SVT's... are they reliable at all for DD? Just curious...

[phillip5912000]

I can tell you I just purchased a 99 with 84,000 miles. Having to do normal things you would expect. I will explain that I had three contours for company cars back in the 90's. I had a 95 with a 2.5, a 97 with a 2.5 , and a 2000 with a 2.5. I picked up the first two at the dealership brand new. Drove the 95 and 97 to 80,000 miles each within each two year period then picked up another new one. I never had any major problems of any kind with these cars. They were the quickest company vehicle I ever owned. Loved the passing gear. They put such an impression on me that I searched for almost 15 years to find me a SVT this year.

 

[toolbox]

I'll echo some of the other sentiments here...you're talking about a 15 year old car, and any vehicle at that age is going to have it's own "personality" lol. I love cheap cars, but can only afford to drive them because I do all my own wrenching (and have been for 20 years). Cheap and or older cars are going to need work, some more than others. I think the Contour is a pretty good DD from a fundamental standpoint, but yea...it's really going to vary from car to car. I had a '96 Contour that was my DD back in the early 2000s...I put 40 miles a day on it commuting. Great car...got 30MPG pretty consistently. Water pump blew up at 130K, and it was parked for 5 years. Got it going again, and sold it a few years ago.

My '98 SVT I have now I traded my '98 CVPI for...I figure I got the SVT for around $1300. It looked ok, but I suspect it had been run pretty hard and kind of neglected. So far I've had to:
Replace passenger side window (busted out in a break in)
Polish headlights
Replace left side tail light
Full machine polish paint
Interior detail (PO was a smoker...it was kind of gross) Still no way to get the cigarette burns out unfortunately.
Replace dash bezel, rear defrost switch, e-brake boot
Engine:
Upper and lower intake removal/cleaning
New IAC
New DPFE
Throttle body cleaning
Spark plugs
water pump assembly
T-stat
Serp belt
New (old) IMRC
New coolant
Replace short ram thingie with stock airbox
Other stuff I'm probably forgetting.

Anyway, car looks great, runs awesome, and is fun to drive. Needed a few hundred bucks worth of work, but it's now my DD and will be until the snow comes and I have to drive the truck. Would I recommend the car as I got it for a DD? No. After I was done? Absolutely . I guess if you find one in decent shape and just expect to spend some money getting it set up, you'll be ok. Trick is finding one that hasn't been flogged too hard. I used to be into F-Body cars too, and finding one that hasn't had the p** run out of it is really tough. Having the right expectations is always important in being happy with a car purchase. If you want something really reliable with good gas mileage that doesn't need any work, you're probably not going to be happy with any 15 year old car...

 

[brobafett]

I'm on my fifth csvt. And my third dd csvt I have never had one brake down on me. I have replaced engines and trannys but I never broke them. My biggest complaint is the dash but I can live with that, and the lack of aftermarket parts. It seems like there was a market for these cars at one point and then they just quit. I have also purchased 3 of these tgis year and never spent over 1500, they all needed some kind of repair. Anyways I'm keeping these as my dd for a while at least until the focus rs hits the us.

 

[Chrisf695]

Great responses guys... My feeling is that there ARE some lemons out there for the SVTs OR the car in the early years of its life just didnt get the attention it should have. In it all... Every car has its gremlins. From reading tons of other responses about the same questions others have posted in the past... they are a reliable car. Just take care of it. Period.

 

[Klasse Act]

IMO it all comes down to maintainence, period. Has the water pump been replaced and is it a metal impeller? Has the mtx fluid been changed out too, all things that add up to a longer life. Lastly how was the car driven, was it beat on, did it make short trips to and from work, etc.

With the price of these cars now, buy it and enjoy having a unique ride!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jandungle]

when I had mine it was a great DD. I hope to find another to serve as DD again. In my opinion, they are great cars. YMMV. There are some known issues, but nothing major IMHO. Read up and see what they are, and see if you can live with them.

