Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Message to all SVT owners

Troy,

Attached in my sig is the list of cars I have personally owned. I bought my SVT because I liked my 98 SE so much, but really missed the MTX (the 98 was my first car with an automatic... not counting the 64 T-Bird Lead-sled II). I have been very happy with my car, disappointed in the assembly quality (but not shocked). It HAS been back to the dealer too often (bad radio, bad dash, brake line/rear suspension conflict, leaking windshield-washer bottle, creaking front bumper fascia). Most of these problems could have been avoided with better materials at construction.

But I also got a hell of a deal on it... and I still got FAR more car than I paid for.

SVT sent my certificate in a reasonable period of time (February 2001... 4 months after purchase). SVT has answered my two minor tech questions immediately. SVT sent my magazine (but I really have no use for it... it's just sales fluff).

Yes, I would like to buy an SVT Contour leather jacket/cap/travel mug (designed to fit the still bad cupholder in my car)... or even just SVT w/o a particular model. Yes, I would like to see an SVT Contour car cover offered.

If SVT wants to create the kind of market identity and buzz that will add value to the line, then supporting legacy products are important.

I see no reason to pay $40 to join SVTOA, as I can't see $40 worth of value to me. If I did, then I would. Having been the past president of a BMWCCA chapter, I've cured myself of simple rah-rah.

What should SVT do to make me happier? Make sure I get invites to all SVT product previews (including a test drive). Make sure that my car is considered a CURRENT SVT product, even though it is no longer produced. My Credit Union sure considers it a current product!

Maybe talk about the ST200 Mondeo as an off-shore continuation of the SVT Contour... gone but not forgotten. Don't orphan us just because Ford wasn't in the right place with the Contour in the US market.

What can SVTOA do for me? For $40 a year, I sure want more than a sales brochure sent to me four times a year. How about free/cheap tickets to area auto shows where SVT products will be displayed? How about reserved SVTOA parking area at races (SCCA, ALM, NASCAR, NHRA)?

What can Ford do for me? Keep making cars that handle and ride like the cars they sell in Europe. Make an SVT Focus wagon... that would open up some eyes!!! Support the Cougar as an alternative to the Mustang. Keep it alive as a great handling, nimble, sport coupe... don't girl it up.

... and have a 4-door sport sedan based on the Mondeo available for me in a few years (or sooner if disaster strikes my Contour). After all, I am one bad driver in an SUV away from having to buy a new car... and Ford isn't making one for me in the USA.

Troy, one last thing. Thanks for attempting to douse the flames here at CEG. Keep the lines of communication open.

P.M. Summer

p.s. I can't wait to test drive the SVT Focus! And make it in RED to match the popular color of the Lightning and the Cobra R.



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simul iustus et peccator
00 SVTour Silver Frost
96 Sable zzz (wife's)
64 TBird

Historical:
49 Morris Minor
42 Dodge Powerwagon Munitions Carrier
68 BMW 2002
72 German Ford Capri V6
77 Honda Accord
80 VW Scirrocco
88 VW Jetta
91 Ford Escort GT
98 Countour SE V6 ATX

Now that you mention it , Zilla ... I was told the same thing about the cutaway SVT Contour poster when I called right away . Ticked me off a bit too .
I did , however get my SVT Cert. pretty quickly ... THAT made me happy !

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Allen
Go Redwings !!!

2000 Contour SVT Black w/ Tan #2137 of 2150 / built 2-4-00
Mods : ~ Factory DRL mod ~ "Powered by Ford" seatbelt covers
~ OF's TH fix ~ Audi A-6 Side Repeaters ~ Highs in Lows Mod
~ #885 foggies ~ K&N filter ~ Mondeo ST200 Badging & Shiftknob
Very Soon : ~ More "Mondeo-izing" and a ton of RE-contenting ~
My old 95 'Tour
Our new SVT

Troy, its nice to see that someone is actually concerned with SVT owners and i applaud you for that. But its to late for me.

I ordered a 98 SEv6 5sp back in 97 and just loved that car. I did not have a single problem with it. I wish i would have never traded it in on my 99 SVT tour. I was so happy to get it and loved the looks and "what is it" questions i received from people. But the quality was no where near that of my 98 SE. The tranny sucks, bumper sags, dash warped and loose, many rattles and the wind noise is really bad, and the paint quality is on par with a Yugo. The performance is better some days than others. Oh and dont even ask about dealer service cause i think Kia or Hundyai would be better. I have been to 4 different Ford service depts. and all of them stank. In fact it would be rare if the problem i went in for was fixed the first time or at all.

For a car that cost 23k (i paid 21k and still feel like that i got jacked up) and is a specialty car i would think the service and quality ("quality is job one" is B.S.) would be ALOT better.

