In looking at the other post in this forum concerning interest in the Contour, and was wondering how many original owners we had here. With even the newest Contiques being 5 years old now, many are great used cars that don't cost much.
So, how many of us have had our Contiques since brand new, and how many have purchased used?
I have had mine since day one, and got a great price on it to boot... paid $15,900, as the dealer really wanted to get it off the lot. In retrospect, I should have paid a few grand more for an SVT, but that's water under the bridge.
I bought mine used. Buying the SVT was the best decision I have ever made! And in order for me to have bought my 1999 SVT new, I would have been 13 years old!
i bought mine after i smashed up my old corolla. Not to knock the car, it was the only thing i could find in the couple days i had to find soemthing. Cant say i regret it though, its been pretty solid, only things ive had to replace were maintenance related things. 95 with 73K form 5 grand. Real good shape.
I had a 95 Mystique given to me by my grandparents. Drove it through highschool and 2 years of college. Then bought my SVT in 2002 used, but only 14K miles (and half the price of new).
I bought both of my SVT's used. I bought my '98 in '00 with 28K on the clock and my '00 in '02 with 27K on the clock.
My 98 was bought from a Mercury dealer and the 2000 I bought private sale.
I bought it totalled w/ the intention of it being my partner's car, but she bought another car & it became mine...not my choice at all. $1500, 30k mi. and about $1500 more (which includes wheels & tires, SVT cladding, etc, or I wouldn't have that much in it)...and it's still sitting in the garage 3 years later, it's painted now, just needs put together.
$18,900, May 1996, new with 55 miles on the speedometer.
i bought my first 98 contour in 2003 and my second 98 in 2004 and still have both of them. and still like.
Bought mine new, August 23, 2000. $19,999.00 on the window, as they had the car on the lot for almost a year and couldn't move it. I had to have it. $82k miles later and I don't think I'll ever part with it.
Mark
I bought my '00 new on 2/23/00. It was the only new Contour the dealer had. I traded a '95 Intrepid ES (wow, what a complete POS that was) for it. I drove it off the lot with 35 miles on the odo, and now it has over 149K miles! It's been one helluva car.
Originally posted by Tony2005:
$18,900, May 1996, new with 55 miles on the speedometer.
My speedometer says 160 
95 Contour GL - bought used, 3rd owner, 2nd owner was baco99
00 SVT - husband bought new
and to add for kicks:
01 Cougar - bought new
My dad bought my 1998 SE Sport, w/19k, for around $8,000 in 2003. Then he handed me the payment book...
Originally posted by rthoman:
Then he handed me the payment book...
LOL, I have one of those books...
Bought mine new in September of 2000. I got a fairly good deal as they seemed to be getting worried about selling it. It was still sitting on the showroom floor though.
Bought my contour back in October of 2003 (hentz the reg date). I am the 3rd owner (I think), Car had 100669 miles on it when I picked it up... As of yesterday the car rolled over to 119K miles. I love the car to death, but its been expensive to keep on the road. When I got it, the thing ran great... Shortly down the road It needed timing belt, brakes, AC Clutch and bearings, 2 new ignition coils, new muffler... And now I think I need a new hub bearing on my driver side. But still trying to figure out that grinding noise.
father got his 95 in 96 with about 9k on it from a dealer
I got my mystique in 00 from a small dealer with 83k on it, we are the 4th owner
the first 99 was around 01 or 02 I think, got from a dealer, same as the first 95 with 56k on it
my 99 we got by a private sale alittle over 2 years ago with about 56k on it
Originally posted by frenchblueC2:
and to add for kicks:
01 Cougar - bought new
I still remember when you bought that car and introduced yourself on here. (I can't remember what my old screenname was... but it was before my 3 year hiatus). Clearly Mike got you pretty hooked. 
