Anyone own a Mustang convertible?

[rockfan4]

Thinking of picking up a Mustang convertible as a summertime road trip car.

How quiet are they on the freeway with the top up?

For some weird reason, I'm drawn to the 2nd generation SN95 - 99 - 04. I realize we're looking at cars now 20-25 years old, anyone know how they've held up? Any impossible to find, or expensive to replace parts?

The 05 - 09 do nothing for me.
10-14, maybe, the front got a little better in my opinion.

How about the 15+ ecoboost cars? Probably more than I want to spend for a car I might drive 15-20 times a year, but I feel I should ask about them.

The wife works every other weekend, so we're down to 26 weekends to take a trip / cruise. Since we're in Wisconsin, take out November - early April, so that only leaves about 15 weekends available.

[A930Rocket]

PWD72s in 3, 2, 1….

[pwd72s]

Wasn't going to, but okay, I'll say something. There still are SN95 '01 Bullitt owners on the Bullitt board I visit...no ragtops there, all manual gearboxes. The 4.6 seems to be a long life engine, some Bullitt alone parts seem hard to find, but overall seem okay...150,000 miles with no problems have been reported. But keep in mind, Bullitt owners tend to be a generation or two ahead of the Mustang age group...people who don't tend to beat on Mustangs like younger owners do.

How tall are you? At 6'3", I found not enough legroom in the SN95 Cobra of a friend...much smaller inside than my '09 SN197.

The Mustang aftermarket is huge, and Ford made a potload of SN95's...so wrecked-em yard and other parts should be easily available.

I know zilch about the ecoboost engines...

Click here to read pages of board talk about mechanical issues:

https://www.imboc.com/forums/01-mechanical-issues.92/

[Dixie]

My friend has a 2016 Mustang convertible. I find the noise level very acceptable with the top up, regardless of speed. FWIW, the stereo in her Mustang sounds way better than my Camaro; however, my Camaro does have better laid out interior controls. I'm pretty sure her Mustang has the ecoboost. It has good power and is very dependable. Oh, it's a lot easier to see out of than my Camaro.

[rockfan4]

Thanks Paul and Dixie.

One thought with the 04 or older, I can get WI Collector plates. Can't drive it in January, and have to have another registered vehicle, but I wouldn't drive it in January anyway.
The curse of a car being affordable to 20 somethings is real. The "I'm going to build a drift car out of it" group destroys more cars than accidents.

Looking on FBM, there's quite a few 01 Bullitts nearby, a few Mach I, a few Cobras and even a couple Cobra Terminators. But if I got one, I'd probably just get a GT. Maybe even remove the wing, hood scoop and side skirts.

This does scare me a little -

I replaced one in a Fox body Mustang,and it is a chore pulling the dash back.
When Ford builds a Mustang, the first thing down the line, is a heater core,sitting on a stool. Everything else is attached to it or around it!

I'm not 6'3", I'm under 6'. Still, I might want to find one soon to test fit. I know I don't fit well in a Spec Miata that hasn't had the floor/seat dropped.

Dixie - that's for the sound report. A co-worker had a Camaro convertible and sold it because he couldn't see out of the back of it. Your Camaro is a 09? We had a 09 Impala, it had okay sound. Traded it for a '16 Impala, terrible speakers. Recently traded that for a '21 Blazer with Bose, that one is pretty good.

I should buy a newer one, but I work from home and I'm eyeing up retirement real soon now. I haven't set a date, but my work anniversary is at the end of April. Maybe then. Maybe sooner.

[bleucamaro]

Owned an SN95 ('96 GT) and it was a fantastic car. I've also driven an SN95 convertible GT (2001 I think), and it was not sporty.

Only issue I had with mine was the intake manifold had a plastic coolant passage that broke. updated version is metal, no issues after that. The 4.6 was a solid engine. Never leaked, no electrical gremlins. I've heard the mod-motors (I think more the 5.4's) have spark-plug insert issues where the threads go bad. I never had an issue.

