Well, a lot of things were hit on with this thread, I will try to give my opinion on all of them.
As for Contour and Cougar owners wanting to save a "buck or two", that has a lot to do with a few things. For starters, my experience has shown that the average Cougar/Contour owner is NOT a teenager, and has other bills to worry about. Typically we are not spending all of our minimum wage pay check on our cars. But the main thing would be the cost of aftermarket parts for the Contour/Cougar. Compare prices on things for our cars, to the majority of the import scene. That is even if the parts exist, which many do not. Let's take headers for an example. Currently there are two companies that make headers for our cars, MSDS and the Mustang ones (forgot name), and those go for $1500. The MSDS headers are the cheapest version out there, and they are still $600...for not the greatest quality headers. Not ripping on MSDS in any way, I have heard wonderful things about Marty's customer service and products. But it's not like these are SS, they will not last as long as a $600 set of headers should. Granted, a dual bank set of headers should be more money than a single bank header for a 4-cyl. But you can get SS headers for a good amount of import cars for under $200. And those will last forever. This is because there are only two companies making them, and only one selling them sucessfully. So as supply and demand dictates, the company making the product has complete control over the price. When more companies start making headers for our cars, you will see the price come way down. So in this instance, the average owner has two choices, spend the $600 on the headers, or hollow out the stock manifolds for free. Obviously the "gain" will not be the exact same, but for the cost, you can't beat it.
This is true with a lot of products for our cars, especially on the performance side of things. The less companies make for us, the higher the cost. Look at turbo kits, they are going to be $4000+...because it's not like there are ten companies making them for us. So they get to set the price.
As far as owner support being weak, I think some companies need to look at things from our perspective. I, for one, would NEVER commit to pay, let alone actually pay, for a product that is not currently out on the market. That is financial suicide. If a product is already out there, on Duratec engines, showing good quality, long life, and good results, then I will be willing to spend money on it. But I sure as hell would NEVER put a deposit on a product that is not ready to ship. I understand a company not wanting to produce a product that does not have any demand, but that is what product research is for. I can't think of any other time where a company wants people to pay for a product, BEFORE they decide to actually make said product. If a company wants to be sucessful, they need to put the time and money into researching a potential product. Produce the product in limited quantinies, market it, test it, and sell it. If they sell quickly, and feedback is positive, then they start mass producing the product. That is how normal companies make products, they take the chance, not the consumer. I sure as hell would not walk into a shoe store and hand them $50 in hopes that they make a shoe that I will like....that is stupid. It's up to Nike to take a chance on a product. Sure they will lose sometimes, and a product will not sell, but that is business.
The demand for aftermarket products is simply not that strong for the Cougar/Contour right now, and I don't think it ever will be for the Contour. I had no idea that Ford even made an SVT version of the Contour until last year, and when I found it out, my first thought was "why the hell would they waste their time?" Of course now I know, and I am glad they did. But from an "outsiders" point of view, it's not like the Contour would be on the top of my list for cars to modify. Now the Cougar has a chance because of it's look, it is designed to fight the import cars...with looks alone mind you. Performance is obviously weaker than that of the Contour, that's why we are always trying to get our hands on SVT parts.
Give it another year, when the Cougars start coming back in from leases, and they start selling used...really cheap. Then teenagers will start scarfing them up left and right, so the demand for aftermarket products will increase, dramatically. Look at the first gen Eclipse, the aftermarket was not that strong for it up until 98 or so, four years after the generation change. By then, first gen Eclipses were selling used, cheap. That was one of the reasons I traded mine in on my Cougar, because the aftermarket was so weak, that I didn't want to wait any longer, I figured that four years had passed since they changed the style, so I assumed the aftermarket would never pick up. So I bought a Cougar, now Alanis...
that is ironic.
The percentage of Cougar and Contour owners, who want aftermarket products, compared to owners who do not...is very small. Now take that small percentage of owners who do want aftermarket products, and get the percentage of those who can, or are willing, to spend a ton of money on their Cougar/Contour, for aftermarket products. Now the percentage is even smaller. Over the next year, the demand will increase due to more and more younger people buying them. And let's face facts, it's the demand from the "Fast and Furious" teenagers who really push the demand for aftermarket performance and cosmetic products for cars. Give it a year, the demand will increase, and the products will follow...and the prices will begin to fall. I predict that we will be able to buy a set of SS headers for the Duratec for $300-$400, in a year and a half.
Of course I could be totally off base, it's not like it would be the first time. ie. Trading an Eclipse in for a Cougar because there was no aftermarket for the Eclipse.