Back in the day, there was an end-of-year sale (March 2000) at OC Welch Ford in South Carolina. They had six cars left under the sales tent. Me and mum figured out monthly payments and snapped up a white '99 Contour Sport with 61 miles on the odometer and a blue '99 Mystique GS with 4 miles on the odometer. I really wanted the white '99 Cougar V6 there, but I didn't know how to drive a manual at the time. We eventually traded the cars in on a massive lot sale at the local Kia dealer for a 2003 Optima and Sedona. The Mystique had about 30K and the Contour around 41K. They got more for the Mystique when it sold because it wasn't in any fenderbenders.
I still find it odd to this day that we found a set of NEW '99s in MY 2000.
-SAV
New. We drove it off the lot with 12 miles on it (IIRC) in July of 1998. We had rented one on our honeymoon a few months earlier and liked it. We were newly married and only had the one car (my 1982 Subaru--low, low miles) and needed something for my wife. I went to the dealer with the idea of looking at the cheapest thing (like an Escort) but my wife liked the Contour. She talked me into it, and then the V6 MTX. We only wish we had power windows/ locks.
We have always liked it. My wife still drives it every once in a while and says she misses it. But we have two kids and they love the van, plus it is tons easier.
It's done well over the years, not needed too much maintenance/ repairs, until the past few years. Now it feels as if everything is going wrong. Flywheel, Speed sensor, O2 Sensors, exhaust gasket, oil pan gasket, clutch, wheel bearings... But we still love it, plus it's paid for!
We also, coincidentally, had a 1996 Sport (Zetec) in Black for a few years. So we actually had 2 black Contours at one time. Kinda funny, it wasn't on purpose. I had a car die, and needed something soon and cheap. We went back to the dealer that took care of us with the new 1998, and he said I have a good deal on this...
Bought new, Jan 96, $19,900. It's "loaded," except for leather, but I probably still paid a bit too much.
Bought my 1999 Contour LX ATX Zetec in June 2000 with 19K miles for $9800. It was a pretty good used car buy in my opinion. It will be gone by the end of the week though.
i bought my green 99 csvt in may 02 and my current csvt in march 05
my mom got me the first one, white 98 zetec se, used with 1k in aug of 00. then i bought a black 99 sport with 50k on the odo in sep of 03 and finally my black 99 svt two months ago
I bought my 98Se with 29K for $6500 in 2002. Then I bought my 98 SVT for very little this past fall and had to sell it this spring. The Se just rolled 101K and the SVT was almost upto 190K when I sold it!
Used in 2000...I have a 2000. It had 22K on the clock.
I purchased my SVT Contour brand new back on May 27th, 1997 with a build date of 4/2x/97. I traded in my 10 year old VW Scirocco 16V, which was purchased the same weekend, 10 years prior (it was purely coincidental). It is number 507 of all the SVT's built. I still have the original window sticker and all of the associated paperwork to go with it. The sticker was 23,xxx, which is what I paid to have the first SVT in my area. I went to four dealerships to find it, and it was at the fourth, of course!
Paid $14,000 for my 96SE with most of the bells and whistles in February of '97 and 21K on the clock. I get sick every time I think of how much I've spent on it in the last few years. Water pump, wheel bearing, tranny, ball joints, tie rod end, springs and struts, not to mention numerous CEL's. At the shop again as I write this. Must be nuts though, 'cause I love driving the car almost more than my Mazda.
I bought mine used in April of 2004 with 72K on it. The guy was asking for $6250 but I got him down to $5000 because he was desperate.
I bought mine used with 9373 miles on the clock for $17.5K, a few days before 9/11. I'd been drooling over the SVTC since reading the April '99 Car and Driver with its sport sedan comparo. I've now driven it longer than any other car I've owned, been loving it but hopefully my next car will have a blue and white propeller...
--T.J.
I bought mine used in oct of 2004. i'm the cars 3rd owner and that includes the dealership owning it. the car only had 55000 mi. on it.
Bought my '96 used in April of '99 for $10,000 cdn.
I bought it from a non dealership car lot and knew nothing about past owner history. I did call 1-800-Ford before I bought it to find out all I could. (not much)
I took it to the dealership for a recall and they had all the info of the previous owner in there system and all the proper services were done to the car. I got lucky.
