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Would You Buy A Contour Again?

It's entirely possible we'd consider one again a few years if/when we need to replace the Volvo.
Who knows.
I doubt we'll go out of our way in the future to buy another one though. It'd have to just fall into our laps at the right place and right time.
 
1) Yes. And I have done so.
2) 1995 Mystique LS; 1999 Se Sport; 2k SVT
3) Ownership history:
- 94 Tempo
- 95 Mystique (current)
- 99 Se Sport (current)
- 2k SVT (current)
- also in the family:
95 SE; 99 Se Sport

Been driving since August 1998. Appx 170K+ miles driven.

4) I have been picking up automotive knowledge from my father since I was ~8 years old. I have spent years helping him do all of our own work on the family cars. The first thing I really did by myself was swapping to the SVT intakes on my Se. From there I have done alittle of everything, suspension, stereo, brakes, etc to installing my NPG turbo kit on my own. In the last year I have expanded what I know by helping Aircougar with a number of 3L swaps and other various repairs or modifications. pretty confident that I can figure any car related problems out and execute a well thought out solution.
 
frenchblueC2 said:
I doubt we'll go out of our way in the future to buy another one though. It'd have to just fall into our laps at the right place and right time.
Click to expand...


exactly my thoughts...




No
'00 SE & '98 GL
I've been driving for over 22yrs & owned cars prior to that. The longest I've owned a car is the four years that I still have the sportage & it's been for sale a couple times. So, I've had quite a few cars. The quickest/fastest being a '90 eclipse gs-turbo & an '89 mustang lx 5.0, both bought new. All the way down to a chevette for winter driving whilst my corvette sat in the garage. Yes, I had two vettes at the same time. I lived w/ my parents when I had the kickass stuff...

I bought my first contour because it was cheap & had low miles, not convinced that it was a cool car by any means. In fact, I was a bit embarassed. The second one fell into my lap & I had parts left from the last one. Due to this site, I have no worries about repairs & the like.

My father owns a body shop & my brother is a great mechanic, so if I can't figure it out myself...I've got connections.
 
I'm an automotive omnivore, to some extent. There are a litany of cars that I'd love to save and take care of and enjoy. Over the past few years, I've put a lot of time into looking around at Fords, Lincolns, and Mercurys I might like to own, as well as some off brand stuff. Not uncommonly, I get the bug to own something else. However, I've never wanted to give up my beloved Laura, so I routinely end up with two cars, a number I'm not totally comfortable with given my lack of a garage and a huge amount of space to store cars willy-nilly.

All this leads me to your first question: Would I buy another Contour? I'm going to answer that two different ways. This car has been absolutely stellar. The ownership experience has been great. Based on my enjoyment of the car, her quality, and great looks, my answer is yes. However, there's an opportunity cost. If I buy another Contour, I can't get something else. Given my affinity for F/L/M products of the '80s, I'm inclined to say that future spots for vehicles will be filled by them instead.

I'm really gunning for an '83-'84 Turbo Coupe or an '84 XR7 Turbo, as many around here know. :cool:

I've owned the following cars (I'm including the mileage when sold, retired, or at last check):

1987 Ford Taurus MT-5 Wagon -- 181,900
1994 Ford Taurus SHO (deep jewel green metallic) -- 221,938
2000 Ford Contour SVT -- 134,500
1994 Ford Taurus SHO (opal frost metallic) 149,500
1993 Lincoln Town Car -- 53,000
1989 Mercury Cougar XR7 Supercharged -- 115,500
1988 Lincoln Town Car -- 75,550

Behind the wheel is one of the places I'm the happiest. I've covered every mile of Interstate 90 from Boston to Seattle, and have run back and forth between Massachusetts and Montana again and again. I've run I-95 from Bangor to Miami. And who knows about the back roads and secondary roads. I go all over the place.

I enjoy doing my own work, but without a great place to do it, I'm careful what I get myself into at this stage. I'd love to have a garage with a lift so that I could drop a crate 302 with a Borg-Warner T5 and a Traction-Lok 8.8 inch rear end in a 1979 Mercury Zephyr sedan. I have a lot of automotive knowledge, but do not know everything. I'm always looking to add to what I know. I am one of the most die-hard Ford fans on here, and am happy to tell you that. Some may also think that my taste in cars is a bit, well, unconventional (see Ad of the Day for occasional support of that point of view -- be advised that not everything listed there is something I'm a fan of, but most are).

All of my cars are maintained religiously, and are well taken care of.

There you have it. :cool:
 
It depends

It depends

Bought a 99 for my wife as a cheap first car, figgered she would round off all four corners in short order. That didn't happen and 5 years later after a cam belt, fuel pump and both axels she really enjoys the car.