The 5speed didn't shift great stock, but a Steeda shifter fixed that. And handling was much improved with Maximum Motorsport's subframe braces. Springs,shocks, tires made an improvement, but the biggest bang for the buck was the subframe braces.

The convertibles drive like a wet noodle. you can feel the car twisting in a not good way.

My unsolicited opinion: Get an E36 M3 convertible. Better car all around, same price point, but they're appreciating.

[LWJ]

My BIL is a Fox bodied Mustang legend. If you are considering going back to the Fox body, he would strongly advise not to buy a convertible. They had zero additional reinforcement on the structure.

That is all I know. Sounds like good clean fun!

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Dixie

My friend has a 2016 Mustang convertible. I find the noise level very acceptable with the top up, regardless of speed. FWIW, the stereo in her Mustang sounds way better than my Camaro; however, my Camaro does have better laid out interior controls. I'm pretty sure her Mustang has the ecoboost. It has good power and is very dependable. Oh, it's a lot easier to see out of than my Camaro.

You only touched on it...but yes, I love the (Coyote V-8...not ecoboost) mechanicals oif the newer Mustangs. The 5.0 with more power, the torson rear end on the upper models, but have read of aluminum shifting fork problems with the getrag manual trans. And the biggie for me...absolutely hate today's Kiingon warship dashes....Ford not alone in making screens with confusing controls...one massive distraction for drivers...kind of forcing one to "text and drive".

But that's just me, an old curmudgeon who would still prefer a row of informative gauges and switches that once learned can be operated without having to take your eyes off the road & mirrors. The younger set, those who cut their teeth on a smart phone, probably love the star trek stuff.

(edit) I also agree with the above negative comments on the ragtops driving like a wet noodle. Probably okay as a cruiser, but don't play in the twisties with a coupe...you'll lose.

[Scott Douglas]

We've owned two Mustang convertibles, an '85 5.0 GT and an '04 standard convertible. The '85 was my commuter car for some time as I bought it with a blown engine and put a long block in it. 5-spd was fun, but I eventually wore my knee out from driving sticks to work.
The '04 was my wife's "I'm done with mini-vans I want a convertible" car. We found a red over tan leather one at the local Ford dealer. My big mistake with that car was not holding out for a V-8 model. The V-6 was kind of gutless, not that my wife minded that, and wouldn't return anywhere near decent gas mileage, no matter how conservatively I drove it. We got rid of it by selling it to CarMax after a fiasco of replacing the fuel pump ended up really screwing up the car.
I was more than glad they offered me a decent enough price for it. It pretty much cured me of ever buying a Ford again. (You'd have thought the Taurus we had would have done that but sometimes....)

[911boost]

I currently have 2 Mustangs, the '66 I have owned since 1991 and a '92 LX 5.0, I also daily drove a '95 GT for a number of years.

I came very close to buying a 99-02 Cobra convertible for a fun car back when they were new, but got my first 911 instead just to change things up. If I was in your shoes that is exactly what I would be looking for, the 99-02 Cobra's in the "new Edge" body style.

The '99 and on Cobra's did have additional chassis reinforcements versus the regular convertibles, though not as much as they added to the 2000 R models (which are bad a$$).

The '03 and '04 Cobra's or Terminators are a very popular platform to make lots of power with and as such are beat on more. I think it would be much harder to find one of those that has been babied. For a fun weekend cruiser, there are a lot of the convertible Cobra's around that I think would be perfect for you. My preference is for the older ones too as they are easier to work on etc.

No matter what, get a V-8 and all of mine have had the Steeda Tri-Ax shifter in them as well and it makes a world of difference as bluecamaro states.

Bill

[aigel]

They are hard to find in unmolested and well maintained condition. I was looking at the 5th gen for their better driver visibility and NA engines and all I found was junk, months of searching. I started looking at vettes and lo and behold, for less than 10k more you can get a cherry low mileage garaged C6 driven by a geezer…

[BK911]

I have an 87 Mustang GT convertible.
Love it!!
Not fast, not a canyon carver, but awesome for family trips around the lake getting ice cream.

