New Car, Couple of Questions

[slowstang4.6]

I am looking to get a new Mustang, looking for some input on anything I may need to know before buying one?


I had an 01 GT, hated the way it drove, rode, handled, rattled, etc. I only kept that car for six months, and didn't even get a chance to mod it that much. I sold it for those reasons shortly after. I am now in an 02 F-250 I have had since then. It is modded out the arse. Lifted 6" on 37's too many motor mods to speak of, etc, etc. The truck is to the point that it is uncomfortable to drive at best and I am afraid of something going wrong. Anything that does go wrong will be very expensive to say the least. Heck, I couldn't put tires on it for less than $1,400! I think I may be outgrowing the whole "modding to the extreme" thing and have learned that I need to have a daily driver that is comfortable, smooth, quiet, gets decent fuel mileage, etc. and have a toy for modding heavily. That being said, I really will miss the truck but I just can't justify keeping it with the fuel mileage it gets and as much as I drive. I am still a broke college kid and will get another one like it once I get out of school when I get a real job. I drove a new GT last weekend and was blown away with how smooth it drove. I have decided to get one and keep it STOCK!!! I am going to have a very hard time doing so, but need this car to be a dependable, smooth, efficient daily driver. At the most I will put a quiet axle-back exhaust (on that note, what is a good system?)

Also I am wondering about my options as far as wheels go. I want the "fanblade" style, Ford calls them 18" premium aluminum. order code 64E. Did they add painted pockets to these wheels for 08? Thats all I have seen on cars on the lots so far... I recall seeing them being fully polished, this is what I am really wanting. Any info appreciated, and sorry for the long post!

 

[stanmckinney]

I have the polished fanblades and love them. My car is a 2007. I think you can still get them polished but I can't be certain.

 

[1965coupe]

I am looking to get a new Mustang, looking for some input on anything I may need to know before buying one?

Get the interior upgrade package- the best option for the price.
Don't get the shaker 1000 or the nav- both are way too expensive. Get the Shaker 500 and upgrade to an aftermarket nav unit (AVIC-D3).

Otherwise, it's a matter of personal taste: spoiler, tranny, color, leather, etc??

 

[stangdude2000]

I don't know if you can get the fanblades without the pockets painted. The wheel pockets are painted the same color no matter what the body color of the car is. I have it on my 08, and the color matches my Alloy Metallic basically perfectly. I'd imagine it wouldn't look good on certain colors.

+1 on everything 1965coupe said.

If you are really going to keep it stock, I'd go for the 3.55 axle. If there is a chance that you might end up swapping it out though, don't waste the money.

As far as axlebacks go, there are TONS of threads on this. Check out YouTube and you will find more exhaust combos than you can imagine. Your best bet though is to go to a local mustang club meeting or something along those lines and listening to other people's exhaust. Not enough people have the equipment to put up a quality soundclip (especially if you are worried about volume) on YouTube, let alone people having speakers to properly reproduce it. That said, the FRPP axle back always gets good reviews. It is the system on the Shelby GT.

 

[slowstang4.6]

On the note of the interior upgrade package, is it the way I am reading it (per Ford's website) or does this package include extra guages on the instrument panel? I can't see myself ever changing the panel colors, but I guess I should take a close look at what the interior looks like both with and without the package.

And on the 3.55 rear, I understand this to be an option only on the GT premium cars, correct? I am wanting to keep the price as low as possible, but the 3.55 would be nice. Is there a big difference in fuel mileage between the 3.31 and 3.55 or do you only notice it in the perf. dept.? I was about to put a set of 4.10 in my 01 before I sold it, but will definately leave this one alone. Should I spring for the premium package? How well does the leather hold up in these cars? And the cloth? The cloth seems like a completely different texture than what I am used to in cloth seats. Does it seem to hold up well?

 

[fobra559]

The gears really don't affect your mpg, it's your right foot and how heavy it is that usually affects your mpg outcome

 

[LV51FER]

I would recommend the Premium package because there's no getting away from the fact that the base Mustang interior is pretty cheap and plasticky. The IUP gives you vinyl insets in the doors to offset the massive swathe of plastic. It also not only gives you the extra gauges but also the message centre with mpg etc.

The MyColor comes with it but is pretty much a gimmick. Most set it on blue and forget about it. More importabntly, you get the leather steering wheel and shifter knobinstead of the bad plastic wheel. It may cost more now but I suspect the car will be worth that much more and be more desirable when you sell.