"but nothing major" LoLz Whatever mang =) This sir is a great car but if you are not a gearhead that likes to have a car that will need ALOT of work done to it and you are allways having to fix then look elsewhere because she will break your heart =(. Now dont take this the wrong way this car handles like a ballet dancer on speed and runs like a scolded dog but I digress, its gonna need a lot of work that nobody wants to do and if they do It wont be cheap brother.. Is the end result worth it? Fuggin right it is!! Its a great "Project car" and it could be a great DD if 1. someone exercised the electrical demons that plague this platform and 2. you have another DD to use when she wont crank.. But when she runs OH Baby does she run! The look on the honda boys face when you crank her from a cold start ( the ohh face) and when you are mad and you drop her into 3rd from 5th and hear her scream like a pissed off Banshee. When you see kids stop and just stare and wait for you to start it, it makes it all worth it brother. All the heartaches and empty wallets worth every freakin penny..

 

[MCconnection cc]

I'm on my third tour and my second svt. I love them as a dd. When my last svt sheered it's shift tower bolt I junked it and immediately looked for another one as a dd. I only laid $700 for my last one. Drove it for 6 months and put over 10,000 miles on it. All while getting great gas mileage and lots of smiles. I also think that these cars handle great in the snow. If my current svt goes down and it's not worth the price of repair, I'll get another one. I love these cars man and I think I'll always have one in my stable...

 

[phillip5912000]

I guess I bought a good one last month with 84,500 miles. Took it on a 12 hour round trip to see my son this past weekend. Ran perfect and got around 30 mpg. I can only hope it continues to be a great one. I agree with other posts on here. There are lemons out there on any models. You just get lucky sometimes like I have.

 

[BrApple]

The long and short of it is the Contour is a maintenance heavy car. There is a lot that needs to be done, and some of those items are not considered normal items, like wheel bearings. At this point in time they are old cars and have often been beaten on. Just check it out the best one can first and then be ready for repairs if needed.

 

[cclngthr]

The long and short of it is the Contour is a maintenance heavy car. There is a lot that needs to be done, and some of those items are not considered normal items, like wheel bearings. At this point in time they are old cars and have often been beaten on. Just check it out the best one can first and then be ready for repairs if needed.

That could be said about any car of this vintage. I had an El-Camino that I bought that needed some work, but over time, I ended up restoring it. Had a 07 Hyundai Elantra that I have had more problems with, even new. I bought that car new, and found the rear suspension causing drivability problems because of a poor design. I ended up fabricating an upper control arm set for the car that was adjustable so the suspension could be adjusted correctly. On the same car, the transmission was funky and the electrical system on that trans would do odd things that drove me wild. Axle shaft was also bad, which promptly broke after I traded it in. Had a 2000 Sable that was a PITA, and would constantly break down.


As far as the contour, sure, mine needs some work, valve cover gaskets, tune up and power steering pump, but it is a lot better than some cars I have had.

 

[BrApple]

That could be said about any car of this vintage.

While I agree, that is not what I was getting at. The Contour needed a lot of "regular maintenance" along the way, even 10 years ago. This would even include wheel bearings, which are normally not a maintenance item. Alternators, fuel pumps, etc. Generally the people that kept up with everything along the way had better running cars.

 

[cclngthr]

While I agree, that is not what I was getting at. The Contour needed a lot of "regular maintenance" along the way, even 10 years ago. This would even include wheel bearings, which are normally not a maintenance item. Alternators, fuel pumps, etc. Generally the people that kept up with everything along the way had better running cars.

Wheel bearings would go bad if the lot was bad. Seen this happen to the 2001-2006 XD Hyundai Elantra. Sometimes the vendor supplying the part had a bad run and they went bad after a while. Also, when owners install aftermarket rims that change the stress point on the bearing, they wear out prematurely. Alternators going out prematurely would be caused by water getting into the alternator itself, and like the Elantra, which has the same issue, the location of the alternator placed low on the motor will cause water splashing into it easier than when it is on top of the engine. Fuel pumps going bad could be caused by low fuel levels, and on fords, the fuel pickup is higher than in other cars, which running out of fuel is easier.


The cat issue, generally I feel is caused by a poor tune and poor exhaust design. The v6 engine, being a high performance engine, carbons up very easy, which is also seen in the early 2000's Audi V6 engines. You have to regularly get these engines past 6000 rpm and hold them there to clean things out and keep them clean.