Mustang depreciation

My sister is thinking of buying a 2003 Mustang V6 auto for her first car. Everything looks fine to me, but I have just one concern. This car, with the options it has equipped, cost about $18,800 new. However, the KBB value for this car, with the 26,000 miles it has, would be $13,500. I'm pretty sure that Mustangs are solidly built cars, but when a car loses $5,300 in its first year, that's not a good sign. Can anyone tell me why Mustangs lose their value so fast?

my guess is just becuase it is an american car, they always lose their value extreamly fast when compared to japanese or especially european.

I know, but I just don't understand why. The Mustang is a reliable car that holds up pretty well, yet it still loses value really quickly. I guess it's because there are so many of them on the used market - but that doesn't explain why cars like the Camry and Accord hold value extremely well.

well the resale value of cars very largely has to do with how much people are willing to pay for cars. American cars have for a while now been percieved as unreliable so people are usually scared to buy older American cars whereas like a civic or camry people feel that those cars will run for years and years before breaking down.

Oh, I see. I know the older 5.0 Mustangs are very reliable because I personally know many people who have them at 150,000+ miles with no major work done, but I don't know much about the 3.8 V6, or the 5th gen. Mustang in general. As long as the motor and auto tranny are as solid as they always have been in the Mustang, it's fine with me.

yeah, thats why i bought mine, i got mine just last year, a 94gt with 82k on it. I've had to replace the radiator on it, but the dealership where i bought it took care of that fore me. and i had to replace the oil pressure sender, but that cost me like 10 bucks. Besides that its still running healty and strong.

Well, we didn't buy it after the test-drive. The motor was nice and the car rode pretty well, but the ride was a bit rough and the car's ergonomics were terrible; who the hell puts power driver seat buttons on the front of the seat? The accelerator was too far back, the seats sunk into the car too much, rear headroom was pretty bad, etc. I liked the RWD handling and the low-end power of the pushrod V6, but my sister didn't much care for the car.

Well, we didn't buy it after the test-drive. The motor was nice and the car rode pretty well, but the ride was a bit rough and the car's ergonomics were terrible; who the hell puts power driver seat buttons on the front of the seat? The accelerator was too far back, the seats sunk into the car too much, rear headroom was pretty bad, etc.

Yep. Sounds like an american 2 door sports coupe. Why bother to test drive a Mustang if thats what your NOT looking for?

My mom and sister thought it looked really nice on the outside; they had no idea what it was like on the inside. I personally liked the car, and I can deal with crappy ergonomics in the name of cheap power and handling, but they prefer Toyotas and Hondas.

well if you are willing to pay a bit more you might want to try for the 2005 mustang, they totally redesigned the interior so your sister and mom might like that. But yeah, the mustang isn't the pinacle of styling by any means, but its functional, and its the power that gets people hooked.

Nah, she'll probably just buy an older Toyota or Lexus, it's better for her anyways. The new 2005 'Stang is too expensive and nice for a first car for her...although I might make a down payment on a 5-speed manual GT if I can get it out the door for under $25K :)

i doubt youd get it for that much, base price on the GT from what i heard will be around 28-29, im not sayin it wont be lower though

Wow, they really jacked it up if that's the case. I could get a 2004 Mach 1 for that much :o