Just began the search for an 03/04 Terminator vert, what do you think?

cbehr

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Hello all,

Been looking for a fun sunny day driver for a bit and switched from looking for a SN197 blown GT to a terminator after a bit of research. I'm looking for something as low mileage and clean as I can get for $17-20K. I'd prefer if it had a few mods on it(seems unmolested models go for more anyway) but nothing too crazy like an 800hp fully built engine.

An 03 w/ 55K miles was just posted in the for sale forum here...being relatively new to this particular scene what questions do I need to ask with the mod list he provided? It looks pretty solid to me but?? I'm also 1K miles away(Arizona) so that means either finding a reliable source to look at it in person or flying out myself. Not is the mod list is he's second owner, purchased with 1200 miles, hood repainted 6 years ago, hasn't been dyno'd, uses bama w/ data logging.

Also found stock 03 10th anniversary with like 20k miles local but has a accident reported on carfax on passenger side years back. IF repairs are legit I'm not 100% opposed but I'm at the top of my price range and would still want some work done to it.

Any suggestion or words of wisdom would be GREAT!

Terminator mod list.jpg
 

speedoflife

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Hello all,

Been looking for a fun sunny day driver for a bit and switched from looking for a SN197 blown GT to a terminator after a bit of research. I'm looking for something as low mileage and clean as I can get for $17-20K. I'd prefer if it had a few mods on it(seems unmolested models go for more anyway) but nothing too crazy like an 800hp fully built engine.

An 03 w/ 55K miles was just posted in the for sale forum here...being relatively new to this particular scene what questions do I need to ask with the mod list he provided? It looks pretty solid to me but?? I'm also 1K miles away(Arizona) so that means either finding a reliable source to look at it in person or flying out myself. Not is the mod list is he's second owner, purchased with 1200 miles, hood repainted 6 years ago, hasn't been dyno'd, uses bama w/ data logging.

Also found stock 03 10th anniversary with like 20k miles local but has a accident reported on carfax on passenger side years back. IF repairs are legit I'm not 100% opposed but I'm at the top of my price range and would still want some work done to it.

Any suggestion or words of wisdom would be GREAT!

View attachment 1592789
A few points to consider:

- that’s quite a large number of mods but they are mostly good ones to have done in my opinion.

- some of the mods are not so good - not a fan of the car having NOS, line lock, driveshaft loop, and rear seat delete together. This car was drag raced.

- buying a stock car and modding it is expensive.

- being patient and waiting to find the right car is worth it.
 

cbehr

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A few points to consider:

- that’s quite a large number of mods but they are mostly good ones to have done in my opinion.

- some of the mods are not so good - not a fan of the car having NOS, line lock, driveshaft loop, and rear seat delete together. This car was drag raced.

- buying a stock car and modding it is expensive.

- being patient and waiting to find the right car is worth it.

Ah...didn't think of the mods for the drag strip!! I wasn't a huge fan of the NOS either but idk, seems some guys are running it safely on these engines. I guess I'll keep searching thru the fall/winter months if needed.

I'd like at least a few basic mods as I'm just not willing to dump $5-10K into a car after I get it, just too many other projects in the upcoming years :) !! I'd like to be in the 500+whp range which from what I'm reading really isn't that difficult to accomplish. Thanks for the advice!!
 

cbehr

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I actually reached out to the dealer(who gets great reviews online) that had the 03 with 20k miles but a small passenger side accident on carfax years back. I asked them to let me know what panel(s) were repaired/repainted....and then they proceeded to remove the carfax from their website lol!! I guess they didn't want any other potential buyers knowing it was in an accident.
 

speedoflife

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Nice looking car, just more than I'm looking to spend, thanks!
Here’s my story: bought a car for $17k with 54k miles. I was thrilled. Until I discovered 50 miles later that it had a spun main bearing. The previous owner was conveniently nowhere to be found at that time, of course. A total of $23k later invested and I’ve got the car where I want it, but I REALLY wish I had bought something like bigmoose’s car to begin with. He’s been on the forums for a bit and, while I don’t know him personally, I’d totally buy bigmoose’s car without worrying about the condition it’s in. His also has a KB 2.2, which is HIGHLY sought after. You could pull that thing off the car, swap back to a ported Eaton, and pocket $1k+ in profit. I know it’s more than you want to spend but it’s not easy to find unmolested cars. Just food for thought.

