Is 03 Cobra reliable???

[v8pwr]

I'm thinking about buying used 03 Cobra (possibly a vert)...and more I research about 03-04 cobras, I find many people are having problem with it such as belt/tensioner failure, clutch failure, rear end leak, half shaft replacement, etc....

Many of these issues can be taken care of by warranty...but if Ford uses same parts to replace these issue, it'll come back again after few thousand miles....right?(unless they were originally installed wrong)

I have blown fox mustang right now and its been VERY reliable for the past few years I've owned and I've been thinking about replacing my fox mustang with 03 Cobra...but I don't want to spend big $$$ and buy something which is unreliable...
Or am I just seeing few bad examples because people will come here to seek help when they have problem, but not many people will come here to say how reliable their cars are?

Thanks in advance for your comment!

 

[swlacobra]

i know some people have had a lot of problems with theirs, but my cobra,04,1 year old, 5000 miles, has never been back to the dealer. no vibe, tick, ect. dont know about long term reliability as a daily driver, mine is a weekend toy and i sure like it

 

[kaboom]

Problem free 14,000 here.Pullied and modded since 6000 i have had the car 1 year now and it is flawless. Guess i got lucky?

 

[ShelbyGuy]

30,000 miles here. never left me hangin' by the side of the road.

must be at least 6000 track miles (and IRP is rough!). aside from the the time the locking lug lock crumbled on me so i couldnt change brakes, ive never missed a grid call. i bet my car has more time at full throttle than any two of ya put together

and all it does is go, go, go. more fun to run 'em than it is to wrench on 'em!

 

[CobraBob]

I had my '03 Cobra for 18 months and had no major complaints. Motor was perfect, although it did have the stall issue for a couple of months but then it mysteriously disappeared. Paint was perfect. When I sold it the paint looked about 95% showroom new and that was after a few long trips from Connecticut to Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The only warrantee work done for for a defective fog lamp lens. Other than that, my only maintenance was oil/filter changes. I was very happy. Sure it had some questionable quality control issues, but nothing that was bad enough to rob me of the job of ownership. Maybe mine was exceptional, but based on mine I would recommend the '03 or '04 in a heartbeat.

 

[fr03cobra]

Mine left me pushing it onto the grass this past saturday, when my alternator went out with 7k miles. It made me think of the term "FORD" FIX OR REPAIR DALY.LOL

 

[Mrcobraguy]

Well i had to get my tranny replaced and rear end bearings redone. Other then that it has been fine. If i had to do it all over again i would still buy it. Theres nothing like only swapping out a few parts and gaining some serious power. Its my daily driver for now and i wouldn't trade this in for anything else but a shelby gt500e super snake but i don't have stupid money to spend on something like that. Just get it and trust me you'll be happy with it.

 

[NJCOBRA10thA]

Almost 500 days with my 03 Cobra. 10,500 miles and it's my daily driver all year long.


Misbuild - wrong mirror
FPRS replaced $53 no big deal

That's all the trouble I have had knock on wood.

Dan

I'm thinking about buying used 03 Cobra (possibly a vert)...and more I research about 03-04 cobras, I find many people are having problem with it such as belt/tensioner failure, clutch failure, rear end leak, half shaft replacement, etc....

Many of these issues can be taken care of by warranty...but if Ford uses same parts to replace these issue, it'll come back again after few thousand miles....right?(unless they were originally installed wrong)

I have blown fox mustang right now and its been VERY reliable for the past few years I've owned and I've been thinking about replacing my fox mustang with 03 Cobra...but I don't want to spend big $$$ and buy something which is unreliable...
Or am I just seeing few bad examples because people will come here to seek help when they have problem, but not many people will come here to say how reliable their cars are?

Thanks in advance for your comment!

