. My dealer turned out to be more incompetent than I expected, but they did work with me and get the car in my driveway and in my name, from out of state, and while I'm 7,000 miles away. Living in Japan also basically rules out private sellers, I don't blame them for not wanting to send a title to me and trust that I'll transfer it over. I know when I sell a car, I make the guy I transfer it to go to the DMV with me to make sure he actually does transfer it so it's no longer my legal responsibility. I wouldn't deal with an overseas buyer as a private seller, nor would I expect one to deal with me. Obviously private sellers are cheaper, but I was basically limited to dealers. I also avoided a private seller to protect myself, because who's to say that they will send me the title after I send them the money? No guarantee there.
--I needed the car shipped. Again, some dealers weren't willing to bother doing this, even without mentioning I was overseas. I found a black '98 GT, 30k miles, all original, mint, in Alabama. Dealer wanted $10k before negotiation. Before even bringing that up, I asked about shipping. They told me I'd have to arrange it on my own, that they don't/won't work with me on that. Screw that, they want the sale, they can call a transport truck and arrange delivery.
--That car wasn't really what I wanted. Cloth seats, 16" wheels, no Mach 460. I wanted leather, 17" wheels, and Mach. They weren't going to drop their price from $10k to $5k. I highly doubt they would've went down to $7k.
--Again, even if I had wanted that car, it would've cost about $1000 to ship it. Same can be said for the few other cars I liked. Always in California, or in the south.
--I live in the north. We ALWAYS pay more for clean cars, end of story. The cheapness of cars in the south/west is negated by expensive shipping costs to the north. Shipping is also a bit of a hassle as it is, price aside.
--The car I bought is the car I wanted. Black/black, MINT, 17s, leather, 5-speed, 460. 2-owners, non-abused unmolested car. Not a single ding or scratch on it. This is also going to be a slightly more desirable Mustang than say, a Forest Green Automatic, and easy as
pie to sell later. Gonna have to pay a little more.
--Once you factor tax savings on the lower price compared to the $10k the dealer wanted, I saved over $2,000 from what the dealer was asking. That's 20%. Dealers aren't going to give their cars away, and that was after a week of negotiating.
--That car happened to be in Iowa, just 300 miles away. This means it didn't cost me $1000 to ship it. It was exactly what I wanted, at a dealer willing to work with me, and literally a straight shot off the highway passing right through St. Paul. It was kind of a no-brainer.
Keep in mind, I had a lot more constraints on my purchase than someone living in the US. I did pretty damn good to get it from a dealer for $7800 with exactly what I wanted, and mint. I was willing to pay a slight premium to get exactly what I wanted in terms of color and options, and most importantly condition.
But as has been said, on the internet everyone pays some ridiculously low price for their car, and claims up and down it's super clean and mint. Sorry, I don't always buy that. Look around, here's what's currently on Autotrader, completely ignoring the $30k cars:
98 GT, 28k miles:
Cars for Sale: 1998 Ford Mustang GT in Willowbrook, IL 60527: Coupe Details - 290483705 - AutoTrader.com
98 GT, automatic, cloth, same miles, badly stained carpet, slightly warped rear bumper, $10k:
Cars for Sale: 1998 Ford Mustang GT Coupe in Waterbury, CT 06708: Coupe Details - 295435669 - AutoTrader.com
98 GT, 140k miles, $9k:
Cars for Sale: 1998 Ford Mustang GT in Milwaukee, OR 97267: Coupe Details - 297425178 - AutoTrader.com
98 GT, same mileage, it's a beauty but it's an auto with tan interior, and in California:
Cars for Sale: 1998 Ford Mustang GT in Sacramento, CA 95815: Coupe Details - 295086983 - AutoTrader.com
97 GT, 46k miles but tan interior, auto, permamark on the trunk lid from a dealer sticker, and missing a piece of ugly side trim, $8k:
Cars for Sale: 1997 Ford Mustang GT in Selden, NY 11784: Coupe Details - 295024362 - AutoTrader.com
98 GT, 74k miles, passenger door has a bad paint match, so probably hit on the side, and wires hanging out of the dash and pep boys pedals, $7350. Rest of the paint is difficult to assess. Condition just deteriorates from here at this price point:
Cars for Sale: 1998 Ford Mustang GT in New Philadelphia, OH 44663: Coupe Details - 294634728 - AutoTrader.com
See where I'm going with this? There are 50 more where those came from. I'm not sure where people are getting these $3k-$6k
mint SN 95s with the options I've listed, I'd like to see some, because a nationwide search doesn't yield any. There isn't anything mint going below that, and even the above aren't really mint for the most part. Did I pay more according to some people on the internet? Maybe, but I certainly didn't pay out of line compared to what the rest of the cars are being listed at in reality. I certainly could've done a lot worse, but I don't really see where I could've done much better given what's currently on Autotrader, let alone with the constraints I had.
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Back on topic--All I've maintained is that a $30k V6 Mustang isn't worth it, IMO, and I've got people jumping down my throat about it as if to say I can't dare say a bad thing about Ford or have a differing opinion. Hell, I even agreed with the one guy on a couple points and he put me on ignore over a disagreement on the perceived value of a new Mustang? Instead of having a discussion, or addressing any of my points, he decides instead to just put me on ignore. At least I rationalized my thoughts as to why. If you disagree, that's fine, but at least have a civilized discussion about it rather than calling me a troll or putting me on ignore.