SVT Contour

[HannibalX]

Hey does anyone drive one of these? Saw one in a parking lot today and it was calling my name!!! I need a new daily driver anyhow.

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: Trinitron
Hey does anyone drive one of these? Saw one in a parking lot today and it was calling my name!!! I need a new daily driver anyhow.

Check the "what do you drive" thread, there's an owner of one in there and I don't think he likes it. 🙂

 

[Triumph]

They're generally regarded as one of the best handling front wheel drive cars out there. Good engine, too, with an AWESOME sound. Not sure about reliability, but if you're looking for something sporty and fun to drive, you won't be disappointed. Check the classifieds at contour.org if you're really looking for one.

 

[profet]

awesome overall car

 

[CtK]

drive the jag x-type almost like the samething 🙂
hahahaha

 

[BDawg]

I drove one for 5 years before people in an SUV decided to cream it. It's an absolutely great car! Good pickup, and one of the best handling cars in it's class.

 

[merlocka]

I have a Silver 98 SVT Contour.

If you can bear with Ford build quality, you'll be hard pressed to find a more fun-to-drive sport sedan.

Edmunds.com summed it up well when they said The SVT Contour is simply the best handling front-wheel drive sedan sold in this country.

There are some known issues with the car, water pumps die at ~70k, some build issues, etc. I drive it VERY hard (I pretty much beat the crap out of it), and at 95k it's still running strong.

It's fun to play with 3's and A4's with the SVT. It certainly doesn't look like much, and I know the 3 and A4 guys are like WTF? 🙂

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: CtK
drive the jag x-type almost like the samething 🙂
hahahaha

Heh, not quite. The X-Type is based off of the Ford Mondeo platform, which is a slightly larger car. Besides, the X-Type is a much plushier car than almost anything with a Ford or a Mercury logo on it.

 

[HannibalX]

I thought the Contour and Mondeo were the same platform??

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Originally posted by: Trinitron
I thought the Contour and Mondeo were the same platform??

bob is right - The Coutour and Mondeo did share the same platform until 2001 - in Europe the Mondeo shares a larger platform, the same one the X-Type rides on currently

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: Trinitron
I thought the Contour and Mondeo were the same platform??

bob is right - The Coutour and Mondeo did share the same platform until 2001 - in Europe the Mondeo shares a larger platform, the same one the X-Type rides on currently

well, since the contour is dead...

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: Trinitron
I thought the Contour and Mondeo were the same platform??

bob is right - The Coutour and Mondeo did share the same platform until 2001 - in Europe the Mondeo shares a larger platform, the same one the X-Type rides on currently

well, since the contour is dead...

and......?

 

[tcsenter]

Plus there are a lot of 'gimmy' goodies for the SVT Contour, too. Performance stuff. You know, you see them and are overwhelmed by this little voice in your head that screams "OOOO...GIMMY!"

But I would think it to be not unlike any other high performance specialty vehicle from Ford (a money pit).

 

[Luke1]

Money pit? Not SVT vehicle's. They sell every one they make at sticker price usually, it would be very hard to do that if they broke alot. The contour svt is a sweet ride, I almost bought one when I used to sell Ford's. My manager had a red one, whenever I was grabbin lunch for the group I would take his car. Lotta fun to drive, they love to rev, and the seats and trim inside are more import than Ford if you ask me.

 

[tcsenter]

Money pit? Not SVT vehicle's. They sell every one they make at sticker price usually, it would be very hard to do that if they broke alot.

Not within the warranty period, 3 year/36,000 miles or so, and since its covered during that time, who cares what goes wrong. After that, they can be a money pit.

I owned an SHO for about two years, so did my sister. Both were off-warranty, both had lots of little things go wrong and require maintenance and service. $300 here, $150 there, $900 here (G-D defective clutch), $1400 there (60K mile cam adjustment service), etc, etc.

 

[T2T III]

For me, the Contour was a bit small. I was look at the non-SVT version, but the level with the 2.5L Duratec engine. The car had good pick-up, etc. and the gas mileage was not too bad.

If it came down to the following:
- 1999 Contour SVT w/45,000 miles for $6,000 - or -
- 1993 Honda Accord w/90,000 miles for $6,500

I'd get the Contour. Domestic cars get a bad rap. However, the quality has improved quite a bit over the past several years. I had a '98 ZX2 which had the same 4 cylinder Zetec engine that the Contour has in their non-V6 versions. My ZX2 was the most reliable car that I've owned to date. Out of 5 years and 40,000 miles, I only put in regular maintence items (oil changes, etc.) and before I sold it, I installed new front brake pads and rotors ($100 total cost.) The car actually didn't need the brake work as it would have easily made it another 15K miles. Most GM vehicles that I've owned have eaten up the front brake pads at 30K miles.

Since I mentioned that the Countour was a little small for my likes, I settled on a '99 loaded Taurus w/40K miles on it. The car has been a dream to drive for the past two weeks of ownership.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Money pit? Not SVT vehicle's. They sell every one they make at sticker price usually, it would be very hard to do that if they broke alot.

Not within the warranty period, 3 year/36,000 miles or so, and since its covered during that time, who cares what goes wrong. After that, they can be a money pit.

I owned an SHO for about two years, so did my sister. Both were off-warranty, both had lots of little things go wrong and require maintenance and service. $300 here, $150 there, $900 here (G-D defective clutch), $1400 there (60K mile cam adjustment service), etc, etc.

$900 for a clutch replacement? Was that at the dealership? Normally, this repair should have been $500 - $600 depending on whether the flywheel had to be turned or not.

 

[tcsenter]

$900 for a clutch replacement? Was that at the dealership? Normally, this repair should have been $500 - $600 depending on whether the flywheel had to be turned or not.

Yep, it was at a Ford certified SVT dealership in Lansing, Michigan. They specialized in SHO/SVT services. I took it to two transmission shops in my area, including A-1 Transmission, which is a well-known transmission service chain, and neither of those shops would touch it. They flat out said 'We don't work on them'.

It had to have an improved/revised clutch and throw-out bearing kit from Ford, because the original OEM kit wasn't strong enough. LOTS of clutches wearing/failing excessively on the manual SHOs because of this defective design. Ford refused to consider it a 'defect' because the clutch is a high-wear part, anyway, but when they released a stronger clutch/bearing kit and a TSB saying this kit should be used, that was an implied admission there was indeed a problem with the OEM design.

IIRC, Chilton's states this is like a 12 man-hour service. At $50 - 60/hr that comes to $600 - $720 just in labor, not including parts. I forget the actual breakdown of parts/labor, but the final bill was $900. Cha-ching.