why was the contour a dud?

[Frosty]

submit the vins in the registry thread if you havent

I've been waiting for someone with a carfax again so I can run all the vins and see if they're alive or dead. I'm also trying to get all the build #'s for them, but don't worry, that is the plan

 

[Desiato]

I believe the Contour failed in North America because of marketing issues. There was a huge market for cars like it as evidenced by sales from other manufacturers. The pre-98 Contour SE outperformed these cars in many areas. Here are some of the factors I believe contributed to the marketing failure:

- Many younger buyers in the 90's wanted nothing to do with a Ford. The Contour didn't have quality issues beyond those of its peers, but Ford definitely had a quality perception issue. Many people here seem to have fond memories of the Taurus, but where I grew up they were considered lemons and a lot of kids of the late 80's and early 90's did not like them when compared to firmer European and Japanese cars.

- Most people looking for a smaller midsize sedan with a firm suspension and good handling didn't even bother looking at Ford and went straight towards Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Volkswagen, BMW, etc. They weren't even aware that Ford offered a car like that and still don't.

- The brand transition from Mondeo to Contour didn't work out very well imo. I think Contour is a poor name for a car and the changes made to its body to fit the Contour theme were inconsistent with the natural lines of the design.

Despite its mediocre sales, the Contour and the 2.5l duratec were critical success in North America and the platform achieved an almost cult status from the grass roots enthusiasm we still see today, almost 10 years after the car was discontinued.

 

[rouar]

Now, in my opinion, I would not have bought a non-SVT Contour/Mystique when they were new mainly because of the interior.
<snip>
Even the MNB interior in my SVT annoys me a little bit because the headliner and sunroof motor cover are a lighter color than everything else in the interior. WHY??? It doesn't make sense to me.

Dark interiors get lighter headliners because people don't like to feel like they are in a black cave in their car.

I've had three fully-optioned cars with dark interiors: Contour (midnight blue), Maxima (black), Legacy (black). Each had a gray headliner. The latter two had gray pillar covers.

How often does a dark interior have a black headliner? I can't think of any vehicles off the top of my head.

 

[striker2]

Dark interiors get lighter headliners because people don't like to feel like they are in a black cave in their car.

I've had three fully-optioned cars with dark interiors: Contour (midnight blue), Maxima (black), Legacy (black). Each had a gray headliner. The latter two had gray pillar covers.

How often does a dark interior have a black headliner? I can't think of any vehicles off the top of my head.

IIRC the E36 M5 does.

 

[oberthecat]

Despite its mediocre sales, the Contour and the 2.5l duratec were critical success in North America and the platform achieved an almost cult status from the grass roots enthusiasm we still see today, almost 10 years after the car was discontinued.

Here where I live there are still a lot of these cars on the road. For all their problems they seem to have lasted a long time in many cases. It is interesting that 4 of the top 10 clunkers being turned in right now are 96-99 Explorers. The replacement car with the highest sales so far is the Focus. I don't think that our cars even qualify which says a lot for their design.

 

[imurdaddytoo sport]

Dark interiors get lighter headliners because people don't like to feel like they are in a black cave in their car.

I've had three fully-optioned cars with dark interiors: Contour (midnight blue), Maxima (black), Legacy (black). Each had a gray headliner. The latter two had gray pillar covers.

How often does a dark interior have a black headliner? I can't think of any vehicles off the top of my head.

my cobra does

 

[gone postal]

Pricing has been covered here, but here's a firsthand example.

in 1997 my wife and I had to replace her car. We went to a dealership where we knew the sales staff and specifically asked about a Mystique. We test drove a couple, I loved them, my wife liked them, and started the price game.

About 20 minutes into the price discussion, the sales manager came in and offered us a 1998 Sable with similar options for $3500 LESS than the Mystique. (incentives, financing, loyalty bonus, etc)

We bought the Sable.

 

[AliasJerk]

Pricing has been covered here, but here's a firsthand example.

in 1997 my wife and I had to replace her car. We went to a dealership where we knew the sales staff and specifically asked about a Mystique. We test drove a couple, I loved them, my wife liked them, and started the price game.

About 20 minutes into the price discussion, the sales manager came in and offered us a 1998 Sable with similar options for $3500 LESS than the Mystique. (incentives, financing, loyalty bonus, etc)

We bought the Sable.

Score one for AJ, like I said earlier they weren't competitively priced enough against the sable/taurus.

