Thinking about getting this 97

Jonathan:
I haven't posted in a while but you asked me to chime in so here are my thoughts.
1) This car is worth whatever you think it is; while fairly low mileage, as a large RWD car there are plenty of other cars that could scratch the same itch for similar money, lots of which may be more more powerful and/or more luxurious ("modern" conveniences like BT, temp-based climate control, etc.). Examples might include a Mercedes/BMW coupe from the 2000s/2010s, Infiniti G35, lots of Lexuses, or even Acura for your honda-side, etc. These other cars will be more expensive to maintain though for more expensive parts, so it is what it is. I would also expect the Lincoln Mark VIII might be similar money as well.

If this is what you want though, its what you want. The heart wants what the heart wants and who am I to stop you from that decision.

2) If i was in your shoes, I think this is a better replacement for both your DD and your other tbird (which IIRC was a v6, right)? Its as cherry as it can be given the age.
- Your Honda is on borrowed time. We've discussed this in the past but past 300K, its not just the wear and tear items to worry about but also the engine/transmission and even shit like the driver's seat start wearing out. I don't think it was a Honda specific issue but older cars also sometimes get stress cracks on the firewall from years driving on bumpy roads (I think this came up with the MN12 as well). Nothing that can't be fixed, but stuff you gotta worry about (I think the E46 strut towers suffered cracks as well, and that's a car ~10 years newer)
- You know how to fix THIS vehicle. Its simple enough and you'd probably know better than me if parts are still readily available.
- With any car this old, all the rubber bushings/bits will need to be swapped out as well. I suspect you factored this into your calculations already. Easy enough work, but still work and parts (you'll probably go Poly from Energy Suspension, which is what I'd do).

3) how do you back out? If its a rando, you say "I thought about it and while I think your price is fair (so they know you aren't just saying this to walk away), I simply cannot do it at this time". Or you blame your wife ("she's risk adverse in me buying this kind of car"). if its a friend/family and you don't want to risk interpersonal conflict over backing out of a deal, blaming your wife is easier (its not me, its Mrs. CDB). Most people know that even if this is the car of your dreams, noone wants to risk $4-5K over their marriage (which could cost you half of their assets in CA). Happy Wife, Happy Life and all that.

Best of luck dude. Call/text me if you want to chat more about it.
-g
 
CDsDontBurn said:
It was a pretty long skid, lol. Picture from the seller from earlier today. LMK what you guys think.

View attachment 12909



Thank you for this. It means a lot to me right now.



That one wheel peel will be pretty awesome 😎 😂
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Those tires are OLD based on the dryrot in the rain channels. I doubt its you that flatspotted his tires and there's hardly much tread left..
 
gunn said:
Those tires are OLD based on the dryrot in the rain channels. I doubt its you that flatspotted his tires and there's hardly much tread left..
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Regardless, the tires will need to be replaced. The seller knows that already and is a reason why I was able to bring down the price of the car.
 
I'm still debating internally on this car, BTW.

My wife is still onboard with the purchase.

Not buying, I could get my Honda fixed and Pearl T-Bird parts for sooner rather than later.

And of course, the house stuff previously mentioned.
 
The only reason I would jump on this car is because of the condition and the color. So, if you really not on board with the color, that will bug the crap out of you. I had a Mark VII I put tons of work into it and sold it cause I just could not figure out what to do with the paint and I was not keen on the dark metallic brown that was mostly faded away on the top part. Other than that, I could drive that car anywhere because it was so comfortable and loaded with all the amentias....but I hated the color of the car.
 
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I bought the Smurf some years ago ~6 now. My 30th rusted out and I was not ready for a different car. It’s blue with blue leather, I didn’t like it at first, it’s grown on me and I actually like it. If you want an MN12 at this point you can’t be too picky about the colors. Unless of course you’re willing to put in the work to change it.
 
Kidd-7 said:
If you want an MN12 at this point you can’t be too picky about the colors.
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It would be rare to find the exact color inside and outside that would make you wet your pants. I almost bought a white on white 92 Mark VII in excellent condition. Think I would ever find that again? Ha! Still kicking myself on that one.
 
@White Lincoln , the color isn't a deal breaker for me. Is it my favorite color? Absolutely not. But it's an otherwise great condition vehicle for sure.

It's just the other parts I've talked about already that are holding me up on making a final decision.
 
So, have you made a final decision?

Joe
 
Kidd-7 said:
If you want an MN12 at this point you can’t be too picky about the colors. Unless of course you’re willing to put in the work to change it.
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But he has an MN12 already in a better color. I’d rather have bad paint in a color I like than great paint in a color I don’t IMO
 
Rodeo Joe said:
So, have you made a final decision?

Joe
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Not yet, no.

My wife still supports the purchase, but I'm still wrangling it out in my head.

