Originally posted by Forbidden Doughnut:
Contour...reliable? I love my car, but what the hell are you somking? Waterpumps? 4 bangers are not impervious to that either. They also need their timing belts changed to prevent catastrophic problems. Warped brake rotors up the whazoo. Ford front wheel drive auto trannys are complete garbage.
Well...$4500? My '95 Duratec LX cost me $3600. I got an SVT exhaust and E1 rims w/ KDWs for $500, dropped about $150 under the hood (K&N, Bosch 4s, Ford Racing plug wires, steel waterpump), and am gonna get about $300-$400 in brake work done (BAT Big Brake C & stainless steel hoses), so that levels out at about $4500. The car was owned and maintained by adults who didn't race or do anything stupid to it, so the engine and tranny are still in fine shape. And with the help of my local CEG guys, all the labor into the car has been near-free. Who knows, maybe I'm lucky and got a better deal than you find on V6 Contours, but it's not like it can't be done.
