Porthole Authority WeBlog

I am looking to buy a 50th Anniversary Special Edition
Thunderbird. Am I correct to say only the Cashmere color ones are part of the Special Edition? and have the production number mounted inside the glove box? or are all colors considered to be Special Editions? Also, is there anything I should look out for when searching for one? Also, how is that Jaguar engine? I know a couple of guys that own Jags and they seem to always have their cars in the shop.
Thanks in advance, great site by the way. Mike

Hi Mike,
Yes, the Cashmere is the only special edition color for the anniversary year.And yes, it's the only 05 color with the special edition numbered plaque in the glove box.

The only engine issue that seems to occur more often than necessary has to do with the coils on plugs. However with the 05s it hasn't seemed to be much of an issue - just a few 05 owners have checked in with thunderbirdnest.com with that problem. btw - though the base block is jaguar related, nothing else is on the car.

Thanks for the info. any thoughts on the SE Thunderbird becoming a collector? Also, do you know why cashmere was chosen? and what besides the plate in the glove box is different about them?

It will definitely become a collector car but in a later time frame than the 55-57 became one. Let's say 20 years for the 55-57 and possibly 25-30 for this model however the car still draws lots of positive comments from non-owners on the road.

I don't know why the color Cashmere was chosen other than the decision was made for the color 2 to 3 years before it came out.

As for the differences between it and other 05 interiors: The color, stone, itself is unique to the car,including floor mats, along with an embossed emblem on the seat covers and a unique aluminum trim design on the doors and across the dash. http://www.portholeauthority.com/thenewtbird/2005/50thspec.html

I found one, but I don't see the numbered
commemorative plaque mounted on the inside of the glove box. Everything else adds up, but no plaque. Is it in plain sight? do you have a picture of one?

Mike,
Did you check the vin# on the car? The 6th and 7th digits should be 69. I have heard of one owner of a 2004 limited edition pacific coast roadster that took her placque out of the glove box because she "didn't know hers was a special edition", and thought the dealer had put the placque there! placque would be on the inside of the glove box door. Some have said all they see is a bar code sticker - which needs to be removed to see the placque.

Hello: Hate to do this to you but do you know where/how I can purchase a 2005 T-bird 50th Anniversary Side Emblem? Right side, the care is the black soft top. Thanks in advance!

David

David,
First place to check would be your Ford dealer's parts department and see if they can come up with one.
2nd place to check is ebay.com
3rd place would be to ask on TBN (thunderbirdnext.com) as there are a few members there that buy parts off of ebay and other sources.

Looking to buy a T bird with the wife to enjoy our retirement. How are the 007's for investment value?
how much is milage an issue if we will be driving it, too? perhaps our kids will reap the investment value in 20 years or so....?

Bob,
Never buy a car as an investment. Just maintainence cost on any car will negate any investment potential in a car. If you're going to buy the t-bird, buy the color that you think your wife will enjoy the most. The coral and white of the 007 is pretty though.

IS the price of a 2002-2005 Bird stabilizing at this time? If not, any guess when that might begin to happen? Do you know of any transmission problems on these cars? Is it true there is no dipstick to check trany fluid? Are there major mechanical problems that one should look for when looking to buy a Bird? Thanks for any tips that would aid in searching for a Bird.

Frank,
I doubt price will stabilize on these cars until a few years after all Ford warrantees are gone. Extended warrantees on 05s end in 2012 or 2013 plus there are some 4 year add on /Ford warrantees that some owners have been buying up this year that extend earlier years to that same time period Then we'll have to wait and see how much would be owners want an old car.
Transmission problems seemed to surface on the 03s but many have been taken care of under warranty; other years they are rare occurances. The transmission is a sealed transmission and there is no dip stick. One is not expected to have to service the transmission until it reaches 150,000 according to the maintainence schedule. The mechanics service workbook however says it doesn't need it even then.
The only area of concern right now with some owners are the coil on plugs - 8 of them - an inconvenience when one or 2 is not working properly. Fixed right, the car runs great. My recommendation is to buy an 05 but if you have a color preference, pick by color. You'll enjoy any year.

Hi! My wife and I are ready to purchase our first T-Bird. There seems to be a lot of cars for sale in our area (MN). Miles and prices seem to vary but a price range of $18-20 seems about right. Any advice on what to look for as to avoid buying someone else's problems? Any advice on mles? I have seen as low as 19,000 and as high as 70,000, do the miles matter? Thanks for helping us new T-Bird want-to-be.

