2011-12 or 2013 mustang? What to look for?

[cenok is family]

Let me start by saying I apologize if this question gets asked a lot, I tried to search but couldn't really find what I was looking for.

New member here, I hope to find a new home with the coyote crowd. I've had many fox bodies over the past almost 20 years, but decided it's time to get into something a little newer and safer for my 11 month old daughter. I am looking to buy a 2011-2014 mustang gt with a manual trans this week, but in all honesty, I don't know much about these cars aside from having yote's in them. I had an 05 F150 with the notorious 5.4 3v that I just sold a few days ago, so i'm not entirely new to mod motors, just coyotes. Anyways, to my question...

I only plan on spending up to around $17k for one, so 98% of my options are 2011/12's with a few 13's littered in. I have yet to see a 14 in my range so that's why i'm not really including them. I'm driving down to Texas in a few days (I live in Oklahoma) to look at three, possibly four different Premium GT's. Two of them are 2011's, one is 2012, and one is a 2013. All are between 60-70k miles on them. Is there anything I need to know or look for when I'm checking these cars out?

Thanks for your help!

Oh also, one 2011, the 2012, and the 2013 all appear to be stock, dealer trade-ins (all at dealerships), and the other 2011 is a private seller. The 2011 from the private seller is the one i'm most interested in and pretty much has a full exhaust, lowered, pan hard bar, and an SCT x4 with Lund "cam" tune which I assume is a ghost cam tune. What is the deal with ghost cam tunes? Are there any advantages to them or do they only make the car sound lopey? If there is no performance gain to them, I plan on getting rid of that tune if I end up buying that one. I don't plan on doing a lot of modding for a while since the car will be my daily and I'm going to need it to last a while. At most for a while I just want exhaust, intake, and a tune, hence why I'm most interested in the private seller's car.

Again, thank you for any and all help!

 

[OX1]

Listen for squeaks from the front lower control arms.
Large bushing is right next to cats and gets baked daily.
Ford came out with a new arm that has a heat shield to try and help.


http://luxjo.supermotors.net/MUSTANG GT/FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM/mustang TSB 13-9-3.pdf

You can buy just the shields from ford, and I made my
own brackets. Trying to stem the problem from the get go.

More pics and bracket dimensions.

http://luxjo.supermotors.net/MUSTANG GT/FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM/HEAT SHIELD/

 

[cenok is family]

Listen for squeaks from the front lower control arms.
Large bushing is right next to cats and gets baked daily.
Ford came out with a new arm that has a heat shield to try and help.


http://luxjo.supermotors.net/MUSTANG GT/FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM/mustang TSB 13-9-3.pdf

You can buy just the shields from ford, and I made my
own brackets. Trying to stem the problem from the get go.

More pics and bracket dimensions.

http://luxjo.supermotors.net/MUSTANG GT/FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM/HEAT SHIELD/

Awesome, thank you very much!

 

[TGR96]

I really can't comment on the 2011-12's, but I have had my '13 base 6M for nearly five years and 50K on the clock, and I have not had a single issue that I didn't cause (rear axles seals went bad after my first track day in it when I didn't turn off the traction control ).

If I were you, I'd look for non-modified, one owner cars. You can do the mods that you mentioned yourself for not a lot of coin. Although you can save money by buying a car with mods, one of the fun things about owning a Mustang is doing your own stuff to it to "make it your own." Plus, and this is just my theory, stock cars have probably not been driven as hard as modded cars. But on these cars, that kinda doesn't matter. The drive train is pretty reliable.

 

[Mr. Q]

Damn i wish you were near me, I'd try to sell you mine lol

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[skaarlaj]

I'd personally try to find one with the biggest blower, turbo, etc! Seriously though, just use your instincts on your test drive. Alot of people don't like the first year of a new design, I bought my used 2011, and have no regrets at all. In other words, if you drive an older one, or one with a few extra miles, don't shy away from it if the car looks, feels the way it should. On the other hand, don't jump into something if you think it's a bit too much money, or if something doesn't seem right. Take your time, and get the color you want.

Also, no performance gain from the "cam" tunes, just sound to satisfy the old schoolers. Personally, I'm happier with these new cars / engines that don't have to lope / chop to make good power in the upper rev range NA. People can wonder about my car all they want when it's sittin there idling, it's what happens when the pedal's depressed that I'm concerned about, hahaha!

 

[TenSpeed]

41k on my '13 so far and the only issues I have had:

Rear main seal leaked - fixed under warranty
Drivers side LED fog light stopped working - replaced under warranty
Radio screen developed haze on the inside of display - replaced under warranty
HVAC main unit stopped working - fixed at cost

 

[bujeezus]

I would personally never buy the first year a model came out.