So I'm Looking at buying a '03 Cobra...
 

Tuesday night while hanging out with a buddy of mine, who lives out of town and doesn't know much about Mustangs, said he saw a nice dark orange mustang for sale at a lot close by. I knew that the lot he was talking about always has nice Fords like Mauraders, Lightnings, Cobras, and burnt orange sounds like Comp Orange to me, which I'd love to have. I drove by it that night and sure enough, there sat a '03-'04 Cobra for 12,000. I immediately suspect something is wrong with it.

I went to give it a closer look today. It turns out that it's the brighter red color (boo), and it was 94K miles, which is a pretty big turn-off for me. However, every body part is straight, scratch-free, and looks to be in great order, the headlights arn't foged up. No curb rash on the rims, and brand new nitto 555R tires.

The people who own the lot arn't there but I was given thier card by a guy inside. I call them and find out that the car has a salvage title. It has a salvage title becuase the flywheel blew apart and the bell housing, flywheel, clutch, and cable all needed to be fixed. They told me that the car was all fixed and that they put an X-pipe on it because they had one laying around. I was told the car was stock also, beside the x-pipe.

The car is out of Oklahoma, and in Oklahoma I read that a car has to be damaged up to or over 60% of its value to be salvaged. This means that it would have taken around 12K in damage for a 20K dollar car. Would it have been salvaged just becuase of the damage from the flywheel and all that? Sounds a little odd to me.

Since the guy who owns the lot wasn't there and has to go with me for the test drive (which I don't blame him since it's a Cobra), I am waiting for him to call me when he get's up there. If everything inside, under the hood, and test drives fine, then I don't know what to do. I wasn't planning on getting another Mustang this soon. I can afford it after selling my current mustang, but also could do without any financial stress. I would love to have a Cobra, but would a 94K mile, salavage title, red (not on my top list for colors) really be what I want?

I will take some pictures of it. Let me know what yall think about it.

That does sound a little fishy to me. Did they flywheel damage any of the undercarriage? That sounds like a hell of a lot of damage for just a busted flywheel.

To me, I'd hold off. Personally, I would put my money towards something with less miles, that wasn't so shady, and that wasn't red. Just my two cents, but it's all up to you. Then again, you might get away with a hell of a steal.

Sounds to me that the only good thing about the car is that it's a low price cobra that is nearly stock.

I would say that there are too many negatives and since somebody was banging on it hard enough to grenade a flywheel those 94k miles could mean the car might not have that many left in her.

I would say wait till the 05-09 GTs drop in price when the new ones come out or find a cobra that you don't have to settle for

Take a magnifying glass to every valuable part on that car and judge for yourself if the car is worth that to you. A Cobra would be WAY nice, but it's high mileage and cheap...sounds way fishy.

get the vin number and ask the forums for help...someone is bound to have an account to check that stuff and could help you out. this way you can find out the real story.

My first thought is no, but you really need to check it out and go over it with a fine tooth comb and go from there.

Man, I dont mean to bust your bubble but that sounds like the car has had the poo-poo run out of it. If the color is not what you like and the "unknown" of the salvage title plus 94k plus 12k equals let it slide. Thats just my input but I wish you the best with whatever you deciede. Test drive it and see what you think. Good Luck

If you are on here asking us about this, that should be a red flag to yourself that this might not be right for you. You even asked us if it's what you want. If you have to ask us, my inclination is NO. It is not what you want. You're intelligent enough to know if this is a steal for you or a steal for the person who is selling the car. To me, it is the latter of the two.

I get the impression this thing was beat to hell and back. If it had $12,000 worth of damage, that is insane. They put an X pipe on it "because they had one laying around"? :rolleyes: Why the hell would they have one laying around? Are they a functioning dealership with a service lot? I think more happened to than this car than they told you. Also, new tires are nice, but what happened to the old ones to make them bad enough to need to be replaced? Either they were old and needed to be replaced, or they were bald as hell. This whole thing sounds incredibly hazy to me.

