99-04 Mustang | Good First Car?

Brendon1215 · Jan 2, 2012

99-04 | Good First Car?

Some Background Info First:

I just turned 16 a few weeks ago, and I've been researching online and at dealerships around since for my first car. Once I finally finish my drivers classes & my test, is when I plan on purchasing it; which will probably take about 3 months or so.

Anyways, Mustangs (99-04) have recently peeked my interest and I think I'll buy a V8 Manual whenever I can.

If anyone could, could you please give me some information about general Mustang things; and how it would be as a first car, etc.

Also keep in mind, I'm purchasing all of this by myself, so I can't be called spoiled or anything, cause I have a job.

Here Are Some Modifications I'm Currently Looking In To:

*All these will come in slowly, I'm not adding all of this stuff immediately.*

-Cold Air Intake

-Upgraded Exhaust

-Rims

-Grille

-Sequential Taillights

-Shifter

-Head Lights

-Deck Lid Panel

-Amplifier/Subwoofers

-Security System

-Radar Detector

-Rear Window Louver/Scoop

-Hood Scoop

-Chin Spoiler

-Fixed Antenna

-LED Third Brake Lights

BlackArtemis · Jan 2, 2012

The first thing I would suggest is to check how much insurance is going to cost you as a 16 year old with a RWD V8, this might make the car too expensive to own. As a whole the 4.6 is a stout engine and in the 10 years that I have owned my stang I have had no major reliability issues, hell I am just this week replacing the stock battery.

Now, honestly, for me at 16, it would have been a death trap. I was and am a responsible driver, but I still sped more and did crazy things in my first car (a mercury sable) than I ever did in my mustang. This was a combination of teenage invincibility and lack of experience / not really understanding consequences as a driver. But this is a case by case thing, I know some 16 year olds that having a mustang for their first car would be no different than so slow tank of a car.

The 99-04 has a few Naturally aspirated mods, meaning no super or turbo charger, that are "easily" bolted on:
Rear gears
longtubes and mid pipe
Plenum and Throttle Body
and basic suspension upgrades.
The stock engine is only going to handle around 400rwhp before you are in danger of blowing it up. And you are going to need all the basic bolt ons plus cams to hit 300rwhp w/o forced induction.

to address some of your other points/wants

The CAI is worthless HP wise and basically a cosmetic mod.
Also, I don't know if LED brake lights and sequentials would work. Personally I think anything other than stock or tinted headlights/taillights look cheap.
Wiring the mustang for a sound system is not too bad and can be done in a day, if not done as an entire set, do this: Replace the stock speakers with a decent set of components, then the head unit and a 4 or 5 channel amp and then subs. I did head unit and subs first and quickly destroyed the stock speakers and had to driver around with good bass but garbage everything else until i could afford to fix that.
if you get a 2000-2004 mustang it will come with a hood scoop

Look around read a bunch of threads and learn about the basics.
Though, to be honest, if I was going to get a mustang when I was in school, I would have gotten a Fox body and built a 2.3t and saved a huge amount of money insurance wise.

Also, on a side note, while I daily drove mine for years in PA winters, I wouldn't recommend this car as a first car if you will experience snow.

Brendon1215 · Jan 3, 2012

BlackArtemis said:
The first thing I would suggest is to check how much insurance is going to cost you as a 16 year old with a RWD V8, this might make the car too expensive to own. As a whole the 4.6 is a stout engine and in the 10 years that I have owned my stang I have had no major reliability issues, hell I am just this week replacing the stock battery.

Now, honestly, for me at 16, it would have been a death trap. I was and am a responsible driver, but I still sped more and did crazy things in my first car (a mercury sable) than I ever did in my mustang. This was a combination of teenage invincibility and lack of experience / not really understanding consequences as a driver. But this is a case by case thing, I know some 16 year olds that having a mustang for their first car would be no different than so slow tank of a car.

The 99-04 has a few Naturally aspirated mods, meaning no super or turbo charger, that are "easily" bolted on:
Rear gears
longtubes and mid pipe
Plenum and Throttle Body
and basic suspension upgrades.
The stock engine is only going to handle around 400rwhp before you are in danger of blowing it up. And you are going to need all the basic bolt ons plus cams to hit 300rwhp w/o forced induction.

to address some of your other points/wants

The CAI is worthless HP wise and basically a cosmetic mod.
Also, I don't know if LED brake lights and sequentials would work. Personally I think anything other than stock or tinted headlights/taillights look cheap.
Wiring the mustang for a sound system is not too bad and can be done in a day, if not done as an entire set, do this: Replace the stock speakers with a decent set of components, then the head unit and a 4 or 5 channel amp and then subs. I did head unit and subs first and quickly destroyed the stock speakers and had to driver around with good bass but garbage everything else until i could afford to fix that.
if you get a 2000-2004 mustang it will come with a hood scoop

Look around read a bunch of threads and learn about the basics.
Though, to be honest, if I was going to get a mustang when I was in school, I would have gotten a Fox body and built a 2.3t and saved a huge amount of money insurance wise.