I would think that living in MN, that you'd want to know if the car was driven on the snow and ice during the winter & subjected to salt on the roads or if the car was just a summer car. Low mileage tends to indicate that it was a summer car. Check under the car for any rust showing up. Other than that, go for the color you want. If a standard color, then go for the latest model year you can find and see if you can get a Ford used car warranty on it, just in case. Make sure the interior is in good shape - seating surfaces are leather. /some colors its harder to find interior replacement parts from Ford such as the 04 Pacific Coast Roadster. If a true MN car (not bought from out of state) it will most likely have a block heater so check for that.

Thanks for your buying advice. We don't see many T-Birds on the road in the winter but I'll make sure to double check for rust. One of the cars that we looked at came from auction so I guess a Carfax will tell where it was from. Color is not as important to us since they are all beautiful cars. We are going to test drive 2 for sale in our area this week and would like your opinion on a "better buy". One is a '04, premium, 33k miles; The other is a '05, deluxe, 19k. Both are around $20,000. Both are in very good condition. Is it better to go older higher optioned car? Or the newer less option choice? Again thank you for your advice.

Bob,
I posted your questions on TBN in the Thunderbird Chat section of their forum. You might want to read the comments there:
http://www.thunderbirdnest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25750

As for older but more options, what are the different options you're looking at? There were very few options to consider when buying the car new. Hardtop? yes or no,
shifter style?
wheels?
Only the hardtop can be more valuable of the options. If an 03 to 05, you might want to make sure it has the heated seats. Most were sold with the heated seats, but 02s did not have heated seats, nor did the delux models of all 4 years.

Again than-you for your help, the posts on the thunderbirdnest have been helpful. As far as options go, I was looking at a '04 black premium (upgrade wheels) with the sand package, 33k miles vs. a '05 Red delux 19k miles. Neither has the hardtop. Both have heated seats.
Thanks so much for your wonderful website with all the information.
Bob and Jan.

Since the 05 has heated seats, it's also a premium model. Like I said, there were few options for the cars. Most salesmen of used cars do not know the differences between the premium and the delux models and get them mixed up all the time. The black 04 with sand interior is a striking combination but the sand color softtop requires a lot of extra care to keep it looking good. There are threads on Thunderbirdnest with information on keeping it clean (and plenty of opinions on how to do it, most worthy of reading and following their advice).
The black with sand combination is not a common color combination so may be a better value down the road but you just can't go wrong with the red color choice either.

COP Question - I have a 2003 Thunderbird (Whisper White/Premium/Hardtop) and I have had multiple COP failures. The car currently has about 50,000 miles on it. I bought it secondhand in 2006 and it ran beautifully for the first year and a half. Then around the time Ford offered the extended COP warranty, I had my first COP fail. My dealership replaced the COP and it stopped missing. Since the first COP failure, however, the car has not run the same. It used to be absolutely butter smooth at idle (I also have a 2005 Lincoln LS - so I remember how smooth it used to be). But now it seems perpetually lumpy. (I also had the Ford dealer clean the injectors and throttle body). I have also had multiple COP failures since then (about to take it in for my 5th COP replacement) and it seems that I can only go a few thousand miles between COP failures. I do not drive the car a lot, so a few thousand miles for me is 3-4 months. I thought the problem was my local dealer, so I took it to a larger Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealer for the last COP failure. It is now missing again after 1000 miles since the last COP replacement. Any suggestions? Thanks. David

Hi David,
I saw that you asked the same question on TBN. For the most part, I agree with what has been said there about getting them all changed out. We finally did that with our 02 after changing them out 1 or 2 at a time but we were able to go longer intervals between changes til there were only 2 left that hadn't been changed. My spouse finally broke down and changed out all 8 with the latest cops from Ford and put new spark plugs in just in case. So far, so good but we've only put a couple of thousand on that car since then. Have your dealers ever told you what was causing the coils to go out?

Thanks, Dot. No, the dealer never mentioned what was causing the COPs to fail. I will have them all changed when I take it in this time. I was not sure if I was a "special" case or whether everyone was dealing with repeated failures.

