Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Mod Potentional on SVT Countor?

I'm thinking about buying a 2000 SVT Countor with 14,xxx miles for around $14,900. I'm definatly going to try to talk him down some because I heard that is kinda pricey. Anyways, I am completely new to Countors and know nothing about them. I just wanted to know, what are some of the common problems with these cars? How is the aftermarket on them? What are some of the basic/inexpensive mods for the cars? How do they respond to it? I know absolutely nothing about them, so anything information would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.contour.org/mods/mods.cgi?s=mods

With only 14K miles that's not too bad. The MTX 75 is not too robust, and a failing water pump can be a problem. Aftermarket is getting better and better, a Turbo is in the final stages of testing (I think, it may already be available). You can do an open element air intake for some gains, exhaust etc. You'll find once you test drive one that even stock they're a blast to drive and handle great. Most of my mods have been asthetic, functional, or car audio to date...

Well, first, it's Contour, not Countor. Second that's a really good price for that car.

mods are out there. i personally think the car is fast enough as it stands, but there are some people who just need to go faster.

you can try further extrude honing, headers, exhaust, hi-flo cats, intakes, cold air intakes, chips, re-PROMs, larger throttle bodies, smooth intake tracts, accessory pulleys, etc... or try larger mods like a turbo, supercharger, 3.0 conversion or a combination of the 3.0 with forced induction. and most will reccommend an oil cooler when going with any type of forced induction.

things to watch out for are as follows:

-- water pump failure around 50,000-60,000 miles.
-- crank whip, solved with a Dual-Mode Damper (~$120 part from 2 suppliers)
-- weak, open differential, solved with a Quaife LSD (~900 installed) a must if you plan to drag race
-- bumper sag in the rear, solved with some pre-98 parts from ford, about $30 to fix
--weak sunroof motors

Do the Contours come with any kind of warranty? There problems are something that should be taken care of by warranty.

You should have a factory warranty up to 36k. However, I've seen in the past where that warranty gets voided in certain situations like repo/lease auctions, etc. You'll have to check wtih whoever is selling it.

If you are going through a dealership, you may buy an extended warranty with it.

$14,900 for a 02 with only 14k miles is a really good deal baring any outstanding problems with the car.

Its a 2000 with 14,xxx miles on it. The only problem that I saw on it was a little dent on the trunk.

I thought the DMD was $300 (from another post), is that if you include installation?