jimxo

I'm considering buying a FORD

I like the 1987-1993 Mustang GT Convertible body style.

My wife does not drive stick so a well cared for Automatic may work for us.

If you have owned on of these cars lets me know your experience.

I can pick one up for 5-8k with low miles (50-60k)

TIA

mmarshall

I have not actually owned one, but, in general, was not very impressed with that generation Mustang. Based on what I saw of them and in test-drives, it seemed to be rather cheaply made, not very well-assembled, with flimsy, poorly-finished interior materials and a fair number of rattles and squeaks. It also did not have the more classic, Mustang-like look of the 1994 and later models. The old 5.0L V8, however, was a fairly durable piece of iron, and the primitive live-rear-axle compromised ride/handling, but, on the good side, was durable (many of those who owned Mustangs did burnouts), and eliminated the need for 4-wheel alignments.

05EX

It's a good cruising top down car in good weather. Owned a few mustangs from the 87-00 era (13 to be exact) and one triple white special edition vert. It's not a sports car by any means, but a great cruising top down car. If you dont expect much from it other than a fun drop top thats cheap to own and maintain you'll be happy with it.

mmarshall

I'll agree here that it's a relatively cheap, fun-in-the-sun car, but, as with some other American-designed convertibles this old, expect less-than-perfect weather sealing and a fair amount of cowl shake, with body flexing with bumps and sharp steering inputs, especially with the top down. Many newer convertibles also have cowl shake, but to a lesser extent. Older convertibles, particularly lower-priced ones, don't have much in the way of rollover protection for the occupants.

lexusscturbo

iTrader: (12)

What I don't like about these are the crooked passenger seats

Milla...

I swear these cars were assymbled with nails. Are you really sure about this?

jimxo

A summer car for around town seems like a chance worth taking.

Milla...

Alrightie, well hey do a burnout once for Milla then if and when you get it.

IS-SV

These are mediocre and crude cars but somewhat fun mainly due the the V8. I've driven hardtop and 'verts extensively. The 'verts have no (zero) rollover protection.

Faymester

I don't know what's available in your area but I would think for $5 - 8k you should be able to find something that's maybe a little bit better quality.

The thing you always have to worry about with old 'sports' cars is how driven into the ground they are, and the problem is somewhat compunded by choosing the old American car; there's a reason people said a cars' life was 100k miles. If they are or they're not actually a sports car is somewhat out of the equation because if someone bought the car thinking it was a sports car you're whooped any way.

Other old verts you might consider:




I had a ride in a Mustang like the one you're considering (friend of a friend kind of deal) and the shake and wind noise ... eesh, I just would pick something else if I were you.

MadMax96

On the plus side - the old 5.0 is cheap to mod if you want some real power. The best they had was 225hp.

On the negative side - it's a rattle trap. Even 15 yrs ago I thought the interior was pretty ugly.

I don't think I could pay $8k for one of those though, no matter how good the condition might be.

If you have your heart set on one, I'd find a Mustang forum and browse their classifieds. You can probably find a car from an enthusiast that probably already did some useful and tasteful mods.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

I had a 87 vert 5.0 LX... Is was a great little car.. Paid 2500.00 for it nback in the day.. lasted a few years with no issues.. Than came the 95GT..

J.P.

Had tons of friends with 5.0's, coupes, notch backs and converts.

Drive train solid, interior so so but for pure fun, v8 power and sound, yeah its going to be a good time!

I still love the 93' Cobra

mmarshall

Did the '93 Cobra have the overrated HP/Torque figures, or did that start with the '94?

I remember test-driving a new Cobra around that time (either 93 or 94 ) with the manual transmission, and not being anywhere near as impressed with its spunk as I was with the Camaro/Firebird/Corvette 5.7L engines.

UDel

I had plenty of friends with Mustangs from that year and have driven and ridden in them and after my experience with them I would never own or recommend them with things literally breaking and falling off as you drove. The build quality of those cars is beyond horrible, it is insulting. The interior is beyond horrible. The ride is terrible and they are dangerous and don't do well in accidents. They have all kinds of problems, the v6 is anemic, and even the V8 is slow.

I used to beat stock V8 Mustangs in my grandmothers 88 V6 Pontiac Bonneville(that car was really fast up to about 65mph) all the time when I was young, often times it was by several car lengths.

My friend who hates imports had a late 80's white Mustang GT convertible stick. When I would ride in it I had to lift the door up to shut it because it was so bowed and it rattled and squeaked like crazy, half the things did not even work. I was a passenger when he raced my other friends 87 Firebird automatic and it just felt like they were going so slow when they were gunning them but he did end up winning. My GS430 would destroy both of those cars.


I will admit I have heard some really nice sounding V8 Mustangs with aftermarket headers and exhaust and modified they can be pretty quick. Saleens are pretty fast but too expensive and overrated. Stock GTs are just slow and horribly built.


Like others have said for 5-8K you can get something so much nicer for a fun car, I would not pay even 5K for a Mustang in that generation no matter what the mileage and condition.

I think a used 300ZX, 3 series, Miata, MR2, 240SX, 944, 3000GT, Stealth, Integra GSR, etc would be much better buys and although they most likely will have some issues being how old they are they are much better built and more fun then a GT Mustang plus they have decent aftermarket support.