03/04 Cobra What's It Worth?

Apologize if this is the wrong location for the thread. Had a quick question though on what everyone on here thinks a Cobra would be worth under these certain circumstances. Now I know a car is only worth what someone is willing to pay but I would like to see what some of you would pay for it.

It's a 10th anniversary hard top in red. Has more then 100,xxx miles.
Engine wise it's pretty much stock. It's tuned with a 2.5 pulley & Flowmaster exhaust.
Aftermarket radiator
Stage 3 clutch

The bad:
- Salvage title (Has been in 8 accidents. Every body panel around the car has either been replaced or was involved in an accident.)
- Was stolen & recovered two years later
- Has two rebuilt titles on it
- Has had 7 owners
- Paint is decent but has blemishes
- Third brake light is cracked
- Taillight is cracked
- No AC (doesn't work)
- Driver side door panel is the wrong one due to an accident & wasn't replaced with the OEM correct 10th anniversary one. Slapped a GT style one on it & the switches don't fit in their holes.


Car definitely has a past but there's room for improvement & making it what it should be. What would you think it's value is?

Imo, its worth about what you can part it out for. Maybe $10-12k tops? The body is nearly worthless, so mostly engine, trans, and IRS.

I wouldn’t touch it with a 10’ pole, maybe even a 15 footer.


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I don't know whether to laugh or cry?? I didn't think it was possible to abuse a Terminator in such a way. I would stay away from that car unless you just want a spare parts car. It would probably require deep pockets to get that car where it should be. Why not just look for another high mileage car without all the accidents/poor history?

Mileage doesn't usually bother me. But unless you're making a race car I'd move on. Those are just the issues you can see. I'd bet money there are a ton more you can't see.

roy_1031 said:

I wouldn’t touch it with a 10’ pole, maybe even a 15 footer.


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Same here. Even if you fixed it up which it isn’t worth it, with that history. It will always have the history it does now and never be worth hardly anything.


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$3.50

zredfire04 said:

Imo, its worth about what you can part it out for. Maybe $10-12k tops? The body is nearly worthless, so mostly engine, trans, and IRS.

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Yea that's what I said as well. You can get a drivetrain for less miles & less then $10-12k. Even with that body. The history will forever haunt it so?

roy_1031 said:

I wouldn’t touch it with a 10’ pole, maybe even a 15 footer.
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LOL!

Albatross said:

I don't know whether to laugh or cry?? I didn't think it was possible to abuse a Terminator in such a way. I would stay away from that car unless you just want a spare parts car. It would probably require deep pockets to get that car where it should be. Why not just look for another high mileage car without all the accidents/poor history?

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Lol yea neither did I or I think the current owner... Don't think he had done research on the cars history when it made it's ways into his hands. Body work etc can be fixed. A cars history cannot though. Salvaged title is worth 20-40% of an average car. Even more with a car that's value goes up vs down. But hard to find one that isn't an arm & leg. $20k+ I'm not that interested in one. The ones I've seen around this price are all verts which I'm ok off of. Lol... If I was to buy it Id just fix it's problems & call it day. Maybe some cheap appearance mods that Id do to make it my own. Then enjoy it for it's time.

01yellercobra said:

Mileage doesn't usually bother me. But unless you're making a race car I'd move on. Those are just the issues you can see. I'd bet money there are a ton more you can't see.

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Yea would definitely put it under the knife to see what all is done. Thank god for Carfax! When I opened it up I was in shock for the list of things. Started off in Georgia & made its way down to Florida then New Jersey & then finally to CA. Definitely takes the cake for having the most history for a Cobra.

BlksvtCobra01 said:

Same here. Even if you fixed it up which it isn’t worth it, with that history. It will always have the history it does now and never be worth hardly anything.
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Exactly!

patc84 said:

$3.50

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Lol

If you're in Cali there are a few Cobra owners that should know someone that's selling one at a decent price.

Voodoo. That car has it. Run.

I’d really low ball it and see how much he wants to sell it. If you don’t mind being married to it for a while it might be worth it. But honestly at this point it’s no different than an abused gt because it’s lost all it’s value.

01yellercobra said:

If you're in Cali there are a few Cobra owners that should know someone that's selling one at a decent price.

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Yea there's a few. Mostly verts & prefer the red. There's a maroon one but needs a completely new paint job & few other things. Might check it out.

COOL COBRA said:

Voodoo. That car has it. Run.

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Lol yea would be taking it to a priest to have it blessed. Was ridiculous when I was reading over the Carfax. One of the owners had 3 accidents in the thing? Like seriously bro. How many crowds do you have to hit in your ownership of having it?

