I was looking for a used car. I was in a hurry because I had no transportation aside from a friend's truck, which he uses all the time so I didn't want to keep it too long and take advantage of his generosity.
I wasn't having much luck at all. Everything I found was beat to hell, disgustingly overpriced, or something I absolutely did not want (old base-model LeSabres, etc.).
I almost bought a '92 Bonneville because it was in nice shape, and the 3800 V6 drivetrain is easy to work on and lasts forever. I didn't really want one of those things, but relative to the rest of the used car offerings in the area, it was like a BMW 750i. I pulled into the dealership the next morning, cash in hand, only to find that it had sold an hour before. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
I pulled into a dealer that didn't have anything I really wanted, but I was desperate at this point. It was then I noticed that one of the two Contours on the lot had ground effects and a "24V" badge on the back. I took a closer look and noticed that it had the power goodies and a manual tranny. I thought that the V6+manual might make it sort of bearable. I knew about the background of the Contour and that it had a European pedigree, but my only experience with them before was a '96 Zetec ATX Mystique, which I hated.
Then I took it on a test drive, and I was immediately very impressed with the smooth V6 and the sound it made, and especially the steering feel. It was hard to keep a poker face and act disinterested around the salesman because I had just found the only good used car in the entire freaking city. But I managed, knocked it down to $3500, and bought it that day.