And everyone is telling me to buy it. You guys, the Honda peeps, and my friends. There's been some, 5, that have said "it's your decision", and a smaller group, 2, that have said "no" because of the house stuff.

I still can't make a decision myself.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
I'm also in favor of the purchase. Did you see @Wile E. Coyote 's Light Prairie Tan with the dark grey wheels? That looks fantastic!
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I have seen it, yes. It does look great and am also in favor of dark grey wheels on the prairie tan color.

dDUBb said:
I see a new Honda in your future. 🤔
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Honestly, new(er) Hondas are boring. The newest of the Accords I'd get would be a 2022. A Civic however, yeah, I'd get that. The current 11th Gen Civic is actually slightly larger than my current Accord, lol.
 
XR7-4.6 said:
But he has an MN12 already in a better color. I’d rather have bad paint in a color I like than great paint in a color I don’t IMO
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The 96 Tbird I had years ago as a daily driver was Laser Red. The paint was not in good shape when I got it, and the saddle brown interior was well worn. I repainted the rear bumper with color match and did everything I could to clean it up. After all the touchup paint and polishing/waxing I was always getting random compliments on how great looking it was. It was a nice-looking color combo and IMO one of the best these cars got.

dDUBb said:
I see a new Honda in your future. 🤔
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MN12s are amazing with their smooth ride, adequate power, and simple 90's design.... but they lack the level of comfort and convenience a newer car has. After years of driving a Ford with a modern SYNC system, and EcoBoost; driving my Cougar feels like going back in a time machine. I enjoy every drive in my Cougar, and it has its place in my car stable, but being a daily driver it's not very good at these days
 
So you’re hemming and hawing over a $4k bird, which will last for another 200k miles, and which you could easily resell for at least what you have into it, but at the same time you’re considering dropping $30k, plus probably a 12% interest loan, on a brand new Civic that you’d be lucky to get 150k miles out of before the garbage CVT transmission shits the bed? Just buy the damn T-bird already! When even the Honda guys are telling you to buy the V8 RWD American car, you know it’s a good deal.
 
One exercise

Search 3000-7000 price on your local craigslist with mileage filter 90-90,000

Then do the same with no price range and no mileage filter for MN12s nationwide
 
MadMikeyL said:
So you’re hemming and hawing over a $4k bird, which will last for another 200k miles, and which you could easily resell for at least what you have into it, but at the same time you’re considering dropping $30k, plus probably a 12% interest loan, on a brand new Civic that you’d be lucky to get 150k miles out of before the garbage CVT transmission shits the bed? Just buy the damn T-bird already! When even the Honda guys are telling you to buy the V8 RWD American car, you know it’s a good deal.
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I'm hemming and hawing over what $4k could be used for, this T-Bird or my home.

The Civic, I would get if money wasn't an issue and it wouldn't be an AT / CVT, it'd be an MT. In short though, I'm not even considering a Civic right now.

Wile E. Coyote said:
View attachment 12964
Get the bird.View attachment 12965
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We'd be "twinsies" if I get this gold bird, lol.

Vicinity said:
One exercise

Search 3000-7000 price on your local craigslist with mileage filter 90-90,000

Then do the same with no price range and no mileage filter for MN12s nationwide
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I will do this tonight, and report back.
 
CDsDontBurn said:
Honestly, new(er) Hondas are boring. The newest of the Accords I'd get would be a 2022. A Civic however, yeah, I'd get that. The current 11th Gen Civic is actually slightly larger than my current Accord, lol.
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One of my neighbors traded his track Subaru for whatever the newest SI model is, completely stock .. and his buddy has maybe the previous generation track prepped. They both run at some local tracks but he says he likes the car overall.

My friend just traded his Lexus for a newer Lexus .. this new one is a 23 with the hybrid engine - its almost 500 miles to the tank. The payment is somewhere around $600 x 84 months. By the way; this guy doesnt even have a job - unless you count selling weed and the occasional Uber drive.

My next door neighbor ( total douche ) .. got the brand new new GMC truck, the electric one. Doesnt even have a charger at his house; he takes it to work to charge which is no more than 15 minutes down the road. $APPL employee stock options. 🙄

What I meant was anything new(er than the last 30+ fucking years ) .. maybe not now, but plenty of options out there < priorities.
 
Between this and fixing the cat in your existing Honda and moving forward with the existing white dirty bird there’s no way in hell this idea is cheaper. If you’re not decided on it now you’re 100% going to have buyers remorse later.

