Hey all. This is my first post. This coming Saturday I should be driving home with either a 03 or 06 Auto Sedan.

I spent over 10 years with a 2003 Mustang GT that I bought new in 2002. I had a span of bad luck, major car wreck, and than a major bike wreck so this will be my first car in over 2 years. I have to say I'm a little worried though. My experience with Mustangs from late 90's into the mid 2000 models is through the roof. Imports right now to me is like a whole different language. I'm happy though just it feels like in my eyes I'm going from that Mustang expert to a total noob. FYI I'm 35 years old so I'm not new to the world and cars. I just haven't owned a used car since I was 18 or 19. My Mustang since I was the sole owner and kept up to date with preventative maintence I knew it wasn't going to break down on me. Until my wreck I made a 9-10 year stretch without 1 single mechanical failure other than the battery and a drag strip rear end break on slicks. I'm out of the dragging world though.

The price difference on the 03 vs 06 is about $3,500. Neither is a issue. Is there any certain specific thing I should look at with the car before buying it? I've already been hands on with the car. It is immaculate in condition aside from 1 of the headlights looks to be restored or new vs the other.

I'm trying to find more specific info on these cars and options besides the basics. Like I want to know if it has options ordered from the factory (suspension, or any other option) I'm a modder. Every single possible part on my Mustang was aftermarket other than the stock shortblock. I like free mods and swaps from other variants onto mine if there is any.

Thanks in advance

 

Age means nothing when swag is life
More often than not it's usually better to go with the newer model of a generation.
What are the conditions of these 2 vehicles, mileage, maintenance...etc?
This will be more telling of how they will be down the road

 

2003 and 2006 at the same car lot. 140 and 150k on each. As far as visual, as near mint condition as a 10-13 year old cars can get. The 06 had to have been garage kept. It looks amazing in person. The 03 looks just as good but doesn't have that little "extraness" the 06 has to it. I'm going back Saturday as I've already been there once but I always give myself an extra week after I'm ready to drive a car home to just give myself some more time to research and think about it. This was a car I was eyeballing the last month or so. My other car choice was a same timeframe Cadillac CTS. I always plan to keep something years when I buy it so I just make sure you know. As my last car I kept a decade. I do not have info on maintenance records like a lot of cars. IMO used cars are almost always a guessing game on how it was treated. That car salesman tactic of a little ole lady drove this car to and from church thing, lol. In my eyes when I hear that I think wow it went 2 years without an ole change, hoped 500 curbs in its lifetime and had diesel ran through it by accident. He didn't say this but anything they say referring to anything I take it for what it is you know. The description says both are AWD. Is there anyway I can tell what options are on it that wasn't standard. I use the front seat and interior as a big example of how the car was treated. The person was light in weight I know. Not much traffic showing many passengers. Either a single person owned the car or a business man or woman. I detail cars sometimes and in the past and can't find any visual evidence of even spills or burns anywhere. The limited amount of wear on the driver seat is very minimal. Less than what I did in a 10 year and 75k miles in my 03 Mustang GT. All fluids, etc look good but again a tuneup prior to being sold is all this takes too. Oil doesn't have issues. Car runs fine.

One of the headlight assemblies is the typical yellowish glazed. I've restored headlights before with some wet sanding, drill with buffer and rubbing/polishing compound. Do I have a cheaper option with a new stock headlight assembly.

 

Good luck let us know what you get. Brand new oem headlights run over $1000. Therefore I'm stuck with gawdy "halo" lights until way after I save up for some work wheels haha.

 

Sounds like you know what you're doing so that's a good thing. I own an 05 sedan and have had it for 7 years. Like you I do all of my maintenance and almost all of my mods but when I bought the car I didn't know diddly squat about Japanese cars. Through this forum and some friends I discovered it's actually a fairly easy car to work on much to my surprise. If it were me, I would shy away from the 03 for a variety of reasons but I realize not everyone thinks like I do. I don't like buying new cars in their first year because automakers usually learn a ton about what not to do with them for years 2 and up. The 03X had smaller brakes than the 06X. Also the 03-04 models had a fairly common issue with the climate control system glitching and it also messes up the audio system when that happens. Not a deal breaker especially if you're going to swap it out anyway but can be a temporary annoyance. But last and especially not least the 05-06 sedans just look better on the inside and out and had better options.

Google option packages for both years as the lists are too long to re-hash here. Even though our cars are known to last a long time, with the mileage you listed for both you are likely in for a lot of high mileage maintenance like replacing bushings, fluid changes and things like that. Good news is that these things aren't very expensive especially since it sounds like you can do a lot of the work yourself. I love my car, it's treated me well during our time together. Also you are in the right place, this forum is the premiere database for all things G. Tons of good info here, just have to look around a bit to find what you are looking for. Hope to officially welcome you to the family soon.

 

Just an update guys.

The Coupe and the 06 Sedan got sold out from under me. So I ended up saving some money and bought a 03 Sedan with 160K for 5k even. 2 issues. Driver side seat where I sit my butt has a 8 inch cut in it and the factory navigation does not turn on. A pioneer single din is installed and working. So while I didn't get the 06 I wanted I had to get something so the 03 will suffice for now. Exterior is in mint and no issues inside aside from the driver seat gash I mentioned and the factory navigation.

I'm happy to be a G owner now. I will do some searches for info on what I'm needing but I want to get this seat fixed one way or another and do something the wasted not working factory nav.

So if anyone reads this. I'm new to this car. Does the factory nav screen need the factory radio to work or can I have navigation and a aftermarket head unit work together. Whats my cheapest/best option to replace the torn center insert in the driver side seat. Its a black leather/vinyl car. I'm usually a DIY guy if I can do it and it look good. The assembly, foam, and back support part of the seat are fine if I don't have to replace the whole thing. Since its black I'm not worried about a perfect color match. I don't want to go the cheap pep boys seat cover route.

 

Nav is a decade old. Not worth keeping. I think it needs the stock headunit to work. I tried using mine just to see if it worked when I bought my car. You're better off using your phone for nav

 

Search Craigslist for some part out cars. I'd imagine you could find a seat for a good price. I have a coupe, not sure about a sedan but I'm sure you could get one rather easily. Congrats btw, welcome to the wonderful world of Nissan, I hope you enjoy it. I drive my Nissan's proudly lol. I'm sure some more seasoned members will chime in soon and be able to help a lil more with your issues on the seat and nav

 

Appreciate it. I agree about a 10 yr old nav not worth it now that i think about it. Seems like I saw a DIY guide on here somewhere utilizing that space with a new nav. Anyone have that link. Im not worried about the pop-up being motorized or anything but would really love to use that space. Even if I gotta make a small MDF frame for a portable GPS and wrap the MDF for the GPS in vinyl I want to do something. So I guess I need to start my research

 

Welcome to the G life. You should feel much more comfortable driving a car that isn't wanting to run people over.

As far as nav, I went with a headunit with built in nav and got the center trim from a non-nav option car, so where the nav unit would normally sit is now a closeable cubby. Actually now it houses my boost controller. And even now I use my phone for nav vs the headunit because its always up to date.

I've seen leather patch kits for seats. Some have an actual patch that you adhesive on, and some pull the tear together and essentially glue the tear together. Not always the prettiest fixes, but cheap and easy. Upholstery shops could replace the leather, or could opt for a replacement seat. Power seats can get spendy tho.