I bought my 1998.5 Contour SVT used with only 18K miles..thats right Eighteen thousand miles, in May of 2004. I paid 10,900. I called the original owner up the same day that he posted the car on autotrader.com and I checked the car out and bought it two days later. I like to think that I got kind of lucky.
i purchased my csvt "pre-owened"
in May 05 for $8k cash w/ just 16k on the ticker.
(i love telling people that)
Originally posted by svt4stv:
i purchased my csvt "pre-owened" in May 05 for $8k cash w/ just 16k on the ticker. (i love telling people that)
DAMN DUDE!!!
I thought I got lucky with my find.
Where did you get your car at? the DEA seized property auction?
Bought mine used on May 21 2005 for $5500 cash and a pos van that wasnt even worth the $1000 they gave us for it. 32,000 Miles on it
only catch: R-Title
hahaha.... i just noticed that the day i bought the car was the day i joined CEG
Bought in '03, I have a '98 and 28k miles was on the clock. Bought for $5k
I bought mine last week for $3500. Probably a little high considering it has 98k miles, but it's in EXCELLENT shape and used car prices in this area are outrageous.
I spent days looking for something fun to drive that I could afford to purchase outright. The only other car I considered was a '95 Grand Prix. However it felt like exactly what it is--a tarted up GM family hauler. The Contour feels like a BMW 3-series.
used..dec 17th,1999...just came back from school on break,my mistu eclipse timming belt broke
(big surprise)...so i saw it sitting in the lot...picked it up with 34 and some change for 9495..plus fin. of course...love every mile of it...of course if i could've waited 5 months the dealership got a used 98 in for only 2400 more...
I bought my 98 LX new in august of 99. It was an unsold 98 with 87 miles on the clock. There were actually two identically optioned contours. One was silver with the grey interior and the red with grey that I bought. The car has the V6 with mtx and is all manual (door locks, windows, seats) probably the reason that it took so long to sell. It is my first new car purchase. I hope to have it on the road for a long time to come. It has 59k on the clock and has been reliable (except for the waterpump going out while at an SVTOA on track event with 37k.
Originally posted by tour96se:
used..dec 17th,1999...just came back from school on break,my mistu eclipse timming belt broke (big surprise)...so i saw it sitting in the lot...picked it up with 34 and some change for 9495..plus fin. of course...love every mile of it...of course if i could've waited 5 months the dealership got a used 98 in for only 2400 more...
oh yeah second owner
Bought my SVT used July of 2004. Been a year and 1 month now. Bought it with 61,xxx on the clock, and theres only
69,xxx on it right now!
Got my 1998 GL sport in 1999 as a second owner with 15k miles on it.
Got my 2000 svt a few months ago with 64xxx on it. 2nd owner
Bought my 98 SVT for 6300 with 67k on the clock. No dents, all service records, flawless.
Purchased new in July 98 for $13,300. Currently has 46xxx mi. on the odo & I have yet to spend a single cent on an unscheduled repair (knock on wood).
I bought my 1998 GL used for $2700, it had 78,500 miles on it, and it's the Duratec 5-speed with sunroof and factory security/keyless entry.
bought mine used, only one in the area, hell all of new england at the time..had 98,908 miles on it, highway driven. $4k cash..bought may 19th 2004
Parents bought mine for me and my sister to use, the day before I registered on CEG. 24k miles, and cheap especially coming from a dealer and the options it had (ATX, V6, keyless remote, alloys, etc.). Title was transferred into my name last year to commute to college with, so "technically" I'm the third owner.
It was in absolutely pristine condition at the time; wish it was now
I'm the third owner of my CSVT. I bought it with 123k miles for $3350. Note that that price included an extra set of wheels and snow tires worth a few hundred dollars. Anyway, it was easy to tell that the car had been kept in excellent mechanical condition, which was why I bought it even though it had more miles than I wanted.
