Running Costs

Author
Discussion

leeches

Original Poster:

2 posts

231 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
Im really close to buying a brand new 2005 Mustang. I can just about afford the car, but i dont want to be left with one that costs to much to keep on the road.

Im curious if anyone knows about the costs of tyres, brakes or exhausts.

I dont want to have to sell it in a few years if i cant afford to keep it running!

Cheers

LuS1fer

41,740 posts

252 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
First off, I have a 5.7 litre Camaro Z28, not a Mustang - but the principles are the same.

Fear not. The one thing you can be sure of with any American car is that it will cost next to nothing to run. For a start, they have hydraulic lifters so maintenance is minimal. If you can change an oil filter, you can service a Mustang. You can buy parts from the US cheaper than it costs to buy equivalent parts in the UK for a Fiesta. I just brought back five oil filters from the US which cost less than £3 each.

For the exhaust, the stocker should last at least two years, maybe more. After that, it's best to get a stainless steel system made up by someone like Longlife. It will cost about £500-£600 but it's a "for life" purchase. You can have it made louder if you wish too.

I'm not sure what size tyres the Mustang uses but Kumho Supra tyres are very cheap (around £70 or less each for a 245/50 x 16) and they are a very good tyre. You'll find that tyres last longer than most hatchbacks and well over 10000 miles is normal.

In short, fuel aside, the car should cost little more than a Fiesta to run and will depreciate far less. Your main "consumable" expense is likely to be disc pads which can be around £60 a set and be ready to replace the discs at some point over 50000 miles (again, buying Powerslot rotors and Hawk Performance pads from the US is inexpensive and much cheaper than buying from the UK). I assume that the Mustang uses the usual spark plugs which you can forget until at least 80000 miles.

On the fuel point, don't be too worried about that either as most American V8's (it is a V8 I presume?) return good economy. Bear in mind when reading American road tests that their mpg is based on the smaller US gallon so the mpg is better than you might think.

leeches

Original Poster:

2 posts

231 months

Wednesday 17th August 2005
quotequote all
thanks for the info!