I am 17, and my first and current car is a 2001 ford “exploder” sport trac. Bought it used with a 2 year old plow at 130k ish miles with a new transfer case, tires, etc for $7500, and sold the plow for $5200. My dad and I have put about 3k into repairs now, and one thing seems to be going wrong after the other. First it was the mass airflow sensor, and now the transmission keeps going into limp mode, only letting me go about 2500rpm. Second visit the issue didn’t get fixed, and now it’s currently in the shop for a third time. I’m pretty sick of putting money into this car that I’m not really in love with. So I’m thinking of just getting a car I do love the look of, which would make dumping money into it not hurt as bad. I would like to get a Mustang, as the 99-04 new edge body style is one of my favorite looking cars ever. I have two questions: firstly, should I sell the sport trac as is, or dump whatever more money into it to get it sufficiently running and sell it?
And secondly, are there any problems I should be aware of with these new edge Mustangs? I’ve been reading around a little and I know the build quality wasn’t top of the line, and that there can be some issues with the AC system, but other than that are there any major mechanical issues that can happen with miles / time? Are any other timeframes or models more reliable? Thank you for your help.
Older cars from the 90s are really the sweet spot for ease and reliability IF you can do your own work. F150s - Rangers- Mustangs - Crown Vics are good solid cars but at this point being 20-30 years old they’re going to have some issues. This really isn’t a big deal again IF you can do the work yourself.
Yeah, based on my experience, do not buy a used Ford and especially a Mustang. I bought a used 2011 Ford Mustang in 2014 with about 40K miles on it and had to put over $1,500 in repairs in it before I cut my losses and got rid of it in 2017 at about 52K miles.
YMMV, but I personally will never buy another Ford vehicle.
Before diving into car specifics, call around for insurance quotes. It’s high for young drivers, and even higher for sporty cars.
Came here to say this. I think I was quoted $4,400/year to insure a Camaro when I was 19, so I stuck with my aging Camry that was “just” $1,900 to insure.
That’s the plan today, I think my current insurance bill is around $60/month but I’m not expecting it to be that cheap
If you find one that’s been well taken care of it should be pretty good, but at the end of the day you’re still looking at a car that is at least 20 years old. There will always be hoses, bushings, seals and other items that will be needing attention. That might be fine for a second car but maybe too much for your only vehicle. Also being young your insurance company will definitely charge you big money for a sporty vehicle.
That’s definitely what I’m expecting, I tinker a lot with old consoles so I understand some older stuff always goes bad. I live in Alaska so it might have to be a second vehicle anyway, I’ve seen a lot of “if you drive 99-04 mustangs in snow you will die” comments.