 

[04sonicblueGT]

I have the leather ( vinyl ) insters in my door and the message center with the mycolor display, and i do not have a premuim car. I think that maybe these things are standard now on the 08 ? The only thing that i could find that was different between mine and a base premuim was the shaker system ( which if you go aftermarket doesn't really matter) and the leather ( which i upgrade for $300 and a couple hours of work). So if you want to keep price down go for a deluxe.

It was all i could afford at the time. ( Wasn't planning on buying a car )

 

[slowstang4.6]

Thanks for the input. guys. I think you are right about the IUP. I will probably end up ordering a car and would have left that box unchecked but I think that would have been a mistake. My only question now is do I go with the IUP, or sport interior package? What is the difference?

 

[BLKNED]

Thanks for the input. guys. I think you are right about the IUP. I will probably end up ordering a car and would have left that box unchecked but I think that would have been a mistake. My only question now is do I go with the IUP, or sport interior package? What is the difference?

These guys convinced me to change my order and add the IUP. I also added premier trim and ambient lighting while I was at it.

 

[blacksheep06]

He said he's keeping it stock. Look at the f250 in his sig

I was going to keep mine stock too except for an axel back and now look at my sig!

A tune and 4.10's are a must have on these cars. If you drove a stock s197 and then hopped in one with a tune and gears you would be .

 

[o0Dan0o]

I would also suggest the premier package (different from the premium, though you must get the premium for this to be available, I believe). I covers the dash cowl (lip, or whatever you want to call it) in leather, covers center console in leather, and part of the armrests in leather (look at a GT500 if they have it, basically the same interior minues the steering wheel).
Dan

 

[slowstang4.6]

Yeah, the F-250 is uh, not quite stock, but thats why I'm selling it, looking for a smooth, dependable daily driver with a little bit of cool factor. The truck:

View attachment 327894

My 01 GT:

 

[metroplex]

The IUP includes:
idiot battery and oil pressure gauges
trip computer
MyColor
Fake chrome accents up the wazoo
leather steering wheel cover
faux-leather shifter knob with bright shift pattern
some other interior appearance stuff

I opted not to get the IUP. The only thing I miss from the IUP is the trip computer.

 

[o0Dan0o]

I opted not to get the IUP. The only thing I miss from the IUP is the trip computer.

Thats 3/4 the reason I got it...

 

[stangdude2000]

I often get Mustangs for my rental car, as I travel every week for work. They do not have the interior upgrade package and it feels incredibly cheap. I would never have even considered replacing my 2000 Mustang with my 2008 if the interior was going to be like the rentals. I also have the premier trim package, so I often get confused what comes with which package. My car feels more luxurious than my mom's Audi. Until you stomp on it and the enigne starts screaming with muffler-less tailpipes...

In my opinion, you spend the vast majority of your time with the car IN the car, so don't you want to make that as nice and as comfortable as possible (under cost restrictions anyway)?

 

[scupking]

Oh trust me it won't stay stock. Just doesn’t happen when you buy a stang.

There are four must have mods on these stangs:

1. 4.10 Gears
2. CAI
3. Custom tune
4. Exhaust (mufflers and a catted X)


With 2-4 you will gain around 40 rwhp and then number one will put you back in the seat.

 

[226embarcadero]

These guys convinced me to change my order and add the IUP. I also added premier trim and ambient lighting while I was at it.

In your opinion, was the ambient lighting really worth $300?

 

[jcsuli74]

get the IUP. you can find polished fanblades with tires online for about $800 so keep that in mind, 08 was the first year for the painted fanblades. i have an 07 gt deluxe (no leather) with the IUP and the mycolor thing. make it blue and go. personally i would spend the money on the 3.55's versus the wheels. i put a magnaflow axle back muffelrs on mine and love them. I had an 01 (same color as your 01) with the SLP loudmouths.... wow loud is an understatement. i added a shelby gt500 spoiler to my car, much better than the stock spoiler ford insist on using... FYI dont put the front plate on until you get the bracket that allows you to use a plate WITHOUT drilling holes in the bumper. PM me if you want the website. I love mine.

oh yeah if you get the gears as an option your dealer wont give you sh#t about it when you take it in for anything. warranty wont be voided if you get them as an option....

 

[AlloyGT]

Thanks for the input. guys. I think you are right about the IUP. I will probably end up ordering a car and would have left that box unchecked but I think that would have been a mistake. My only question now is do I go with the IUP, or sport interior package? What is the difference?

IUP is described in a couple of the posts above. The Sport Interior Package gives you the nicer steering wheel and shifter, metal interior door handles, metal petals, and vinyl inserts on the doors. Your dash would be black (or parchment, I guess) without the silver panels. You do not get the MyColor, message center or the extra two "gauges".