 

[BadDoctorFrost]

Interesting. It seems fairly obvious to me. My Mystique was a nearly-fully loaded first-year 1995 with a build date of 3/95. Only option it didn't have was a sunroof. The MSRP was just over $20K. Looking back on it, 20K was a HELL of a deal for a completely modern Euro-based sedan with traction control, 4wheel/4channel ABS, seat belt pretensioners; two of which weren't even available on anything else in its class, and not even many in classes above it. But, the car was designed in Europe. Small back seat, no cup holders, not much room, etc. The Taurus/Sable could be had for LESS than the Contour/Mystique. But, it didn't have TCS, didn't have the seat belt stuff, didn't have the 10-way sears, etc. Small stuff, yes, but still features that drove up the cost of the Contique. And, they were substantially larger cars that had the cupholders and the flubber space that American buyers wanted. Why would someone pay MORE for a smaller car? Remember, in America bigger equals better. Doesn't matter that the ConTique was a thoroughly modern, much better car with more to offer...it was just smaller. Blegh. I miss my little blue Mystique. In Moonlight Blue, that was the car i received the most compliments on. Out of all the Audis, the WS6, everything...no one knew what it was, and it always drew praise. I miss it

 

[ghent96]

Bad pricing, I'd have to agree on; however, you could talk a dealer down quite a lot if you tried. My first Mysti was a dealer demo car, and we paid mostly cash. Hmmm... wonder why the dealer was driving a Mystique instead of a Contour, Taurus, or Mustang???! (His other demo was a Cougar, but safety really sucked in those, imo) My 2nd was after I totaled the 1st, had an insurance check, and argued 1400 miles as "used" Most of the world still wanted either a Taurus or a Camry, though. I almost bought a Camry black&tan for my 2nd. The mid 90's to early 0's have been a really sucky time for Ford, bad management, bad business, bad design... only just now are they recovering. They learned valueable lessons from Contique for the "Fusilan" now. If Ford would kick out the unions, I'd buy a Fusion or Escape instantly.

Real problems the cars have, especially now, is mileage and horsepower underperform compared to new(er) cars now. I get 25mpg, and the V6 is rated about 170hp, right? SVT got 200hp, iirc. At the time those were a lot for a 2.6L domestic V6. Now... it sucks. You can find 1.8L - 2.4L 4cyls that get 170-220hp easy, now, with 30mpg.

post-98 Mystique was awesome, but underexposed and underpromoted. Contour aesthetics and options really did suck. The Sport (SE) = Mystique LS, but far worse styling and options, for about the same price. Didn't even have fold-down rear seats! That's dumb.

There really hasn't been any reliability issues, imo, that aren't personally explained by a bad climate (where my Mysti was originally dealered) or bad gas, or bad me. If these cars were crap, some of us wouldn't have 200k miles on them and going strong. There was the coolant tank sensor recall, but meh. Dashboard warp, but meh. They're MUCH, much easier to work on than any VW.

 

[BoneStock99]

Looking back on it, 20K was a HELL of a deal for a completely modern Euro-based sedan with traction control, 4wheel/4channel ABS, seat belt pretensioners; two of which weren't even available on anything else in its class, and not even many in classes above it. But, the car was designed in Europe. Small back seat, no cup holders, not much room, etc. The Taurus/Sable could be had for LESS than the Contour/Mystique. But, it didn't have TCS, didn't have the seat belt stuff, didn't have the 10-way sears, etc. Small stuff, yes, but still features that drove up the cost of the Contique. And, they were substantially larger cars that had the cupholders and the flubber space that American buyers wanted. Why would someone pay MORE for a smaller car? Remember, in America bigger equals better. Doesn't matter that the ConTique was a thoroughly modern, much better car with more to offer...it was just smaller.

I think this hits the nail on the head.

For me, the Contour couldn't confortably fit three kids across the rear, let alone adults. So my choice was to either save the money and buy a cheaper Escort with just about the same interior room as a Contour or go with a larger Taurus, for not much more (or even less) money. In the end the wife had to be happy so it was a Taurus.

I am wondering where the Pontiac Grand Prix and Grand Am and other cars like it fit in.

It seemed to me that the Grand Prix was a sporty looking car, a step up from a Contour in size, if not in technology.

Aside from the fact that the Contour is a sedan only and the Grand Am came in a coup, if you are going to go smaller than a Grand Prix or a Taurus, the Grand Am was a very attractive, very sporty looking option, especially the GT. Put a Grand Am GT and a CSVT next to each other and 9 out of 10 single 20-something females are going to choose the Grand Am just based on looks alone.

At the end of the day however, every single person who drives my CSVT is impressed.


-Tim-

 

[BrApple]

and the V6 is rated about 150hp, right? SVT got 210hp, iirc.

try 170 hp and 200 hp respectively ... the SVT had the most HP of a four door sedan in 98 when it was released.

 

[Hydrargyrum]

The Contour was just another victim of the Ford rebadging syndrome...

Countless cars have gone through it and still they don't get it.

What was wrong with simply importing the Mondeo as the way it was and build it here? Why all the changes?

They did the same thing with the Merkurs... Why change the name to such a ridiculous moniker? In Europe they sold fairly decently under the Ford Sierra and Ford Scorpio.

Then you have the latest example. The Euro Ford Focus is a COMPLETELY different animal. Why can't Ford just import the same model and build it here?