Bought my brand new, in December of 1998. Currently have 180,400 miles on it. I'm hoping to make 200,000 miles (I drive 30,000 a year), but I'm starting to keep my eyes open for newer cars, since I don't want to get caught by surprise.
I bought my '98 zetec 5spd used with 117,000 miles. Had a cracked bumper, but I was buying from the 1st owner, with maintenance records. I paid $1600.
He had bought it new Dec. of '97, and paid $12,600. Base model, power nothing except mirrors, and it has tilt.
Back in '97 , I bought my teal '95 SE used with about 20k on the clock . It was a mint-condition unit that was obviously babied , and I knew I had to have it the minute I set eyes on it 
.
I kept the '95 until I traded it in on my '00 SVT , which I bought brand-spankin' new the last week of January '01 . It sat in the dealer's showroom until the day I took it home nearly one year after it's build date (2.4.00) . It now has 30k on it .
My brother also bought his teal '95 SE used in '97 . He kept it until last year , when he traded it in on his Scooby 2.5RS . It had nearly 190k on it when he traded it in 
.
My mom bought her '98 Mystique used in late '00/early '01 (can't remember ) . She still has it & uses it daily and is closing in on 100k .
Bought mine in May 96, it was being driven by the dealer sales manager and had 4800 miles on it. My wife loved it so much she bought her own in Sept 96. Hers was new with no miles on it. Paid 16,700 each for them. Listed for about 22K. Poor marketing on Fords part ruined these cars. They were marketed as grocery getters instead of sport sedans. Who pays $22k for a grocery getter?
Used 6 months old with 7k on the odometer for 18,000.
-Andy
Used...
1 year old, ~17,000 on the odo for $10,500 after trade in...($2000)....
bought mine brand new with 17 miles on her on 7-18-2000, 5 yrs later 47,000 miles on her
. sad part was 2000 models where deconted big time, although mine had traction control, power roof, premium sound and that awsome tropic green color. It was love at first sight and after the test drive she was mine. Funny it barely resembles that new tour..after the leather interior swap, full svt body kit, gauge pod, E1 wheels, motor mods etc., etc., etc.
I love these cars.
I bought my Contour used 3 months ago from the local Ford dealer. They advertised the car on Autotrader for $1200 as is. So I went to the dealer and checked the car out. There wasn't a spot of rust on it,which is the biggest thing that sold me on the car. Looking back,I really should have waited and not bought that particular car because since I've had it,I've spent over $4000 in repairs. I don't know why,but I get really impulsive when I find a car I like,even if I know I shouldn't buy it. Thing is,even with all the troubles I've had with this car,I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've got more blood and sweat into this car than any other car I've owned and I have a real bond with it,lol.
Anyways,the car was a base model V6 5 speed,and had 260 800km on the clock when it was at the dealer. It was all original,1 owner,and the previous owner worked at the Ford warehouse in Bramalea,Ont and was in his late 40s. When I bought the car,I traded my Mystique in on it. Dealer gave me $1000 for it,and with taxes and everything included,I only owed $600 on the Contour. Basically,I got a pretty solid and reliable car for pretty cheap. With the money I've spent on it,I almost could have bought myself a 98 or 98.5 SVT by now (cheapest ones I've seen are about $7000-7500 CDN).
All the work the car needed when I bought it didn't bother me because I bought the car with the intent to highly modify it and be a daily driver project car. I don't regret the purchase of my car at all. I miss my Mystique,because I would have loved that as a second car along side the Contour,but I can tell you after having 2 of these cars,I would definetly go and buy more. One day I'd love an SVT,even if my GL will be running with a 3L,or maybe a fully loaded Mystique LS would be nice just as a 'family' car or something. My girlfriend wants to buy a Contour or Mystique as her first car and she has enough money to afford an SVT,so I told her that if she buys an SVT,I will GIVE her my Contour straight up if she gives me the SVT. She loves my car,and actually wanted to buy my Mystique from me when I sold it,but she didn't have her full licence yet and I would have ripped her off anyways,lol.