Service and quality is very important if you want people to come back and buy another one of your products. When i first bought my SVT tour i felt in a few years i would get the SVT Cobra but that idea was kicked in the garbage. In fact it will take a lot for me to buy another American car again from any of the big 3 so in fact Ford has given all American cars a black eye.

Now i own a USED 98 BMW and the quality and performance after 33k (i have 32k on my 99 SVT tour) is top notch. Not a single squeek or rattle. Oh and the service is awesome. I have been to 3 different dealers and have been treated like a king at all of them. In fact at the last dealer i was treated to a limo ride around town while BMW did my inspection 2 for free and replaced filters, fluids, and spark plugs all for free. A little butt kissing goes along way. I will gladly pay a little more for service and quality and THATS what i thought i was getting when i got a so called "limited production" car.

So now im stuck with a car that the resale value is less than what i owe on the darn thing. Its a tuff seller to anyone who knows about the problems with the car and i sure would not sell it to a coworker or friend. The warranty is about to run out and im sure something major will happen to it soon (waterpump, tranny explosion, oil starvation, etc) that i dont drive it to much. I wont even think of driving it aggressively anymore thats for sure.

Word of mouth goes along way and what i tell people about Ford and SVT isnt helping sell your cars. If i was treated better and the quality was on par with other car makes i would not be here complaining.

And 40 bucks to join SVTCOA is a joke. I pay less than that for BMWCCA and i would gladly pay twice that for it. Lets see SVT raffle off 14 E46 M3s or 10 2000 M5s to its members for 5 bucks a ticket. I could go on but im sure its pointless.

I not blaming you Troy and again i applaud you for coming to here to answer some questions but im just telling it like it is.

To all my fellow CEG members, im sorry if i have upset any of you guys but if you remember i was a loyal supporter of this site (and still think its one of the best groups out there) and the CEG. I loved meeting many of you and having a great time with a great car that just has fallen short of my expectations. I dont think i was asking to much from a 21k car do you?

Eric G.
Louisville KY
gschomi@aol.com
98 BMW M3/4 cosmos
99 SVT Contour (The steppin stone for a BMW)
84 xj Cherokee "the rock crawler."
BMWCCA#188400

Hey Troy, you should try making a trip over to www.corral.net and see what you can find out there

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1998 Bright Atlantic Blue Cobra #4727

SVT actually sent me a poster. I was a bit surprised and very happy when it came in the mail. Then I opened it up to reveal that one of the corners was messed up a bit. Also had some scratches on it. I hate to be mean about it but, does anything from SVT come as is expected to be??

Troy, you are one brave man to come here to CEG and tell us what we think. I hope we aren't too hard on you and that something gets accomplished. Maybe you should let everyone at SVT know about this site and tell them to check it out. They might think its a waste of their time, but in the long run it will surely help them. Because if nothing is accomplished, Ford/SVT will have some even more pissed off people that won't give Ford/SVT a dime come next time to buy a car.

Troy --

I would like to thank you for taking the time to visit this site and address some SVT owners' concerns. As you can tell from my signature, I am not an SVT owner. I bought my Contour GL used while still in school and the SVT was out of my league. But NOW, I am shopping for a new car, and I have more money to spend. I have tossed around the idea of buying a left-over C-SVT from one of the 3 or 4 dealers in my area that still have some, but all of the problems that people have had with Ford service departments, warranty concerns, build quality, and functional failures have caused me to look elsewhere. I love my Contour GL, but often dealership service personel have no idea how to fix my car when I take it in. And Contour GLs are COMMON! Imagine how much trouble they must have trying to fix a "limited production" SVT!!! Not to mention the fact that SEVERAL service techs and sales people don't even know that the C-SVT ever existed! I find this to be unbelievable.

So, I have been shopping around for a new car; Something between $20k and $30k. The Focus SVT is coming and I have taken an interest. I went over to the FocalJet to get some information, and I test drove a ZX3 to see what the car was like. When I asked the salesman about the up and coming F-SVT, he had no idea what I was talking about. (And this was an SVT dealer, they have several Cobras and Lightnings on the lot).

I am rambling, but I guess my point is that shopping for a Ford, servicing a Ford, and driving a Ford is a very different experience from any other car make. I recently purchased and Infiniti for my wife and had the most pleasurable experience at that dealership. Drive into an Infiniti dealership yourself and take a look. I have also been in close contact with Lexus and Subaru dealerships regarding the WRX and IS300-M. Both dealerships were very knowledgable, friendly, and clean. And most importantly they were concerned with me getting the car that I wanted, not just trying to pawn off "whatever they had in stock". Both dealerships also mentioned the large amount of OEM and 3rd party aftermarket support for BOTH cars. Yes, Lexus did too! If you just say the word "aftermarket" in a Ford dealership, your warranty is automatically null-and-void.

