First time Fox buyer: Things to look out for?

My advice would be dont buy someones project, cause chances are you will re-do what they have already done and that one sounds like its a classic case... "yea its got a bronco motor in it, runs real strong..." then you go to the track and it runs 14's. Not trying to be a richard but its like all the chevy guys that have corvette motors in thier POS cars... if that was true there would be a junkyard with a million vettes and no motors in it.


Massachusetts so finding a clean one is a bit harder and more costly, unfortunately.

I have a car in spfld for way under your budget and its pretty clean, its no 5-spd but its got under 100k miles(87k right now i think). Stock besides exhaust, and it runs great A/C is all there and worked when i bought it, heats good, interior is all there, tq boxes are good, and there is no rust under it. its a good driver for sure. PM me if your interested.
 
My advice would be dont buy someones project, cause chances are you will re-do what they have already done and that one sounds like its a classic case... "yea its got a bronco motor in it, runs real strong..." then you go to the track and it runs 14's. Not trying to be a richard but its like all the chevy guys that have corvette motors in thier POS cars... if that was true there would be a junkyard with a million vettes and no motors in it.


I have a car in spfld for way under your budget and its pretty clean, its no 5-spd but its got under 100k miles(87k right now i think). Stock besides exhaust, and it runs great A/C is all there and worked when i bought it, heats good, interior is all there, tq boxes are good, and there is no rust under it. its a good driver for sure. PM me if your interested.

Ya I've already scratched this car off my potential list, it'd need more work than it cost to get it where I want it to be. It's been on craigslist for quite some time and is now listed for $2800 so I bet people have come to look at it and then walked away.

Thanks on the car offer but I think I am definitely dead set on a 5 spd, man if it were a 5spd though I'd be making a trip out there guaranteed!
 
Tq box's are where the lower and upper rear control arms attach to the body. Off the rear-end housing. Look for cracks or separations from the body.

Check the outside A-pillars for cracking espically on ones with sunroofs.
Bring a magnent to check rear fenders for Bondo.
Look at the lines on the hood, front fenders, bumper. Should all be fairly even.....no gaps.
Check radiator support brace for straigtness. might be twisted from a previous accident!
 
Figured I'd update this, going to look at a teal 93 LX hatch 5.0/5spd with 76k original miles tomorrow. There are zero engine modifications done, the only thing not stock appears to be a flowmaster exhaust and an aftermarket radio according to the guy selling it. It has been sitting in a garage for the last 8 years and he just put it on the road 3 or 4 months ago to drive while he was waiting for his new vehicle (apparently a 2010 Camaro SS). Only known issues are the common rust starting on the hatch and a little bit of rust on the bottom of the passenger door, he has a mint door and hatch to go along with the car. I'll hopefully have an update once I go take a look!