Came Close to Selling, but didn't... here's why

[Zissou]

Had a very close call with deciding to let my 2016 CS/GT manual go this week. Had gotten hyped on a Audi TT RS that ended up not meeting my expectation, but also had gotten a really good offer to buy my car. Side note, if you are interested in selling your mustang, check out Carvana - especially if you can have it be stock / just dealer installed options. My friend sold his tacoma to them. They offered $28.6k for my 2016 Cali Special with 10.7k miles. That's a really good offer so I had set up the schedule to have it hauled away... but bailed - here's why.

I had a heart to heart with a good friend that is notorious for changing cars. His recommendation was to write down a list of everything I wanted a car to do. I won't share the full thing here because it's quite long, but the key topics were

• fun to drive above all else. Manual, pin you in the seat & good sound and good enough street handling (no track star required but needs to be able to handle curvy roads)
• techy features like bluetooth, android auto, heated seats, HIDs, etc
• good looking exterior and interior (very subjective but I know it when I see it)
• comfortable enough to be a daily and pass approval of my gf
• reliable enough to where I don't have to worry about if it will break down
• practical enough to daily; needs to seat at least 2 and be able to handle a couple suit cases
• not going to be a money pit or have horrible depreciation
• and obviously within budget +/- $10k of what the mustang's sale price was

So that list was reviewed by myself and a couple friends and it essentially came up with 3 cars that fit this build; Honda Civic Type R, Chevy Camaro SS, and of course the Mustang I already have.
Pros and Cons of those to me personally were as follows:

• Civic Type R:
  • Pros over mustang: Reliable, holds value well, practical AF with 4 doors and a hatch, fuel efficient & cheap to operate, drives very well, it's a red badge Honda.
  • Cons: I sold my Feista ST to escape FWD, lacks features like heated seats (and AC seats!), looks are polarizing (GF hates it), exhaust sound will always be lacking
• Camaro:
  • Pros (over mustang): heated steering wheel, I prefer the manual in the camaro to the MT82 (as long as that solenoid is disabled), debatable if its a better sports car than the mustang due to the chassis but I think so - hides it weight well. Fits nearly every item on my list.
  • Cons: Very hard to live with daily due to visibility and trunk opening. Interior, while better than the 5th gen, still isn't as nice as the mustangs (looking at you, downward tilting screen).
  • Had Chevy made this just a bit more practical (like being able to see ANYTHING out of the windows) this would be truly dangerous to Ford's mustang sales.
• My Mustang
  • Pros: I already have it, 'Goldilocks' of the muscle/sports car hybrids, so good looking (biased), has treated me very well. Fits every item on my list.
  • Cons: Handling could use improvement (tires? something to do with the rear?)

Other considerations were the WRX STI, Focus RS, Golf R, Challenger, BMW 2/4 series, Porsche Cayman/Boxster (older). Those were rules out for various reasons of not making the list.

So I figured I would share my experience with the forum on what I have been deliberating this week and ultimately why I'm sticking around. I had crept on forums of these other cars to read similar points of views. There's no one perfect car, but there certainly are ones that fit people's situations and preferences better than others. But for the forum lurkers thinking of getting a mustang or 6G guys who were thinking of selling theirs here's why I stuck around.

Side note like 20% of people on forums are super close minded. Type R dudes saying "omg you drove a mustang why are you still here". Camaro bros saying GM is life. BMW fans with their noses up each others roundels. There's a lot of excellent cars on the market, and this Mustang is the one for me right now.

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[TheSnowmanMafia]

Other considerations were the WRX STI, Focus RS, Golf R, Challenger, BMW 2/4 series, Porsche Cayman/Boxster (older). Those were rules out for various reasons of not making the list.

Ha, funny as I looked at all of those minus the STI and Focus RS.

I owned a Golf R before my GT and I had my eye on a 981 S Cayman; considered an M240i as well.

Had to bow out of getting the Porsche because my wife wanted back seats for our dogs lol.

Side note on Carvana, I've now sold 2 cars to them and bought one from them. Great company, easy process, they pay top dollar for cars and the one I bought from them was great. They accidentally scratched the hood on delivery and shelled out 1200 dollars, no questions, to get it repainted by a shop of my choice.

 

[Bikeman315]

Cons: Handling could use improvement (tires? something to do with the rear?)

Congrats on deciding to stay with your GT/CS.

Are you still running the OEM tires? Are they the Goodyears or Pirelli's? either way get rid of them. Much better choices if you decide to go UHP summer or A/S.
Suspension, Yup, just read read the suspension forum. So many things you can do to improve overall handling.

 

[NoVaGT]

......like 20% of people on forums are super close minded. Type R dudes saying "omg you drove a mustang why are you still here". Camaro bros saying GM is life. BMW fans with their noses up each others roundels. There's a lot of excellent cars on the market......

Here here!!!

Lots of great cars out there, not just Mustangs.