To try and tie this together, I like the FocusSVT idea and implementation, but just imagining having to deal with a network of poorly trained, rude, dirty Ford service departments for another 5 to 6 years is horrifying to me. If they can't even service my simple, run-of-the-mill GL, how can I expect them to CAREFULLY service a limited production SVT? I can't, and I won't.

I love my car for what it is and for what I use it for, but I simply cannot warrant buying another Ford product. The BUILD QUALITY is not there, the CUSTOMER SERVICE is not there, the OEM "after purchase" support is not there, and the warranty is not there (3yrs/36,000miles....come on! you can do better than that!!! If you stand by your product, have a better warranty!)

Will I buy another Infiniti? You betcha!!!
Will I buy another Ford? Probably not.

Oh, one last thing. My family and coworkers know of the problems I have had trying to get my Contour serviced properly, and I GUARANTEE you that none of them are buying a Ford this decade either. (...A new one at least. I will probably be buying my brother-in-law's '69 Mustang in a couple years once the MG is done, but that's a whole other ball game.)

Thanks again for reading.

Good luck with all of your future endeavors.

-- Brian Salazar

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1974.5 MGB GT...Crimson
Restoration Project
1995 Ford Contour GL Zetec (MTX)...Portofino Blue
KKM Intake / Superchip / FocusSport Wires / Autolite Platinum Plugs / Dunlop W-10s on 16x7.5 Wheels / Viper Alarm / Updated Sounds / Richbrook Knob / "Recontented" Foggies w DRL Mod / BAT Sill Protectors / Badgeless
2001 Infiniti G20t...Black Obsidian
Touring Package / Winter Package

[This message has been edited by baco99 (edited April 01, 2001).]

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Troy,

Thanks for coming on to hear our concerns. I don't know how much you can do, but since you asked here goes ...

I have been a Ford guy for a long time (1956 (used), 1969 Boss 302 (new), 1990 Supercoupe,1993 Mark VIII. I'm 52, own my own business, and have a decent education.
I selected my 98 E0 CSVT because it offered the right combination of size, handling, and performance at a great price. That said, I have serious concerns about reliability. Like others I live in mortal fear that my transaxle will puke its internals on the tarmac at any minute, my water pump will die or the engine will starve for oil. Want suggestions? try these...
1. Establish a regular presence on this site.
2. Offer an upgrade kit (at cost) through SVT dealers to fix the MTX-75 issues. I'll pay for what I get (I'm out of warranty)but I need help getting the right parts and I shouldn't have to pay through the nose to have them professionally installed.
3. Offer a redesigned oil pan as in (2) above.
4. Offer a redesigned water pump as in (2) above.
5. Offer the goodies (jackets, pins, mugs or whatever) you couldn't sell on this site
6. Start thinking about what we're going to buy next ... It probably won't be a Tarus or a Focus ... I have been eyeballing a Maxima SE, a S4, and a Passat. The Jag X is nice but after the issues with the Duratech posted here I'm a little gun shy. Notice these are all 4 doors with good performance qualities ... for the same reason I was interested in the CSVT to begin with.

That's my .02

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98 SVT
K&N Drop-in
SHO Shop 'Y' pipe
Borla
Superchip
Valentine 1

[This message has been edited by Gramps (edited April 01, 2001).]

BUMPER SAG, BUMPER SAG, BUMPER SAG. No dealership will even acknowledge this. That's what pisses me off. And the crappy paint. Mine is a 2000 Blk SVT.

Hey Troy,

I see a lotta people here complaining about the Ford dealership treatment issues and build quality issues, and while I agree they ARE issues, I know you cannot do anything about them, or SVT for that matter, it, to me, is just too big an issue for a skunkworks division of under, what, 50 people to deal with?

Now to my question...as you are probably aware via Vadim at SHO Shop, a Vortech SC has recently been released for the Duratec V6's for the Cougar and Contour. I for one remain skeptical about the SVT Contour's engine internals and how they will hold up to the FI abuse. I know the crankshaft is balanced and forged, ala SVT, but I'm more concerned about the pistons and rods. I know SVT replaced the pistons in the SVT Contour models, can you give your objective opinion on the strength of the engine internals and what boost levels the internals can support if any? I MORE than realize that reliability WILL be affected by FI of any kind, but I'd still like to hear your opinions on this potential issue. Feel free to email me offline with any comments at:

cjbaldw@yahoo.com

Thanks in advance for any comments you can provide...



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Regards,

Craig J. Baldwin
99 SVT Contour - Silver - #49/2760 - ES Front Motor Mount Inserts, Bosche +4's w/Magnecore 8.5mm Competition wires, RActive Racing Pedals, KKM/Pro-M 75mm MAF in the garage...