What to look out for when buying a '99-'03 model?

[head_unit]

Hi All:
My beloved BMW has a not-worth-fixing batch of electronic problems. As I really don't feel like buying any 2007 car, I decided to buy a cheap used car until 2008s come out. After my friend and her kid rejected various alternatives, the only thing they liked was...a Mustang!

So I decided to return to my Mustang roots* and get a 4.6 model as a kind of temporary fun solution. Note: it MUST be an automatic, nonnegotiable, due to traffic/wife. I want to spend $10k max due to sales tax and depreciation.
*(1998 GT, 1990 LX 5.0-I got 10 years/205k miles out of that one!)

I'm wondering:
- Any updgrades from year-to-year that makes a 2001 better than 2000, or 2002 better than 2001, etc?
- What options did these cars have?
- Any special/rare options to look out for? (optional axle ratios, ABS, ??)
- What kind of problems to check for?
- How would you check the car out? (Mechanic? Smog station? scanner? Ouija board and tarot cards?)

Thanks folks!
[P.S. If you frequent several different forums, you may see this same post, you're not hallucinating...]

 

[svtpower]

normal

Honestly the 99-04 are pretty darn good cars. If you have to buy and auto, watch for a slipping or hot smelling trans. As usual look under the car for any leaks. I would try to get an un-modded one myself. Common problems were a cracked upper intake (a stronger option is available from Ford or aftermarket) and a cricket sound from the clutch area (its the throw out bearing.)

Other than that, take it for a test drive, and check for abnormal wear and tear.

The only other thing I can say is the inside of the car is usually a good indication of how the car was cared for. If they cared enough to keep it clean and free of burns and tears, they probably kept pretty good care of the car in general.

I think you should teach your wife to drive stick btw but good luck on your auto anyway!

 

[MrGame]

Hi All:
My beloved BMW has a not-worth-fixing batch of electronic problems. As I really don't feel like buying any 2007 car, I decided to buy a cheap used car until 2008s come out. After my friend and her kid rejected various alternatives, the only thing they liked was...a Mustang!

So I decided to return to my Mustang roots* and get a 4.6 model as a kind of temporary fun solution. Note: it MUST be an automatic, nonnegotiable, due to traffic/wife. I want to spend $10k max due to sales tax and depreciation.
*(1998 GT, 1990 LX 5.0-I got 10 years/205k miles out of that one!)

I'm wondering:
- Any updgrades from year-to-year that makes a 2001 better than 2000, or 2002 better than 2001, etc?
- What options did these cars have?
- Any special/rare options to look out for? (optional axle ratios, ABS, ??)
- What kind of problems to check for?
- How would you check the car out? (Mechanic? Smog station? scanner? Ouija board and tarot cards?)

Thanks folks!
[P.S. If you frequent several different forums, you may see this same post, you're not hallucinating...]

well the 96-98s (unless you get a 4 valve per cylinder cobra) had the non-pi (performance improvement) heads, cams, and intake manifold, and they only had about 220 brake horsepower. 99-04 mustangs came with PI heads, cams, and manifold and make 260 with 300 lb feet of torque. The 2 valve motor (in my opinion) pulls pretty decent with the PI heads, i love mine, but the NPI's are supposedly pretty slow (i've never driven one before). Of course, you can swap an NPi car to a PI if you want. Both are difficult to mod in that upgrades don't do as much to increase the power as they do on the 4valve cobra motors and the chevys. I'm pretty sure all cars come with the same axle ratio, 3.27, and most people end up changing them to 3.73s or higher . When i bought mine i examined the paint carefully, and looked under the car to make sure the car was bone stock (most people dont' mod cars to granny them). Overall, the 96-04s are nice cars but making them fast (when you compare them to other cars) can be expensive. Hopefully that was some help I know it's a bit wordy

 

[Dragstr05]

I'm wondering:
- Any updgrades from year-to-year that makes a 2001 better than 2000, or 2002 better than 2001, etc?
- What options did these cars have?
- Any special/rare options to look out for? (optional axle ratios, ABS, ??)
- What kind of problems to check for?
- How would you check the car out? (Mechanic? Smog station? scanner? Ouija board and tarot cards?)

1) 99/00 and 01-04 are slightly different body wise. 01-04 have the hoodscoop, and more of a scoop on the sides behind the doors. The spoiler is also different style. All 99-04 use the same auto trans. Halfway through the 01 model year, and different manual trans was used.

2) GT's came in both cloth and leather, with grey, charcoal and tan interior. The exterior colors vary from year to year. There were a TON of colors, I'm sure that should be no problem. The mach 1000 was the best stock audio system you could get, and I (think) all GT's came standard with the mach 460, and it does just fine for me. All the interiors are basically the same, performance wise there were NO options. I want to say all 99-04 GT's came standard with ABS and T/C. All 99-04 should have power doors and windows, some have power seats some are manual. I think it was 04 model year that had the interior upgrade package that had the headrests that were actually usefull. I would almost kill for those.

3) I dont think you should run into alot of problems provided you get one thats been taken care of. I now have a little over 99k miles on my 2000 and it runs very strong. I cannot seem to get a throw out bearing to not chirp, but if you're getting an auto thats not something you need to worry about. I've had to re-glue the supporting points on the driver window once for a popping noise, I replaced the thermostat once for not heating up all the way, and I once had to clean the IAC out for stalling. Every other dime I've put into this car has been either maint. or mods. I've had the car for 2yrs/30k miles.

Commons problems include: Window motors, IAC, throw out bearings, intake manifold cracking on cars with the plastic coolant crossover tube... (just look for the front tube on the intake that supports the thermostat, if its aluminum, youre good.) I think thats about it. Every once in a while someone posts about a problem, but more often than not its modification related.

