Looking at a dubious 99. Buy or pass?

[Stanislao]

Found a '99 SHO with 166,572 on the odometer. Some dings on the body, one patch of rust, well worn driver seat. History of the car is unknown, it was repossessed by a title lender.* When I checked the car on Wednesday the rear tires were completely flat, and the low coolant light came on while the car idled. Checked the manual for any notes left by previous owners, looks I'm the first person since '99 to open the bag.

Is buying a high mile car with unknown cams a terrible idea? Assuming the cams are welded within ten miles, along with new sparks, fluids, filters and anything else you guys recommend, how much longer could the car live? Are there any sounds that could indicate valve/cam issues?


*Said title lender is going out of business, as South Dakota voters capped interest rates on loans at 36% by way of a ballot measure this year. I happened to collect more than 10% of the signatures for that campaign. Boy do I have stories from that, along with a protection order.

 

[sperold]

A lot depends on the price.

I have a soft spot for the final year, so be aware of the prejudice.

Transmissions and cams are the big issues on this series of cars. With the security system (PATS), if you misplace your keys, you are in big trouble financially. And changing an alternator is not an easy task.
The mileage is not a deal breaker if you can determine the state of repair by taking a test drive, with a special eye on the transmission behavior.
Welding the cams will be at least $500.00, the transmission at least $2000.00 and it goes on and on.

If you are willing to look closely at these issues and evaluate the state of repair, and then remedy any faults, then you should consider the car.

I think you would have to get the car almost for free to make the journey worthwhile.

You can purchase a nice example in the 3 to 4 K range, and with bad luck, you could sink that into an unknown car fairly easily.

 

[stephen newberg]

I think the above makes a lot of sense, and I have no bias toward the '99

If the cam sprockets and transmission are good, the car is pretty bullet proof, but you do have to remember that it is also getting toward 20 years old, there are parts scarcities starting to show up for the SHO only elements, and there is no guarantee that the car will ever appreciate any large amount in the collector market.

pax, smn

 

[Stanislao]

My current car happens to be a 99 Mercury Sable with the same dreadful transmission, hooked to a column shifter. Am I correct in thinking that moving the 60k Mercury slushbox onto the SHO would be a viable, if intensive, job?

 

[98SF19]

Concur. Look at it this way: considering what's been said, it's highly likely you'll have to spend $$$ either on known issues (cams & trans mostly) and/or on parts that you will be required to spend a fair amount of time looking for, though I think the future ingenuity of enthusiasts will compensate for much of this.

Unless they're asking next to nothing for it and you can confirm that the cams have been welded and trans seems to shift well from start up to steady state temps, AND you're very handy with willingness to take on moderately complex repairs . . . I'd put my $$$ elsewhere.

 

[stephen newberg]

My current car happens to be a 99 Mercury Sable with the same dreadful transmission, hooked to a column shifter. Am I correct in thinking that moving the 60k Mercury slushbox onto the SHO would be a viable, if intensive, job?

Actually, that might not work all that well. The AXN4 in the SHO is a custom for the SHO only version of that transmission, and I do not think you will have the kind of results you might want by transferring in a different one.

pax, smn

 

[Stanislao]

Moot point anyway, guy won't go lower than $1400 for it. Car needs new tires, coolant and transmission fluid. Oil is well past where I would change it, seats all have holes. Car stalled getting out of the lot, most likely battery related, a jump and it was fine. Took it up to seventy, a whine could be heard coming from the passenger side on acceleration.

I'd give him five hundred happily, eight hundred at most. He'll have to dump the car soon, I may be able to track it down at a dealership in the coming weeks.

 

[sperold]

If it is a back row special at a small lot now, it has already been to the auction, so the only place left to go is the salvage yard. It will be bought in a group buy, and the selling price will be no more than $250.00. And that is on a good day.

Offer to match that price and throw in a bottle of scotch.

 

[luigisho]

I'm thinking if you don't have alot of money to sink into an iffy vehicle you should shy away from a beat up SHO from 89-99. I've owned Gens I-III and if they are beat up they will eat you alive in repairs. There are a few who get lucky but they are very few.

 

[98SF19]

selling price will be no more than $250.00

I still say bail, but you could make an offer of $500 and give him your contact info. Say your offer expires in a week.

 

[E1]

I'm thinking if you don't have alot of money to sink into an iffy vehicle you should shy away from a beat up SHO from 89-99. I've owned Gens I-III and if they are beat up they will eat you alive in repairs. There are a few who get lucky but they are very few.

