should I sell my csvt? - CEG Archives

If you want to sell it, then let it go. Again, you might want to reconsider whether it is worth the depreciation cost. Expect to receive much less than your asking price. Send me a PM if you do decide to sell it. I won't mind taking it off your hands if the price is right.

Originally posted by chongo:

Your reasons listed for selling the car is based on usual up and comming maintenace not severe breakdown. I'm asking for advice based on everyone's experience.

Not true. I haven't decided to sell it yet, and my fear is that the car will have a severe breakdown.

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In my opnion a peel out and a burnout are 2 different things!

If I don't even peel out, one can reasonably extrapolate that I would not do smoky burnouts either.

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I only answer from what's in this thread. I don't jump around the whole board, trying to find all your other posts reguarding problems you might be experiencing.

You would've had a hard time finding other posts since this one was the first one I've made since I came back!

(I'm sure it would have helped to know severe problems might be evident, yes, but also I mentioned several severe problems the contour is known for, so...)

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I read the post the first time, by the sounds of it, you've made up your mind already, so sell it.

If I'd made up my mind, I wouldn't waste anyone's time!

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I answered very politely in my first post and based that post on the information you gave me.

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Wow your gonna sell your car over what all cars need.
I wouldn't think brakes, shocks or taking you car in for an oil change and get your chasis lubed at the
same time would be a reason to sell........

The latter quote (and first response) I would not consider to be polite. I do not think this is a "crazy" question.

Listen, I'm sorry to waste everyone's time, I thought perhaps I could get input based on experiences you've had, but I can see I'm just going to get nitpicked into oblivion. ah well, such is life!
/will still check this thread for a while, in hopes someone

is out there with an

....

Originally posted by Zetetic:

/will still check this thread for a while, in hopes someone is out there with an ....

You'll prolly get more sympathy on the 'General' board than on this 'Troubleshooting' board for a topic such as this.

Originally posted by ouch:
If you want to sell it, then let it go. Again, you might want to reconsider whether it is worth the depreciation cost. Expect to receive much less than your asking price. Send me a PM if you do decide to sell it. I won't mind taking it off your hands if the price is right.

Depreciation has been quite severe, I knew it would be when I first bought it - but it has been my intention all along to drive/own it for as long as possible, so I didn't care much.

But with such strong advice to sell, I really thought I should look into it (and obviously, still am looking into it). Currently it looks like my car, without the audio gear (which I would keep anyway, restoring everything to stock), would sell for a little over $10k to a private party. With the amount left on my loan, I'd rather not sell the car because most of the depreciation has already happened. Most if not all of the money I am currently paying towards the loan I can expect to get back if and when I do decide to sell.

So I'd like to keep it, but am wondering about reasons to do so.

Originally posted by pdqford:

You'll prolly get more sympathy on the 'General' board than on this 'Troubleshooting' board for a topic such as this.

Thanks for the advice, I'll do that when this thread eventually dies...!

I assume you are afraid that fixing these problems will not be the end. I have 149k miles almost 150k miles on my 96 mystique which is the same as a contour. The only major problem it has had,that I know of, is the tranny at 146k miles and it was an auto now a manuel. Mine is not a duratec, but a zetec 4 cyl model. The tires are going to wear out on any car if you drive it that hard. Also have you changed the tranny fluid? That might help. But if you have been bittin by the new car bug then no matter how good your car is you want another one. My suggestion if you can afford a new car and want one then just do it and sell your car to someone who will enjoy it and the fact that you already paid the majority of the depreciation on it. Just remember you will likely be doing the same thing again in 4 to 5 years.

From your tire wear it is obvious you are a hard driver and based on that, your car will require more maintenance than a gentler driver. So be it, it's your money and your car. With the current age and mileage on your 2000 SVT you have already taken most of the depreciation, getting another car at this point will be costly. Equivalent new cars are running in the upper 20k's and low 30k's.

From what you have posted you have no big buck repairs at the moment just a bunch of routine, but not necessarily cheap maintenance. I'd recommend investing in the current maintenance effort and continue driving. I would postpone the decision of replacement until you are faced with a major repair such as a transmission or engine. Given your driving style I'd go for another 2 years and not worry about mileage.

Buying a newer car will (usually) reduce your maintenance requirements but at the expense of a much higher car loan payment or cash upfront. Maintaining a 4 -6 year old car is much less expensive than paying for a newer one. But how much maintenance hassle do you want to live with?

Eric

Would one of the moderators please move this to the General board,
so that Zetetic can get some more responses.

Zetetic driving your car hard will produce more problems. You stated your leaning in the direction to get rid of it so therefore I said you've made up your mind to sell.

Certain problems come about, but most of the severe breakdowns are more
from modding/hard driving then from normal use.
Quick short trips doesn't help either. Stop and go traffic will mean the brakes will need to be changed more often and fluids must be replaced sooner, especially the tranny fluid.

