I’ve been thinking about getting a 1965 Mustang as my first car, and I’m really curious about the ownership experience. I’ve always heard that older cars break down a lot and can be hard to keep running, but I’m not sure how true that is. From your experience, do these cars tend to have frequent mechanical issues, or is that mostly a myth if they’ve been taken care of properly? I’m wondering if it’s realistic to expect one to be dependable for regular use, or if I should expect more repairs and maintenance than I would with a newer car.
mustang_fan73
Welcome!
My first car is my '65 that I bought in 1990; still got it. Unless it is fully restored, mine was not, you should expect to have repairs from time to time. It certainly depends on how the car was maintained too. It can be very dependable.
Newer cars are much more advanced and refined. They have better engineered parts and are going to be more reliable, but they're not as cool. If you buy a classic Mustang, then jump in with both feet and learn to work on it as well.
My first car is my '65 that I bought in 1990; still got it. Unless it is fully restored, mine was not, you should expect to have repairs from time to time. It certainly depends on how the car was maintained too. It can be very dependable.
Newer cars are much more advanced and refined. They have better engineered parts and are going to be more reliable, but they're not as cool. If you buy a classic Mustang, then jump in with both feet and learn to work on it as well.
My first car was a 66 coupe that I bought in 1979 then did a full restoration that I completed with a couple weeks spare of driving it off to college at the University of Texas. I drove that car for 4 years and over 150k miles and the only time it broke on my driving was because the engine machine shop cut the valves down too far to use with rail rockers. I did not fully understand this until it failed. This happened in the first few months of me driving the car. After that debacle and a new engine I never really had any major issues.
Sure, it needed the brakes adjusted so I did the logical thing and changed them over to the factory GT disc brakes because I found them in a junk yard, quire rare and a big score in 1982. There was never anything wrong with that car that I could not figure out and fix rather quickly.
The secret is to keep up with the periodic maintenance and use good parts when you need a repair. Parts for these cars are not cheap any more but they are not as expensive as parts for new cars and they are a lot easier to repair which makes them good cars to develop the skills needed to work on cars.
If you buy one you need to find a decent car, the better car you can afford up front will save you a lot of money and headache on the backside.
There is a caveat with vintage Mustangs, the are kind of like Lay's Potato Chips, it's hard to have just one...they are an addiction.
Sure, it needed the brakes adjusted so I did the logical thing and changed them over to the factory GT disc brakes because I found them in a junk yard, quire rare and a big score in 1982. There was never anything wrong with that car that I could not figure out and fix rather quickly.
The secret is to keep up with the periodic maintenance and use good parts when you need a repair. Parts for these cars are not cheap any more but they are not as expensive as parts for new cars and they are a lot easier to repair which makes them good cars to develop the skills needed to work on cars.
If you buy one you need to find a decent car, the better car you can afford up front will save you a lot of money and headache on the backside.
There is a caveat with vintage Mustangs, the are kind of like Lay's Potato Chips, it's hard to have just one...they are an addiction.
The T1000 is way better than the T800, if you have a choice. Hard to type out a response, the way my German Shepherd is growling and barking at the computer.
I bought my 67 in 1975 when I was 17 and it was my daily driver for 15 years. Currently 310,000 miles. So, yes, it absolutely can be done. If you do decide to pull the trigger, buy a Ford Shop Manual. Next to this forum, it will be a great resource.
Tell us something about yourself and how the car will be driven (around town, commuting, highway, etc). Since this is your first car I might assume you are a fairly new driver. For that reason I would suggest a modern car for safety reasons. If finances permit, find a Mustang as a second vehicle.
These cars were built as daily drivers, and were very, very reliable. But that was 60 years ago. Unless you buy one from someone who was very careful about maintenance, odds are pretty good that you'll have a lot of catching up to do.
I drove a 66 Mustang from 1972 to 1997. In all that time, and up to 400,000 miles, it only broke down twice on the road, and I was able to fix it and make it home.
