# 1997 Ford Mustang convertible

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-ford-mustang-convertible/14795>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [June 3, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-ford-mustang-convertible/14795 "2008-06-03T16:28:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Iwantaconvertible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/898d66/32.png) [@Iwantaconvertible](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Iwantaconvertible)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-ford-mustang-convertible/14795/1 "2008-06-03T16:28:18Z")

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I’m (still!) lusting after a convertible and have found a 1197 Ford Mustang with 118k miles on it for under $3,500. Am I crazy to even think about buying this car? I need guidance! thx.

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**Author:** ![Iwantaconvertible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/898d66/32.png) [@Iwantaconvertible](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Iwantaconvertible)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-ford-mustang-convertible/14795/2 "2008-06-03T16:29:25Z")

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Obviously I meant a 1997 – don’t think they had cars in 1197! See, I’m so excited about the possibility of owning a convertible that I can’t even type!

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**Author:** ![FoDaddy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/fodaddy/32/717_2.png) [@FoDaddy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/FoDaddy)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-ford-mustang-convertible/14795/3 "2008-06-03T17:08:55Z")

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If it’s a V6 model don’t bother. The have head gasket issues. However, given the amount of mileage on the car, they may have already blown once and been replaced.

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**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-ford-mustang-convertible/14795/4 "2008-06-03T18:06:06Z")

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The first thing you should do is leave the lust out of the equation. Being so excited you can’t type is not a good way to enter into a car deal.

The car may or may not be a good deal. It all depends on how it was driven and maintained so a THOROUGH inspection should be performed BEFORE you consider buying the car.  
I believe the head gasket issues were resolved by 1997 but checking for this should be part of the thorough inspection I mentioned.