This is one of those things that you may have to argue with the dealership. Start going over their heads to regional and then on to customer service at Ford if they won't change all of them. Do mention that the part number changed within the past year and there must be a reason that the old parts were not doing their job to make a change like that.

In your site, you stated the hardtop was a $2500.00 option. How come I keep hearing people saying the hardtop was a $5000.00 option. Which is correct?
Thanks

When the tbird was ordered new, the hardtop was listed as $2,500 on the order sheet and window stickers. If the hardtop is ordered "after" the car has been delivered to the dealer, it's not considered an option with the car but an accessory part. Dealers have charged anywhere from $3500 to $7000 to order a hardtop separately. The average being around $5000.

To buy one from an owner that has decided they do not want the hardtop, the price generally runs between $1200 and $2000 - just remember that it's considered used and may have blemishes. Always wise to check it out in person if possible.

I am looking to buy an 02-05 late winter/early spring. This site has been a godsend as far as learning so much about them.
I would like to know though, (mileage/color aside) is one year really preffered to another? I know color options will be limited, but all things being equal...should I look at a certain year?
I really prefer the color options in the 02/03/04 models.
Any direction is greatly appreciated.
Mike

Mike,
With that consideration, I'd look for one that has been well-maintained, that the owner has kept good records on. Wouldn't matter the year.

I have found an 03 Bird for sale in shadow gray with black interior and hardtop. It has 4000 miles on it. The owner was an older man who took sick and didn't drive it often.It was garaged. Could there be problems with this car from sitting for long periods? I don't know too much about the history of the car due to the owner is in a hospital and the son is selling it for him. I am interested in the car and would like to make an offer, but I wonder if this car could be a potential mechanical problem. Thank you for your thoughts. I did drive it for a short ride and I heard the hardtop making a creaking noise. The son mentioned he didn't think the hardtop was ever taken off the car. Maybe the rubber piece around the edge of the hardtop is worn thin? It was an annoying creaking sound and would need immediate attention. The car seemed to run and handle well during the quick ride. Thank you.

Today I saw a 2005 T-bird in a parking lot in Madison, WI. (I know it was an '05 because it had the "50th Anniversary" chrome blades on the fenders) BUT, this car was plain white with a black soft top, and a black & red interior! Supposedly, this color combination wasn't available in 2005. Plus, the car looked like a daily driver, not a pampered collectible. What do you suppose I saw? A one-off?

Frank,
I would say that the only problem you might run into with it sitting for awhile is bad gas. Best to run some fresh gas in the tank and get the oil changed if it hasn't been done in the past year. Being garaged all the time is good for it from that standpoint. The 03s are prone to a transmission error code showing up - if this hasn't happened to the car in the past, then it may exhibit the problem somewhere down the road and a dealer is the best place to get it fixed - if it's going to happen. Once fixed, people don't seem to have a problem with it again. 4000 miles is a good find.

Tom,
You probably saw an 02 or an 03. The anniversary chrome blade is easy to install in place of the hash marks and are no longer available to buy thru a dealer. The place to check is the vin# - there will be a 2 or a 3 right before the Y in the vin #. 2 indicates 2002 and 3 indicates it was a 2003.

Hi:

I'm a new T-Bird owner (2005 model) and I'm wondering what you might recommend for adding support for an iPod to the stero?

Thanks for your blog!

Hi Michael,
Not my area of expertise so I'll send you off to Thunderbirdnest.com where you may have already been since you posted this yesterday.
Dot

I have a 2005 T-Bird with chrome wheels. Is anyone else having problems with the chrome coming off the wheels and the tires not being able to keep the bead, thus it goes flat all the time? Any suggestions other than replacing all four wheels?

Rick,
yes, others are experiencing the problem. Right now, only quick solution would be to sand off the peeling chrome, and cover with a clear coat to keep it from progressing further. or send out your wheels to be rechromed or get new wheels.

Does anyone know where I can find a boot for a 2003 black T-Bird? Thanks in advance,

Art

Art,
Check ebay.com. They show up occassionally there. You might also check in with thunderbirdnest.com and inquire of the members there. Also, Thunderbird Concepts has an aftermarket one that looks ok on the car.

How many Mountain Shadow Grey 2993's were produced?
Thanks Bill

Bill, your question confuses me. Where did you see a M.S.G. referred to as a 2993?