Looking at an 06 mustang gt with a 4.6 v8 on it. an elder man from work wants to sell it to me if the price is right. just wanted to know, what are you guys' opinions on this model?
car has 88,000km.
thanks
Great car. I've had mine since 2005. 13.65 in the 1/4 mile stock off the showroom floor. Intake and tune will get you in the high 12's.
A couple of issues.
Takata airbag recall which is being covered by Ford.
Some cars had a water leak on the cowl which would allow water to get to the smart junction box in the passenger kick panel.
This is an easy fix you can do yourself in 30 minutes with a tube of silicone.
2 issues that MAY come up. I have had neither issue.
05-07 mid year used the HT sparkplug. Getting them out sometimes had them breaking the shield in the head. This is the same issue with the F series pickup 5.4L and 6.8L.
I have never broken one because I remove them every year. I have the special tool and there are many YouTube videos. This would not prevent me from purchasing the car.
Issue with VCT (variable cam timing).
Some people have had cam phasers or the VCT solenoids fail causing knocking like a diesel. This is not a very common issue especially if the car has low miles and had had good maintenance. The solenoids can be replaced without even removing the valve covers.
Cam phasers require removing the timing cover and replacing the phaser.
If you have to go that far you can buy a complete timing kit from Ford Racing for around $500 and change all the timing components at the same time.
If you buy all the components separately from the dealer they are over $1,000. If I were to go in there and do that job I would replace the oil pump at the same time with the ford racing unit.
If you need this type of stuff done I would call Sylvain at Billet Pro Shop. It will get done right and at a fair price.
Mine has been supercharged since 2006 and is now running 543RWHP on the stock motor with no issues so I know they are reliable.
I wouldn't worry too much about the above issues on a low mileage car except for the spark plugs. I would do them as soon as the weather would allow.
If you need to borrow the tool for the spark plugs or have any other questions you can PM me. Also checkout S197 forum for all your hard core 05+ Mustang questions.