Great advice here. Do it for love of the car, NOT reliability or cost of ownership.

SHO - making mechanics out of ordinary people since 1989.

SHO - a hole in the air, surrounded by metal and plastic, into which one pours money.

 

[stephen newberg]

SHO - making mechanics out of ordinary people since 1989.
.

I like that one.

pax, smn

 

[Qshiplvr]

Chiming in with my own (very limited) experience. I rescued a '99 SHO with only 66K miles on it with verified ownership history. Cams were NOT welded, but I took care of that right away, and did a combined 66K & 100K mile service with JohntheSHOguy who made sure my SHO was in tip-top condition before I drove it "for real." I spent more than $2K getting the car up to ***** to really enjoy it, and on a 100 mile inaugural trip, the AX4N tranny crapped out (smoke, 3rd and 4th slipping badly). So, $2700 later, I FINALLY have a Gen3 SHO I can enjoy. Every car is different, and I probably should have guessed the AX4N was on borrowed time since I bought the car with a tow hitch attached. I've already dropped over 3x what the car is "worth" on the open market, but I can't tell you guys and gals how many grins I get every time I use the right foot, even daily driving. There is nothing like torque from 8 tiny hamsters (reindeer?) pulling!

 

[sperold]

Great story.

These cars may be last year's prom queen, but they are still prom queens.
There is a certain level of excitement to have a near supercar (for the time) that prompts people to consider these cars, in spite of better judgment.

These are great cars, period. Potentially a little expensive, but we are talking about a prom queen.

 

[gamefanatic]

One thing you may also notice is that the '99 models are blue booked at a higher price than earlier years. There is no real good reason for this as it technically has less features. But they are insignificant, just know that the newer model will cost you more...

 

[johntheshoguy]

Chiming in with my own (very limited) experience. I rescued a '99 SHO with only 66K miles on it with verified ownership history. Cams were NOT welded, but I took care of that right away, and did a combined 66K & 100K mile service with JohntheSHOguy who made sure my SHO was in tip-top condition before I drove it "for real." I spent more than $2K getting the car up to ***** to really enjoy it, and on a 100 mile inaugural trip, the AX4N tranny crapped out (smoke, 3rd and 4th slipping badly). So, $2700 later, I FINALLY have a Gen3 SHO I can enjoy. Every car is different, and I probably should have guessed the AX4N was on borrowed time since I bought the car with a tow hitch attached. I've already dropped over 3x what the car is "worth" on the open market, but I can't tell you guys and gals how many grins I get every time I use the right foot, even daily driving. There is nothing like torque from 8 tiny hamsters (reindeer?) pulling!

Mine is a 97 with 192,000 miles on it. I am also the person who did the work on Qshiplvr's '99. My tranny has 94,000 miles and was resurrected from the dead about 10,000 miles ago by replacing some seals, bushings, and oil pump drive shaft. It is tranny #4, the first three failing in the first 100,000 miles (one lasted two miles driving home from Ford dealer). As everyone has said, the tranny and cams are the weak links. Tranny's can be fixed, but a cam failure will spell the end of the engine. Also, if the car has not been maintained, it may be well overdue for valve adjustment. That will set you back 1000 to 2000 dollars if you can find a mechanic that is interested in taking it on. Special tools, hard to get shims, and a royal PITA to accomplish with the cams in the car. I do that adjustment when I take the cams out for welding.

Do not fool yourself into thinking that this car will be a collector's item sometime. It simply will not. Performance is probably subpar to today's standards, but it is a fun engine with a great sound, given the right exhaust and intake. Unique in the car world. Smallest v8 in a production car, foreign or domestic. Very few left on the road.

 

[stephen newberg]

I disagree with your last. I suspect it will become a collector item down the road, simply because so few are left of a not very large original production run. That does not mean you are looking at selling it at Barrett Jackson for a small fortune, though. Just that its value will, over time, increase. Over the last half dozen years the offers I have had on mine have gone up. There are only a few, but the trend is constant. I suspect that will continue.

pax, smn

 

[sperold]

It will fare respectively in the future.

It will go the route of the Chrysler letter cars; not big sales numbers but recognized as the top of the line model option wise with a trick engine.
The SHO had a rough start with their cam issue, but those mid to late 50s Chryslers had lots of issues as well.

They did not have a long production run, so the image did not die due to mismanaged makeovers to try to get more sales.

They had kind of a wild design, but the 1960 letter car was about as wild as you can get, and it didn't seem to hurt it.

 

[stephen newberg]

I think that is a pretty good analogy.

pax, smn