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1116303-87-mustang-gt.html

[jhynesrockmtn]

Have you considered an older restomod? Something with updated mechanicals but a classic look?
Plenty of folks have spent big bucks updating cars with newer crate motors, better suspension and brakes, etc. only to sell for a fraction of the build cost.

[rockfan4]

Originally Posted by aigel

They are hard to find in unmolested and well maintained condition. I was looking at the 5th gen for their better driver visibility and NA engines and all I found was junk, months of searching. I started looking at vettes and lo and behold, for less than 10k more you can get a cherry low mileage garaged C6 driven by a geezer…

For less than 10k more than what I'm looking at, I could buy a S550 ecoboost with less than 100k miles. Increasing the budget always helps. It's just hard to justify. Right now I'm working from home, and I will likely be retiring soon. Meaning I rarely drive my truck, right now my only vehicle, more than once or twice a week. It's Jan 4th today, the last time I drove the truck was Dec 30 and that was just to the town hall about 2 miles away. Before that, I think I drove it on Christmas eve, the wife was working and we needed a couple things from the store. I don't need two lumps of steel rusting and depreciating in the driveway. I've thought about selling the truck, buying a beater truck and a better car, but I don't know about that.

Originally Posted by BK911

I have an 87 Mustang GT convertible.
Love it!!
Not fast, not a canyon carver, but awesome for family trips around the lake getting ice cream.

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1116303-87-mustang-gt.html

That's all I'm looking for. Same deal, evening or weekend cruise, maybe an overnight somewhere. The granddaughter lives 3 1/2 hours away, I'd like whatever I find to be comfortable and reliable enough to make that trip.

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

Have you considered an older restomod? Something with updated mechanicals but a classic look?
Plenty of folks have spent big bucks updating cars with newer crate motors, better suspension and brakes, etc. only to sell for a fraction of the build cost.

Yes, if I could find one for the right price. A late 60's, early 70's convertible with a modern drivetrain and a reliable AC would be perfect. Might not even have to be a convertible. But I think even heavily discounted it might be more than I want to spend for a car that gets so little use.

[911boost]

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/735652116?allListingType=all-cars&city=La%20Crosse&endYear=2002&makeCode=FORD&modelCode=MUST&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fall-cars%2Fconvertible%2Fford%2Fmustang%2Fcobra%2Fla-crosse-wi%3Fdma%3D%255Bobject%2520Object%255D%26endYear%3 D2002%26searchRadius%3D100%26startYear%3D1999%26zi p%3D54601&searchRadius=300&startYear=1999&state=WI&trimCode=MUST%7CCobra&vehicleStyleCode=CONVERT&clickType=listing

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/735652116?allListingType=all-cars&city=La%20Crosse&endYear=2002&makeCode=FORD&modelCode=MUST&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fall-cars%2Fconvertible%2Fford%2Fmustang%2Fcobra%2Fla-crosse-wi%3Fdma%3D%255Bobject%2520Object%255D%26endYear%3 D2002%26searchRadius%3D100%26startYear%3D1999%26zi p%3D54601&searchRadius=300&startYear=1999&state=WI&trimCode=MUST%7CCobra&vehicleStyleCode=CONVERT&clickType=listing

Here are a few doing a quick search within 300 miles of. What are you thinking budget wise?

[rockfan4]

The Cobra is more than I need for this task.

Initial budget was $5000 for a new edge. I might go higher.
I'll probably have to find it on Craigslist or FBM, since a dealer's profit will probably take a prospect out of my price range.

I found a few in the $4k to $6k range. There might be a window now as people are paying off Christmas or working out their income taxes. I might be wrong.

Here's some Ecoboost options if I were to go ahead and spring for a newer one.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/716242453

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/fb19419a-4150-4d54-a6ca-8ba2adf992b2/

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/625911109766468