I’ll happlily judge any other listings you want to post up too!
 

Bdubbs

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Ideally, you need to ask yourself what you want out of the car. Initially bought mine thinking pulley, intake, and exhaust would be it.

Boy was I wrong. Either way, I like adding mods myself but it gets expensive. I wouldn't hesitate buying from a well known member on here though.

Try and be patient, even though it can be hard to do.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using the svtperformance.com mobile app
 

bigmoose

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Here’s my story: bought a car for $17k with 54k miles. I was thrilled. Until I discovered 50 miles later that it had a spun main bearing. The previous owner was conveniently nowhere to be found at that time, of course. A total of $23k later invested and I’ve got the car where I want it, but I REALLY wish I had bought something like bigmoose’s car to begin with. He’s been on the forums for a bit and, while I don’t know him personally, I’d totally buy bigmoose’s car without worrying about the condition it’s in. His also has a KB 2.2, which is HIGHLY sought after. You could pull that thing off the car, swap back to a ported Eaton, and pocket $1k+ in profit. I know it’s more than you want to spend but it’s not easy to find unmolested cars. Just food for thought.

I’ll happlily judge any other listings you want to post up too!
Thanks for the nice words. I've been on here since 2008 and have had 3 terminators. I have learned a lot since then.

All I can say is if you plan to mod a stock car it will cost you way more in the end then buying one with tasteful mods. However I understand modding is half the fun.
 

cbehr

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- some of the mods are not so good - not a fan of the car having NOS, line lock, driveshaft loop, and rear seat delete together. This car was drag raced.

The owner did respond back when I told him I was concerned about the above and the car being drag raced. Hes in his 60's and said the NOS was installed a few years back for a car show and was never tuned to run it and launch controller was never fully wired up...said it was at the strip two times and other mods were just for performance/safety other than the line lock which he did use to show off.

So I guess it comes down to trusting someone...man I wish the car was closer so I could check it out! I'm trying to be patient but this seems like a decently modded car for a decent price...guessing I should pass and just keep my eye on this forum and maybe something will pop up in my area this fall/winter?
 

speedoflife

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The owner did respond back when I told him I was concerned about the above and the car being drag raced. Hes in his 60's and said the NOS was installed a few years back for a car show and was never tuned to run it and launch controller was never fully wired up...said it was at the strip two times and other mods were just for performance/safety other than the line lock which he did use to show off.

So I guess it comes down to trusting someone...man I wish the car was closer so I could check it out! I'm trying to be patient but this seems like a decently modded car for a decent price...guessing I should pass and just keep my eye on this forum and maybe something will pop up in my area this fall/winter?
There’s nothing wrong with the car or the fact that it has those mods! You just need to be aware of them when checking the car out. But yeah.... you definitely need to check the car out in person in my opinion. It’s up to you in the end. After my experience, I’d never buy a car without seeing it in person. However, plenty of people do and don’t have any issues!

I saw the listing for the car but you can’t tell much from pictures. Seems like a solid car from far away. Good mods. Two owners. Mature owner. Legitimate reason for selling. He’s in Alabama if I’m correct?
 

cbehr

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Yeah, he sent me a bunch more pictures via email, looks nice but REALLY hard to tell from pictures...especially a black car. Yeah he's in Alabama which is funny I just sold and shipped a wrecked car to Alabama a few weeks back. So add in a $400 plane ticket and then another $600 or so to ship it back if I liked it.

Decisions decisions...
 