Also, on a side note, while I daily drove mine for years in PA winters, I wouldn't recommend this car as a first car if you will experience snow.

Thanks a lot man. I don't really like the look of the Fox bodies though. The 99-04's are much more appealing to me. I live in Ohio, meaning it'll be seeing snow in the winters.

GT 00 · Jan 3, 2012

BlackArtemis said:
The first thing I would suggest is to check how much insurance is going to cost you as a 16 year old with a RWD V8, this might make the car too expensive to own. As a whole the 4.6 is a stout engine and in the 10 years that I have owned my stang I have had no major reliability issues, hell I am just this week replacing the stock battery.

Now, honestly, for me at 16, it would have been a death trap. I was and am a responsible driver, but I still sped more and did crazy things in my first car (a mercury sable) than I ever did in my mustang. This was a combination of teenage invincibility and lack of experience / not really understanding consequences as a driver. But this is a case by case thing, I know some 16 year olds that having a mustang for their first car would be no different than so slow tank of a car.

The 99-04 has a few Naturally aspirated mods, meaning no super or turbo charger, that are "easily" bolted on:
Rear gears
longtubes and mid pipe
Plenum and Throttle Body
and basic suspension upgrades.
The stock engine is only going to handle around 400rwhp before you are in danger of blowing it up. And you are going to need all the basic bolt ons plus cams to hit 300rwhp w/o forced induction.

to address some of your other points/wants

The CAI is worthless HP wise and basically a cosmetic mod.
Also, I don't know if LED brake lights and sequentials would work. Personally I think anything other than stock or tinted headlights/taillights look cheap.
Wiring the mustang for a sound system is not too bad and can be done in a day, if not done as an entire set, do this: Replace the stock speakers with a decent set of components, then the head unit and a 4 or 5 channel amp and then subs. I did head unit and subs first and quickly destroyed the stock speakers and had to driver around with good bass but garbage everything else until i could afford to fix that.
if you get a 2000-2004 mustang it will come with a hood scoop

Look around read a bunch of threads and learn about the basics.
Though, to be honest, if I was going to get a mustang when I was in school, I would have gotten a Fox body and built a 2.3t and saved a huge amount of money insurance wise.

Also, on a side note, while I daily drove mine for years in PA winters, I wouldn't recommend this car as a first car if you will experience snow.

U are 100 percent correct on everything just about the led's do work I have led 3rd brake light and tail lights I'm not sure about sequentials but the led's were a pain in the a$$ cause if u plug them up wrong u blow fuses like I did very aggravating lolol

Deleted member 38176 · Jan 3, 2012

My first car was a brand new 2001 GT (I was 17). I was a pretty responsible driver when I was that age so I didn't get myself into too much trouble......other than a few hefty speeding tickets

Oh the memories!

GT 00 · Jan 3, 2012

Also to Brendan seeing how your getting your license soon then insurance will know u just got them and they will think your young your in a sports car and will assume you will do some stupid stuff and be a liability to them until u haven't had an accident or tickets in a few months then it should drop a little bit

Brendon1215 · Jan 3, 2012

Nightfire said:
My first car was a brand new 2001 GT (I was 17). I was a pretty responsible driver when I was that age so I didn't get myself into too much trouble......other than a few hefty speeding tickets

Oh the memories!

Haha, that's probably gonna happen regardless of which car I have though.

GT 00 said:
Also to Brendan seeing how your getting your license soon then insurance will know u just got them and they will think your young your in a sports car and will assume you will do some stupid stuff and be a liability to them until u haven't had an accident or tickets in a few months then it should drop a little bit

Oh, okay; thanks. My mom and step-dad just upgraded to full coverage, so I have no idea if they plan on doing for me. And to your last post; I really like those sequential tail lights; but if I can't figure them out, we have many family friends who own shops so I'll just have them help me if they wouldn't mind.

Deleted member 38176 · Jan 3, 2012

As other people have mentioned, insurance is going to kill you. Your insurance payments will be more than the car payments.

