Cobra reliability

ZWell, I know she isn't in the years you specified but "Shug" is the best, most reliable car I have ever owned. Other than ordinary wear and tear, never a problem with her.

Kate

With normal maintance you can see at LEAST 150K with these engines.

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I have a '99 cobra, bought new and have 38K on it right now. Other than three sets of "Z"rated tires...no problems at all. Really pleased!

Gone through 2 sets already? On your 3rd? Jeezus.. stop burning those tires. OH that reminds me... a dude driving a 93 Cobra talked BADLY of his 99 Cobra that he sold.. he said it was the worst running car he's ever had.. is this true? I never would have suspected any problems w/ a 99 Cobra... or any Cobra for that matter. Nobody else has ever complained. I'm sure he's BS'ing.

-Mike

Other than all the recalls, which were several, I haven't had one lick of trouble. Runs like a champ and has been very reliable. I think that sometimes you'll find others who do not do the normal amount of maintenance and do abuse their wheels. Then if there is a problem it is the manufacturer's fault. Otherwords...BS'ing.

Ok cool ;D

maintenance

Maybe he was upset that he got rid of it and blamed his decision on the car itself. Sometimes at bowling, when a player is in a slump, they blame the ball instead of looking at what is attached to the arm that throws the ball down the lane! :-D

A fellow bowler, I see. I'm out of the sport now for the most part, but I used to bowl quite a bit, worked at my local house, etc...

People will blame anything... the ball, the lane conditions, the temperature, other people around them, the scoring or pinsetting equipment.. just to not place the blame on themselves.

Now for the Cobra-related content.

I own a '97. My brother owned both a '99 and an '01.

He wrecked the '99. We all think he was going too fast and lost control. He seems to think the rear end siezed up on him (as was actually a problem in that year)... and by the way Ford bought the car up *immediately* afterwards, it's hard to say.

The '01 had a new engine installed at 4000 miles due to a ticking and a pretty big oil leak. He had problems with the transmission too (not sure if he had the T-45 or the Tremec transmission)... but part of that had to do with the fact that his girlfriend (now wife, who made him sell the car) couldn't drive it right... either that or she purposely beat on it to break it and talk him into selling it.

That's a whole different story.... lol..

My '97, OTOH, has been nothing but rock solid reliable. I run the car hard, and it's handled everything I've thrown at it. My only complaint is the flexible chassis (still need to get my subs welded on) and the miserable T-45 trans, which didn't hit 2nd right at 24k miles on the clock, and is just getting progressively worse at 45k miles. It was stolen and beat on for an evening this past summer, came home running like a champ. Not an issue whatsoever.

The 4.6 has been proven quite reliable... I've been in NYC limos (non-stretched Lincoln Town Cars) with 300,000+ miles on the clock... I can't remember if those are the DOHC cars or not (I think so), but both the DOHC and SOHC has proven itself to be a very reliable engine with proper maintenance.

JS

Wellllll, I have to say that I do drive rather conservatively and only bark the tires every once in a while. (Which is easy to do). I think the Z rated tires are made to provide superb traction and their lifespan is only about 10-12K if you take care of them.

I have been very pleased with this car and yes, I do admire the new ones, but mine is paid off and looks good and has the beef if I need it.

Hey there,

No problems with a Cobra as a daily driver. I put just over 50 miles on mine Monday through Friday (has about 62,000 on it right now). No problems other than the expected normal wear and tear (tires, oil changes, etc).

Page

Cobras tend to be driven hard.

Think about it.

doc

and your point is.....???

That possibly the rest of us occasionally DO drive ours hard...

and the cars are holding up! speaks well for the Cobra in my book!

Kate

And sporty cars similar to the cobra are not driven hard ? Take care of your cobra and your cobra will take care of you.

Fred

My point is simply that buying a used performance car is something that needs to be well-thought out. Used Cobras aren't cheap and if the engine needs to be replaced, the total cost could rival the cost of a new one.

Sure. I drive my GT hard, occasionally. Even so, Ford doesn't cover any damage due to "racing." Why is that, do you think?

My '94 GT has held up extremely well and now has about 120,000 miles on it. No major problems at all. Still, I'd think twice before I bought a used Cobra or any other high-performance automobile.

Yup, they are, which is why a prospective buyer needs to put some serious thought into buying a used performance car.

But I totally agree with you: take care of your car. Regular maintenance is the most important factor in any car's lasting performance. You just never know how the previous owner did on that, though.

I've now got almost 100K on my 96' Cobra (sniff sniff). It's by far the most reliable car I've ever had. 2 sets of tires (on my third), a clutch, a battery, and a new oil cooler (i've never heard of these going bad, but mine had a leak). Other than that perfect car. What's even more amazing is I have original brakes. My rears need replacing in the next 5K but my fronts still look good. Unbelievable concidering how I drive.

I have dragged 1/4 miles about 100 runs. I have autocrossed a dozen times. On the street I'm a little more careful, but I definitely push it in the twisties. All I do is drive professionally (no excessive burnouts, I'd rather accelerate fast), and service my Cobra at regular intervals (3K).

I think this engine is about as rock solid as Ford makes them.

AR

Doc,

I think used Cobras are the best deal going. Most are bought by older adults, then garaged, babied are have very few miles put on them. Many are then sold after about 4-5 years of ownership because the owner wants a new toy that has come along and/or they realize they're not a car collector.

I think GTs are the ones that tend to be abused more.

Patrick '93 Cobra (bought used in '98, with 44,000 miles and in perfect all-original shape) '83 LTD (Bought in 2000 with 36,000 original miles)

I'll agree w/ that. I think GTs are abused more... and I mean that both by driven hard more often & sometimes not driven as well (careless drivers and/or inexperienced drivers).

-Mike