Hello all,
I hope that this does not offend anyone, but I'm a little torn on what to do. I currently have a 97' Jeep Grand Cherokee V8, and in the near future I am going to be acquiring a 95' SC400 from my sister that is going to be buying a IS350.

The SC400 has about 170,000 miles on it( I know these things can run forever) but it has some issues: couple exterior lights are out, audio system is broken, paint chips with rust, A-piller paint is really messed up, as well as scratches and other issues with the paint on the car, and a few other minor issues; it also has recently had a few engine problems that were fixed($1500). When I drive it it seems that the transmission has some problems as well; when I go WOT it seems to get stuck in 1st gear and then jolts and shifts to 2nd, and all other shifting points are by no means "normal", they also have some lag in shifting (my jeep shifts harder).

Anyways,(I am by no means knocking the SC400 AT ALL) I do love the car, the unmatched looks, luxury, ride quality, etc. And I know that most of these problems can be fixed pretty cheaply, but if the trans is shot the I'm looking at A LOT of money; and most defiantly a new paint job.

But the worst problem with the car is that it is not a manual!! I LOVE manuals and no matter what, my next car will be a standard. ( I know that I could change the possible shot trans with a r154? to make it a manual), but I do not want to spend all the $$$ to do it. I've read pretty much all the write-ups on the trans swap, and I just don't think I am that mechanically inclined to do it; and it would cost just way too much to have it done by a mechanic.

To get to the point, I was thinking about selling it and getting a 2001-04' 5-speed Mustang GT with about 70,000-100,000 miles. I love the the cars ability to be modded with out spending an arm and a leg, and since I have the chronic mod bug; this helps.

As this is about the only car that fits my price range ($9000ish) and my standards (manual, rwd, looks, performance, cheap mods, and most importantly; RELIABILITY). If anyone has any other suggestions on another car, then I am all ears.

I just wanted to get y'alls opinions on what to do; please take no offense to this, again I am in no way saying that the SC's are not amazing cars (my family has 4 Lexus) and I just hope that you can be open minded with your suggestions.

Cheers,

p.s. Sorry for being so long, I tend to wander.

 

you can pick up a used auto trans VERY cheap.... like a few hundred bucks at most. PM aliga on here he'll hook you up.

 

Ur probably gonna run into even more problems. Best bet is to get the mustang and avoid the headache.

 

Why not sell it for another SC with a m/t? The 2jz engine can be very easily upgraded as their is huge support for it.

 

instead of a 01-04 gt you should get a 99 cobra.

 

Keep the SC AND buy the Stang.....

 

Fix the SC, save up for the manual swap and you'll still be saving alot of money compared to a Mustang. Which will be a never ending source of problems that need fixes. Just my experience with friends that own/try to mod ponies.

 

Seriously? Have you ever been in a Mustang? The interior is so ****ty. I don't think I could ever own a Mustang. My mom had an '06 for 3 months and sold it because of how plain and cheap the interior was. But if you ARE set on getting a Mustang, like someone else already said, get a Cobra. Way better.

 

But that mustang is pure muscle, more was spent on the engine and such and not the interior, interiors of those are really function over form.

But to op, my dad owns a 2002 Mustang V6 5Spd and a good friend of mine owns a 2002 Mustang GT 5spd, they are both VERY fun to drive, the gt has so much more muscle though, levels above the v6, i'd say get that, sc repairing can get expensive since it sounds like there are a lot of problems, these cars run for a long time with really good maintenance, but when things start going, bills add up.

 

if you're getting the SC for free, why not just buy the Mustang and keep the SC as a project car?

 

r u kiddn me. i mean musthangs are cool but they are FORD. YUCK. obviously there are some kick kick *** stangs but lexus ownssss

on the other hand tho i am 100% in agrement with TheKevin. Keep the sc4 as a project car and tget the stang as a daily driver

 

r u kiddn me. i mean mustangs are cool but they are FORD. YUCK. obviously there are some kick *** stangs but lexus ownssss over all haha

on the other hand tho i am 100% in agreement with TheKevin. Keep the sc4 as a project car and get the stang as a daily driver

 

+1

 

You can try out OLT's little tweak on the TPS:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=303991

And see if that affects the way it shifts in any way. Just a thought to try.

 

Z30 Toyota > SN-95 Ford.