I've come to realize a new appreciation for the car. First, a little background:
Bought the car sight unseen in April 1997, based on car magazine reviews to replace my '92 SHO, which I thought was a very crude vehicle, albeit fast and mean. I was very pleased with the SVT Contour for the first four years of ownership, which were fairly close perfect. In the past two years though, lots of little things severely tested my bond with the car: new waterpump, CD player gave up the ghost and was replaced, power antenna quit going up and down, new catalytic converter (just barely inside the 80K warranty), leaking power steering hose, broken oil fill cap, fan switch quit (warranty), both front wheel bearings were replaced, last set of KDWs only lasted 14K miles, the headlights are fogged, and the most irritating of all, the rear suspension squeaked constantly. All of these have been fixed, but all occurred over the two year period, seemingly every other month. I felt like something was constantly broken. I was thinking it was time to get rid of her, now as I am about to turn 90K miles.
I still want (and need) a four door sports sedan. Nearly traded it in on a brand new Evo, but had second thoughts. Do middle-aged bald guys really need high-strung Japanese pocket rockets with wings the size of an ironing board on the back of them? Sort of came to my senses and decided no. How about a WRX (non-STi, for reasons mentioned above)? Possibly, but the cars is still fairly ugly, despite the redesigned face for the '04, and has less back seat room for my two growing boys. Mazda 6s? Perhaps, but it seems to have almost exactly the same performance and features as the SVT. Why change a car to get what I already have paid for? Acura TSX? More on the luxury side, less on the performance side. I love Honda products (for my wife) but they ultimately bore me. No passion. The TSX has gotten a lot of rave reviews, but I feel that it would be a step down from the SVT in the all-important driving experience department. BMW 325 or Audi A4? Nah -- too expensive and too fussy. I don't really like to drive status symbols anyway.
So, after coming within a signature away from getting rid of the Contour (it was *that* close with the Evo), I've come to appreciate what I have that much more. This is a rather remarkable automobile -- a cult car that is hampered by its rental-car underpinnings, but one that still is surprisingly competitive even today. None of the problems that I have had to date have been show-stoppers (other than the new cat -- I would have been pissed if I had to pay for that out of my own pocket), and now everything is working pretty well. The motor is strong, the handling is still impressive, the utility of four doors and a big trunk are put to use every day in my hectic life, and it's paid for. Sure it has a few minor door dings and those stupid fogged up headlight covers, but the car is still capable of putting a smile on my face as I run through the gears listening to the sweet sounds of the exhaust.
I've decided to just keep the car and run it into the ground. When my sons are old enough to drive, they'll get it as their first car. I may still get that Evo yet as a Sunday afternoon thrill ride, but day-in and day-out, the SVT Contour is the horse I'm going to saddle up.
Lee K
E0 SVT, silver
