Need advice on which cobra to buy

[DEADLYSVT03]

so i've been in the market for a 96-96 cobra. well, i have found 2 that i am most interested in and i cant decide.

car 1: 1996 black coupe, 20K ORIGINAL MILES!!!, only moda done are K&N filter, and flowmaster mufflers. $14,500. THE MAN SELLING THE CAR IS THE ORIGINAL OWNER. i am in new york, car is arizona so i would have to ship it.


car 2: 1997 red cobra coupe, 38,740 miles, Dynoed at 489 rwhp... '97 cobra with only 38000 miles in excellent condition. Way too much to list, but here are some of the goodies...Vortech V-1 supercharger, shorty headers, aluminum drive shaft, brand new 8.8 Eaton hd 31 spline posi rear end with 3.55 gears, pro 5.0 shifter, 1100 watt sound system, 600 watts powering internal speakers with matching kenwood face plate and eq, and 500 watt amp powering the two 12" rockford subs. This car is my baby ive always taken extrodianary care of it since i purchased it in jan 2005. THIS MAN IS THE SECOND OWNER, 25 YEARS OLD. $13,500 and the car is 1/2 hour away from me


my concious tells me to buy the 96 b/c the original ownder is selling it and has never been abused and shipping the car wouldnt be all that bad. but i'm not sure what to do and i would like to hear all of your suggestions or opinions

steve

 

[PACIFICGREENSVT]

see if you can talk him down on the 96 . no mods yet is a good thing!

 

[DEADLYSVT03]

14,500 is high for that 96 cobra?

 

[Iceman12]

Thats one tough choice to make. One one hand you have a pretty much new 96, with a VERY good chance of running and looked great for some time to come. On the other u have the chance at a low milage blow beast for dirt cheap compared to buying the other car and doing the mods yourself, but there seems to be the chance that it might not last, he might of hurt the car, or the setup could be off just a little, who knows. I guess it depends on what your intentions for the car are. If you were gunna build a high boost big power car out of it, I would do LOTS of probing around trying to find out the skinny on why the 25 yr old is selling the car and if the car is sound. If you were looking for something different than what you already have, like a N/A track car, or a more docile cruiseing car where you would want as good a base as possible I would look to the AZ car instead.

I'm sure you've already thought about all of this, but maybe it'll help ya a lil.

btw, just my opinions above, no facts.

 

[blinelaxd27]

yea 14.5 is pretty high on that car... its not even a mystic... i'd say 11k tops

 

[ReVviNg HiGh]

i would go for the 96. You dont want to buy a SC car if you dont know the seller. Talk the 96 guy down to 12500

 

[notfastenuf]

I'm not into buying other people's headaches. I would skip over car #2, but 14.5K sounds a bit high for #1 - well, alot high.

 

[PACIFICGREENSVT]

^^^^
and its 10 years old
you guys posted to fast on me.

 

[Quadcammer]

dude, 14.5k????????????

Does his wife come with it for that price??? jesus

 

[CleanCobra]

neg. the price down on the 96. That's a good find for around 12+/-

 

[96RagTop]

The engine wear on the 96 might be minimal but you have to take into consideration that its been in the Az heat its whole life and rubber bushings will need redone sooner than later.

 

[Cookieman00x]

It all depends on if you want someone else's project or not. How much boost is he running, is his tune safe, and who does his tuning? 14.5 is a perfect price on knowing that the car hasn’t been beat on, yeah you could find one cheaper but the peace of mind is worth alot more to me. I would do the 96 because of the low miles; you never know what may need to be done to the 97, the trany could be on the way out or motor problems w the sc and the list goes on. Just my two pennies…...

 

[NXCaaabra]

man that would be a hard choice, i would drive the 97 and maybe put it on a dyno to check out airfuel and all that good stuff to make sure its not been running lean or anything, the 96 is a high price, i gave 11 for my 97 like 5 months ago with 52k in flawless shape.........but if the 96 guy will come down some i would prolly choose it cause the modded one could be a problem car......

 

[SVT-VNM]

Tough choice - it ALL depends on what you want to do with it - is it a project car? DD? Weekend car?

I went with my 96 because it had all the bolt ons, was in pristine condition, had all the options I wanted and wasn't blown yet. I drive it everywhere right now but when I get a DD it will be a weekend driver.

Its all about how the car looks in person and how good of shape it is IN PERSON. Pictures never do these cars justice.

 

[RippinSVT]

I'd buy the '97 for sure...Rio Red looks better, and it's supercharged. With 489rwhp, it's got a damn good tune on it, no matter who's driven it. I could care less if it's been driven hard, that just proves that the tune is spot-on. The ringlands aren't just gonna "decide" to break if he buys it. No matter how you look at it, the '97 is a better deal. The way I see it, if you buy the '96, then you've got a brand-new stock piece of 10-year-old shit, at least the 9-year-old piece of shit has a blower, looks good, and will run its nuts off.

 

[STAMPEDE3]

I'd buy the '97 for sure...Rio Red looks better, and it's supercharged. With 489rwhp, it's got a damn good tune on it, no matter who's driven it. I could care less if it's been driven hard, that just proves that the tune is spot-on. The ringlands aren't just gonna "decide" to break if he buys it. No matter how you look at it, the '97 is a better deal. The way I see it, if you buy the '96, then you've got a brand-new stock piece of 10-year-old shit, at least the 9-year-old piece of shit has a blower, looks good, and will run its nuts off.

Very valid point.

I'd take the 96 if it was just a weekend car just to cruise in and street only, never to see any type of racing. And only if he drops the price some.


Guys, do any of you expect to by a sports, muscle, pony car that's never been beat on.

Come on, bolt on stock, blower, Unless it was a old man that never drove it its been beat on, so what.

I personally BEAT THE CRAP out of mine for years.
But I did all the proper maintance and fixed stuff right when it broke.

It wasn't uncommon for mine to do this,
Friday night bracket racing, Saturday 5 20min. road course sessions and maybe even hit midnight madness on sat night for more drag racing.

But the oil was changed Friday and again Monday.
Brakes bled and all fluids flushed/ checked.

 

[BLWN SN-95]

dude, 14.5k????????????

Does his wife come with it for that price??? jesus

HAHA! and a sister i hope that car is worth about 10k book value, man as far as buying a blown car it worked out me....

go with the black one offer him 11000!

 

[simpsvt97]

PM sent

 

[Cobra Was Here]

definitely go with the modded one. even if it has been beaten on for 38,000 miles it will not cost much to bring it up to specs. Also, those mods are worth a lot of money. so, if youre planning on modding the 96 anyway, get the one that's cheaper and already modded then take it to a good mechanic and have him go over the shape of the car and engine

 

[DEADLYSVT03]

how would you go about negotiating the guy down to about 12k? what kinds of things would i say?