4) To get the car checked out, probably the best thing to do is to make sure it will go through emissions. That could save you alot of problems. I would also just have the car checked out by a 3rd party. This way you can get the car in the air to check for leaks, and check for any play in the suspension. And I'm sure someone will chime in saying GET A CARFAX!

 

[WillieMakeIt]

Hey whats up guys...New member here WillieMakeIt.
I own a 2001 Gt 5-speed and I have had a lot of fun with mine with little problems. The above mentioned is correct from my own experience. The only problems i've had has been with the tansmission and the intake manifold.
I have 110k and i'm still rockin. The intake let go at 103k with a big split across the back. I've been told this was a silent recall but it was just a service bulletin. I left at the track and grabbed second when a flood of antifreeze coated the windshield. Ford Racing sells the complete kit for 248.00. The trans problem was me shifting like I was trying to tear the shifter out during racing and the syncros let go.

My best time has been 13.83 at 102mph on street tires Stock.
I have found that removing the spoiler will drop you .2 on the big end. If you buy one the first thing I would do is subframe connectors and weld the torque boxes up. The busings on the rear control arms seem to get weak pretty fast and you will have a popping in the rear when tou take off. This can be fixed with aftermarket upper and lowers with good bushings.

If the car has a studder under full throttle it might be one of the coils has moisture buildup. The car falling on its face after 4k rpm under full throttle will be the fuel pump. The battery light coming on at high RPM will be the alternator getting bad. $260 I've kept my oil and other maintenence up to par and i'm happy so far.

 

[WillieMakeIt]

Thats right I forgot about the IAC and the window motor. The IAC is 55 brand new and the window motor on mine was the plastic gear on the motor. They replaced it with a steel one and a new window harness. The window was a recall.

I have since installed
B&M short throw ( tremec 3650 in 2000 1/2 to 2004 5-speeds)
Mac upper and Lowers
BBK subframes
welded torque boxes
4 way adjustable KYB's front
8 way adjustable KYB's rear
Prostop drilled and vented rotors
31 spline Moser axles
31 eaton locker
3.73 Ford Racing
Trick Flow girdle support
No cats with 2 1/2 flowmasters with dumps
13.83 stock @102
with bolt ons spin spin spin crappie numbers

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Try to get a convertible. Also, be sure and use CarFax. There is also a system called Oasis that is the system Ford uses to track the repair history of vehicles. On these discussion forums you can find individuals who have the "hook up" to getting copies of the Oasis report. If you are buying from a Ford dealer ask to see a copy of the Oasis report.

Here are some links:
www.cars.com
www.nada.com
www.kbb.com
www.carfax.com

Dealers generally consider automatic trans to be a price subtractor on 99-04 Mustangs so try to use that to negotiate. Say something like "no one wants an automatic Mustang, just come down to my price and you can unload it today". Ironically, the auto is a superior trans design to the crappy manual in the 99-04. You will like the auto

 

[Mustang5L5]

Just to add

1) 99/00 and 01-04 are slightly different body wise. 01-04 have the hoodscoop, and more of a scoop on the sides behind the doors. The spoiler is also different style. All 99-04 use the same auto trans. Halfway through the 01 model year, and different manual trans was used.

Interior is slightly different as well. 99-00 used a double din stereo setup, while for 2001 ford went to a 1.5 din to house the 6-disk changer unit. Also they relocated the fog light, traction control and defrost to under the stereo

2) GT's came in both cloth and leather, with grey, charcoal and tan interior. The exterior colors vary from year to year. There were a TON of colors, I'm sure that should be no problem. The mach 1000 was the best stock audio system you could get, and I (think) all GT's came standard with the mach 460, and it does just fine for me. All the interiors are basically the same, performance wise there were NO options. I want to say all 99-04 GT's came standard with ABS and T/C. All 99-04 should have power doors and windows, some have power seats some are manual. I think it was 04 model year that had the interior upgrade package that had the headrests that were actually usefull. I would almost kill for those.

There was a base model radio on the GT deluxe. The upgrade was to the Mach 460 which was standard on the GT premium. The GT deluxe is a base model GT with cloth seats, lower level wheels, base stereo and , depending on the year) no ABS standard. The GT premiums had upgraded wheels, Mach 460, leather standard and for 99-03, ABS standard. Traction control was standard or optional depending onthe year. I beleive it was optional in 99/00 but later became standard.

2002-2004 had the Mach 1000 option

2003-2004 has the inteiror upgrade option with better headrests, bullitt stainless pedals, silver console trim and shift bezel trim.

Commons problems include: Window motors, IAC, throw out bearings, intake manifold cracking on cars with the plastic coolant crossover tube... (just look for the front tube on the intake that supports the thermostat, if its aluminum, youre good.) I think thats about it. Every once in a while someone posts about a problem, but more often than not its modification related.

The coolant crossover failing is a common problem on the 99-01 cars. Luckily The replacement manifold is only a $180 part and not a bad job to install.

 

[UCF1Slider]

I just had mine replaced under an extended warranty I purchased... cost my warranty company $1157.66 cuz Greenway Ford (Orlando, FL) first said it was a thermostat gasket/thermostat/intake plenum gasket problem even though I told them exactly what the problem was. As far as I know Ford didn't issue a recall for the coolant crossover problem, they were sued in a class-action lawsuit and the period of time for you to get the replacement done without cost has expired.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Damn $1200 for a manifold???


Here's the part for $180, prob take a few hours to install

http://www.speedconcepts.net/product_info.php?products_id=415

 

[tomustang]

Hi All:
My beloved BMW has a not-worth-fixing batch of electronic problems. As I really don't feel like buying any 2007 car

So I decided to return to my Mustang roots* and get a 4.6 model as a kind of temporary fun solution.

Get a V6 model then.