Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General I hate my car!

Ironically, I had alot of dealers that said, "I'm not going to insult you by telling you how much I'll offer for your car".

** LittleFishie, PM me about the car, maybe we can work something out.

I'm not dying to sell the car, so if I don't sell the car, I'll probably just end up driving it until the wheels fall off. It's sad that my $23K performance sedan will become my beater.

But this really opened up my eyes. If a dealer is looking for a Mustang, they're going to go with the 5-spd, and pass on the automatic. But because the Contour is considered a grocery getter, the 5-spd is the mark of death. Makes me wonder how the resale on IS300 5-speeds will be in a few years.. Right now, they command a $2000 premium over an identical ATX.

Carmax only offered me $3,800 for my excellent condition, freshly detailed E0 with 46k, including my transferrable Ford Gold warrantee til 65k or 12/03. Only because I wasn't buying one of their cars.

I took it to another Carmax and told them I was interested in trading it in for one of their cars and they offered me $5,900. Carmax WILL NOT offer more than wholesale price on any car. Wholesale my car is around $9k-$10k.

Both rediculous prices, but pretty funny how the price shot up 2k when I wanted one of their cars...

The whole used car market has just taken a nose-dive lately. Especially for private sellers... These cars are hard to sell.

I agree about dealers pushing the fact that SVTs are so much better than "average" Contours and so rare, in high-demand, etc. when selling them to you. But not wanting anything to do with them when you want to trade it in.

ya know, this thread just proved to me that there are primarily 3 types of people on this board. People with a svt,

people who want a svt and don't have money,
and of course who can forget the trolls.
(I know there are others, they just don't stick out as much)

can't say i'm not at all surprised. i got reamed on my trade-in last fall ($8k, 98.5 E1 w/ 55k). after getting a few insultingly low offers (first one was $7k from the dealer i bought the car from - and that offer came pre-9/11), i vowed to keep the car, pay it off, and have it as a 2nd car till i felt like selling it for $4k. unfortunately, it suddenly needed over $1k in maintenance - new pads and rotors front and rear; the w/p replacement was looming; a new battery was probably imminent...and later i found that the new owner found a leaking main seal (i had noticed a couple of drops of oil on my garage but thought it was from an oil change - the stain didn't appear to grow, and i never saw the source of the leak). so, i decided that it just wasn't worth pouring that much $$ into a car that i was thinking about getting rid of - so i swallowed my pride and traded it in.

in all honesty, i wouldn't mind taking advantage of the "soft market", the hard-to-sell 5-speed mentality, and the CDW-27 depreciation issues and find myself an inexpensive E0 as a 2nd car. but, right now, i'd rather have a jeep wrangler, so that's what i'm looking for as a 2nd car instead.

I ahte your car too!

"One word. CARMAX.they will buy anything"

Well.......took my wife's 1997 Sable (Duratec, leather, sunroof, loaded, 67K miles, full maint records, excellent condition) to CARMAX in Richmond Va. Sticker new was 26K, we paid 22K, Edmonds/KBB trade-in vale about 6.5K. Carmax offer was..... 4K.

Its NOT just SVTs, Contours, or MTX. Resale value sux right now, market flood & not active. Recall the resale value comparo post I did about 2 months ago. SVT not much worse than other 4 door sports sedans & better if you got a discount on the SVT.

I saw others posts complaining about not being able to get a good trade in, but if you bought it new, of course you have to eat the first year drop.

Used Tauri are a dime a dozen and so are some Mitsu and Mazda four doors. So it's not a Contour SVT only concern.

Regarding 5 speeds, people will scream in forums like Edmunds, if a maker doesn't offer it in a sedan. Then, a car with one will sit for months unsold. What happened to all the buyers demanding one?

I hate my '95 GL now because I have actually driven the wheels off of it! Several times for that matter! It is cratering FAST! My posts state this fact!

On the otherhand it has cost me less than 1 cent per mile! I paid $16K on the nose for it new and it has 167K on the odometer. It was one of the VERY first ones sold in Dallas.

Other than the usual stuff like batteries, brake pads, an AC leak and a switch on the tranny it is all stock. All I have done is change the oil and filters.

I would sell it real cheap to the first offer!

DB

There is no reason that any car should be sitting on a dealers lot for months at a time.This dealer obviously doesn't want to sell cars.Go to any dealer that moves a lot of product,any car that isn't sold in three to four weeks is wholesaled as soon as possible.The only time this doesn't happen is when it's a really nice car,and the manager of the dealer is driving it.Actually saw this.Was in a Ford dealership inquiring about a SVT Focus,and saw that a MB 500SL was sitting on the lot with a dealer tag on it.I was told it was a trade in on a Harley-Davidson F-150.The manager of the dealership wouldn't let it go to wholesale.

When I bought my car I knew I was stuck with for long time but never knew it was always going to be upside down note therefore I will rebuild and rebuild to death do us part. I do admit that this will be the next BMW terminator soon. Cheer and modify the car and you'll never look back.