When you do find your car, assume it needs work. If you get one with rust damage, that must be repaired immediately. Then go after the mechanical issues. Once everything that is non-working, broken, or missing is addressed, using the Ford Shop Manual do every single maintenance and tuning item in the book. It will certainly keep you out of trouble for a summer, and result in a pretty reliable car.
Do some homework regarding safety changes. The Arning Drop is a subtle one, it'll dramatically improve handling to help you avoid trouble, and costs almost nothing. Headrests, and 1967 arm rests will help, and of course 3-point seat belts. Lots of money has been spent on replacing the solid steering shaft, but the shoulder belt will usually prevent you from interacting with it in the first place. Upgrading the brakes with Porterfield linings will bring the stopping back to new or better than new braking.
I drove a 66 Mustang from 1972 to 1997. In all that time, and up to 400,000 miles, it only broke down twice on the road, and I was able to fix it and make it home.
When you do find your car, assume it needs work. If you get one with rust damage, that must be repaired immediately. Then go after the mechanical issues. Once everything that is non-working, broken, or missing is addressed, using the Ford Shop Manual do every single maintenance and tuning item in the book. It will certainly keep you out of trouble for a summer, and result in a pretty reliable car.
Do some homework regarding safety changes. The Arning Drop is a subtle one, it'll dramatically improve handling to help you avoid trouble, and costs almost nothing. Headrests, and 1967 arm rests will help, and of course 3-point seat belts. Lots of money has been spent on replacing the solid steering shaft, but the shoulder belt will usually prevent you from interacting with it in the first place. Upgrading the brakes with Porterfield linings will bring the stopping back to new or better than new braking.
22 makes some great points. Noone here is going to try and talk you out of it. We all want you to go into it with eyes wide open and know what you're getting into ahead of time so there are no surprises. For me it was the most awesome experience, but I had a great resource in my dad to help, and he had all the tools and knowledge.
My first car was a '63 Fairlane 221-2V... Things were different back then and I was already a "gearhead" getting a traditional vocational education in "automotive technology". If you're going to be using your first car as "basic transportation" then I'd say get a newer, reliable and economical "daily driver"... A Civic, Corolla, etc. Leave the Mustang for a "second hobby car". If you're already somewhat knowledgeable about mechanical repairs and have some basic skills then, perhaps, the Mustang could make a satisfactory DD, but it's going to require a bit more "care and feeding" than a typical new vehicle.
I will say it...
No -- in the year 2025, you should not get any 65-73 Mustang as your first car.
First, I am no "Safety Nanny" but in an accident, new cars are infinitely safer than old cars.
Second, you are a kid and likely have no money. It cost money to feed a V8 & keeping a 60 yr old car running
Third, there are many new-er cars (think 90's & early 2000's) that are equally as cool/collectable/safer/faster/ still work on and are near the bottom of their depreciation curve-- (think of the guys who bought Shelby's in the 70's).
No -- in the year 2025, you should not get any 65-73 Mustang as your first car.
First, I am no "Safety Nanny" but in an accident, new cars are infinitely safer than old cars.
Second, you are a kid and likely have no money. It cost money to feed a V8 & keeping a 60 yr old car running
Third, there are many new-er cars (think 90's & early 2000's) that are equally as cool/collectable/safer/faster/ still work on and are near the bottom of their depreciation curve-- (think of the guys who bought Shelby's in the 70's).
You need to keep in mind these are 60 YO cars designed for a 10 year life span. Then normal repairs would have been too expensive for a car that had next to no value so cobbled repairs were done. Otherwise they would have been scrapped. If it wasn’t for these cobbled repairs, most of these cars wouldn’t be here today.
These cars aren’t complicated. They’re quite easy. The problem is they’re different. It’s like anything from 60 years ago to today. Building houses are different, plumbing is different, electrical is different, painting is different. Not harder just different and people today are use to doing stuff today and not different.
The guy in a shop isn’t going to know any more about doing a repair on a 65 Mustang than you reading the shop manual except you’ll be paying him to learn. I use to live in NJ. I had regular registration which meant I had to go for annual state inspection which at the time was just emissions. They plugged the scanner into the OBD port, no codes you passed. I rolled in with my 66 Mustang. They weren’t use to older cars and couldn’t find the OBD port. I kid you not. After searching under the dash they popped the hood looking for it.
