Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Selling SVT

1.You can make fun of Asians for a lotta things
2.Most things are actually fairly simple to replace
3.More sport than luxury
4.Eh, about the same as any non-honda
5.BS
6.They also weigh less and cost more
7.I buy used and keep it, GOOD
8.Good
9.5th gear isn't meant to pull
10.True
11.True
12.True sorta, goes for most cars

Not a list of cons rather a rebuttal/agreement on some points.

As someone who shopped hard and just bought an SVT, I think $5,000-$5,500 is a more realistic selling price for that age/miles.

You will see lots of people asking $7-8K, but they are not selling for that. I stole my 2000 for a mere $4,300. That is an exception on the low end, but the range is not that big.

Kremit was on the money. And especially at our altitude, your not going to get what you want on the drags. Hell, if you break into the 13's up here, it means one hell of a lot. Most of your average CO ricer's and "car guys" (by that I mean the many kids that talk their car up like it can run 12's all day, but hit the track, run 16's, and say their tuning, or the car is having a bad day") are not running anything faster than 14's up here.

If you want a drag car, I agree with the others. Sell the SVT, and get yourself a fox body 'stang. Go join the crowd of others in that category, and enjoy the speed. We own Ford CONTOURS because they are just that. A FORD CONTOUR. They are cheap, quick, luxurious, handle beautifully, rare,reliable(if you take care of it) and are pretty damn sexy for their age.

Be proud that you own a car that's not around every corner, even if it's not the fastest thing around. Anyone can spend 5K and get their 'Stang into the 12's, but where's the fun in that? It's not original, and it's not difficult at all.

My two cents

Let me just throw my 2 cents in from the other side of the story as well. First off I own a pretty fast camaro as my main vehicle. (About 350-360 at the wheels) If you want something that is going to do 13's without too much money, then going with a camaro/firebird/mustang is one of your best bets. If you have a little more money a vette would be even better. BUT, if you think the resale value on the CSVT is bad, take a look at the market for camaros and/or firebirds.....its TERRIBLE. Not only that, but as some people have mentioned they are more commonplace than a CSVT. Its all fine and dandy to have a fast car without putting much money into it, but then again its also nice to have a car to hop into that is pretty reliable, good and gas and pretty damn quick. If you think the contour is hard to work on try and work on an LT1 or LS1 Camaro...I would choose to work on a CSVT any day of the week over my Camaro. It takes a few hours to replace the spark plugs in the camaro and thats not an exaggeration. As far as my cam swap on the camaro, thats something that I will never want to do again. The best thing about the Camaro is that it is cheap to get a lot of power, but there are also many flaws as well. (For example, the damn opti in the LT1's for you people who know about camaros)

If you want a car that is gonna be fast for not too much money you are going to sacrifice other stuff. Just because it takes a lot of money just to get the CSVT's in the 13's doesn't mean you should just up and sell it. I love driving my Camaro and would never get rid of it, but it is also loud and bad on gas and also goes no where in the snow, whereas I can hop in my CSVT whether there is snow or not and have no troubles.

It sounds like you need to sit back and think about this a lot more, speed isn't always everything.....

here is a few more ideas....contour may be expensive to upgrade but its worth it. i have modded my car but left the engine stock for right now. i can get 300 something miles to a tank ( 14 gal ) where u get a camero and u can watch the gas fall as u get on the gas. if u shop around u can fine parts for the tours for the right price. everyone has a camero of some type of f-body. not many people have a svt tour or a modded one at that. i have worked on both and ill agree with the people up here. cameros suck @$$ to work on and it takes forever to replace parts on those. sit back and think aboot it. 4/6 cyl to a v8...call junk yards and get prices on a taurus where the @$$ end has been totaled tow it to the house and swap. then it will move. these cars aint built for speed the built for familys and enthusists who like good handling great pick up and great gas milage. think aboot it long and hard dude. i work with an asian and he is made fun of for driving a jeep. everyone will pick on anyone for any reason. specially for race gender and so forth. thats the way the world is today. so think aboot it and trust me a tour is way more relaible then a camero or a stang. HtR

There may be a lot of people that own Camaro's , but at least we know how to spell it just messin around....oh and by the way there are only two types of f-body's, you make it sound like there are a lot more....

The one thing that I do have to give my camaro is that it gets really good gas mileage on the highway....even with my cam swap and all I still get around 27-28 mpg on the highway (thank god for 6th gear)

yes there where to f-bodies. the firebird and camaro. sorry aboot the spelling. i had a 1984 berlenetta ( spelling ) and the trans went out on it i was coming home from work and i had to come home in 2nd. but that can happen to any car. the previous owner rebuilt the engine everything edelbrock. it could turn some tires but i was getting 12-14 with it. even when i wasnt flooring it. so it depends on the driver, equipment used, and build specs. but the best car that i have owned so far is the contour. been the most reliable, best gas milage, nice looking, and cheapest on insurance . i have other cars and trucks to do the same. but for the money, show quality and fun...i choose the contour. its just like a go-kart. but the best one that i have ever driven was a 1975 bmw 2002. but thats a whole other story. everyone has the own preference. HtR

Agreed, everyone does have the own preferences. I like both my camaro and the csvt for different reasons. If I want to go fast it is obviously a no brainer to go with the camaro, if I want to ride more comfortably I would take the contour. As far as being more reliable I would actually tend to disagree. This is the first care that I have owned that has such a big list of common problems. The only common things that go wrong in the LT1 camaros are the stupid opti's and they are also notorious for intake leaks. Whereas the contour's list goes on and on, not to mention they suggest removing the intake manifolds and cleaning them every 15k!!!

I still love driving the CSVT though. I basically have the best of both worlds.