1987stangman · Jan 3, 2012

I can shed some light on this. When my son started driving (put it off as long as I could get away with) at 17 my insurance (Allstate) went from around 1100.00 for six months to 2200.00 for six. When he turned 18 and graduated I signed over the title to the 96' Ford Probe I bought him and he purchased his own insurance which is around 1100.00 just for him with only Florida state required insurance. The problem lies with the fact that he only had his license for 1 year and no prior insurance and for what ever reason they look at his car as a sports car even tho its just a 118HP 5spd Probe. Also, when I had him on our insurance the simple fact that I had my two Mustangs, my Ranger, and My wifes G6 on the policy they figured he had the potential to drive any one of those cars.

slayerripkdc · Jan 3, 2012

I have to agree with blackartemis..... very stout cars but also can be very dangerous if you are not safe and responsible! If you do get a v8 stang make sure you learn the ins and outs of driving it first and use common sense especially in the rain. Also get a better vehicle for the snow if you live in a state that snows.

Bob Hughes · Jan 3, 2012

I'm in NJ so insurance is kind of high here to start with. I bought a 1998 GT in 2002 as my first car. My car payment was $250 a month and my insurance was around $450 a month for full coverage. Keep that in mind if you're paying for you're insurance.

Bob Hughes · Jan 3, 2012

A side note to my last post I'm now 27 still in NJ and full coverage on my 03 GT convertible is still $220 a month.

89lxsport50 · Jan 3, 2012

Have your insurance agent list one of your parents as the principal driver of the stang, and list you as the principal driver of their car (assuming it isn't a performance car). That's what we did with my 16 year old stepson, and it saved us quite a bit. We listed him on my wife's CRV, and her on his BMW 325i (his dad bought it for him). Technically we are all insured to drive any car in the family. It was actually suggested by our State Farm agent.

trinity_gt · Jan 3, 2012

Brendon1215 said:
I just turned 16 a few weeks ago, and I've been researching online and at dealerships around since for my first car. Once I finally finish my drivers classes & my test, is when I plan on purchasing it; which will probably take about 3 months or so.

Anyways, Mustangs (99-04) have recently peeked my interest and I think I'll buy a V8 Manual whenever I can.
If anyone could, could you please give me some information about general Mustang things; and how it would be as a first car, etc.

The Mustang is a durable, tough and pretty reliable car. Parts are plentiful and reasonably cheap and the cars themselves are now not expensive.

They aren't as refined as some of their contemporaries let alone the more modern stuff but IMO that's part of the charm of the car. Their suspension systems are a little primitive and can be hamfisted around corners but they can be improved with aftermarket parts to tighten things up.

The GT models come with a limited slip differential which can make the rear of the car "lively" in wet conditions or on loose surfaces (gravel, dirt etc). If this is to see all-weather operation, I would suggest good all-season tires for summer, spring and fall and a separate set of proper, full-on snow tires for winter. Good tires, ABS and traction control are good things to have with a relatively lightweight rear-drive V8 car in inclement weather or in snow and ice.

Now, I've purposely avoided mentioning my opinion the GT as a "first car" for someone who has only just turned 16 and whom is in the process of obtaining a license but I will say this: The GT has "only" 260HP which is less than many V6 family sedans nowadays but it -- and the attendant torque -- combined with rear drive can still catch unsuspecting or inexperienced drivers not paying full attention. Only you know how good a driver you will be, how mature you are, how tempted you will be to do stupid (hey, I'm 44 now but remember 16 like it was yesterday...) and it only takes once to get in deep doo-doo. Although I used to race motocross I've never had a street bike. I would not, even at this advanced age, buy a Hyabusa as my first two-wheeler. Similarly, only you can judge whether a V8 musclecar is a wise first-car for you.

BlackArtemis · Jan 3, 2012

If you like the 94-95 body style, buying a cosmetically clean V6 and learning the ins and outs of a RWD car could be an option. Then save your pennies for a V8 transplant as the 5.0 after market is cheap and bountiful.

brtnstrns · Jan 3, 2012

89lxsport50 said:
Have your insurance agent list one of your parents as the principal driver of the stang, and list you as the principal driver of their car (assuming it isn't a performance car). That's what we did with my 16 year old stepson, and it saved us quite a bit. We listed him on my wife's CRV, and her on his BMW 325i (his dad bought it for him). Technically we are all insured to drive any car in the family. It was actually suggested by our State Farm agent.