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These cars aren’t complicated. They’re quite easy. The problem is they’re different. It’s like anything from 60 years ago to today. Building houses are different, plumbing is different, electrical is different, painting is different. Not harder just different and people today are use to doing stuff today and not different.
The guy in a shop isn’t going to know any more about doing a repair on a 65 Mustang than you reading the shop manual except you’ll be paying him to learn. I use to live in NJ. I had regular registration which meant I had to go for annual state inspection which at the time was just emissions. They plugged the scanner into the OBD port, no codes you passed. I rolled in with my 66 Mustang. They weren’t use to older cars and couldn’t find the OBD port. I kid you not. After searching under the dash they popped the hood looking for it.
Nope, not a good idea. That doesn't mean that a bad idea never works out, it's just a bad idea.
-How's the car thieft numbers in your area?
-Many people wreck their first cars.
-Can you repair your own vehicles?
-Can you get along without the modern features normally found on the average car?
-Can you afford a Mustang that's in reliable, daily driver condition? $$$!
-If you're driving to a job every day, do you have a "plan B" to make sure you get there every day?
-Will you have to drive salted roads in the winter?
-How's the car thieft numbers in your area?
-Many people wreck their first cars.
-Can you repair your own vehicles?
-Can you get along without the modern features normally found on the average car?
-Can you afford a Mustang that's in reliable, daily driver condition? $$$!
-If you're driving to a job every day, do you have a "plan B" to make sure you get there every day?
-Will you have to drive salted roads in the winter?
I think everyone has pretty much given you the answer here.
If you are not going to work on the car and learn everything about it, you should NOT get a classic Mustang as your first. Not only because it will be more prone to having issues initially (unless the prior owner took immaculate care of it for 60 years - which is not often the case), but also because finding a mechanic to work on these cars successfully is difficult and expensive. Can you afford to pay $100-150/hr for labor for diagnosing unknown issues from 60 years of random half-assed repairs?
However, if you're going to learn the car and build it yourself, and you are cool with never having any other disposable income or time for a while, then you should absolutely do it! I got my '66 fastback when I was 19 (this was in 2010 so not quite so long ago as some other responses here). Spent a few years building the car into exactly what I wanted, mostly working on the weekends as my car was at my parents' house 2 hours away from school. Some various yada yadas happened but ultimately I put her on the road in her "final" incarnation in 2014, and have since put 75,000 miles on the car, mostly in road trips. I've driven coast-to-coast, all over the US, and even up to Canada. She's incredibly reliable and I have only had to take the tow truck ride of shame twice in those 10 years IIRC - once for a part that wore through after 60 years (acceptable IMO!) and once for a dead coil when I didn't have a spare and I was in the middle of rural New Mexico. But I am the car's only mechanic and know her through and through, so it is easy for me to diagnose and fix problems - I probably do 1-2 upgrades or repairs on the car per year.
So, it can be done, and it should be done, but only if you know you'll put in the work. Those 3 years I spent building my car came at a detriment of my social life and my finances, for sure. If you'd rather spend your free time doing other things, I wouldn't recommend this path for you. Get a fun zippy modern car or something instead.
If you are not going to work on the car and learn everything about it, you should NOT get a classic Mustang as your first. Not only because it will be more prone to having issues initially (unless the prior owner took immaculate care of it for 60 years - which is not often the case), but also because finding a mechanic to work on these cars successfully is difficult and expensive. Can you afford to pay $100-150/hr for labor for diagnosing unknown issues from 60 years of random half-assed repairs?
However, if you're going to learn the car and build it yourself, and you are cool with never having any other disposable income or time for a while, then you should absolutely do it! I got my '66 fastback when I was 19 (this was in 2010 so not quite so long ago as some other responses here). Spent a few years building the car into exactly what I wanted, mostly working on the weekends as my car was at my parents' house 2 hours away from school. Some various yada yadas happened but ultimately I put her on the road in her "final" incarnation in 2014, and have since put 75,000 miles on the car, mostly in road trips. I've driven coast-to-coast, all over the US, and even up to Canada. She's incredibly reliable and I have only had to take the tow truck ride of shame twice in those 10 years IIRC - once for a part that wore through after 60 years (acceptable IMO!) and once for a dead coil when I didn't have a spare and I was in the middle of rural New Mexico. But I am the car's only mechanic and know her through and through, so it is easy for me to diagnose and fix problems - I probably do 1-2 upgrades or repairs on the car per year.