 

[LetItRide1978]

Glad to hear you kept the Mustang. I think you made the right choice. As far as handling, I’d recommend the Ford Performance Street Handling Pack and better tires. The handling pack gives you everything from the performance package and lowers the car 1 inch. It would probably feel like a whole new car to you.

 

[Zissou]

Congrats on deciding to stay with your GT/CS.

Are you still running the OEM tires? Are they the Goodyears or Pirelli's? either way get rid of them. Much better choices if you decide to go UHP summer or A/S.
Suspension, Yup, just read read the suspension forum. So many things you can do to improve overall handling.

Yes, the Pirellis and certainly do agree. My plan has been to get a set of wheels to run some summer tires on, then keep these so-so all seasons on the OEM wheels for cold seasons. Have read those suspension forums, now just need the money! Just bought a house so I might have to wait out the winter until fun bits can be added... or sell my S2000 to fund Mustang projects. That's going to be another ultra hard decision to make - when is it time to sell the S2000.

 

[Zissou]

Glad to hear you kept the Mustang. I think you made the right choice. As far as handling, I’d recommend the Ford Performance Street Handling Pack and better tires. The handling pack gives you everything from the performance package and lowers the car 1 inch. It would probably feel like a whole new car to you.

Better tires def in the plan. Same with suspension upgrades now that I'm keeping this car.

Is the FRPP Street Pack basically the same as the OEM performance package (minus wheels and tires of course)? If so I figure I'd scoop up some of the OEM performance pack parts from other guys on here upgrading and piece it together with the rest of the FRPP kit a la carte. Either way, it having Ford's stamp on it gives me piece of mind.

Another route I've looked at taking is having Steeda throw together a similar package. From what I've read round these parts they make great stuff.

I'd love to keep 8/10 to 9/10 of the ride quality, so sounds like either of these routes are the way to go.

 

[LetItRide1978]

Better tires def in the plan. Same with suspension upgrades now that I'm keeping this car.

Is the FRPP Street Pack basically the same as the OEM performance package (minus wheels and tires of course)? If so I figure I'd scoop up some of the OEM performance pack parts from other guys on here upgrading and piece it together with the rest of the FRPP kit a la carte. Either way, it having Ford's stamp on it gives me piece of mind.

Another route I've looked at taking is having Steeda throw together a similar package. From what I've read round these parts they make great stuff.

I'd love to keep 8/10 to 9/10 of the ride quality, so sounds like either of these routes are the way to go.

I believe it’s the same and then just adds the lowering springs. Here’s the link to see what all comes with it:

https://performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-FR3A-MAA

Check the forum sponsors. I’ve seen this kit for sale online for a little over $1,000.

 

[jcl78]

Great post, I feel you on this same subject. I realize after 23 cars that I have become very picky with what type of vehicle interests me. I have owned several muscle cars, and a few tuner cars, the Mustang is, dare I say a blend of those. The Camaro is more of a true muscle car compared to the Mustang, mainly due to the pushrod large displacement 6.2, high torque off idle, the somewhat sub grade interior, the horrible blind spots and visibility. Would it spank my GT PP1 around a track or drag strip? Absolutely, but there is more to a car than just one facet. The Civic Type R is awesome, definitely the best handling FWD platform ever, however for me it is very expensive for what you get, and that boy racer styling is not for me. I have owned a 2009 WRX (Cobb Accessport with a Perrin map) it was awesome, handled very well, grip was amazing, etc. However, the shifter was super rubbery (5-speed) the seats were awful, and the interior was quite cheap. While the 2018 - 2020 Mustangs are faster and better in every way, the styling never grew on me personally, I really loved the 2015 - 17 design much more.

Sometimes I wish I wasn't so picky with cars, but I can't help it, as my wife always says "you always want the car that has X, Y, Z, in this color, with this package making it hard to just find one". That is the fun part though

 

[JWNPlumber]

Better tires def in the plan. Same with suspension upgrades now that I'm keeping this car.

Is the FRPP Street Pack basically the same as the OEM performance package (minus wheels and tires of course)? If so I figure I'd scoop up some of the OEM performance pack parts from other guys on here upgrading and piece it together with the rest of the FRPP kit a la carte. Either way, it having Ford's stamp on it gives me piece of mind.

Another route I've looked at taking is having Steeda throw together a similar package. From what I've read round these parts they make great stuff.

I'd love to keep 8/10 to 9/10 of the ride quality, so sounds like either of these routes are the way to go.

I have a complete FRPP street handling package new in the boxes along with new hardware package that I am probably going to sell.

 

[Western Stang]

Had a very close call with deciding to let my 2016 CS/GT manual go this week. Had gotten hyped on a Audi TT RS that ended up not meeting my expectation, but also had gotten a really good offer to buy my car. Side note, if you are interested in selling your mustang, check out Carvana - especially if you can have it be stock / just dealer installed options. My friend sold his tacoma to them. They offered $28.6k for my 2016 Cali Special with 10.7k miles. That's a really good offer so I had set up the schedule to have it hauled away... but bailed - here's why.