Matt, I think this common saying sums up my thoughts best: "You get what you pay for." I'd like to have a Cobra, too. But if I were in your exact situation, I'd pass this one up.

Wait until you're better off financially and can handle the stress. Then go about finding a Cobra that you really want. One that you can come on here and post "Guess what I got?" Instead of "What should I do?"

I think everyone shares my same thoughts and concerns. I'm still waiting on the guy to get some time and call me to go drive it and check it out some more. The sun is going down and I don't like waiting. I'm not going to check this thing out in the dark, yeah, I've bought Mustangs in the rain and in the dark, don't do that. I am completely leaning towards letting it slide. At this point the car would really have to blow me away. Ball is still up in the air, but I have a feeling how it's going to roll. I've got a good Mustang, the right color, enough power for me right now, modified for what I need, 57K miles. Ah, but how I'd love to have a Termi.

From everything that they have had on their lot over the past several years, I would not doubt one second that they had an X-pipe laying around. But who did the work and how well it was done is my concern with that issue. The tires wern't BRAND new, they had probably a couple thousand on them, but thats still what I consider new. If new tires was in any way connected to the damage would be the problem. Flat-spotted tires from a spin or something like that. All negatives, but if they were just replaced becuase there were due to be replaced, I can live with.

LOL, this is probably going to end up being one of those type of thing where the seller is only able to let you see the car after dark. I once drove to Ft. Worth one night to look at a Mustang, 3 hour drive. The pictures online looked great and I had pretty good hopes. Since it was dark, we drove the car to the most lit-up area to look at it. This thing had mis-matched paint, although all black. Was missing the one locking lug nut on each wheel, missing valve stem caps, missing plastic parts on the inside, a blue interior light. Yeah, THAT mustang was was an obvious one to pass on.

Hey Matt, I think that's smart thinking. If you see it and your socks roll up and your urinary device gets stiff, then buy it if not, piss on the fire and call off the dogs.

Don't be like my mom who buys something at the store just because it's on sale :P
There are plenty other Cobras out there, man. I think you should wait for the one you actually want.

Just out of wonder...how many have actually found a high mileage 03-04 cobra that is functioning properly, even stock?

i myself wouldnt want a high mileage cobra.. just a scary thought for me. especially rebuilt. I'd wanna spend double what ur paying and get a smooth running stang. even thou i could afford 12000 and say i have a cobra, it wouldnt be worth hassles that may come with it.

I wouldn't buy one with that many miles, additionally it sounds like your sacrificing and not waiting to get the "one" just because this one pops up with a low price. Personally i would hold out and get the one you want. That's what I did, I knew I wanted a vert, I wanted super low miles, i wanted a cobra, and I wanted stock. I knew the colors I would consider and I searched the internet until I found that perfect stang for me, and don't regret my purchase one bit. I suggest you do the same or you will always be slightly unsatisfied.

Not to mention the original damage was, Flywheel breakage of some sort. That would almost certainly trickle down to Crankshaft issues. Unless they did a teardown to insure the crank or any other connecting parts weren't affected, I'd be very concerned. You could lose the bottom end the 1st time you stepped on it.. even a hairline crack or something.

geez, how does a flywheel blow apart. It's a solid piece of steel, probably just rung the bolts off and went it's on separate way. OUCH.. either way.. :eek:

Buy this one instead. Bout scared to see how much they want for it. Stock 03 Cobra, 4K miles, little ole lady drove it only on Sundays to church. LOL. Sweet. :cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHlxiqCUJB8

I would check out the unibody and drive it. It just might be a good deal.

Well, the guy never called me. I don't think I'm going to give them another call to drive a car that I'm 85% sure I'm going to pass on. I would like to see how it drives, and if there's any signs of damage to report back to you guys.

What she said...:cool:

that tells me he's not serious about selling and / or knows it's a piece of shit. pass on it. you never know, 10K miles later the engine could grenade on you.