The big one - spun bearings is really for HARD drivers like yourself. If you put in 6lt of oil your chances of not spinning one is a little better, but the chance is still there.

If you drive your new car like you do the Contour, you may be faced
with the same position your in now. New cars have more electronics and more things to break.
You might be surprized how much more often your new car needs repairs,
but atleast you'll have a warranty. Only not for what you need to repair on the Contour now.

Severe future unknown breakdown can happen to any car, new or old.

OK let's look at this little list you've made:

Originally posted by Zetetic:

I'm looking at:
- new brake pads
- new shocks?
- complete chassis lubrication (lots of squeaks, and I've had the ebrake cable taken care of)
- new set of tires is coming up kind of soon, I'm on my third set. I do *not* peel out, I just take corners as the csvt wants you to. fyi I ran through stock rubber KDWs in 12k, second identical set in 15k, now I'm on the awesome but expensive michelin pilot sport A/S's and am maybe 1/2 to 2/3s of the way through them.
- water pump?
- something for the problems I have shifting (hard to get into first, second, and reverse); maybe I just need the "cocktail"?
- baffled oil pan?

Brake pads are simple and cheap to replace.
Shocks represent a weekend of work and about $250 for a full set of SVT struts. How would all four shocks be dead after 46,000 miles though? I got 80,000 out of mine and that's driving over crappy michigan roads every day.
Chassis lube - not sure about that one as my chassis dosen't "squeak", although the interior plastics and leather sure do!

Tires - KDW's are known to be high-grip low mileage tires, especially with agressive driving. It's typical.
Water pump - $70 for the metal blade impeller and maybe an hour to change out.
Shifting problems - I'd say likely the shift tower, moderately expensive and moderately difficult to repair.
Not sure about the baffled oil pan.

Unless there are other "serious" problems then this falls under the typical repair and maintenance category of stuff. Hardly worth dumping the car over IMO.

The rest of your post sounds like you verbalizing your worries and indecision over the car, except for this comment:

Originally posted by Zetetic:

I drive my car HARD, and know there are consequences for this.

That really sums it up right there. You sleep in the bed you made. The SVT Contour is a slightly high strung, slightly finicky performance car. NOT something you can just drive and forget about. It requires care and maintenance and isn't the most reliable.

The people who have over 150,000 miles are the ones who drive responsibly and maintain the car agressively. If you're not willing to do those things then maybe you should sell the car after all.

Originally posted by chongo:
Would one of the moderators please move this to the General board,
so that Zetetic can get some more responses.

No, please don't move it, because I'd rather not move the flames with it, as that tends to sway people's responses, and I would prefer to get input here and modify my post to correct the issues I'm seeing here. Thanks!

Sorry for the confusion peoples, when I said I'm "leaning in a direction," the comment was focused on leaning towards getting a used car rather than a another new one IF I was going to sell this car (a decision I'm very split on).

I also tried to emphasize that I know my hard driving has consequences. This is why I take meticulous care of my car, changing the mobil 1 every 3000 miles (it needs it, too), and trying to stay on top of other maintenance as well (hence me looking at replacing things even if a bit earlier than usual).

erb13 and 96mercury, awesome input, THANKS!

akrump47, thanks as well for your advice, though I have a question about the shocks - I'm not even sure they are what needs to be replaced. The symptom is whenever the tire falls out-of-contact with the road it seems to really thump when it comes back in contact with the road. Taking corners at higher speeds (like the 'tour was meant to!!) this has potentially nasty side effects (oversteer). Standard disclaimer, since you guys don't know me, I only do high(er) speed cornering when I know the terrain really well and I'm the only one that could get hurt. But we only need to talk about my driving habits to the point of, I like to drive hard and will continue to do so, because that's why I bought this car - imho if you don't like to carve up the corners at least a little bit, you might as well have bought a standard grocery getter!

Anyway, back to the topic, I thought "shocks" because that's what (in my mind) presses the tire against the ground, so if things are a little loose back there and the ride seems rougher in general, I thought of shocks first (well, after tire psi). But if there is something else I should look at let me know!

SVT's, hell contiques in general are not for the mechanically timid. These cars will make a backyard mechanic out of the average owner.

Everything you stated that is wrong with your tour is small beans, one weekend and lots of beer would have all that work done.

I have to side with a lot of the others on here: Keep it. I went through the same dilemma when knowing that there were some *potential* problems that could arise with the car, and debating whether or not I would want to take that risk.

I decided to take it. I replaced the wear items that needed replacing (brake pads and rotors mainly, end links and bushings) as well as making the switch to Redline MTL (really helps the shifting -- read the transaxle board). When my struts started to leak (at roughly 140K kms), I had them replaced, and the car is excellent since then. I have a little rust forming, but that's it. I keep up with my maintenance, and I treat her well, so she treats me well. And I am not saint on a twisty mountain road either.