So, it can be done, and it should be done, but only if you know you'll put in the work. Those 3 years I spent building my car came at a detriment of my social life and my finances, for sure. If you'd rather spend your free time doing other things, I wouldn't recommend this path for you. Get a fun zippy modern car or something instead.
When I was driving in high school 1984-1985, I drove a 351-4v 1969 Mustang. And counterintuitively, it worked out great.
I never really thought about gas mileage. I just knew I had to make enough $$ to fill the tank. Car detailing was the solution, I made 3 times as much money on a single Saturday than my friends did working hourly jobs nights and weekends.
All my friends with "practical" cars were also, whether they liked it or not, taxi cabs. Whether we were heading to a party or the beach or the lake, NO ONE wanted to ride in the back seat of my Mustang, and NO ONE wanted to chip-in on that fuel bill, so my car typically stayed home while some other poor schmoe with a practical car got stuck driving the friend group everywhere.
Just this last June I attended my 40th class reunion, and conversation turned to the cars we drove and the crazy stuff in the senior parking lot back then. Not a single person claimed that they had fond memories of the practical car that was handed down or acquired by them. No one said "thank goodness I had that reliable and thrifty 4-door Datsun!... Oh the memories!"... LOL... 😉
So if you're game, and have access to tools, I say give it a swing, and buy the best example you can afford..
Oh, and another thing, if it winds up not working for you, you can likely sell it for what you paid for it, if not more.. I made a $2k profit on my Mustang when I sold it in 1985, which was serious dough back then. All my friends' practical cars were severely depreciated once they were finished with it. You can buy a LOT of gasoline and parts with the money you're not losing from normal depreciation.
I never really thought about gas mileage. I just knew I had to make enough $$ to fill the tank. Car detailing was the solution, I made 3 times as much money on a single Saturday than my friends did working hourly jobs nights and weekends.
All my friends with "practical" cars were also, whether they liked it or not, taxi cabs. Whether we were heading to a party or the beach or the lake, NO ONE wanted to ride in the back seat of my Mustang, and NO ONE wanted to chip-in on that fuel bill, so my car typically stayed home while some other poor schmoe with a practical car got stuck driving the friend group everywhere.
Just this last June I attended my 40th class reunion, and conversation turned to the cars we drove and the crazy stuff in the senior parking lot back then. Not a single person claimed that they had fond memories of the practical car that was handed down or acquired by them. No one said "thank goodness I had that reliable and thrifty 4-door Datsun!... Oh the memories!"... LOL... 😉
So if you're game, and have access to tools, I say give it a swing, and buy the best example you can afford..
Oh, and another thing, if it winds up not working for you, you can likely sell it for what you paid for it, if not more.. I made a $2k profit on my Mustang when I sold it in 1985, which was serious dough back then. All my friends' practical cars were severely depreciated once they were finished with it. You can buy a LOT of gasoline and parts with the money you're not losing from normal depreciation.
Me personally absolutely! 65 Mustang as your first car would be like getting an AMF era Harley Shovelhead Sportster as your first bike.. Way cool, attracts lots of attention..Requires alot of work attention and a steep mechanical learning curve, but I am pulling for you!
The 65 is my 3rd car BTW.
1980 Ford Fiesta with a 4 speed was my first car…I did wreck it.
It was repairable, just cost more than car was worth or I could afford at the time.
1980 Ford Fiesta with a 4 speed was my first car…I did wreck it.
It was repairable, just cost more than car was worth or I could afford at the time.
I got my first car in 1979, 1965 mustang. My second in 1984, 1966 mustang which I still have today. Which brings me to my point that others may not have mentioned. It could be a lifelong journey, it's hard to kick. It will take time and money, and sometimes feel like it's an albatross around your neck. For me it's been worth it.