This. Before I got my post-graduation job 4 months ago I was under my parents Amica insurance and was listed as driving the family minivan. Insurance was of course still higher than my sisters but it helped. And if you end up trusting yourself as a responsible driver, you could always just go with liability insurance. Thats all I had on my car before I got off my parents insurance but I never got into any wrecks or got any tickets (the cost of my insurance remained relatively the same between my first car - 1966 mustang, second - 99 Grand Cherokee, and my current 99 Mustang GT). Now I'm on my own insurance still under Amica. I'm 23 and have full coverage on my mustang and liability on my 95 camry and I pay about $140 per month for insuring both cars.

I would say if you're responsible enough go ahead and get the GT and do some research on how to get the lowest possible insurance that is most legitimate (not those companies that have cheap-o commercials). And whatever you do, make sure that whichever insurance company you use to try to avoid switching later on. Being with Amica for 7 years on my parents insurance before using them as my own helped out TREMENDOUSLY in getting such a good deal for being under 25 years old.

Brendon1215 · Jan 3, 2012

brtnstrns said:
This. Before I got my post-graduation job 4 months ago I was under my parents Amica insurance and was listed as driving the family minivan. Insurance was of course still higher than my sisters but it helped. And if you end up trusting yourself as a responsible driver, you could always just go with liability insurance. Thats all I had on my car before I got off my parents insurance but I never got into any wrecks or got any tickets (the cost of my insurance remained relatively the same between my first car - 1966 mustang, second - 99 Grand Cherokee, and my current 99 Mustang GT). Now I'm on my own insurance still under Amica. I'm 23 and have full coverage on my mustang and liability on my 95 camry and I pay about $140 per month for insuring both cars.

I would say if you're responsible enough go ahead and get the GT and do some research on how to get the lowest possible insurance that is most legitimate (not those companies that have cheap-o commercials). And whatever you do, make sure that whichever insurance company you use to try to avoid switching later on. Being with Amica for 7 years on my parents insurance before using them as my own helped out TREMENDOUSLY in getting such a good deal for being under 25 years old.

Thank you! My mom & step-dad have State Farm and they just carried liability until a few months ago they picked up full-coverage.

95Vert383AOD · Jan 3, 2012

When i was first driving i got a Lincoln Mark7 (Couldn't afford a Mark 8 then) The Mark 8 is a nice RWD 32v DOHC intec motor with IRS. Like a Mustang with luxury options. I would get a 97/98 one. As i remember the insurance will probably be cheaper too.

Brendon1215 · Jan 3, 2012

95Vert383AOD said:
When i was first driving i got a Lincoln Mark7 (Couldn't afford a Mark 8 then) The Mark 8 is a nice RWD 32v DOHC intec motor with IRS. Like a Mustang with luxury options. I would get a 97/98 one. As i remember the insurance will probably be cheaper too.

Okay, thanks a lot. I really like the 99-04 models the best, but I'll consider your suggestion since I asked.

ItsStock02 · Jan 3, 2012

My buddies first car was a 2000 GT. Got it when he was 15, before he had his license. Had some good times sneaking out in it during the day when his parents were gone. No license either. lol.

Anyways, Insurance will kill you unless you have it in your parents name. I say do it. My Mustang, is technically my second car, but its the first one ive bought with my money. Got it at 18 (now 21) and am very glad I did. I love it. Dont think I could ever sell the thing now that its paid off.

btw.. Im on my moms insurance, Im a "secondary" driver. I pay $90 a month for full insurance a month. Dont know how but thats what she says it cost .

99-04 Mustang | Good First Car?

Brendon1215

New Member

BlackArtemis

Dated 4 Amandas. Nothing special. Got the job done

Brendon1215

New Member

GT 00

Member

Deleted member 38176

GT 00

Member

Brendon1215

New Member

Deleted member 38176

1987stangman

Member

slayerripkdc

Bob Hughes

Member

Bob Hughes

Member

89lxsport50

trinity_gt

BlackArtemis

Dated 4 Amandas. Nothing special. Got the job done

brtnstrns

Member

Brendon1215

New Member

95Vert383AOD

Brendon1215

New Member

ItsStock02

Member

Similar threads

99-04 Mustang | Good First Car?

New Member

Dated 4 Amandas. Nothing special. Got the job done

New Member

Member

Deleted member 38176

Member

New Member

Deleted member 38176

Member

Member

Member

Dated 4 Amandas. Nothing special. Got the job done

Member

New Member

New Member

Member

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency