Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Message to all SVT owners

I can answer that..... Yes

-Mark

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What do you see? Look Again. Do you see
Persaverance? Substance? Odds being trampled? Perspectives changing? Rules collapsing? Meaning? Look Again.
If all you see is a car...
Look Again

1998 SVT Contour.
Silver Frost
Mondeo Badges, KKM, OMP Cast Aluminum Pedals, Eibach Suspension, Flowmaster 40 Series Exhaust w/ 4-1/2" Stainless Steel Vibrant Tips (non-resonated single wall "Dragger Style" Tips), No resonator, Knauberized, B&M Pro Edge Shifter, Brembo Rotors, KVR Carbon Fibre pads, MSD Ignition, Vortech S/C, Hybrid Front Subrame & Suspension and more...
SVT/SHO Society of West
Michigan SouthWest Rep.
GTExtreme1@aol.com

I never recieved my certificate...

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David Zambrano
svt_mondeo at yahoo dot com
CSVT E1 #4808
http://daplace.spedia.net - my homepage

"Cause life is just too short to be normal"

And to comment on jjost's comments...

If anyone decides to cause problems with any event sponsor they will be promptly escorted out of the event. I don't mind people expressing concerns or opinions, just don't let it get out of hand and to the point of attacking someone.

Spring Zing is an event that we ALL should enjoy, not something of controversy or bad press for the CEG.
-Mark

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What do you see? Look Again. Do you see
Persaverance? Substance? Odds being trampled? Perspectives changing? Rules collapsing? Meaning? Look Again.
If all you see is a car...
Look Again

1998 SVT Contour.
Silver Frost
Mondeo Badges, KKM, OMP Cast Aluminum Pedals, Eibach Suspension, Flowmaster 40 Series Exhaust w/ 4-1/2" Stainless Steel Vibrant Tips (non-resonated single wall "Dragger Style" Tips), No resonator, Knauberized, B&M Pro Edge Shifter, Brembo Rotors, KVR Carbon Fibre pads, MSD Ignition, Vortech S/C, Hybrid Front Subrame & Suspension and more...
SVT/SHO Society of West
Michigan SouthWest Rep.
GTExtreme1@aol.com

It is a really simple answer.

Give the same support to the SVT Contour as you are currently giving to other projects such as the SVT variants of the Mustang, Lightning, and the upcoming Focus.

Others have said it before:

1. Factory supported performance parts. Toyota has TRD parts you can get installed without voiding your warranty. If Toyota can do this, there is no reason Ford can't do it. I'm sure you guys at Ford think you are better than the guys at Toyota, so why are they doing better than you here. Ditto Honda, moreso third party aftermarket, but it sure is there. It appears Ford is serious only about V8 performance, nothing else.

2. Quality dealer support. That is an issue for SVT and non-SVT products alike. Yes I know dealers are privately owned franchises for the most part. However, the name that is the biggest on the sign is generally Ford, so Ford has more to lose if a dealer is not treating a customer right. Return visits for the same repair should be the exception, not the rule. Something simple like a gas gauge shouldn't require two visits to the repair shop.

I believe that Ford knows more about how to make the Contour platform perform better. I would rather buy my performance parts from a company like Ford than a mixed bag of third party vendors.

Just because you are no longer making the car doesn't make the customers go away. I think this is where Ford/SVT is missing the boat. We are still out here, and in three to five years I'll need a new car.

How Ford and SVT treat me today will have a great impact on who's cars I look at.

I work in a service industry, so I know how to give good service and how to support products that are no longer made. My organizations values include the phrase "Customer First"

That is more than just words. I try to evaluate every decision I make about servicing a customers computer system by that tenet. Regardless of cost! Because I don't want them to become a competitors customer.

There are too many choices in the automotive market for Ford to write off a single customer.

But Ford/SVT must continue to earn that dollar every day. Because if you don't, there are other companies who are willing to. I do believe it costs more to earn new customers through expensive ad campaigns than it does to keep existing customers through great service.

The choice is yours.

TB

I would like to chime in, Troy.

I have a 2000 Contour SVT. It is my third Contour (96,98,00). I am the only one in my family that has bought Ford passenger cars in the past generation.

My complaints have to do with these:
1. The SVTOA Mag--will not send in the $40 for it. Also the complete lack of press in it. In fact, the mag in the current issue mentions in past tense how good the car was. Excuse me, but I just bought a 00 3 months ago and as far as I am concerned, it is quite current!

2. The lack of any SVT Contour merchandise. Excuse me, but the plethora of Lightning stuff makes me puke. Cobra I can understand.

3. Lack of product quality. Like others, I am quite concerned about the longevity of this vehicle. My 96 SE I kept to 126,000 miles. I don't think my SVT will go that long without a major repair. And maybe the extended warranty is throwing money down a rathole also. My car has 9,000 miles on it. Dealer demo. While the dealer had it (3,000 miles), the clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, and clutch bearing was replaced. Since I've owned it the transmission was replaced with a new one. Now I'm waiting for the engine itself to seize. And now I'm hearing this snap noise where the dash meets the windshield. I wonder if I'm getting the dreaded dash warp that many other cars is getting.

My SVT dealer does a good job helping me, but they know I make alot of money and could (would?) buy a BMW or Audi next time around. I also constantly remind them that I bought an SVT supposedly for the value and exclusivity of the vehicle. Not to mention that I expect to be treated better than your run of the mill Taurus or Focus or Escort owners. So they take care of me as best they can. My beef is with SVT and Ford, not any dealers.

SVT could take immediate steps to allow all current owners to receive the magazine free for their first year. And SVT could sell more Contour specific merchandise through their catalogue.

However, the build quality will haunt SVT/Ford in the future. I'm waiting for the press on the Contour tranny like I heard about the Cobra engine.

My car was one of only 2150 built in the 2000 model year. Yet the build quality is suspect. Why?

If SVT relies on word of mouth for advertising, I pray for SVT. There are many of us that are probably doing a good deal of damage by complaining about our SVT Contours. It didn't have to be this way....if only SVT would have done what they promised. The SVT Contour is not some ugly vehicle that can be pushed to the side (with their owners). We will stand up and be counted.

I bought into the whole ad stuff about this being an exclusive car with value and quality. My car drives great....when it is not in the shop getting some expensive repair on the company's dime. If I have more problems with it, I will probably get rid of it around 20,000 miles (while I can still get something for it). Then I'll buy something else, probably not from Ford.

I do appreciate your time to come onto this Board, but many of us bought into the ad language and yes, we have high expectations. Hell, my 87 Firebird squeaked less than my 00 SVT Contour. THAT is not progress.

Thanks for asking...

My one suggestion: help turn SVTOA into something of the caliber of BMWCCA or PCA - including a racing series. The few times I've done track events with my Countour SVT I've had to run with other Marque clubs.

FYI... my opinion of SVT is pretty good. Like the cars a lot.




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John Coffey
johnc@betamotorsports.com

Troy,

Thank you for taking the time to visit. You have been the second Ford or SVT contact I have seen on the site so far, and I commend you for it. To be candid, though not rude:

Better late than never, or so the saying goes...

There has been a lot of animosity directed towards SVT and Ford recently with regard to the Contour SVT here, and from time to time mixed with high emotion, it tends to sound like the end of the world for some of us. Many of the loudest complainers often times turn out to be your most fervent supporters, but ONLY after a little TLC or attention has been turned their way, as well as a few basic explainations have been offered.

I think that the main issue has been one of actual and perceived abandonment, as it has been shown by certain moves that Ford/SVT has taken to the now-demised Contour. The disconnect, as it so often is found, may have been with the way the selling DEALER positioned the car and the "SVT" experience of ownership to the customer and the company "planned" support and service; in short, the dealer may very well have been selling a spaceshot to the moon when SVT from the start could only handle a halfway trip. This still doesn't excuse the lack of "enthusiasm" that Ford/SVT has shown the Contour in the past and present, and is well represented by the lack of even the smallest of nods towards the Contour SVT in many forms. Like Chris has suggested, any ideas that someone from SVT could possibly share at Spring Zing in Kalamazoo, MI?

I hope you realize that you can't and won't be able to please everyone all the time, but I truly believe that there are some diehard Ford and SVT fans here that would very much appreciate some sort of presence at Spring Zing. These are the people that you don't want to alienate, and showing a little concern and support to could go a long ways in maintaining their interest in what Ford and SVT put on the roads in the future.

Respectfully,

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James Tompkins
Tulsa, OK
jaysek@home.com

99 Red Rocket SVT
#143/2760
Modded to Taste

00 Corvette Coupe
Modded to Haste

[This message has been edited by JaTo (edited March 29, 2001).]

Really I could care less about the magazine and all that. SVT products have always been and always will be, overall, great vehicles that are aimed at the enthusiasts. But here's my problem. SVT released a fantastic vehicle and then quickly forgot about it. Flipping through the SVT catalog I see plenty of stuff for the Cobra and Lightning, but absolutely nothing for the Contour. Where's my mug, where's my jacket, where's my cap!? We have practically no aftermarket support from Ford, whether it be from SVT or SVO, oops, I mean FRPP, with the exception of a set of plug wires (that technically is marketed for the Cougar). What little aftermarket we have is mostly there because people like us have *****ed and complained to companies until they decide to give us the support we deserve. They aren't reluctant to support us because of the relatively small number of SVT Contours out there (especially considering how many performance parts are made for the Cobra and Lightning, which are both limited production like the Contour), they are reluctant to support us because Ford and SVT have quietly buried our cars with limited recognition and PR. As soon as the SVT Focus was announced, SVT immediately began hyping it and gave it the support that it has always given the Cobra and Lightning, in addition to the 90% of the support that was missing from the Contour. If you're going to build and sell a car, it is your responsibility to support it, despite any problems that may come up (like "slow" sales or whatever). Instead what happened was SVT jumped ship on the Contour and immediately began to push the '99 Cobra and Lightning, and allowed the public to forget about the car that consistently garnered more respect from the media than either of the former mentioned vehicles. To sum this all up, we never got the respect that was given to the "other" SVT vehicles.

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--Steve Bassen
Frederick, MD
2000 Black/Blue SVT #1972/2150 (born on 1/28/00)
Bassani (modded), K&N, B&M, MM insert
Lotsa stereo, asthetics and recontenting
For sale:
B&M shift knob and stock SVT shift knob
RIP - Ray "Old Fart Emeritus" McNairy

I think I can answer these two together. We have all along told our customers that we would give them a year of the Enthusiast. I apologize for anyone that didn?t get his or her Certificate and Enthusiasts. I have recently completely replaced the database system to make sure that doesn?t happen any longer. If anyone is interested in getting the issues they missed, e-mail me your VIN, name, and address and I will send them to you.



We are limited by the number of articles that are in each Enthusiast. Usually there is one larger article that highlights the most recent vehicle (which is generally the cover). There are then articles from both Tom Scarpello and John Coletti, which they generally talk about what?s up in marketing and engineering respectively. Then there is an article about an owner in the front of the magazine which we usually get from the mail (Volume 3 issue 3 has a Contour owner). We are always looking for ideas. What would you like to see written about? Keep in mind we can?t write articles about modifications and such.



Because we mainly deal with the development of the vehicle itself, we don?t usually get involved with aftermarket parts. But we have been trying to improve that. Our first efforts were with the ShoShop and I think they have done well with supporting the SVT Contour. It is very hard to convince a company to dedicate themselves to a vehicle with such a low production number.



Technically I have been for a while but only monitoring the site. Posting to a board is a new to us here at SVT, and I personally believe we should have started a long time ago. I am doing this here on my own and without any instruction to do so.

It appears that a couple of you are asking about apparel as well. We did have specific apparel for the SVT Contour, for almost two years. It wasn?t removed until recently and we don?t now because it didn?t sell. That doesn?t mean I can?t get something. What are you all interested in? Maybe we can get something made up if there is enough interest.

We are also working on an SVT history on the website. So, hopefully the SVT Contour will be back up there soon. Actually it never went anywhere if you know where to look

Troy

Troy,

I do want to thank you for visiting. Should I share with you my concern about there not being a suitable replacement for my SVT Contour when the time arrives?

I think you (Ford/SVT, not necessarily you personally) should consider what car all of the SVT Contour, as well as other Contour enthusiasts are going to buy when they wear out, grow weary of, or just want to trade their CDW-27 platform car.

I think you will agree that this crowd is not an SUV crowd, and not a TownCar or Mustang crowd either.

Personally, I will be looking for a 4 door sedan with similar or better performance numbers across the board, that I can shift and use the clutch.

Still want good value for the money, but value, to me at least, includes the support part of the equation.

Personally, I doubt a two door Focus Hatchback is going to be in the running here at Chez Boner. However, Subaru, VW, Audi and BMW to name a few do have some rides that we will consider. But currently, Ford has taken themselves out of contention if my SVT Contour is totalled or stolen. Not even the Mazda 626 had enough ZoomZoom to convince me to buy. There is nothing that I could buy NEW today. Perhaps a used SVT. (That is how I got my current one.) But even those are becoming fewer and further between.

So, to me, it appears that Ford/SVT has written me off as a customer.

So my question is, what are you (Ford/SVT) doing to provide me with the type of car I want to buy?

I do hope to meet with you face to face so we can have a friendly chat at SpringZing. We can sit down, share an AdultDrink and talk about how Ford is going to make the collective automotive lives of the enthusiasts here better.

Because, frankly, that's what we want. If we succeed and are happy with our cars, we will also be happy with Ford. So, we are more likely to buy our next car from Ford.

I think one of the problems is Ford is looking at ALL car buyers as APPLIANCE buyers. The people on this website did not buy cars as appliances. We are value conscious, but still enthusiasts non-the-less.

TB

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Tony Boner
Candidate for ICBM Launcher
Personal: tboner@mvp.net Work: tony.boner@central.sun.com

Saving the computer world from WinBloze as Unix/Solaris/Java Guru * Sun Microsystems Rocks * http://www.sun.com
Goofing off with cars
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Duratec Vehicles
Now with Dyno Proven 159.x HP at the wheels with Baby Seat Mod
1998 Contour SVT E0 618/6535 Born On Date: 4/30/1997
2000 Mazda MPV (Yes 2.5L Duratec): Bone Stock

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Non-Duratec Vehicles
Daily Driver: 1987 Buick LeSofa^H^H^H^HSabre 3.8L V6 -- 150HP AND 215ft/lbs torque
Now With Cadillac Deville 16's and P225-55R16 Dunlop SP5000's

[This message has been edited by tboner (edited March 29, 2001).]