Any 2004 convertible issues to watch out for?

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SunnyFun

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Jun 22, 2017
So a friend may be selling their 2004 (I think) Thunderbird convertible because of life changes. They got it a few years ago, and I don't know much more than that other than they have the hardtop in their garage too. They are not for sure selling yet, but I expect them to.

What I'm curious about is are there any big things to watch out for? I trust them to tell me if there are any known issues with the car, but some makes/models of vehicles have common trouble issues, so thought I'd ask.

We have always wanted a convertible, and are looking at this as maybe a chance to have one since I think we will be able to get it for the CarMax trade-in value.

Any thoughts?

Sunny (hope to be a regular here!)
 
Hi, Sunny. Will be watching this thread as I bought a 2004 convertible last Sep. Always wanted one and after a life change I said What the heck and pulled the trigger. I have service records for the last four years. It appears there are no cheap fixes if the House of Ford is involved.

Have not put many miles on mine but am enjoying it very much. Hope you get one.

Cheers, JW in Dixie
 
I heeded his advice and a set rides in my trunk, where I hope they will remain and never be needed. Like insurance, carrying an umbrella on cloudy days, etc.
 
Sounds like a great opportunity. If the people "liked" the car, they have probably taken care of it and if it needed something, attended to it.
And getting it at the CarMax tradein value, is very fair.

So from what you described the only thing you will have to watch for is having too much fun and getting too good of a deal.
If you drive the car, you'll twist their arms to sell it to you. (What color is it?)
 
The color is merlot, with a tan interior. Softtop is tan, hardtop is merlot. You can see more photos here if you are interested: http://*********/a/buu26

For a few various reasons we may not go the CarMax route, but determining pricing is hard. Several things not quite as good as I'd hoped, and they have only had this vehicle for a few years, putting only 4k miles on it. They didn't put many miles on it because of lots of reasons not related to the car, they loved the car. Ran an autocheck on the VIN since they didn't know much of the history and this car has been around, details below. Looks like it was leased, then a fleet vehicle, and has seen a couple of auctions.

Autocheck Score is a 69, with similar vehicle range being 73-85. This basically tells me this is a substandard representation of this car, being below the range. But it is not drastically below the range, and I think what hurts the score the most is it was a fleet vehicle and has seen several autions/owners. Not sure how concerning this is.

History:

-01/2004, CA, born
-03/2004, CA, Title with Lien (assume somebody leased or purchased it)
-01/2008, Pacific SW, 47,959 miles, Reported at Auto Auction announced as Fleet/LEASE
-02/2008, Desert Southwest 47,967 miles, Auto Auction announced as Fleet/Lease
-02/2018, AZ, 47967 miles, title
-04/2008, AZ, title, registration etc.
-Various emission and registration events
-11/2011, AZ, In dealer inventory, color reported as maroon
-11/2011, AZ, 108,000 miles, passed emission but this mileage was maybe inaccurately entered? At least no odometer flags were on the report
-02/2012, IA, 103,244 miles Title/Registration event/renewal
-06/2013, duplicate title
-07/2013 103,920 miles title registration event/renewal
-06/2014, 111,031 miles, Midwest region, reported at auction as Dealer Vehicle, then next day just reported at auction
-07/2014, the person I know purchases the vehicle from a used car lot and drives it 4k miles between then and now, all in summer and it sits in the garage the rest of the time.

Some photos of issues:

Driver seat pretty warn, with seat band pulling away from the leather

http://i.*********/D74OEAR.jpg

Some odd epoxy or something in a few spots

http://i.*********/ZRfpw0a.jpg

One to two panels seem to be pulled away a bit

http://i.*********/Vl5JYxL.jpg

Black marks on the softtop on both sides couldn't be removed with a professional detailer (who used to be the premiere detailer in the area)

http://i.*********/2vMTyYT.jpg

Scratch and medium plate sized dent (lots of circular scratches and a few long ones on hood that I didn't get a photo of but are hard to see too if not in the sun)

http://i.*********/2fHNRHU.jpg

More photos: http://*********/a/buu26

Probably should have had a mechanic take a look, but she drove nice, was quiet, and seemed to be fine. My wife thought she felt a bit of a shimmy and I noticed it once going over rough road, but maybe this is just a stiffer suspension than we are used to?

The only other thing the owner mentioned is some of the lights are not working, such as the lights down on the gear shifter and something else. Maybe a fuse?

I don't know, in the excitement, I offered $6,000 and they are thinking about it. I believe they probably wanted closer to $8,000. But after getting the history report, I'm not so sure (but would honor my offer).

Any thoughts (if anyone made it this far)?
 
Hmmm........that's a horse of a different color........oops The color is fine, in fact probably the most elegant and sought after of the entire series run.

On the other hand, the pictures and details show this particular car has been "around".

Unless "price" is the biggest factor, there are many, much nicer renditions available.

If you purchase this car (I'd guess the CarMax value to be 3-4 thousand dollars, maybe less), you might be fine and only have to put in a few additional thousands to get it up to standard.

On the other hand you could end up spending $10000 getting it right and you'd still have a one hundred thousand mile plus car which if you had to turn around and sell it would only bring maybe 7 or 8 (and would be a "hard sell").

I have a Merlot with 40000 miles on it and it is like brand new in almost every way with nothing needed and there are probably 20 or 30 of them available to buy, on the internet right now.

Unless you feel compelled to take this car, for some reason, I think you'd be wise to see what's available first and compare them all. I don't see any reason to "snap it up".
 
Thank you for the reply. Finding those 20-30 on the internet....I've really only used autotrader and carmax for searching. Any other sources I should be looking at?
 
Since you asked. I have 3 and I'm selling 2, I love all three and don't want to part with any of them, but, you can guess that I have many reasons why I need to get down to one. I didn't mention it before, because I wanted my response to your inquiry as helpful as possible and in the spirit of this forum, which I've gained so much from. Members give here without expectation of getting something for it, but since you asked............

There are many other resources for finding them. Cars.com probably has the most listings, Carguru.com, Carsforsale.com, Craigslist.

Locating a car is one thing (there are plenty for sale), buying it and knowing what you're getting and what you're not getting is another matter.
The good news is these are great cars and because people bought them out of love, they likely took good care of them. However, some owners don't know much about cars and so may not have known when something needed to be attended to or how to properly maintain them. These cars do have a couple of "problem" areas that if you know about them can be fixed and maintained properly. If not, can be a money pit, nightmare for the owner.

If I can help, feel free to call on me...that's the point of these forums. My ownership of a Tbird has been so greatly enhanced by input and knowledge shared by the members (And in every case, I've found them to be great human beings, as well........it must be something about the car.)

All the best.
 
I have a 2004 with 77,000 miles. It has had several repetitive cooling system issues as well as the above stated coils problem. It currently has leaking valve cover gaskets. The A/C is blowing hot on one side and cool on other which I hope is the dual climate control valve rather than blend door. The CD player has been jammed for several months. I have read up on these same issues here on this board over past few years. The car has been well maintained, a beauty to admire but I do not even think of driving it past it's 50 mile towing radius. It goes back in the shop again next Monday.
 
My 2004 now has 51000 on it. I bought it with 47000 over two years ago and have put about $1500 into it for power steering leaks, new rear wheel bearings, oil cooler gasket and other general maintenance issues. The car is now 13 years old and has no issues at all and I enjoy it very much. With attention to care buy one with under 50000 miles and enjoy.
 
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