Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General 1998 Contour SVT

I'm looking at buying this car as daily driver. I currently drive an Eagle Premier and If I get a newer car, I will keep the Eagle. I am looking at a 1998 Contour SVT with only 88,000km for $5000. The previous owner replaced the ball joint, tie rod, wheel bearing and alternator. I like the styling of the Contours but I spoke to many ex-owners of these cars and they all told me to stay away form that car, they all had $5000 to $8000 repair bills at the end. My neighbor as a 1996 Sport and she's put almost $7000 as of today in repairs. Any comments on what I should be careful, what is the gas mileage?

Thanks
Ian

Depends on how you drive the car vs what you've heard about the car.

I've had my SVT 98 for 2 months now, no problems. Maintenence wise, it's just like every other car, cept it's a bloody SVT!!

Woot.

Took my almost a year to find the one I wanted in British Columbia.

Any car has lemons. not JUST this model.

Gas mileage for the SVT CAN be as high as 25/32-ish.

normally, if you drive it a little heavier you'll get about 21.5-ish/28

Alternator's go out alot.

WATERPUMP is the BIGGEST problem you will likely face. change it out immediately with a revised white impellar, or metal impellar (not the black plastic it has currently... )

Oiling issues, but running 6.5 qts, and taking it easy on certain aspects can help alot.


Ray

I've had my 98 SVT for 8 years now and the total mx bill is right at about 2000 dollars (tires, oil and such not included) The biggest item was a new clutch last year. I have 93,000 miles so take it for what it's worth.

If you can work on your own cars, maintenance is cheap. I made the mistake of taking it to the dealership in March (and okaying the repair ) .. yielding a $1600 bill, and my parents have paid some similar at the dealership under their ownership of the car.

I have 1 98 Se with 98,000 miles and I have spent very little in repairs and I have been driving it since 30K. I had a 98SVT and it had 190,000 miles on it when I sold it and it also had a fairly repair free life and is still running great! Its all in how you maintain the vehicle and how you drive it! Your going to find people telling you to stay away from every type of car you look at.

Probably the best thing about these cars is this site! Theres no better online auto support than CEG!

Welcome to the CEG!

I've got an 98 SVT. It really hasn't cost me much at all. I've put some money into the prevenative maintance stuff, replaced the WP with a metal impeller, belt/tensioner, did an upper and lower intake manifold cleaning (replaced some parts and gaskets while in there). Other than the preventative stuff, I haven't had any problems. **knocks wood**

As Ray said, change out the water pump. Not a hard job at all, so you should be able to DIY.

Look around in the "Main Site" as there are many how-to's posted (changing the WP in one of them). Just about anything you could think to do to your 'tour has been discussed, so a simple "search" will net you lots of results.

Let us know if you get the SVT.

$7000 in repairs!!! Crap, I have a 3.0 upgrade swap, supercharged, built trans, blah blah blah and I haven't spent 7 grand. Although I would have to guess your friend is the type to pay an oil change place $30 to change the windsheild wipers and $75 to change the trans fluid...

Thanks very much for the replies.

I bought another one, a 1998 with 106,000km certified from the Ford dealer for $6000. The car was purchased and serviced there and the water pump was not replaced yet, so I asked to get it replaced and they did. Yes I do work on my cars when it comes to repairs, and I have a good habit of getting my parts from OEM. I had my Eagle for 3 years now and all the repairs were done by myself with the help of my father and all the parts were bought at Chrysler. I will keep the Eagle, I think it's a classy car, I will park it in our garage and keep the SVT for every day use.

My SVT is red on black leather interior, 4 wheel disc brakes but doesnt have the sunroof. My neighbor had her engine, transmission, front wheel bearings, ball joints, fuel pump and pwr lock switch. She bought the car used from a local shop and they did all the work. I think they screwed her with her transmission. They charged $1300 for the transmission, and 15 hours of labor. That's way too much...in my own opinion and yes she had to put almost $6000 or $7000, but like I said, she got shafted a couple of times with repairs from that shop...

I will pick up the car tomorrow morning, can't wait!
Once again, thanks for the info. I will stay tuned!