I had a heart to heart with a good friend that is notorious for changing cars. His recommendation was to write down a list of everything I wanted a car to do. I won't share the full thing here because it's quite long, but the key topics were

• fun to drive above all else. Manual, pin you in the seat & good sound and good enough street handling (no track star required but needs to be able to handle curvy roads)
• techy features like bluetooth, android auto, heated seats, HIDs, etc
• good looking exterior and interior (very subjective but I know it when I see it)
• comfortable enough to be a daily and pass approval of my gf
• reliable enough to where I don't have to worry about if it will break down
• practical enough to daily; needs to seat at least 2 and be able to handle a couple suit cases
• not going to be a money pit or have horrible depreciation
• and obviously within budget +/- $10k of what the mustang's sale price was

So that list was reviewed by myself and a couple friends and it essentially came up with 3 cars that fit this build; Honda Civic Type R, Chevy Camaro SS, and of course the Mustang I already have.
Pros and Cons of those to me personally were as follows:

• Civic Type R:
  • Pros over mustang: Reliable, holds value well, practical AF with 4 doors and a hatch, fuel efficient & cheap to operate, drives very well, it's a red badge Honda.
  • Cons: I sold my Feista ST to escape FWD, lacks features like heated seats (and AC seats!), looks are polarizing (GF hates it), exhaust sound will always be lacking
• Camaro:
  • Pros (over mustang): heated steering wheel, I prefer the manual in the camaro to the MT82 (as long as that solenoid is disabled), debatable if its a better sports car than the mustang due to the chassis but I think so - hides it weight well. Fits nearly every item on my list.
  • Cons: Very hard to live with daily due to visibility and trunk opening. Interior, while better than the 5th gen, still isn't as nice as the mustangs (looking at you, downward tilting screen).
  • Had Chevy made this just a bit more practical (like being able to see ANYTHING out of the windows) this would be truly dangerous to Ford's mustang sales.
• My Mustang
  • Pros: I already have it, 'Goldilocks' of the muscle/sports car hybrids, so good looking (biased), has treated me very well. Fits every item on my list.
  • Cons: Handling could use improvement (tires? something to do with the rear?)

Other considerations were the WRX STI, Focus RS, Golf R, Challenger, BMW 2/4 series, Porsche Cayman/Boxster (older). Those were rules out for various reasons of not making the list.

So I figured I would share my experience with the forum on what I have been deliberating this week and ultimately why I'm sticking around. I had crept on forums of these other cars to read similar points of views. There's no one perfect car, but there certainly are ones that fit people's situations and preferences better than others. But for the forum lurkers thinking of getting a mustang or 6G guys who were thinking of selling theirs here's why I stuck around.

Side note like 20% of people on forums are super close minded. Type R dudes saying "omg you drove a mustang why are you still here". Camaro bros saying GM is life. BMW fans with their noses up each others roundels. There's a lot of excellent cars on the market, and this Mustang is the one for me right now.

Very interesting to read and i have done the same .... Mine still ticks all the boxes and cant find a suitable replacement to warrant spending the extra money on..

 

[Briebee72]

I can confirm, the type R crowd is super closed minded to the point of being down right unfriendly.

 

[XCRN]

I always liked BMWs. Had very good looks, could handle a corner like no other, and were very practical until...things break. I had a 03 530i bought at 140K miles with a stick which was a sweet car but sold at 190K miles since it was having issues that I did not have time or money to deal with. After that I had a 13 335i sedan with the new ZF 8 speed that I bought at 95K miles. Was quick and agile and easily got 27mpg when hammering it, but the trans started making noises at 103K so I jumped ship into the Mustang. One of the greater decisions I made. Payment is higher than a $15k car but worth it. No reliability issues, fast, agile, and the manual makes it more fun for me. This is a perfectly practical car for me, though I do have a $1000 Hyundai I use for winter and bad weather days.

I still got 2 BMWs, a 93 and 95 525i and hopefuly one goes away soon to clear some space, the other I am fixing the complicated and hard to find parts for drivetrain with a turbo 5.3 backed by a TR6060.

 

[Bikeman315]

Yes, the Pirellis and certainly do agree. My plan has been to get a set of wheels to run some summer tires on, then keep these so-so all seasons on the OEM wheels for cold seasons. Have read those suspension forums, now just need the money! Just bought a house so I might have to wait out the winter until fun bits can be added... or sell my S2000 to fund Mustang projects. That's going to be another ultra hard decision to make - when is it time to sell the S2000.

Please post of a pic of your S2000. My buddy had one many years ago. What an awesome car. I think you might regret selling it.

 

[Zissou]

Please post of a pic of your S2000. My buddy had one many years ago. When an awesome car. I think you might regret selling it.

Sure thing! Caught a picture of it in aesthetic lighting a couple weeks ago.
It's a 2000 S2000 (AP1), but has an F22c swapped in (previous owner blew the original engine with a turbo). All kinds of upgrades like Fortune 500 coilovers, 17x9 wheels, intake, high flow cat, headers, etc. Very fun weekend car. Very impractical too haha

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