i would say, if ur bent on the mustang, option one, though thas gonna suck to have a loan, so i dunno, id hate to be you right now, sorry and good luck
I was in a similar predicament w/ my Explorer...I chose to replace the tranny...thus I could afford the last year Camaro and mod the piss out of it. Finally after 6 transmissions in 3 years I let her go...but remember all parts and services have a 1 year warranty...that's how trannys 2-6 got in for free
Quality Ford Transmissions...there's an oxymoron if I've ever seen one.
Erik
1997 Mercury Mystique...Zetec Power!
1993 Nissan 300ZX Convertible
Stage: V+
2002 Slicktop Chevy Camaro Z28
Stage: a lot
2003 Suzuki Bandit 600S
Rather than dump $3k into another car just for a short time, why not fix the one you have? It'll probably be less costly than $3k to do it and then you have a cheap car with known problems, vs. a $3k car that probably has problems (and will require $$$) that you don't know about. BTDT. No $3k car doesn't need some work. And, here there's sales tax on car purchases, so figure that cost into any "short term" vehicle purchase.