 

[Dave99GT]

My 03 has 18,000 daily driver miles on it now, and love it. 16 months, and only issues have been rear-end vibe (comes and goes - I think it is completely tire related in my case), and the stalling issue which was mostly fixed by the re-flash.
I love this car and would recommend it in a heart beat.

 

[Big_Torch]

Havent had mine for a week yet, but damn the thing is like no other!

My favorite thing about the car is when my dad drove once and he just started laughing. I asked him whats so funny. He said, I was going 60, and i just hit it, and it kept going and going and going.

 

[spleen04]

My 04 is almost 4 months old. I have 4300 miles on it and the only problem I have is a small ticking from the headliner in the right rear corner, all cosmetic type stuff. This car is incredible and I would buy another if I could afford it. I have used mine on and off as the daily driver. Def go buy one.

 

[08snake]

21,000 miles, over 2 1/2 years as a daily driver. Took it in for the Head swap for the tick at 7500 miles. Picked it up and installed the KB the next day. 15lbs of boost and 13,500 miles later, no issues to speak of, unless you consider buying lots of tires for the rear, an issue!! :rockon:

 

[red03dave]

Put 63,000 2.7 pullied... 4.10 geared... HELLACIOUS miles on my last 03 with NO problems other than clutch, brakes and 40 sets of rear tires LMAO!! DO IT, DO IT....

Seriously for all the abuse we put these cars through and considering the power and torque they make, especially once modded..... probably the strongest and most reliable performance cars you can buy and for the matter probly the best Ford has ever made. IMHO of course.

Dave

 

[Fast Willy]

90% of the people that I know that have an 03 dont have problems. The only time I hear about people have problems is when they are modding and done get a good tune or when they dont take care of their car like they should. Like I had a friend drive his car for 6,000 miles without changing the oil and had major problems. But thats not the cars fault. Thats the owners fault, thats how I feel about the hole problem thing just take care of your car and it will take care of you.

 

[eiblish]

:coolman: 11,000 in my vert, and no problems. That is more than could be said for more expensive cars that I have owned. Did not like the stock exhaust, but Magnaflow and K&N fixed that. Did not like the vert shakes, but full length MM's fixed that. Look after the car, and the car will look after you.

 

[BANDIT HPT]

I have 10kmiles on mine and I only had to take the car once for the TOB. Besides that it's been fine.

 

[PowerWheels]

90% of the people that I know that have an 03 dont have problems. The only time I hear about people have problems is when they are modding and done get a good tune or when they dont take care of their car like they should. Like I had a friend drive his car for 6,000 miles without changing the oil and had major problems. But thats not the cars fault. Thats the owners fault, thats how I feel about the hole problem thing just take care of your car and it will take care of you.

6k on the oil would not cause any problems over a short period of time. :shrug:

 

[metaman]

25,000 on my 2nd run 03 cobra. Only a couple of problems, none of them even came close to stranding me. The throw out bearing is sqealing right now, but ford just came up with a fix for that problem. Still drives fine with the bad TOB. Rear end cover started leaking at 20,000 miles. Its going to be fixed when the TOB is fixed under warranty. It is a slow leak. Looks like the silicone used to seal the cover started breaking down.

If you are going to buy a used one, there are a couple of things you should look for.

1. Check to see if the blower pulley has the same amount of wear as the idler pullies and crank pulley.

2. Get ford to run the VIN through thier computers to see if the warranty was ever voided.

3. Try to find a bone stock one. Or maby one that only has cat back and CAI. It is safe to pulley these cars. But their is always the chance that the pulley was combined with the stock tune or a bad tune.

4. Compression test it, should be in the 180 PSI range on all cylinders.

5. If you buy a 1st run car check the drivers side head. It should have blue painted on the part closest to blower. This means that the head has been replaced with the revised head. 2nd run cars had the head with the blue on it from the factory.

 

[Eatonup]

Like a Timex. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

 

[Black'03GT]

I had it back at the dealer once to have the tires re-balanced. Other than that, best car I've ever owned!