Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General How's Your Contique REALLY Doing?

Had a few beers, listening to the new Perfect Circle album, getting a little philosophical.

Realized that nothing is never actually totally DONE on my car. For instance, to most people it looks and runs great, but I know the headlights need to be sanded/polished, there's a minor clunk developing somewhere in the rear suspension, and it hasn't quite run perfectly after the cat was replaced. Plus I intended to redo my console this spring/summer, but never did.

Perhaps this is the curse of the car buff - you can never be totally done.

mine is doing pretty [censored]

I've got an electrical problem that causes my car to run like ass
I've got a cracked windshiled
I've got racing stripes
A half painted silver dash
And my car is dirty as hell (inside & out)

thats how its doing...I can deal with everything but the damn electrical problem.

Stock CSVT doing just fine. Has a few squeaks I could do without and some of the material is coming off one of the interior door panels (will get fixed under warranty), but no other problems. I love my car!

Hmm, the car. Engine wise... running like new (knock on wood) everything else is great aside from the fact that the suspension is really making it's age known (awaiting shipment of bat kit ) oh, and the nice bumper issue which should be changing here soon as well, and new tires would be nice. Aside from that, it's surprising how a car w/ 111k miles still runs and looks like new.

mine's doing great mechanically etc. as far as projects go, im getting sort of behind- i just need to finish my rear deck sub and mount my amplifier...etc...and then im done with the current project.
btw, i love the new a perfect circle album

You have no idea how long my "To Do" list is.

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

Engine sometime stumbles, has jumpy idle, and runs a little lean occasionally. But it's running so I'm not complaining.
Paint sucks.
Interior is still apart as I'm still working on getting my other seat in,etc. Got the holes for the harness drilled tonight.
Brakes shake sometimes, probably cuz we didn't put grease on the new pads,etc.
Few miscellanous broking/missing things here and there.
But overall, it's not that bad and gets me around. I've still got plenty of time to fix her up.

lets see:

my mystique is running as good as always, the sounds system is strong and the body is in good shape for the age. I love the car to depth and it truely is apart of me when i drive.

the contour I have is doing good also. The engine is strong and has half as many miles as my mystique. we just got through all the issues with the CEL and the car runs strong. the DMD and Steeda shifter just went in and other mods await after I pay my parents for their half.

my father contour has become a sunny weather car only. The minor issues we had with the water pump, speedo, and parking brake have been worked out and he really loves his car. it is in mint condition for its age and milage

the other contour we have is kinda work horse, my brother and mother drive it. the car is running strong and is holding up as well as a car of that age can

all in all with normal maitnence the four contiques we have are doing really good and they all run strong. for their age they are doing fine.