How Reliable Are Terminators?

[burnzilla]

Basically the header says it all.
I watched this old school video of Horsepower TV putting basic bolt ons on a Termi and the guys mentioned some issues with the Terminator.

Horse Power TV - 03/04 Mustang Cobra - YouTube

There was a recall for the heads?
Is this just 03 models?
I plan on getting one with maybe a pully, intake exhaust and tune.
Obviously I will ask about the tune but thats about all I care to have done to the car.

Also, I will be storing this car in insulated but metal garage.
Here in upstate NY our winter months get below freezing.

I will keep my garage as warm as I can, but can this winter sleep/hibernation be harmful to a car like this and/or its supercharger? Like my Z28 I'll fire it up once and awhile during winter but I just want to make sure it won't harm anything.
Are the synchros in the tranny a guaranteed "needs to be fixed sooner or later" for these cars? What are some other basic things I should look out for?

Any help at all would be very much appreciated.

 

[BladeX10]

Obviously its going to come down to how it was treated. Some people beat the absolute piss out of these cars and it shows later on. If yo can find a 1 or 2 owner car that was taken care of, Itll be as reliable as any other car out there.

 

[RDJ]

Maybe you should try reading up in the terminator section and then ask specific questions there. will save you a fair amount of greif here.

 

[murse]

Maybe you should try reading up in the terminator section and then ask specific questions there. will save you a fair amount of greif here.

this might help

Terminator Talk - SVTPerformance

 

[Gray_Ghost]

I'll sum it up, if any car is beat to hell, reliability goes out the window. BUT there are terminators rolling around with 150k miles. I believe one of our member has one with 200k on it. Yes there are a couple issues that have been addressed, but either year is a good car.

 

[truebluedevil02]

There not, buy a coyote, lolololol

 

[xXGadfly09Xx]

THEY"RE not, buy a coyote, lolololol

FFS if you are gonna troll at least use proper grammar! :shrug:


FIXED IT FOR YA! :beer:

 

[Camaro_94]

Expect to drop at least $1k into it every time you want to drive it.



Just kidding.. Find a clean one that's been taken care of and it'll be reliable. Make sure things were done right on it and get it!

 

[ZIMxxZUM]

My buddy's has around 160k+ and it runs like a champ

 

[Uncle Meat]

Rear end leaked shortly after delivery and I ended up having a whole new rear end installed under warranty. Most people only suffered rear end cover leaks. My driver's side head was replaced on my '03 twice over the 5 years I owned it for the "Tick". Besides that the only other problem I ever had was trying to get a Billetflow TB to work properly on the car. Biggest mistake ever! I settled for a 2.93 upper, a CAI, a full exhaust, and a tune which ended up being a great combo putting down 465/460 to the wheels.

U.M.

P.S. There is a member here who has over 300K on his Terminator... that's right I said 300K!!!

U.M.

 

[520Terminator]

134k miles on mine, with the mods in my sig. Only problem Ive had so far is the AC compressor bearing went out at 125K.

 

[CobraBob]

If you want very reliable, it would help to know the car and the owner when you're looking. The more you know about the car, the better. If you can afford it, wait for a Terminator with very low miles, like under 18K. They will pop up for same with mileage between 5K and 15K. But you have to really be patient and not have a color preference.

And read through this info from my Terminator FAQs.

Overall, 2003-2004 Cobras are very reliable, engine wise. But as with any car, the more it has been abused the less reliable it becomes. Which is why knowing the car's history (and the owner) can be so important.

 

[1Bad04Mystic]

Cars were built fairly well, but some of them are going to begin showing there age, especially if they had a rough life. Take your time and find the right one, there are still some nice cars left out there, they just might cost a little more