Advice on Where to Look

[Chamberlen]

Hello all,

I'm seeking some advice on where to look for purchasing a 2005/6 Ford GT. There are so many outlets and just wanted to see whether it's recommended to look into private party sellers vs. dealers vs. online (Bring a Trailer for example). Thoughts?

 

[extrap]

Welcome! My preference would be private seller, but those seem to be pretty rare, so I bought mine on Bring a Trailer in 2021. I personally don't think I'd ever buy from Mecum / BJ due to fees, drunken bidders and what I think is prob too short a time frame to inspect the car beforehand. Regardless, it's advisable to have a known expert inspect the car in person before buying ... a PPI, Pre Purchase Inspection. Good luck! Post pix once you get one

 

[Chamberlen]

Thank you! Could this forum help me find the local expert to review the car if I find it in a certain location? I was going to just reach out to a Ford dealer and see if they had a Ford GT mechanic. Not sure if that is the right way, but any help would be great.

 

[fjpikul]

Ford dealers are worthless in this respect. Rich Brooks in Detroit, Rich Roback in Arizona and Kendall Pond in California would be the best experts and have all done numerous inspections

 

[extrap]

Thank you! Could this forum help me find the local expert to review the car if I find it in a certain location? I was going to just reach out to a Ford dealer and see if they had a Ford GT mechanic. Not sure if that is the right way, but any help would be great.

As Doc said, there are only a few, so depending on the car's location the expert you choose may have to travel, which they can / will sometimes.

I wouldn't take a GT to a Ford dealer. Mine has been at 2 dealers, for other things not service, and most of the employees come out to ogle the car, including the mechanics ... meaning they've never seen one before and therefore I wouldn't want them working on it.

- Rich Brooks in Detroit (forum member @thegtguy) - thegtgaragellc@gmail.com New office manager April might be the one who replies

- Rich Roback in AZ - I don't have his contact info

- Kendall Pond in Newhall CA (forum member @nota4re) - cooltechllc@gmail.com / https://www.cooltechllc.com/7-ford-gt-parts-accessories

 

[GT@50]

Thank you! Could this forum help me find the local expert to review the car if I find it in a certain location? I was going to just reach out to a Ford dealer and see if they had a Ford GT mechanic. Not sure if that is the right way, but any help would be great.

I can do a PPI. I'm in the Seattle area if it's up here.

 

[Chamberlen]

Thank you all. This is great information to go on and I really appreciate it. Stay tuned.

 

[PeteK]

Agree with what extrap said about a private party being the best choice. With a private party, you have time to do a PPI, drive the car, review maintenance records, get a Carfax, etc. You get to assess the seller as well. Old Bedouin wisdom says, "when buying a camel, look one part to the camel, and two parts to the seller."

BaT is next best. Most GTs will be "Premium auctions" which will give you 10 days to look the car over and get a PPI before the auction ends. The auctions pictures usually include the maintenance records and a Carfax report, so you can see those too.

Dealers can be good or bad, depending. If the dealer is selling it on consignment from a private owner, and you can see the maintenance records and get a PPI, then that's almost as good as a private seller. Beware dealers who are flippers.

The TV auction houses are the absolute bottom, IMO. There, you have to be very knowledgable and make damn sure you know what you are getting. You will have very little time or hands-on to make your decision and probably no records.

GT experts: I also recommend Rob Henderson, "GT@50". He's in Seattle. Where are you? Where are you looking for a GT?

 

[Simon]

Kevin at M2K in Houston would be great aswell for PPI.

 

[dr914]

Certainly if you can find a private seller, especially here, it would be best. BAT is the next choice, seems very popular for the GTs

 

[Twturbo]

I was looking for a Blue car for 9 months at all the usual websites ,i finally asked here & someone contacted me with one .

 

[Chamberlen]

Agree with what extrap said about a private party being the best choice. With a private party, you have time to do a PPI, drive the car, review maintenance records, get a Carfax, etc. You get to assess the seller as well. Old Bedouin wisdom says, "when buying a camel, look one part to the camel, and two parts to the seller."

BaT is next best. Most GTs will be "Premium auctions" which will give you 10 days to look the car over and get a PPI before the auction ends. The auctions pictures usually include the maintenance records and a Carfax report, so you can see those too.

Dealers can be good or bad, depending. If the dealer is selling it on consignment from a private owner, and you can see the maintenance records and get a PPI, then that's almost as good as a private seller. Beware dealers who are flippers.

The TV auction houses are the absolute bottom, IMO. There, you have to be very knowledgable and make damn sure you know what you are getting. You will have very little time or hands-on to make your decision and probably no records.

GT experts: I also recommend Rob Henderson, "GT@50". He's in Seattle. Where are you? Where are you looking for a GT?

Hello, I'm from Nashville, TN. Thank you for all the advice. So I guess I should see if anyone in this forum is ready to depart from their "baby". Please message me directly if anyone is looking to sell or should I post a new discussion?

 

[fjpikul]

It would help if you stated what you are looking for - color, options, mileage

 

[Chamberlen]

I'm open to all the Ford GT colors except yellow and the heritage color.

As far as the four options I love them all, would prefer all four options but I am comfortable not having all four or some kind of combination.

I'm open to low miles but it's a red flag due to not having been driven for 18 years consistently. I prefer between 8-10k miles but again I'm flexible and I feel that talking with the owner might sway my fears of a low or high mileage GT.

I had a quick question, my friend has access to Manheim. Would you recommend going through that at all?

Thank you.

 

[PeteK]

No.

You will be bidding against car dealers. By the time a car gets to a dealers auction like Mannheim, it has already been picked over by dealers several times, and it still got sent to auction. Do you know more about cars than the guys who make their living off buying and selling cars every day?

I doubt a Ford GT will come up at a dealers auction anyway. I don't know of any that were sold that way.

 

[Twturbo]

Sometimes you just find them in weirdest places like this one ,seems like a legit one owner low mileage blue car ,i would consider this a great deal if is legit,i spent 9 months looking for this type of deal on a blue car & ended up paying more than this for a one owner car with slightly more miles,but my car was the right car at the right time for me.
https://str8uptoytrader.com/listing/2005-ford-gt/

 

[GT@50]

In the last 3 weeks 2 people have mentioned selling their cars. Look for the threads and contact them. I know the friends I told about them passed, not for any car reason, they just went another direction

 

[Chamberlen]

Sometimes you just find them in weirdest places like this one ,seems like a legit one owner low mileage blue car ,i would consider this a great deal if is legit,i spent 9 months looking for this type of deal on a blue car & ended up paying more than this for a one owner car with slightly more miles,but my car was the right car at the right time for me.
https://str8uptoytrader.com/listing/2005-ford-gt/

Thank you for the shared listing! Anything I find I'll try and post to this group, you guys have been amazing sharing all this advice. Stay tuned.