I have a '99 Contour SVT with 62,000 miles on it. I noticed recently that it was becoming very difficult to shift into first when cold - not all the time but maybe 1/3 of the time. After dropping my car off for its 60,000 mile service today I asked them to check the clutch as well and they said it needs to be replaced - at a cost of ~$1600. I don't drive this car very hard any more - first 15,000 I pushed it hard but after that have not driven it particularly hard. Is it common for the clutch to wear out this quickly on the SVT? It seems a remarkably short time to burn out a clutch. I see other posts here saying that they have SVT's with 120,000 on the clutch with no problems. The cost associated with replacing the clutch seems astronomically high as well.