Not gonna go into the whole Taurus/Sable/ and Five-Hundred/Montego disaster... The Ford Taurus was a widely recongnized and respected nameplate, but lets get rid of it and replace it with Five Hundred and Montego.

To answer your question, it is all about marketing. A good friend of mine has had his SVT since '01, and has nad absolutely no issues with the car.

Don't forget that most owners of the CSVTs were younger and abused the living life out of them too.

 

[vanguard92]

Dark interiors get lighter headliners because people don't like to feel like they are in a black cave in their car.

I've had three fully-optioned cars with dark interiors: Contour (midnight blue), Maxima (black), Legacy (black). Each had a gray headliner. The latter two had gray pillar covers.

How often does a dark interior have a black headliner? I can't think of any vehicles off the top of my head.

My '69 Boss 302 Clone does. :laugh:

 

[getsum111]

Sweet 'Stang.

 

[2000SilverSVT]

I don't remembr how I heard of the CSVT in 2000. It was probably from C&D. We were looking at cars for my GF and were on the Ford lot. I did not expect to even see a CSVT but they had at least 4 at that one dealer alone. A few weeks later I went to a Soccer Tournament in Dallas and test drove one. The salesman said there is a long sweeping corner up ahead you can test the handling. I thought he was going to crap his pants. His comment was... We don't even take the Mustangs through that corner that fast..... Still not sure if that was a testament to the strength of the CSVT or the pansies that are MSVT Drivers.

 

[cetroutt]

- The brand transition from Mondeo to Contour didn't work out very well imo. I think Contour is a poor name for a car and the changes made to its body to fit the Contour theme were inconsistent with the natural lines of the design.

i think that this is the exact reason for the failure of the contour, pure and simple it's american auto makers trying to make easy money with a good selling european car. look at pontiac with the 88-93 lemans. in europe the astra/kadett is an amazing car, when it was the lemans here in the US it was underpowered and lacked everything good that the astra/kadett had.

Dark interiors get lighter headliners because people don't like to feel like they are in a black cave in their car.

How often does a dark interior have a black headliner? I can't think of any vehicles off the top of my head.

my genII SHO has an ALL black interior.

try 170 hp and 200 hp respectively ... the SVT had the most HP of a four door sedan in 98 when it was released.

i think that you need to point out that the SVT had the most power of any domestic compact four door sedan.

The Contour was just another victim of the Ford rebadging syndrome...

Countless cars have gone through it and still they don't get it.

What was wrong with simply importing the Mondeo as the way it was and build it here? Why all the changes?

They did the same thing with the Merkurs... Why change the name to such a ridiculous moniker? In Europe they sold fairly decently under the Ford Sierra and Ford Scorpio.

Then you have the latest example. The Euro Ford Focus is a COMPLETELY different animal. Why can't Ford just import the same model and build it here?

Not gonna go into the whole Taurus/Sable/ and Five-Hundred/Montego disaster... The Ford Taurus was a widely recongnized and respected nameplate, but lets get rid of it and replace it with Five Hundred and Montego.

To answer your question, it is all about marketing. A good friend of mine has had his SVT since '01, and has nad absolutely no issues with the car.

Don't forget that most owners of the CSVTs were younger and abused the living life out of them too.

i agree with this completely. it was just plain stupidity on fords behalf. however with all of the crap that is going on with the big three it seems as if ford is doing some learning and climbing it's way back to the top. hopefully we'll see the euro focus and it really will be the euro focus, also i'm very glad to see that the taurus is back and it is a very sexy car. also the fit and finsh seems to be the best ever in a taurus. and while the contour may be gone perhaps we won't have to see what has happened to it and so many other great european cars again.

 

[LauraSVT]

I wouldn't say that the Contour was ever a better car than the Taurus, and that goes for comparing the SVT and SHO iterations directly as well.

It was, however, a dynamic, solid, well-performing car with great looks and hot numbers and handling in the uplevel guises (particularly SVT). I loved my SVT, for the record.

What really cramped its style on the sales charts was the tight back seat and the price that blew right past the Tempo and kept on going. Ford delivered a bit too many up-optioned Contours to dealers in the early going, and that sent the wrong message out of the gate. People who had been loyal to Tempo for its value and dependability could have found the same virtues in the Contour. Some did. But others were put off by those initial window stickers of cars that were loaded with way more equipment than they wanted, price shoppers that they were.

 

[qbcsvt]

Does this thread matter? You have one! The only thing that I see fit in this thread. Is the Contour died and we dont have what shoulda been the "Contour" or "Mondeo" that is new gen!

- amyn

 

[mrutkaus]

Well one reason, it may have been too European.

The one I have now, a '95 Mystique 2.5, I went with my mother to purchase in '95, it was promoted as a world car, a European car. Which fitted us as we were German/Lithuanian. And it was a super neat car to me and incidently to my mother, so we got it. She's still around but not driving and I bought it from her.

A little odd for Kansas.

MIke