I’m new here (just transferred over from GIXXER.com). I am thinking about purchasing a 98’ Cobra w/ 50,000 miles. Car is very clean both inside and out, but the mileage has me a little leery! A buddy (who is a lifelong Mustang enthusiast) told me not to worry about that on the basis that they’re generally very dependable cars and fairly easy to work on. Any input that you could provide would be most appreciated.
50,000 on a '98 is not very many miles at all, that is just over 8000 miles a year.
Cobra's do tend to be fairly dependable, having a hand built engine and being performance engineered really help. Cobra's do tend to have been driven harder than your average used car, but they can take it too.
I was unlucky, my engine let go a month after i bought my car. Mine had over 100,000 miles though. The dealer payed for half the work so, and teh SVT mechanic said its only the second Cobra engine he has ever seen take a dump, given that this is one of the top 5 dealers in the country, and is also top 5 in SVT sales since their inception, I think he has seen his fair share of cobras.
You can drive the **** out of them, and as long as you take care to maintain it properly, it will last you forever.
The 4.6 DOHC found in early cobras was widely considered one of the stoutest factory engines produced, until the '03-'04 ones came out with forged internals.
Thanks for the info, Kulak. I presume that the dealer that you are referring to is Woodhouse (*considering we’re geographical neighbors)? I’ve also noticed throughout my research that the Cobra tends to hold its value very well and are somewhat hard to come by. I’m probably going to take a close look at the car tomorrow, then decide if I want to pull the trigger or not. The wife has officially signed off on it (*with the only exception being her concern for the mileage factor, for which I told her that I would investigate – ergo this post)…
P.S. – That’s some nice work you did to the interior of your 97’ – very sharp car all-around! :thumbup
josh, i have a 98 cobra,and i must say, it takes a good beating and begs for more. how much do they want for the cobra? those are low miles. many many more miles left on that dohc.
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1998 SVT Cobra #4941 of 5174 built on June 19,1998
4.30s, Speedcal, WMS CAI, Pro 5.0 shifter, Sniper Tuner, March pulleys, Mac O/R H pipe, Flowmaster orig. 40's, King Cobra clutch, D/S rotors, FRPP 9mm's, Max. Motorsports C/C plates, Termy front control arms, H&R SS springs, MM solid steering rack bushings, Tokico HP struts and shocks, Mac subrames, HID Bi-Xenon 6000k kit, Saleen 18" wheels, Saleen S-281 spoiler, sequential tails
Up Next: Termi diff, 31 spline Axles, LPW girdle, MM LCAs
Their asking 14k for her, but since I’m buddies with one of the sales people, I think that I can talk em down a bit. I did some research and that seems like the going rate. I’ll probably go have a look this afternoon. I have a mechanic friend who is willing to look it over also.
josh, i have a 98 cobra,and i must say, it takes a good beating and begs for more. how much do they want for the cobra? those are low miles. many many more miles left on that dohc.
Also, what about the life of the rest of the car (clutch wear, brakes, water/fuel pump, etc)? I ran over 130,000 on my Altima and with regular maintenance, the only thing to go bad was the alternator and AC unit (and that was around 115,000). (I suppose a lot of that has to do with how the previous owner treated the vehicle and consistency of preventive maintenance.)
well, in my opinion, i thin 14k is kinda high. i paind 11k for mine about 6 months ago. but mine had 70k. mustangs (usually) are very dependable cars. take care of your stang, and she'll take care of you. i've had 4 other cars and they were all stangs. my 81 i-6 i got with 81k miles, i sold it with 130k and had no major problems. my 82 capri rs had 135k when i sold it and i loved it. my 89 lx coupe 5.0 i drove til 130k also.that gave me zero problems. and i drove that for 65k miles! and my last car ,my 97 gt,had 127k when i sold it. i drove that from 78k on. the only thing that i really had to replace was the clutch.oh ya, and my intake cracked too, but that was covered under warranty. and that only occurs on the 96-98 gts,NOT on the cobras. i say try to talk him down a little lower. and if that doesn't work out, start searching for another cobra.these cars are bad ass!
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1998 SVT Cobra #4941 of 5174 built on June 19,1998
4.30s, Speedcal, WMS CAI, Pro 5.0 shifter, Sniper Tuner, March pulleys, Mac O/R H pipe, Flowmaster orig. 40's, King Cobra clutch, D/S rotors, FRPP 9mm's, Max. Motorsports C/C plates, Termy front control arms, H&R SS springs, MM solid steering rack bushings, Tokico HP struts and shocks, Mac subrames, HID Bi-Xenon 6000k kit, Saleen 18" wheels, Saleen S-281 spoiler, sequential tails
Up Next: Termi diff, 31 spline Axles, LPW girdle, MM LCAs
well, in my opinion, i thin 14k is kinda high. i paind 11k for mine about 6 months ago. but mine had 70k. mustangs (usually) are very dependable cars. take care of your stang, and she'll take care of you. i've had 4 other cars and they were all stangs. my 81 i-6 i got with 81k miles, i sold it with 130k and had no major problems. my 82 capri rs had 135k when i sold it and i loved it. my 89 lx coupe 5.0 i drove til 130k also.that gave me zero problems. and i drove that for 65k miles! and my last car ,my 97 gt,had 127k when i sold it. i drove that from 78k on. the only thing that i really had to replace was the clutch.oh ya, and my intake cracked too, but that was covered under warranty. and that only occurs on the 96-98 gts,NOT on the cobras. i say try to talk him down a little lower. and if that doesn't work out, start searching for another cobra.these cars are bad ass!
Yea, I agree (too high). I test drove it and an 02 GT w/ 31K miles (still has 6-mos & 5k miles left on factory warrenty) that they’re asking 14,995 for (loaded, leather, anti-theft, 6-disc changer, etc, etc). The SVT isn’t as clean as they said, but is still impressive. Plus, when I test drove them, not sure but it almost seemed like the 02 GT pulled harder than the 98 SVT??????? Bear in mind the test drive was in traffic and didn’t really have a chance to take her out and stretch her legs. So I’m on the fence. I must admit that I was more impressed with the 02 GT, but won’t pay em asking price for the SVT. I’d prob pay 12,500 at most. They won’t budge on the GT (and NADA has em in the ballpark). We’ll see – I’ll let you know what shakes out…..
not exactly, A mach 1 is more comparable to a 96-98 cobra.
Anyhow, I could tell a major difference between my 97 and any GT I have ever driven, If you cant feel the defference then you might want to steer clear of that cobra, it could be on its last leg.
I have had several new GT owners take my car for a spin and they all say the same things, DAMN! do you have a blower in that thing or something? which I don't, driveline is all stock.
not exactly, A mach 1 is more comparable to a 96-98 cobra.
Anyhow, I could tell a major difference between my 97 and any GT I have ever driven, If you cant feel the defference then you might want to steer clear of that cobra, it could be on its last leg.
I have had several new GT owners take my car for a spin and they all say the same things, DAMN! do you have a blower in that thing or something? which I don't, driveline is all stock.
Yea, it (the Cobra) wasn’t as clean as I thought either. Probably pass on it. Do you think that’s a fair price for the GT? ($14,995 @ 31,000 miles).
Newb’ with question about 98’ Cobra… 
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