Goocher0310th

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Have you ever checked out the cars at hi-end auto. I’ve read some members have been very happy with them. There are 2 cobras for sale there now. Just another option for you to look at?
 

speedoflife

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Yeah, he sent me a bunch more pictures via email, looks nice but REALLY hard to tell from pictures...especially a black car. Yeah he's in Alabama which is funny I just sold and shipped a wrecked car to Alabama a few weeks back. So add in a $400 plane ticket and then another $600 or so to ship it back if I liked it.

Decisions decisions...
https://www.svtperformance.com/threads/screaming-yellow-04-cobra-vert-for-sale.1176153/

This is a forum member AND I could go check it out for you in person.

Edit: if you’re a fan of yellow, of course.
 

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cbehr

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https://www.svtperformance.com/threads/screaming-yellow-04-cobra-vert-for-sale.1176153/

This is a forum member AND I could go check it out for you in person.

Edit: if you’re a fan of yellow, of course.

Thanks for the heads up but yellow is probably the only color I'm not interested in. Black would most likely be first choice then white/blue/red probably tied for second and the rest after that but I'm not SET on one. I do like the mystichrome too but paint matching makes me nervous if anything would even happen to a panel.

On another note at what mileage do I need to be somewhat more concerned with? Of course I'd like as low of mileage as possible BUT do I need to be more mindful of 50k+ or 75k+ etc?
 

cbehr

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Have you ever checked out the cars at hi-end auto. I’ve read some members have been very happy with them. There are 2 cobras for sale there now. Just another option for you to look at?

Thanks, I'll keep them on my radar...a little more than I'm looking to spend but it seems the stock ones go for more...plus I'd like a few mods if possible.
 

Black Gold 380R

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On another note at what mileage do I need to be somewhat more concerned with? Of course I'd like as low of mileage as possible BUT do I need to be more mindful of 50k+ or 75k+ etc?

Okay, here goes......

I can understand your concerns. However, I would focus more on condition and care and maintenance of a Cobra you are considering purchasing instead of amount of miles.

These cars are 16 years old now. A lot of Cobras in your price range are going to have a few more miles on them. However, when you do the math, a 75K mile Cobra is actually a low mileage car in my opinion. Think about it..... 75K/16 = 4,687.5 miles per year. That seems low to me. Even if you go up..... 100K/16 = 6,250 miles a year.

The average used to be 10K miles per year. Now reporting indicates the average American puts 13,474 a year on their DD (Not collector car, but that's another debate (i.e. when did the Cobra become a collector car?)) and the majority of those miles are put on by the 35 to 54 year old age group (I would assume the majority of Cobra owners are in that age group LOL).

Just my perspective sir...………..

Miles per year AVG.JPG
 

Hunter_M_

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Have you ever checked out the cars at hi-end auto. I’ve read some members have been very happy with them. There are 2 cobras for sale there now. Just another option for you to look at?

I believe he is having issues these days on getting financing for these cars now as they are getting older and older. He has moved away from the Terminators and not carrying them as heavy as he used to.

I bought mine from them and shipped it to TX. It was a very good experience. They are in Appomattox, VA. When I flew out there he had probably 30.
 

cbehr

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Okay, here goes......

I can understand your concerns. However, I would focus more on condition and care and maintenance of a Cobra you are considering purchasing instead of amount of miles.

View attachment 1593303

Thanks for the info and that does all make sense. I guess I'm just more concerned with the amount of power these cars make and longevity of big $$ items like engine etc. Are people seeing 100k-200k on original engines if taken care of properly? I know anything can go wrong at any time for tons of reasons but should I be concerned with a 75k miles car of seemingly take care of properly...don't want to drop $5k on an engine rebuild in 2 years if at all possible.
 

cbehr

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I believe he is having issues these days on getting financing for these cars now as they are getting older and older. He has moved away from the Terminators and not carrying them as heavy as he used to.

I bought mine from them and shipped it to TX. It was a very good experience. They are in Appomattox, VA. When I flew out there he had probably 30.

He had 30 in stock??? That's crazy lol...yeah the couple times I've checked he has 1-2 stockish terminators.
 

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