The biggest repair that I have faced was a blown steering rack. That ran me $800 Cdn. Still cheaper than 2 or 3 car payments.

Bottom line, what are you thinking about buying and how much will it cost you? The CSVT is the poor mans BMW. When it runs, it is great! But Ford has poor quality controls on the lower end cars like the Tour and Focus. I love my Tour and it is my daily beater, but I know it is inevitable that I'll start it one morning and the [censored] check engine light will pop on!

But it is an inexpensive car

Ford Coutour SVT's suffer from automotive Bipolar Disorder.

Everyone gets frustrated with their contours. This is what you should do, sell your car to some kid who will actually appreciate it!

Originally posted by Quick_SVT:
SVT's, hell contiques in general are not for the mechanically timid. These cars will make a backyard mechanic out of the average owner. Everything you stated that is wrong with your tour is small beans, one weekend and lots of beer would have all that work done.

So I've found! Problem with trying to be a backyard mechanic is you need the tools to do so. The closest friend I have with any equipment is ~150mi away...if he agrees to help that might be my best bet since he is very well setup (huge shop with a lift, and everything you can imagine a guy with a lift in his shop might have). Anyhoo, I'll just have to buck up and get it done sounds like. thx!

Originally posted by RawBurt:
Everyone gets frustrated with their contours. This is what you should do, sell your car to some kid who will actually appreciate it!

aww come on, that's not fair man. When I love my car, I really do love it. It's just those other times... that, well, lead to threads like this.

Originally posted by TexasRealtor:

Ford Coutour SVT's suffer from automotive Bipolar Disorder.

No doubt...!

In regards to the CEL, I'm kinda worried I'll end up in one of those get-CEL-then-replace-O2sensor-rinse-and-repeat cycles. But hey, maybe I'll just lean on you guys a little harder then...?

edited to add: I'm thinking about getting something like this:
1997 BMW M3, 84k, blk, 5spd, 4dr, 6 cd changer, brand new tires, in good cond. $13,500.

Though currently, based on the input I'm seeing, perhaps I should wait until I hit major problems or 150k miles before thinking about selling...

Originally posted by Zetetic:

Originally posted by RawBurt:
Everyone gets frustrated with their contours. This is what you should do, sell your car to some kid who will actually appreciate it!

aww come on, that's not fair man. When I love my car, I really do love it. It's just those other times... that, well, lead to threads like this.

Okay okay, maybe that was wrong of me. But listen you must be prepared for problems with these cars. You think you have it bad with all those little problems. 2 days after i bought my 99 svt, the alternator and battery decided to die on me and was in the shop for about a week! That was the first sign that showed me what my car was ready to offer.

Originally posted by RawBurt:
Okay okay, maybe that was wrong of me. But listen you must be prepared for problems with these cars. You think you have it bad with all those little problems.

Well keep in mind, I haven't listed out the problems I've had with the car, just what needs attention currently. The list I feel isn't that important, just that I've had my fair share of problems. Nothing HUGE though or even worth mentioning, except for maybe that a tire shop (les schwab) improperly lifted my car which damaged the skirts, and then when another shop was repairing this the car partially fell off the lift and damaged quite a bit of stuff, primarily suspension components. They told me they replaced the parts with "better than stock" stuff, but later the Ford dealer said the replacements were basically crud, and luckily (!) replaced them with oem stuff under warranty.

None of this was Ford's fault or the car's, but nevertheless it leaves me with doubts, since I lack the knowledge/tools to take it apart myself and verify the quality of both repair jobs compared to stock.

So what, do you want us to decide whether or not you keep your car or not, shall we set up a poll and which ever one wins is your decision?

Originally posted by Zetetic:

Originally posted by TexasRealtor:

Ford Coutour SVT's suffer from automotive Bipolar Disorder.

In regards to the CEL, I'm kinda worried I'll end up in one of those get-CEL-then-replace-O2sensor-rinse-and-repeat cycles.

I'm waiting for the CEL to say "take-baseball-bat-and-beat-self-in-head......repeat as needed."

I would sell it. This has come up before with outher CEG'ers and I've told them to keep. But in this case, sell.

WHY?

It sounds like you're tired of the car and need a new one. The '00 CSVT is the best production year (I have an E0), and had "the least problems." If you can get a buyer, I'd get rid of it, because the maintenance you have outlined will set you back $2k, and that won't add to the value of the car.

As for a "new car" I wouldn't look into used M3's or the such. You'll be dropping A LOT more in maintenance in those cars, and parts are far more expensive, etc. For 13.5k you could get a pre-certified used 325i or something and not worry about expensive maintenance costs, etc.

imo.