First let me introduce myself. I'm 21 years old and I'm in Chicago, Illinois. I have owned a 1994 Mustang GT for 3 years and it now has 109,000 miles and is starting to be a pain in the neck. I need to spend about $200 on it every month just to keep it running, and I do most of the work myself. Also I am a guitar player and have just joined a band and I need a car that I can fit my big half-stack amp into. Also, gas is going up in cost, and I get 12 mpg in the city. The mustang is modified quite a bit and it is fast, but it is also loud and terrible in wet/snowy weather.
So I'm thinking about getting a Ford Contour SVT. I want to stick with Ford because I'm pretty loyal to it. I have had an Escort and Lincoln Mark VIII previously and both were great cars. So what I'm looking for is a sedan that's about $7,000 and gets good gas mileage and has room in the back seat in which I can put my amp. I think the SVT fits the bill. I have a couple questions though...
1. How reliable are these cars? Anything that usually goes wrong at a certain mileage?
2. Is it a bad idea to buy a Contour SVT with over 80,000 miles? I bought my mustang with 85,000 miles and it was fine until about 100,000 miles and stuff started breaking.
3. What octane gasoline do they use?
Thanks and I hope to purchase a Contour SVT soon, and if you know anyone that is selling one in Chicago please let me know.