Hello. Welcome to the Mustang World. I was at your place many years ago. Upon research at the time I found out that the 66 Mustang is a better choice. The 66 Mustang has back-up lights, emergency flasher, instrument gauges and seat belts as standard issue. They were options on the '65. I recommend for you to buy a coupe first. They are a dime a dozen and less expensive than the other models.
Be careful of rust! Look to buy a Mustang that is located in the South or South West of the USA. They never use the metal killer road salt there. These Mustangs area danger to drive in the snow! If you have to go somewhere in the winter use UBER. Driving it should be fine but NOT during the winter season with snow on the roads.
I would install front disk brakes with dual master cylinder. The original drums don't cut it. The front grill area in front of the windshield was designed poorly. I lets in twigs and leaves and drains out poorly. Over time it gets clogged, then rusts from the inside, then drips water inside the car onto the carpet. The water then soaks under the carpet and onto the floor pans and rusts them out. Very expensive repair.
There is no problem at all with getting parts for this Mustang hobby. With a shop manual and You Tube Videos you can probably fix anything on it. With newer cars we are all held hostage.
Start with a 6 cylinder engine. They are easier to work on. The four '66 Mustangs I had all had a 6 cylinder engine. I got between 17 and 25 mpg.
Be careful of rust! Look to buy a Mustang that is located in the South or South West of the USA. They never use the metal killer road salt there. These Mustangs area danger to drive in the snow! If you have to go somewhere in the winter use UBER. Driving it should be fine but NOT during the winter season with snow on the roads.
I would install front disk brakes with dual master cylinder. The original drums don't cut it. The front grill area in front of the windshield was designed poorly. I lets in twigs and leaves and drains out poorly. Over time it gets clogged, then rusts from the inside, then drips water inside the car onto the carpet. The water then soaks under the carpet and onto the floor pans and rusts them out. Very expensive repair.
There is no problem at all with getting parts for this Mustang hobby. With a shop manual and You Tube Videos you can probably fix anything on it. With newer cars we are all held hostage.
Start with a 6 cylinder engine. They are easier to work on. The four '66 Mustangs I had all had a 6 cylinder engine. I got between 17 and 25 mpg.
I'm still driving my first car, a 66 hardtop, after almost 34 years. I would still rather drive it than a brand new one, but I also come from a different generation than you and I actually find a lot of modern tech unnecessary, frustrating and annoying. If something is going wrong with my car I usually notice a symptom before a failure, and either is usually easily and relatively inexpensive to remedy compared to a modern car. It works for me and for the driving I do where I live but it may not work for you. I also have a modern-ish F-250 pickup that does all the things I can't or shouldn't do with a Mustang, and it has creature comforts that make hot days, bad weather, long trips, lots of stuff, heavy loads, and more than one passenger a lot more practical.
Also, if you have a good truck you can haul the car and parts around as needed while you restore it. So maybe get a good truck first. It depends on your needs and the initial condition of the Mustang, I suppose.
Also, if you have a good truck you can haul the car and parts around as needed while you restore it. So maybe get a good truck first. It depends on your needs and the initial condition of the Mustang, I suppose.
I would recommend getting a classic car, but not entirely sure as a first or only car. However, get one that's old enough to be smog exempt (99% of the cars discussed in this forum) so that you can do whatever you want to it without worry if you live some place like I do (California). Tired of your economy 6-cylinder and want a V8? Want to upgrade to an EFI kit for more power and fuel efficiency? Want to convert from manual to automatic or vise versa? Want to be a heretic and drop in a Honda engine? You could do all of those things without having to talk to the state (or at least without the state telling you "you can't do that") AND the cars are simple enough that you can do that significantly easier than with a new car due to the lack of necessary wiring and flashing.
I think it would be fine if you have friends or family who can help you work on it when needed. My first car was a '67 Mustang. My uncles and their friends (some were mechanics by profession) helped me a bunch to keep it going. If it's not your jam, you can always sell it and move on.
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