Originally posted by Crowesgirl:
Hi guys,

I'm trying to decide whether to keep, sell or trade in my 98 SVT Contour. It's got 151,000 (I drove the hell out of it!), needs brakes, is popping out of first gear, needs tires and who knows what else. The service advisor said his experience with Contour's is that around 150K major things start failing..I have replaced the water pump and lots of emissions equipment (mass air flow sensor, etc). Is the transmission getting ready to bite the dust? Thing is I love this car and just paid it off a year ago.

Opinions?

Thanks!



I know where you're coming from, as just two years ago, my car was falling apart mechanically. I was at the point of sell or repair. The car had a little over 110,xxx on it, original everything but the H20 pump and new belts. I went with repair, but went overboard with a new 3.0, Quaife, clutch and flywheel, headers, and whatever other things I could put on it. I've been enjoying the car even more since everything was done (it now has 131,xxx on the odometer), mainly because the car has been paid off for over three years, and it's mechanically sound.

The hardest part of rebuilding/repairing is the immediate cost, since you're putting out several thousands all at once. The simple car payment and a new car are very tempting, but most new cars are now 400/month or more with a decent down payment.

So, 400 x 12 months x 5 years at x% interest is a lot of money, against 2-3 thousand immediately. Since you love the car, if you go for repair, you could possibly get another 2-3 years of driving pleasure, and no car payments. Just make sure you pay off your CC's quickly!

dion 98 SVT, 200 whp/190 lb. ft tq (tuned by ADC), 3.0, P&P heads w/2.5L valves, optimized TB, MSDS, SCA 2.5" catback, SHOshop UIM/LIM, underdrive pulley set, TD's, Koni/H&R, BAER/TCE, Progress, CF1 products