looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

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looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

October 21, 2004, 10:17:22 PM

My son is turning 16 in December.

I was looking at an 87 cougar
paint faded might be black or dark blue (was raining and dark out today)
clear coat not peeling
no dents
no rust

all power (seats,locks,,ect....)
interior is gray looks OK no riped seats from what I could see
am/fm cassette

3.8 L V6 auto
117,000 miles
stock tires/rims
$$ 1400.00

What do you all think?
Any problems with the high mileage V6?
The price was $ 1900.00 then they droped it down to $ 1400.00

side note
I have an 86 Bird with a 5.0

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #1 – October 22, 2004, 10:21:50 AM

Probably the biggest problem people would say would be the head gaskets.

Also it be better to learn with a lower powerd car so its more harder to do somthing quick and stupied

If you look over it carefully and everything is ship shape, It might be worth the $1400

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #2 – October 23, 2004, 08:47:18 PM

Eliminate the "V6" problems by not buying a V6. Don't worry about "too much power" in any stock Thuderbird/Cougar, 150hp for a V8 is not going to get ANYONE in trouble. You can pay that much for a V8 Thunderbird or even a turbo coupe. So don't waste your time on a V6 that will be a hastle if it doesn't run well and your son can't win any drag races. =) Look for a nice one with a V8 and it will be much more reliable. Besides, throw some flowmasters on there and no kid could be happier. IMHO.

-Bryan

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #3 – October 25, 2004, 11:07:00 AM

I couldn't agree more with bduly. The only thing the 3.8s are good for are either parts or an engine swap candidate, then again I think all birds are engine swap candidates, but get a 5.0 as they are three times as reliable, especially if he keeps the car for a while and decides to do something with it some time in the future. Happy hunting

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #4 – October 25, 2004, 07:15:56 PM

Yea thanks all I think I will pass on this car.

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #5 – October 25, 2004, 07:58:47 PM

Except MAYBE for the low mileage, which I doubt is worth that much, that price is a bit up there. The seller of my V6 auto mostly-loaded '86 Bird wanted $700 for it, with just under 165k miles on it at the time.

The V6 Birds/Cougars are decent, from my personal experience with them.. but I'd also pass on that "deal".

On a side note: The quickest way to ruin any car is to give it to a teenager, no matter how long they've been around cars and/or how well they have been taught about them. My poor '78 Pinto's (my first daily-driver, to school and to Dominos) engine literally exploded the week after I sold it to a guy at work. Even though my old man had taught me pretty well about cars, I still couldn't resist screwing around with it. So I'm kinda glad you're turning it down. I'd hate to see any Bird/Cougar.. turbo-4, V6, V8.. be subjected to teen desires. Don't get me wrong, I'm not accusing your son or any other teenager of automatically being insane behind the wheel.. just that my philosophy tends towards putting teens in underpowered and/or inconsequential brands of automobile. The '78 Corolla (back when they were RWD) I got after the Pinto was a good car for me at that age. Finished learning to drive a stick on it, it got great mileage, and honestly.. who cares if a Toyota Corolla s out? :D That car survived two significant accidents that weren't my fault.. (hit from behind hard enough to break the first two notches on the seat reclining mechanism, and T-boned hard enough to spin me 180) and went on to die in the only accident that WAS my fault. (hit a lawn service trailer and popped the radiator)

If I were to ever give a car with a real name for itself (Thunderbird, Mustang, Cougar, etc.. even the old Fox Capris) to a teen, I think I would make sure that the car didn't operate.. and let the teen fix it up while they drive something else, if they wanted to.

OK, I'm just rambling.. but on the eve of getting my second T-bird, I'm waxing a bit nostalgic.. heh.. sorry.

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #6 – October 25, 2004, 09:30:10 PM

My First Car [see sig] (Drove it pretty responsibly when I first got it actually, only the occasional burn out and powersliding only in the wintertime) She's still a beaut after owning her for 4 years now. Of course I drove my parents beater Caprice [with a 350 :) ] for a few months before I bought my car. Although I do beleive that your son should buy his own car, but thats not for me to decide. Actually I don't think that price is all that bad if it is in great shape without rust. I paid $1700 for my car in Dec. of 2000 and it had 119k on it at that time.

