I'm buying a 2004 Mustang GT - Any advice?

There is some things that I would like to point out on this car. If I were looking for a car and this one came up, I would be extremely skeptical just because of the location of the first picture. The reasons and observations follow:

  • The address of the listing is in a subdivision according to google maps. The pictures however have it in some sort of impound/repo/scrap yard.

  • It looks like the car has sat for some time. I can observe this by the rock dust on the lower parts of the tires where the quick wash down they gave it didn't quite reach, as well as the nature of the yard in which the picture was taken.

  • The hood line looks a little odd. This could be explained by the hood being popped open in preparation for the engine shot, or it could be some alignment issues. It is just something to check

  • The hood is very odd. Usually these hoods only came on early GT's. Most GT's I've seen after 1999-2000ish has had a hood scoop on the top. I've heard of the hood scoop not coming unless the GT styling package was ordered, but I'm pretty sure said styling packages came with the side scoops which are clearly pictured on this car.

  • The driver side exhaust looks to be hanging down lower than the passenger side. This could mean that there is aftermarket exhaust with a hanger missed when it was installed, a hanger has broke, or for some reason it has rusted or come looks to cause the exhaust pipe to dip. Something that can be fixed, but may be an expense.

  • The report you linked to has that it has one record for "Junk & Salvage Information". This would be something that I would immediately question as you don't want to be buying a car with a salvage title. This warrants questing the owner as well as going over everything you can point a flash light at trying to find evidence of previous wrecks. This could also be a result of the car's current location as pictured in the ad you linked to.

  • Color and paint looks decent, however it is wet in the pictures, so that may change in person. The headlights also don't have the famous fog over from it being a little older and there is no hump in the rear bumper under the license plate, these two things lead me to believe that this car has been garage kept for some time or very well maintained.

I'm sure I could link more things to be skeptical about and check on this car all day long, but you asked for assistance, and that is all I'm trying to provide. I am trying to be as picky as possible so I may be able to let you see some of the items that a buyer excited about the prospect of a new car might overlook. (I've been bitten by this before in multiple instances) I am also basing these observations and opinions on low resolution pictures that could be outdated or not accurate to how clean this car is, but that is the best I can do.

I hope this has provide some sort of benefit to your search. Mustangs are extremely fun to drive and extremely satisfying to own. I hope that this car works out for you. Please keep in mind however that mustangs are fairly common, and usually easy to find good condition ones, so if you have any doubts about this car please consider them heavily and compare it to others.

/r/Mustang Thread