I bought a CHEAP 98 for an intown driver (no 2nd or 4th gears) drove it for a year, then needed a car to tow my motorcycle to mexico, so I replaced the band in the trans, slapped on a cheap hitch, NO TRANS COOLER, dragged the motorcycle at 80 mph for about 3,500 miles. Now it is a daily driver.

Oh yeah put the first set of new wipers on both cars last week.

Next car, probably not a contour unless gas prices come down ,as the main new car criteria is fuel mileage balanced against car cost. And as I have stated before, these cars are getting a little long in the tooth.
 
I have owned 3:

1996 Zetec 5 speed
1999 Zetec 5 speed
1998.5 SVT

Loved every one of them, but my next car will be something newer, im actually leaning towards a Pontiac Vibe GT (or Matrix XRS), corolla XRS, Mazda 3 or Sentra SE-R
 
If your counting Mercury Mystique's. Then the answer would be yes.

We have a 1998 that has just turned 40,000 miles and until this week has been trouble free. This week, issues with the drivers window getting stuck in the half way position.
 
Doubt I would buy another. This has nothing to do with the enjoyment of the car. I bought it because I wanted a inexpensive sporty car that got decent gas mileage to be my DD. Plus the fact I was driving a 2 door regular cab truck and the wife was pregent with twins. I needed 4 doors and a back seat. It's been a great car thus far. However, it is a bit on the small side. As the twins get a little older, the CSVT will become to small thus impractical. I have a 13 y/o son who loves the car. He doesn't know it, but I will probably give the CSVT to him for his 16th b-day in 2-1/2 years. That will make the twins 3 y/o and the perfect time to get a bigger car with more room.

Cars I've owned? Geez!

72' Ford Courier
73' Chevy Camaro
81' Ford F150
82' Mazda RX-7
92' Chevy S10 (bought new)
91' Ford Mustang GT
96' Dodge Stratus (bought new)
87' Ford Mustang GT
91' Ford Mustang GT (not same as one above)
92' Ford Mustang LX 5.0
93' Toyota 4x4
03' Ford F150 Supercrew Lariet (bought new and wife currently drives)
99' CSVT with 85k current miles
Currently looking at trading the wifes F150 in on a new Ford Escape Hybrid.

Tons of auto experience. I was big into the Mustang hobby which you should be able to tell by my list showing I owned 4 of them. I was one of those people who would race them on the weekends and work on them on the week days. I know those cars inside and out. Hell, I once blew out my clutch at a Fun Ford Weekend event, ran and bought a new Spec clutch frome a vendor, pulled trans/installed new clutch/installed trans, all in the pits in under 45 minutes with only my wife handing me tools and finished just in time to make the first round of eliminations. Had two guys in the pits next to me laughing and saying I would never make it the whole time. I then went on to runner-up in my class out of some 50+ cars and won $250 which basically just paid for the new clutch. Best part was I beat one of the guys that had been laughing at me in the semi-finals. LOL!

John Forces pit team ain't got $hit on me. :)
 
-Yes, I am on my second SVTC and plan to keep this one until I kick the bucket(I mean it only has 4K miles LOL).
-First one was a 98 and the current one is a 00.
-Previous vehicles include a 03 ford ranger edge, 01 GT supercharged stang, 02 dodge dakota, 97 2-door tahoe LT, and a 95 jeep wrangler 4.0L.
-Fair amount of car and repair knowledge.
 
Probably not . Overall I've been happy with the car and I plan to drive it at least another 3 -4 years. But eventually i'd like to get something faster and newer with AWD.

96 GL V6 MTX , owned many cars and this has been the best, but easily the most expensive to maintain and hardest to work on. Most of my previous cars have been 4cyl econoboxes.

Reluctantly do most of my own repairs on the car. I am going to be installing headers tommorrow on the 'tour, which I am definately not looking forward to doing.
 
1. Yes
2. '95 (Mondeo), '96 (Mondeo), '96 (Mystique), '99 (SVT)
3. Pretty diverse; from a '79 Fiesta to an '09 Flex. Top 5% for years on this board (hey, I'm old) but not so much in terms of numbers of cars. In order of ownership: '84 Chevette, '85 Camaro, '79 Fiesta, '79 Monte Carlo, '89 Tracer, '95 & '96 Mondeo, '96 Escort, '87 Corolla, '96 Mystique, '99 Contour, '01 Taurus, '99 MPV, '02 Escape, '03 & '06 Expedition, '05 S80, '06 S60R, '07 & '08 Mustang, '08 F-150, '09 Flex
4. Used to be significant, but I have not pulled (significant) wrenches in more than a decade. The last time I got my hands even slightly dirty was when writing the Fuel Pump How To. I drove tow trucks for 4 years to help pay for college. Lot's of experience there.
 
As many of you already know, I've been wishing I never sold me first CSVT. I've kicked myself in the :censored: ever since I sold it. Im hoping to have another CSVT by the end of next week finally. It's going to be a 99 T-Red, not my first choice of color. Third choice to be exact, but hey its a CSVT FTW!!! :laugh: Honestly though I wouldn't own a "plain jane" contour...
 
