Giving a 2003 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra The Onceover Before A Possible Purchase

Inspecting a Snake.

Buying a used Mustang is sometimes a difficult task. Yes, there a ton of Mustangs on the market on any given day, but when one falls into your lap, you still have to do your due diligence before making a purchase. With a Fox Mustang, there aren’t as many moving parts thanks to pushrod engines, basic transmission options, and simplistic suspension systems. With Fox Mustangs, you just have to make sure the car hasn’t been beaten into submission, which these days are hard to find, and when you do find them, the price is pretty high, and steadily going up.

When it comes to 1996-up Mustangs, with their modular engines, and increased moving parts, closer inspection is needed since those engines are typically more expensive to service than their pushrod counterparts. Thankfully, most Mustangs have a simple live rear axle arrangement, so rear end noises are pretty simple to diagnose, and fix. If looking at a 1999/2001, or 2003-’04 Cobra with an IRS, rear end noises can present a more complex issue. With any Mustang, you have to do your homework to protect yourself against buying a headache.

In this exercise, we’re looking at a Dark Shadow gray 2003 Cobra ... read more