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).]