- i would buy another contour in a heart beat, no question about it!!

-1999 contour SE sport V6 MTX..... (looking for a cheap SVT)

-for cars i owned
-1987 Plymouth colt 4 banger 5 speed, as a field car,still want one of them!!!
-88 Toyota 4 runner, another field car, that thing was unstoppable!!!!
(car or trucks i have driven on the road, in order i got them!)
-1980 dodge ram, straight 6, manual with granny gear and posy traction... that thing was a blast!!
-1972 cadillac with a 472 in it, then my dad took it back..
-1991 chevy pick up with a 350 rebuilt by me and my dad
-Plymouth grand furry with a 360, auto, me and my dad rebuilt the engine and the Tran and i rebuild the rear end...​
-1991 ford ranger, 2.3L manual, regular cad with short bed! (some mods)

​
- for auto experience, i think i have a good amount... i know a little bit of every thing but i do know a lot more about the 2.3L Lima's, V6 duratec and the 360 V8 in my Plymouth... but i have worked on a lot of cars doing many different things and i am always wanting to learn more... with the ranger was my real first step in to the fuel injected world, because before that i only worked on older cars with LOTS of room and carbs and points... now with the contour came the big jump to modding a fuel injected (thanks to the help of 99mystique ATX), and i am always learning new things about these cars and that's why i always check and read stuff on here because it is a wealth of knowledge.... and one day when i become a tech teacher i am going to make a contour 3L swap a project from my students.... that will be a fun time!!!! but i do have to thank my dad for teaching me and making me figure stuff out instead of telling me how things work!!!!
 
-Would you buy a Contour again based upon previously owning one?

Depends. If you're talking going back 10 years in time to when I first bought my Mystique, then YES I'd do it over again. But in terms of the here and now, its been fun, but its time to move on to a more modern car that fits my current needs.

-What year/models have you owned?

1959 Ford Taunus, 1964 Ford Thunderbird (owned two), 1965 Ford Thunderbird, 1976 Mercury Capri, 1976 Ford Granada, 1980 Mercury Capri, 1984 Chevrolet Blazer, 1984 BMW 325E, 1986 Ford Bronco II, 1997 Ford Explorer, 1999 Mercury Mystique LS.

-What do you think your experiences with cars overall are (i.e., have you only been driving for a short time...is your Contour the only car you've ever owned...etc)

Been driving longer than about anyone else here....40 years as a licensed driver, a couple more years driving before I got my license. I've owned 13 cars/trucks thus far, some memorable, some not so much so. The Mystique rates as probably one of the better vehicles, but not the kind of vehicle I will reminisce about fondly years after its gone.

-How much auto experience do you have with auto parts/maint? By this I don't mean can you tear down an engine on your own...but do you know what parts of a car are and what might've gone wrong if you had to fix anything.

In my younger days (and when cars were built to be worked on by the owners) I did most of my own maintenance and minor repairs. As I've gotten older with less time and no tolerance to have my car unavailable waiting for me to work on it, I've allowed the dealer to do 100% of the work.
 
-Would you buy a Contour again based upon previously owning one?

Yes I would.

-What year/models have you owned?

1984 Ford Thunderbird Elan V8 auto (shared w/ my dad)
1975 Ford Pinto Runabout V6 2dr hatchback auto
1981 Ford Escort L 2 dr hatchback auto
1987 Ford Tempo GL 2 dr auto
1993 Ford Mustang LX hatch 4-cyl 5-spd (new)
1995 Saturn SC2 5-spd
2000 Ford Explorer Sport
2000 Ford SVT Contour (still have)
1998 Ford Contour LX 4-cyl 5-spd

-What do you think your experiences with cars overall are (i.e., have you only been driving for a short time...is your Contour the only car you've ever owned...etc)

I am picky about cars. If I am limited by price, I would rather own a loaded lower model, then a stripped higher model (loaded fusion vs stripped taurus or loaded escape vs stripped explorer).

-How much auto experience do you have with auto parts/maint? By this I don't mean can you tear down an engine on your own...but do you know what parts of a car are and what might've gone wrong if you had to fix anything.

I have always been able to change my own oil and such, however since owning a CDW27 platform, I am going to know much more about cars...
 
Yes I would, this is my fist contour. I have a green 2000 svt 92,000 on it right now. Its good on gas 24-30 mpg, handles great,fun to drive,has some good get up and go and,looks sharp to boot! What more could a person ask for!?! Had an 89 SHO and an 89 Daytona Pacific turbo,neather were as fun as the contour.
 
I've already bought another ,well that was four years ago when somebody totaled my 95 mystique ls :cry: but I guess time fly's when your driving fun:drool:. actually I would like to have one thats for sale here but cant talk the wife into the idea (funds are low)
 
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