Are these car pretty reliable? I have found a pretty good deal on one with 130k miles. What all should i look for? what are the problem areas etc? thanks for any help and info.
Thinking of buying SVT Contour and need some info
- Thread starter badazznotch
- Start date
Waterpump which with 130k probably has already been changed, but if not get it done. I have mine as a dd and it has 112 km on it and has been great.
Motors are hit and miss. I've seen quite a few pop with higher milage. I'd be careful. Most die from oil starvation. They spin a bearing and a piston hits the head and/or breaks and shoots a hole out the back of the block. If you want a 3L SVT Contour with more power and reliability (no oil issues) hit me up. The 3L has extra oil drain backs in the head that fight the issue. One of my SVT's is in the classifieds now and another is on the way. They have a night and day power difference when compared to a stock SVT. Check my web page in my sig for more info.
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Fuel pumps are also can be a problem on 99-00s.
Transmission synchros on 98s.
Transmission synchros on 98s.
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This car is in pretty good shape. I can buy it for around $3500 I think. It has a couple scrapes but nothing major on the body.
Check for grinding on hard shifting on the 2-3 shift. (any shift really but 3rd gear is notorious!)
If it grinds badly then skip it because that is a $1000-2000 fix and there is no work around for syncros. Either that or offer $2000 at let them know EXACTLY why. I am sure it won't be a surprise to them. Many people sell their cars instead of paying to rebuild the tranny. It's 12+ hr book time for labor alone.
Damn Glad I never have to pay for a mechanic! :coolman:
If it grinds badly then skip it because that is a $1000-2000 fix and there is no work around for syncros. Either that or offer $2000 at let them know EXACTLY why. I am sure it won't be a surprise to them. Many people sell their cars instead of paying to rebuild the tranny. It's 12+ hr book time for labor alone.
Damn Glad I never have to pay for a mechanic! :coolman:
DemonSVT said:
do these tranny's remove like and any other front wheel drive car, or is it harder? also, are parts expensive?
is better to buy a trainy with spmotorsport are 800 dlls i think and are new and european specifications
I'm kinda in the same boat as "badazznotch", who originally started this thread. I found a '98 with 100k miles that I like. I'm just curious about how good the gas mileage is. If I buy this car, it would be my daily driver. So I'm also curious if the 91 or Premium Octane is really required. Around where I live, all we have is 87, 89, or 93...And Premium is just looking rediculous with the rising gas prices.
Any info would be appreciated...thanx
Any info would be appreciated...thanx
Its not absolutely required. BigJim (I think) on CEG runs regular in his car and has something like 200k on it. There are a few discussions about the subject on www.contour.org
here
here
Now, you have to remember that people say you 'only' save X amount of dollars per fill up and you loose X amount of performance. I highly doubt you are going to see a noticeable (key word) loss in performance. Others argue it 'damages' the engine. As I said in one of the threads, I ran 87 in my SHO in cold weather, no knock, same mileage etc. Is it damaging? I'd really like someone to prove it....
here
here
Now, you have to remember that people say you 'only' save X amount of dollars per fill up and you loose X amount of performance. I highly doubt you are going to see a noticeable (key word) loss in performance. Others argue it 'damages' the engine. As I said in one of the threads, I ran 87 in my SHO in cold weather, no knock, same mileage etc. Is it damaging? I'd really like someone to prove it....
Agree.
I have always run regular in my SHOs. I ran regular in my CSVTs too.
I have always run regular in my SHOs. I ran regular in my CSVTs too.
Oh ok. That sounds good. BigJim really seemed to know what he was talking about...despite the many posting from both sides. I just thought I would ask since this car would be my daily driver if I buy it, and that would be a big concern to me. I am going to need a "family car" soon and still think the SVT Contours are pretty cool looking cars (even if that sounds stupid to some people). This car is completely stock and I would intend to leave it that way anyways, cuz I'm still doing mods to my Lightning.
Thanx again for all the input.
Thanx again for all the input.
You can run regular in the SVT. (I don't recommend it)
You will lose some performance and it will ping occasionally.
Personally I'm not worried about the extra $8-10 a month to run premium. That's a drop in the bucket compared to real bills. Besides most "other" people waste that on fast food in just one day.
You will lose some performance and it will ping occasionally.
Personally I'm not worried about the extra $8-10 a month to run premium. That's a drop in the bucket compared to real bills. Besides most "other" people waste that on fast food in just one day.
DemonSVT said:
That's the way I see it. If that $8-$10 is a concern, you shouldn't be buying a vehicle that takes premium fuel. WTF is wrong with people?
Mark
Ok...I wasn't trying to start another argument like the threads from contour.org that Ryan posted on here. I thought I was just asking a simple question.
I'm not looking specifically for an "SVT Contour" to buy. I just happened to see one for sale along my path to-and-from work everyday, that seemed to be a decent price. I think they look pretty cool, so it made it even better. However, I don't know much about them, so I wanted some more info like the guy that originally started this thread.
And then I saw the 91 "recommended" fuel in the manual, and it kinda surprised me. It makes sense to put Premium in my Lightning (cuz of the supercharger), but I didn't know the Contour had much performance to it. If I buy this car, it would be my daily driver, and I would leave it stock, so I'm not really worried about the high performance loss. I just want something that looks cool and rides nice. And there's not much out there in a four-door style (that is also within the price I wanna pay).
I'll stick to the Premium for my Lightning. And if people still don't see what the big deal is, ...then I wouldn't mind them paying for MY gas!
I'm not looking specifically for an "SVT Contour" to buy. I just happened to see one for sale along my path to-and-from work everyday, that seemed to be a decent price. I think they look pretty cool, so it made it even better. However, I don't know much about them, so I wanted some more info like the guy that originally started this thread.
And then I saw the 91 "recommended" fuel in the manual, and it kinda surprised me. It makes sense to put Premium in my Lightning (cuz of the supercharger), but I didn't know the Contour had much performance to it. If I buy this car, it would be my daily driver, and I would leave it stock, so I'm not really worried about the high performance loss. I just want something that looks cool and rides nice. And there's not much out there in a four-door style (that is also within the price I wanna pay).
I'll stick to the Premium for my Lightning. And if people still don't see what the big deal is, ...then I wouldn't mind them paying for MY gas!
Bolt99SVT said:
By all means, do whatever you want, it's your money. But hey, if you want to drop $5k, $6k, $7k on a performance sedan that is tuned for premium fuel, why put piss water 89 octane fuel in there? I guess that $3 extra you pay at the pump means a lot to you. Wouldn't want to keep food off the table or anything.
Mark
DemonSVT said:
+1
I never understood why people can complain and complain about premium SOOO badly when gas is already $2.80 for unleaded, making the difference in price between 87 and 93 grade is only about 7% more a gallon :shrug:. as other mentioned, peice of mind alone seems like its worth it for a whole 10 dollars more (tops) a month.
Go with premium...couldn't kill ya :beer:
premium prices don't follow the .10/.10 rule anymore- i guess thats a bonus to high gas costs. also 91 isn't out of "stock"
87=x
89=x+.10
91=x+.20
87=x
89=x+.10
91=x+.20
91... Thats cute.
I like being able to get 93 at 98% of the stations, and 94 at a couple
I like being able to get 93 at 98% of the stations, and 94 at a couple
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