I'm going to place much of the blame on the dealerships.
When I was shopping for a car in 99, I was looking at something that had some performance and was reasonable on insurance. Grand Am was considered, V6 Camaro, V6 Mustang, ZX2. Though I had grown up in a GM family, I didn't like the looks of the Camaro, especially the V6. So I started shopping 3.8 Mustangs.
Test drove one. It was okay. Wheels and interior were so cheap though. 15" wheels?? Uggh. So I asked the dealer if they would order a set of GT wheels, swap them, and charge me the difference. They came back to me a few days later and said no. Also the lack of a sunroof in the Mustang left me wanting.
So I went to another Ford dealer. Big, well lit showroom. Spotless ceramic tile floors. Large lot. No pushy salesmen. That was the first time I had ever seen or heard of a CSVT. It was the featured vehicle in the showroom. And to make a long story short, I bought that exact T-red car days later. More performance than a V6 Mustang, for equal money up front, with better styling and a lower insurance payment.
Where I made the mistake was, I had my closest SVT dealer trade for this car with the nice, big modern dealer. I thought buying from the nearest SVT authorized dealer would make things easier. My nearby dealer was the opposite of the big place in every way. Dirty. Frowning employees. I was told that no SVT products could be test driven, so I had to buy it on faith that I'd like it.
Subsequent service visits were a nightmare. Grease on door panels, boot scuffs on interior, interior pieces not tightened down after miserably failing to fix the noisy windows. 2 weeks of bantering over rear suspension noise. Then it happened again in a few months.
Since then I've started taking my SVT to a Lincoln Mercury dealer, and get treated SO MUCH BETTER. Respect. Clean car. When I lost a jack point cover after their last service call (probably because they didn't snap it in all the way), they replaced it free no argument.
Troy, you say there are 600 dealers that are SVT? I say drop that number further and watch them like a hawk. Quality, not quantity.
I have about 30k miles and I love my vehicle. When it comes time to replace it, I'd like another SVT product. Cobra would be fine if I knew I'd get treated properly.
If I buy a $35k Cobra, I expect to be treated as well as a $35k Lincoln LS owner. There's the bottom line. Right now I don't see that happening, and unlike with the Contour I wouldn't have mechanics at LM that would understand my Cobra.
Brian Dors
99 SVT