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #7 – October 26, 2004, 02:06:13 AM

When i turned 16 I learned to drive stick on my dad's Turbo Coupe. Since he van-pooled to work I got to drive the turbo to school everyday. Once I found my sport when i was 17, my dad and I bought it together. Thus I have been driving Thunderbirds since I was 16 and have never gotten in an accident. Now that I am 21, the only things I have done to the car are what you see that makes it look and perform so nice. "Teenage drivers" are a myth that everyone scares themselves into believeing. I've always been good to my car yet had a blast street racing, burnouts, donuts on rival high school's lawn, etc.. even playing around on frozen lakes where I go to college. Teens can drive, but no one wants them to think that. IMHO

-Bryan

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #8 – October 26, 2004, 02:48:10 AM

"scares themselves"? Mmkay, sure, whatever you say.

You know, I guess I never was actually a teenager.. I somehow skipped right to 33 and never had those experiences. :rolleyes:

Ten years from now when you've actually put a few years between yourself and your teenage years, you may look at this a bit differently.

EDIT:

Quote

had a blast street racing, burnouts, donuts on rival high school's lawn, etc..

Where do you think the whole teenagers-abuse-cars thing comes from?

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #9 – October 26, 2004, 06:28:05 AM

All teenagers beat on their cars even if just a little, saying you never did anything stupid with your car when you were a kid is

I havn't done anything terribly bad with my car but that is because I had to pay for my car myself doing yard work @ $5/hour as I have every other car, bike, snowmobile I have ever owned.

I believe as SSX said that he should buy his own car with his own money but thats just my :2c: and if you decide to buy your son a vehicle there's no problem with that but as they say "easy come easy go". I grew up in a household where money was tight and there were no hand outs, if you wanted something you worked and pinched pennys till you could afford it. And I learned to appreciate everything I had and looked after it even if it was , which in my experience is why a teen who buys their own car will look after it better than one who has one given to them (but there are exceptions!)

But now my rant has gotten off topic so I'm gonna go! :shoothead

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #10 – October 26, 2004, 10:53:51 AM

a teen is the worst thing that can happen to a car. Look at me. At 17 driving for just over a year, I have gotten my car stuck with the front wheels off of the ground in a parkinglot, knocked over a fire hydrant(i dont think that that one was my fault, blind curve to an accident with cars behind, I chose the hydrant over about 10 cars, driving without insurance and all). I am not the best driver, but I am definately not the worst. I have at least decided that burnouts are the worst thing you can do to a car, especially if you power brake. Think about how many things that you are stressing. Brakes, rearend, engine, tranny,and more. I have at least done more good then not. But like tbirdscott, making 5.50 an hour, I'll bet there arent too many people who have spent as much money(I was gonna put time, but you have seen erics site) compaired to how much the get then me. I got a total of about $200 a week and ALL of it went to the car, or gas for the car.I have replaced the drivers door, window, mirrors(twice), tail lights(twice) 3 or 4 sets of tires, two rims, two mini spares, tuneups, brake rotors, drivers seat, steering colum, intake manifold, lots of hoses(a whole set at least once) misc interior items, and lots more that I cant think of, and probably over 20 hours spent in a junk yard(lately in the rain too). I might have ruined the look of the car by spray painting it, But at least it isnt rusting anymore. I plan on compleatly resorting this car. I dont treat my car as good as most of you on the board, But if I wouldnt have taken an intrest in my car, It would be a little block of steel right now. At least it is driven.

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #11 – October 26, 2004, 04:39:27 PM

well, its rather funny that im a teen, and i have done anything to damage my car, i do drive fast and aggressive at times, but ive never hit anything, ive been off the road once, havnt caused an accident, havnt been in an accident, and my car has only improved since ive owned it...i guess im the worst thing for my car huh?

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #12 – October 26, 2004, 06:36:50 PM

I destory every car I have and i'm 21... what does that say?

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #13 – October 26, 2004, 07:22:21 PM

It says that everybody is different, some people drive it like they stole it and some drive it like a grandma on her way to church, some people like to look after their stuff and some couldnt care less. everybody is different

Re: looking at an 87 cougar for my son's 16 B-day What would you do?

Reply #14 – October 27, 2004, 10:55:16 AM

I beat the out of my first car and 2nd car and the 3rd then I learned my lesson.

I just recently bout an 86 cougar v6 with the 232 cid engine.
paid $1400. and this car is better than any other car I ever owned.
:barf: