It was time to replace my college car that wasn't worth fixing, Summer of 2000. I get the A-plan so Fords were highest on the list. A friend of mine had a 97 SE that I liked a lot and they were really cehap with the end of production. 5-Speed SE's were about $13k. Well, a dealer search at the time showed 1 stick in the 3 closests states and it wasn't a good color. I test drove an atuomatic, but blah! No wonder Ford is discontinuing this car, is what I thought. It was fine basic transportation, but nothing I could get excited about spending $15k of money on. If I'm getting a new car, it better inspire me. Wife didn't like the ZX3 and all other Foci were too heavy for the motor. Up the budget to $20k for Taurus, SVT Contour, and Mustang GT. Who wants and automatic - no Taurus. GT was very nice, but lack of legroom, headroom, and all other interior space turned me off for a car I was probably going to put 20k miles a year on. The SVT just felt right, everything about it. So, we made our decision. I called a different dealer and said told him exactly what I wanted, color and gave him my CC # for a deposit. The next day I had the loan check in route to the dealer to take delivery when my friend calls me on the cell saying there is a $2000 rebate on SVT's starting that day. I had the salesman investigate, and wha-lah I buy my friend dinner to thank him.
