My wife's was an ex-rental (Zetec auto) that the dealership had taken back, cleaned up, and put in the used-car showroom for about the price of a new Escort (which is what she had originally wanted, but I thought we should poke around some more). We took it out for a spin, and I told her "you really would rather have this car." Glad I did, because after a few years it became my car when she got a company Civic (that I hated).
When she left that job and lost the Civic, she took her Contour back and I went car shopping. I ended up testing out a '95 LX V6 that a Brit was trying to sell quickly since he was being moved out of the country. It was in decent, not great, shape, but he was asking a really nice price for it and I decided to overlook my worries about the V6's durability (and the lack of records...that still spooks me after 6 months with the thing) and went for it. Thanks to the Capitol CEG, I'm much more confident and happier with my decision because they've helped me out big-time, and now I've got some SVT hardware on it and have other project-car plans in mind.
