High mileage convertible???

[Mark99GT]

Am I stupid for looking at a high mileage 98 Cobra vert? It's got 135k miles, no accidents reported looks very clean, but it's 1100 miles away from me so I can't test drive it (I'd have it shipped). They want $11,500 (Ford dealer) which seems high but I live in the north east and apparently finding a decent 96-98 cobra vert here is next to impossible. This would just be a garaged weekend cruiser for me not a daily driver. I want the car and feel like I'm trying to convince myself this is a good idea at the price point. I possibly need a reality check, but these cars are getting harder to find as each year passes. Am I nuts?

Edit:. There's some service history with fluid changes, maintenance, etc. Sounds like it's on the original clutch. Top looks good with a couple small worn spots/white showing. Has aftermarket shifter, BBK h pipe, SLP cat back, BBK intake. I'd personally prefer no mods, but these are pretty tame.

 

[Chip Schweiss]

Maintained 135K is not a big deal. I personally put 285K on an '89 GT. I kept it all stock and it ran just a good the day I sold as it did new. I have the 1/4 mile time slip to prove it.

That being said, problems can hide. I bought an all-stock '94 Cobra two years ago with 130K on the clock. It ran real smooth, but on the track, it was way off only running in the 16s. Turns out it had a bad overheat at some point in its life and the rings and valve springs were shot. It wasn't burning oil, but the compression numbers were bad. I ended up rebuilding it. Fortunately, all the bearings were in good shape so it was an easy job with honing and new rings. Threw in new rings for good measure. It passed the ECU cylinder balance test before I bought it. A compression test before I bought it would have saved me.

 

[dkblue98gt]

Even if it's nice that's way too much $$$. I bought my 97 about 5 years ago with 127,000 for $5000.00. I bought it 400 miles away from home. Flew in and drove it home. It was in really good condition, new top, wheels and tires and a few other things. I have since replaced all suspension, components and bushings, oil pan gasket, oil cooler gasket, brakes and a lot of other things

With that many miles even if it runs great the suspension is probably shot. Be patient and keep looking.

 

[Mark99GT]

Even if it's nice that's way too much $$$. I bought my 97 about 5 years ago with 127,000 for $5000.00. I bought it 400 miles away from home. Flew in and drove it home. It was in really good condition, new top, wheels and tires and a few other things. I have since replaced all suspension, components and bushings, oil pan gasket, oil cooler gasket, brakes and a lot of other things

With that many miles even if it runs great the suspension is probably shot. Be patient and keep looking.

That's my fear, a sloppy, squeaky, loose ride. Tough to tell without the test drive, not sure I trust a salesman telling me it's good, but they say it is. I just don't see many for sale so there's not much to choose from. $5000 would be nice, but I feel like the price of these cars is just going up because they're still desirable and getting rarer. I've only seen POS cars for $5-9k lately. Anything with reasonable mileage, no accidents, good shape is like closer to $15k.