I’m honestly surprised by the number of enablers going here. He has a Honda that will have parts availability until the end of mankind, and currently needs ONE part for the damn thing! That one part a lot less than this Tbird(in fact exactly about as much or less as preventive maintenance this “mint” Tbird will need). How did it escalate from his Accord needing a new cat vs. this Tbird, to brand new Honda vs. this Tbird? I get we’re all biased and in love with MN12s but the rigors of daily driver service will suck all the mint out of this car faster than you can blink, it’s not very fuel efficient for CA’s currently low, what? $5 87 octane? And the stock of quality maintenance components is at best a crapshoot, back in the day you could count on Moog, but these days Moog is Chinese shit and Mevotech is “pretty good”, and who knows what the future holds.

My attitude is just stick with what you got. They’re both known entities, and though I get the urge to impulse buy something you just have to have; I bought a motorcycle last summer, tore it down fixed a bunch of issues with it and even painted it, got a permit and even took and passed the $350 MFS course, but by that point the impulse wore off and I ended up unloading it for pretty much what I had into it(which went straight into the Cougar I’ve had for 20 years). I don’t regret it at all, as it introduced me to a whole different world of motoring (that I ultimately realized wasn’t suited for me) but if it were just another Cougar or Tbird? Been there done that, have the T-shirt.

My Cougar’s practically a sibling to me, it’s been part of my life longer than not, the only scenario I’d part ways with it is if it rusted beyond repair or I wrecked it and even then if I’d be transferring all that’s good into it into a doner MN12 to the point I’d consider it the same car in a Ship of Theseus kind of way. But know for a fact your current Tbird isn’t in a state of that far goneness, nor even your Honda. It’s a fucking Honda from the golden age of Honda(which ironically enough, so was my motorcycle! lol), throw a few bucks in it to last another 400,000 miles and finish the Tbird you have you’ve been preparing to finish for the better part of a decade. Fuck that beige distraction 😆
 
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Wile E. Coyote said:
You really should!!


If you don't, I'll make an offer on it for it to be my ProAm car.
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Hit the guy up.

Dead serious.

I won't be butt hurt if he sells it to you. I know it's staying in the community and you'll take good care of it.

I'll ask him in Sunday if you've hit him up about it. Tell him to call me to verify. Fly out here to ONT and I'll pick you up, we'll drive to this guy's place and you can drive back in this gold T-Bird.

Dead serious.
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Between this and fixing the cat in your existing Honda and moving forward with the existing white dirty bird there’s no way in hell this idea is cheaper. If you’re not decided on it now you’re 100% going to have buyers remorse later.

I’m honestly surprised by the number of enablers going here. He has a Honda that will have parts availability until the end of mankind, and currently needs ONE part for the damn thing! That one part a lot less than this Tbird(in fact exactly about as much or less as preventive maintenance this “mint” Tbird will need). How did it escalate from his Accord needing a new cat vs. this Tbird, to brand new Honda vs. this Tbird? I get we’re all biased and in love with MN12s but the rigors of daily driver service will suck all the mint out of this car faster than you can blink, it’s not very fuel efficient for CA’s currently low, what? $5 87 octane? And the stock of quality maintenance components is at best a crapshoot, back in the day you could count on Moog, but these days Moog is Chinese shit and Mevotech is “pretty good”, and who knows what the future holds.

My attitude is just stick with what you got. They’re both known entities, and though I get the urge to impulse buy something you just have to have; I bought a motorcycle last summer, tore it down fixed a bunch of issues with it and even painted it, got a permit and even took and passed the $350 MFS course, but by that point the impulse wore off and I ended up unloading it for pretty much what I had into it(which went straight into the Cougar I’ve had for 20 years). I don’t regret it at all, as it introduced me to a whole different world of motoring (that I ultimately realized wasn’t suited for me) but if it were just another Cougar or Tbird? Been there done that, have the T-shirt.

My Cougar’s practically a sibling to me, it’s been part of my life longer than not, the only scenario I’d part ways with it is if it rusted beyond repair or I wrecked it and even then if I’d be transferring all that’s good into it into a doner MN12 to the point I’d consider it the same car in a Ship of Theseus kind of way. But know for a fact your current Tbird isn’t in a state of that far goneness, nor even your Honda. It’s a fucking Honda from the golden age of Honda(which ironically enough, so was my motorcycle! lol), throw a few bucks in it to last another 400,000 miles and finish the Tbird you have you’ve been preparing to finish for the better part of a decade. Fuck that beige distraction 😆
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This has honestly been my train of thought if I don't get it. Dump $1,000 into my Honda and give it another 400k. Also dump $1,000 into the T-Bird to get the complete braking system I want out of it. At that point, it would just need a battery and tires.

The escalation of my 25yr old Accord to a 2025 Civic was compliments of @dDUBb and my making a mention that I would get that car if I could. But I'm not going to fork over $40k on a Civic, lol.

Anyway, still trying to decide. My wife just reaffirmed with me about 20min ago that she's still good with this gold T-Bird. She's even already named it, LOL 😂.
 
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