Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General A Throwaway Car?

The first mistake everyone makes is to refer to cars as an investment. Unless it�??s a genuine collectable and desirable, they are not.
The second mistake is that Ford has always built �??cars for the masses�?� and has no reason to build cars that take a long time to �??ware out�?�. Henry Ford actually set up the first auto recycling system. He would buy back cars and recycle the steel to build new ones. The majority of cars built today are built for rental houses and leases. 5 years and 100K is a lot to ask of a car on original factory parts. A statement that the contour is a disposable car applies to all cars and just about anything else you buy today (its�?? just part of capitalism). Just check Edmunds �??true cost to own�?� on any car you like. See what the maintenance costs are in the forth and fifth year.

I could go on and on about the contour and fords (Jac the Ripper�??s) efforts to build it and sell it cheap, but since we all own one so we already know this.

If the car was built the way we all wanted, most of us wouldn�??t buy because we couldn�??t afford it.

To sum it up, maintenance in the forth and fifth year of any car will get you. You just have to decide if you want to bite the bullet and do the work or buy a new car. Ford, GM, Honda and the rest of them are hoping you buy the new car. I chose to do the work since I could not find a new car that I actually liked. $1600 (that�??s doing it all myself) later I have a car that is better then new. Let�??s hope I have got all of Jac�??s demons out of it.

jeff

i agree too, some things just aren't made the way they used to be

Funny you should mention that. I just resoldered my DVD's PCB for the power board to bring it back from the dead. Cost me all of 5 cents worth of solder to get it to turn on again, and its been running strong ever since.

The problem with collecting things is that the most valuable things are purchased when they are new without knowing or intending it to be a collectable. I am sure that in 1969 if Camaro owners knew that their cars would go for several grand more than they paid for them, you would have seen a lot less of them sold and/or abused. Because the cars had been modified and abused and treated like a normal run of the mill car, there are few of them left. They also have a popular styling to our generation and are sought after quite a bit, which is what makes them collectable and valuable. Of course, on the other end of the spectrum there are people who feel that the 1969 Camaro is overpriced. But the point is that there are plenty of people willing to pay that much for it. These things that are marketed as collectables from the beginning rarely see a price hike, as the majority of them are still in original wrapping.

As I stated before, you have to own a car because you love it for it to be worth anything. Except for the most extreme circumstances you will always put more into the car than you will get back out of it. Gas, oil, brakes, tires do not factor into the resale value of a car as any of you already know. Just stuff to think about.

people my think my car is a throw away car, and wonder why i modify a Contour, but i love my contour and would never throw it away, thas why i joined this place, to be with people who loved their contours too, so i guess they may think our cars are throw away cars, but its always funny to show them what a sleeper our cars can be, i love my contour adn would never throw it away, CONTOUR FOREVER

hell ya