Thinking about buying an S197

[sandman77]

I once had a 1984 mustang 2.3 turbo and it was terrible but it is now time to try another mustang and I am looking at the S197.
Has anyone here got the 4.0 V6? What mpg can I expect from this engine? I’m not expecting much but am hoping for an average of 30ish. Is this a realistic expectation? Also how much is road tax?

And onto more important matters - is rust an issue on these cars? I will only be spending up to £10k so the car is likely to be about 10 years old already? Are there any major issues I need to be on the lookout for?

[Saleen836]

sandman77 said:

I once had a 1984 mustang 2.3 turbo and it was terrible but it is now time to try another mustang and I am looking at the S197.
Has anyone here got the 4.0 V6? What mpg can I expect from this engine? I’m not expecting much but am hoping for an average of 30ish. Is this a realistic expectation? Also how much is road tax?

And onto more important matters - is rust an issue on these cars? I will only be spending up to £10k so the car is likely to be about 10 years old already? Are there any major issues I need to be on the lookout for?

There is believe it or not a minimal difference between the V6 and V8 in running costs and the extra will be recouped come sale time, my S197 is supercharged and on a run at a constant 75 I get 27/28mpg the V6 you should get 28/30mpg and my road tax is £255 per year, the only known rust issue is the front lip of the bonnet (although technically this isn't rust) if there is rust anywhere I would say it is due to a dodgy accident repair, there are a lot of V6's for sale under £10k but you have to be carefull as there is a lot that have been imported from Eastern Europe and the UAE that have been crashed/written off repaired and put up for sale here as there is no way of checking the history. I know of a V8 that is currently for sale at a smidge under £10k, it has over 100k on the clock but also has had a top end rebuild plus other work, the owner works for one of the main UK Mustang workshops.
Anything else just ask

[sandman77]

Thanks for that. I had no idea about cars being imported from anywhere other than the USA so that’s something to look out for.
I also didn’t think the V6 and V8 would have such similar MPG figures so will keep my eye out for V8’s too.