http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=230887151&dealer_id=61184487&car_year=1988&model=COUGAR&num_records=25&make2=&start_year=1981&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=25&marketZipError=false&search_lang=en&make=MERC&color=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceDESC&address=60638&advanced=&end_year=1988&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=14
This thing is about 15 minutes from my house. I wish I had the money for it/space to put it. That thing looks CLEAN:D If some one wants it I'll store it for them:hick:
Schexxie!!!
9,425 miles?! For $2,900, I'd consider that a bargain and a half.
D@mn!!! That is a deal!
Now thats a sweeet ride!!!!!!!!
Just about every option but moonroof and leather.
Different seats and wheels and you'd be sitting pretty.
I think it's still under warranty.
I do wonder why the new brakes and exhaust system..... anyone? anyone?
Probably because it sat and they rusted:D .
If I had the $$$ it would be mine by now:D
wow thats the perfect car for me thats how I want my 86 LS * CRIES *
If I had the money I'd buy it. I bet some ass hat is going to get it for their kid as a first car and they'll ruin it:disappoin
Well did anyone notice that it has a floor shifter? I did not think anything but an XR7 came with a floor shifter?
Yeah I saw it. I thought it was odd with the wire wheel covers:hick:
One question about the LS... does it have the same suspension and rear end as the XR-7 in 1988?
NO. If it's an 88 XR7 it will have an 8.8 rear LS has 7.5
Also, according to Coolcats, the console was an option on the LS in '88. I doubt there are very many that came like that.
Console yes.. Floor shifter no?
According to Eric's write up, and LS with the 5.0L was an XR7 with different wheels and trim. That was in the 1988 info. Looking at the rear end tech info, it says 88 XR7 was the only Cougar that used the 8.8. So this car does not.
Center console (=floor shifter) was an option
Welllll.....this was what I had typed on the site:
...as in, cosmetic differences. The mechanicals were slightly different with the rear axle and suspension. The engine, transmission and exhaust were identical to the XR7 though. My point was that if this was 1988, and insurance rates were outrageous, the XR7 would have been considered the "high performance" model. But if you ordered an LS with the V8 option, you'd have the basic powertrain but you'd still save money on insurance.
The floor shifter with the console was an option in 1988 LS models.
Serriously someone here should by the thing. It's got 9,000 miles! :D
So does this mean it does or does not have the quad shocks?
Thanks for the info. I'm seriously considering it.
Nope no quad shocks. Base V8 suspension. Still it can be upgraded:D
That's the plan anyway. Just curious how floaty it would feel in the interim.
...About as floaty as my V8, base T-Bird was. Which is to say there was enough body lean to se the chrome off the door handles if you went into a turn too fast (and almost all turns were too fast).
Actually I'm not giving these cars enough credit. While base models certainly weren't handlers they weren't
THAT bad. They handled about as well as one could expect a luxury-oriented, nose-heavy, live axle 80's American car to handle...
Hell my LX handles worlds above my '93 Buick Century. Talk about pitch and wallow :hick:
You two have convinced me to wait. Thanks.
No I meant my T-bird handles good and my Buick handles like :hick: . I replaced the shocks with Monroe Sensatracs and the sway bar bushings with poly ones and the car handles 100% better. I mean it doesn't handle like a Corvette but it handles better than most of the front drivers I've driven.
i think someone bought it. i called on it. it had 94000 miles.
typo he said. his dad retired from driving.he was either the
driginal or 2nd owner. was supposed to be super nice.
cougar didnt get ss exhaust back then i was told.--irv
That explains the new tires and exhaust and I'm sure it was just a "typo".
He must not have sold it. He added new pictures.
I guess not. Probably because of the typo :hick:
thnuderjet i only have one question. ASS HAT??? is that the technical term. I dont know why but i laughed my ass off when I seen that... Sorry I know I didnt bring much to this conversation I just had to ask...
I think ASS HAT would be the technical term for the, uh, typo ;)
Ok like I said I had to ask... im gonna use that one... LOL
I don't think I'm an ass hat and I don't have kids so it's safe there.
Someone did but it had 90K-something miles. It now has a little over 100K miles with 16" mesh wheels.
I bought it five years ago but been traveling so much ever since, I haven't gone through it and taken quality shots yets. Sad, I know.
BTW, I picked it up for $1500.
Here it is on my way out to western Indiana last year when it turned over to 100K miles (I had just driven through at least six hours of rain so yeah, it's dirty) and a more recent pic in the rain with the 16" wheels.
Holy thread revival! I wondered what happened to this car. I never knew you bought it. I figured that someone bought it for their kid, which ruins a lot of nice old cars.
Wow what a story! 5 years ago. Nice!!!!
:bowdown:
Even though those pictures are in the rain and show it being used, I do use it but avoid rain most of the time and it is kept under a $300 car cover that is very protective. I park in corners and don't yank on the seat belts and don't pull the tilt lever by the end and relieve the stress from the power window mechanisms and a bunch of other habits to care for it better than most people would do with a 'cheap' car like this. 'Cheap' referring to the $1500 it cost.
I should clarify that it is very clean but not perfect. It had 90-something thousand miles and the passenger door and driver fender had been repainted at some point in its past. They still have the VIN stickers on them though so they don't appear to have been replaced, just repainted. That's why I got it for $1500. He had it listed for somewhere in the $3K range, (I have the ad on another computer) but having so many cars, I am very picky and once I discovered those two panels had been repainted, I was going to walk without even offering a price. He really wanted to know my price so I said $1500. He tried to hem and haw for a higher price but that was my price and I guess he got tired of trying to sell it so he gave in.