BlckBox04 said:

I’d really low ball it and see how much he wants to sell it. If you don’t mind being married to it for a while it might be worth it. But honestly at this point it’s no different than an abused gt because it’s lost all it’s value.

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I offered what I felt it was worth & what was comfortable for it's history. He wants more because I think that's what he paid for without knowing or just trying to make a buck because "Its a 03/04 Cobra"

It's doubtful you're going to go for this one, but remember that this will likely be a money pit with a promise of a lot of bad memories and regrets. LOL. PASS...or proceed at your great risk.

Trust me, you'll find a decent Terminator for the right price. More than you'd pay for this monstrosity, but you'll be happier and keep your sanity.

Nut up and come up off some cash, you'll thank yourself later

if I was in the market for searching for a Cobra to buy which I was last summer until getting the one I have now, I would pass on this one every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Are these Cobra's getting harder to find....yes, are they going up in price....yes, are there better deals out there to find...yes X1000. There are so many red flags and unknown with this car that the only possible outcome I see buying a car with this much baggage is a lot of disappointment and regret.

CobraBob said:

It's doubtful you're going to go for this one, but remember that this will likely be a money pit with a promise of a lot of bad memories and regrets. LOL. PASS...or proceed at your great risk.

Trust me, you'll find a decent Terminator for the right price. More than you'd pay for this monstrosity, but you'll be happier and keep your sanity.

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If the kid finally comes to his senses & realizes what his car is & what it isn't... Then yea possibly. Would have to be what I've said for my offer. I would also make him sign a contract & get the car looked at by my mechanic to double check the frame & structural. Definitely would wanna see underneath of the car. Since I didn't get to. Like I said above. I wanna fix the things wrong with it & make it to what it can be. I know I wouldn't make any profit on it (not what I'm buying it for) I just wanna enjoy having a torch red Cobra. Fixing those issues & doing a few appearance things would be it.

PC03GT said:

Nut up and come up off some cash, you'll thank yourself later

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True but anything above $15k I'm not interested in right now. Also have to be hard top. Everything around me in CA is verts. There's a few hard tops. One is a maroon but needs a complete new paint job. Could repaint it torch red which I'm still deciding on but again I'm not trying to put to to much money into the car. I have the cash. But I also have a race car I'm finishing up now & then I plan on L96 my 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee & putting a 6.5" suspension, axles, & 37" tires after my project car is done. This just be something I can enjoy daily & not have to worry to much about & still have fun in.

Venom351R said:

if I was in the market for searching for a Cobra to buy which I was last summer until getting the one I have now, I would pass on this one every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Are these Cobra's getting harder to find....yes, are they going up in price....yes, are there better deals out there to find...yes X1000. There are so many red flags and unknown with this car that the only possible outcome I see buying a car with this much baggage is a lot of disappointment and regret.

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Lol yea I hear you! Something about this car or just having the mindset of seeing it the way it is & restoring it to it's formal glory of when the 1st & 2nd owned it gets me... Every owner after that ****ed it up lol smh

After reading about this Cobra I'm going out and hug my 2300 mile 03. That is such a sad fate for a car like that. Move on buddy, you'll find a much better one.

I just think in the end If you bought this it would turn to be much more problematic than you realized. I paid just under 20K for mine last summer. There are good deals out there still at not much more than you want to spend that will give you a Cobra astronomically better than the condition this one is in.

I bought mine sight unseen which freaks a lot of people out but I've known the owner and the car for the previous 10 years even though it was 1,800 miles away from me. This by no means that mine is problem free. I'm still finding some odd / weird things with the car but that's not due to the previous owner not disclosing things, its just due to the cars now being almost 20 yrs old and things wear out, break and need to be replaced over time. So you have that factor plus the dumpster fire of *KNOWN* issues with this car, there could be a lot more wrong with it such as engine problems or soon to be issues that are not even known. Its obviously led a hard life. While I'm all for saving as many of these Cobra's as possible some are just better relegated to being more of a dedicated drag car. Overall I think as a turn key weekend, project, summer only type car that most of us buy these is far at the bottom of the list as an ideal car for this.

You said you did not want to spend more than 15K on one right now but even if you got this one for 10K its going to coast so much more to make the car "right" than if you just held off and used that money trying to fix this one and put it into another one that falls in the 20-22K range that would be a much better option overall. Ultimately its your choice and your money, none of us can tell you what to do with it. All we can do is throw our two cents at the wall but I would hate to see you get this car and months later see post from you saying that you are at your wits end with the car and really don't know what to do with it

Can't sell it in its current condition but if it was all fixed up as it should be in normal condition then you can probably get about $8k-$12k for it given the history.

Cobras in good to great condition usually fetch $17-$22k and for the pristine ones they usually start at $26k.

10k max in my opinion