It shines up nice with wax but maybe down the road in five or ten years, I may have the whole thing professionally painted depending on where my priorities are at the time. No cracks in the dash and the interior is great. I need those power recline button covers though because the driver side is cracked. I can't remember if the passenger side is cracked too. Everything else is intact including the seat belt receptacles.
Nice. Very nice :)
I'm glad it went to someone who will take care of it and not beat it to death. Most of the time a clean example like this gets bought as a "kids" car and destroyed because it is cheap. How many Cougars do you have now? This one is kind of rare given that it is a LS with a floor shifter. I don't think thay made too many of them.
BTW I think I have a spare power recline button cover sitting around if you need it.
It absolutely warms my heart to hear someone ELSE actually expressly state they do this on a regular basis. I get made fun of so bad, especially by my one friend and his dad, for these little things. And there is no limit with me...I buttstuffyze and over-buttstuffyze everything's weakness and baby it to death, and demand any passengers do the same. The stuff wears out/breaks under what you "should be able to do to it". So....I want it to last, and I don't mind being slightly "inconvenienced".
I wonder how long most cars on the road would last if *everyone* acted like this!
^^ The MN12 cars interiors feel cheap compared to the Fix Birds/Cougars. Both of the '89 cars I *endured* rattled like a truckload of empty beer cans being driven across a plowed field in december by a drunk.
Rattly, falls apart constantly, and looks like it was designed by a pen 15ed out dope banger in the dark.
Did I say I don't care for MN12's styling (or glaring lack of)? lol
I'd say I'd rather have a Fox Mustang than an MN12, and I do. I would take a '97 Tbird, only if it was the 4.6 engine, and only if it had a mint interior, and, well, mint everything.
But back to topic. The story of the car in this thread is cool. Glad that it's in the hands of someone who appreciates it :)
I don't touch the windows when they go up or down. It leaves smudges ;).
The early MN-12s (89-93) had really py interiors. The later cars (94-97) were much better. The 95 T-bird I had was great in that department. It was very comfortable. Now if the front end wasn't such a pile-o- (I had to replace all the ball joints and control arm bushings at 73K, the ones in the Fox T-bird were fine when I pulled them at 128K and 20 years) it would have been a much better car.
Not that I have ever felt even the least bit attracted to anything MN-12....but remind me never to even go near one!!! LOL
Friend of mine had a 96 Cougar, the interior seemed much more refined than the 89-9whatever years.
They are rust magnets though. Wash often, put away in snow time. Ughh.
Yeah, I wish I could save them all. I have four Cougars. Many people have seen the other three at Cat Jam. They have each been to Cat Jam twice. I think these cars look good in both the LS treatment and XR-7 treatment so I had been keeping an 'eye out' for a fairly loaded black LS. This one also has a full size spare. That's the first Cougar I've owned out of seven Cougars from '85 to '88 that has a full size spare.
I'm might be using the wrong term. It's that large grey cover that flanks the lower outer side of the seat. The recline button sits on top of it. Is that the piece you have?
Yeah, there's more habits too like
not using the wipers any faster than the windshield can accumulate enough rain to minimize marring the glass,
not shoving the sun visors into the glass to prevent the outer edges from getting floppy,
always putting a sun shade in the window even in the winter, even when it's under a car cover, to protect the dash
putting the car in neutral, then drawing the e-brake only enough to hold the car and nothing more (to prevent excessive cable stretching), then putting it in park so it's resting on replaceable shoes instead of a transmission unless I'm on level ground or parking long-term then I won't use the brake
watching the power antenna go down and go up and releasing the button milliseconds before it hits bottom or top,
doing the same with the power windows and if I think I didn't let go fast enough, I 'bump' the switch in the other direction to relieve stress on the mechanisms,
giving the radio button several quick full rotations before turning the radio on to reduce any oxidation on the contacts so I don't blow my speakers with scratching once I turn it on and adjust the volume,
floor mats on top of floor mats
pulling the hood release gently straight out, not yanking it crooked
I do this for all my Cougars and that's just what I can remember. It's been a while since I have driven any of my cars.
I don't either. I release the button just at the precise moment the glass edge hits the channel and if I think there is stress, I bump the switch the other direction.
Glad you guys see that I appreciate these cars!
Don't forget not slamming the console lid down. That's the big one right there. ;)
I don't think anything makes me cringe *quite* like having to pull a lever out of Park with the car sitting on the pin on a steep hill. Or witnessing someone else do it with their car! Awful.
Yeah, I'm forgetting some like that one except I press the button in, then gently push the lid closed then release the button. I also forgot to mention that I try to avoid maxing the power mirrors to their limits too. I don't lean on the cars and I close the hood with my finger tips sprawled out along the extreme rolled edge of the hood, not the heel of my hand in the middle of the hood like so many other people do.
I got a console in my LS...all the other options I've put in myself though, to go over the top and stop being bothered by the fact I don't have an XR7 lol
I have both. The button/switch and the side panel/cover for the seat. It is in dark gray/charcoal, not the smoke that the interior of my T-bird is. The side cover/panel has no cracks. I pulled it from a Cougar because even though it's the wrong color for my car it was in good shape.