is this a good deal?

[rushtiger]

i recently came across a 2000 ford contour svt and am interested in finding out more about it. the car seemed really nice from what i could tell. the dealer told me it has a 2.8 litre duratec v6 w/ 24v. it is a 5 speed manual. it has 97000 miles on it. it is red and has tan leather and a sunroof. i couldn't tell if it had dual exhaust or not because it looked like it did. anyways the car was only $5695. he told me it was a steal, but i just figured he was trying to sell it to me. i looked it up on kelly blue book and it says its worth $10000! is there something that could be wrong with this car? it seems to good to be true. i haven't run a carfax on it yet, so maybe it doesn't have a clear title. the guy told us that the bumper had a little damage and that they opted to just bondo it (at least he was honest), but he told us that the airbag never deployed so i don't know what to make of that. i didn't get to test drive it either since a can't drive a stick.....yet.

i guess i just want to know more about this car since i'd never seen one. the more i think about it, the more it seems like the right car for me. how available are aftermarket parts for it? how reliable is it? how many miles should i expect out of it? i will definately take it to a mechanic before i buy it, but i just wanted to know what you all thought of it.

thanks

[BILLYBOBERENO]

Check www.edmunds.com and see what its really worth! it think that it might be i little high.

[BILLYBOBERENO]

Ill check it for you k
i leave it here

[BILLYBOBERENO]

http://www.edmunds.com/used/2000/for...option.1.Ford*

[beyondloadedSE]

Its a 2.5L, not a 2.8L... What exactly did he know about the car? Anyways, that price is about right. The contour/mystique never did really hold their value. No way, anybody these days would pay $10,000 for that high mileage of an svt contour, unless it was a serious enthusiast.

It does have quasi dual exhaust, instead of true duals. True duals can be made for the car though. I had them on mine. The aftermarket for these cars is becoming more and more abundant, since the engine is now in the Mazda 6. Well, 3.0L duratec that is.

Just about everything you can think of is available for the car, except for altezzas or something like that.

You can swap engines from the 2.5L to a 3.0L duratec. Street Flight makes a turbo kit, Vortech makes a supercharger. Cams, pistons, rods, etc etc. Bodykits, carbon fiber hoods, you name it, they probably make it. I dont have time to list every single mod but its just to give you an idea. If you have any questions about specific modifications that your interested in, ask me since I pretty much know about every available aftermarket part for the car.

Only thing to really watch out for is the waterpump as the plastic impellar shatters around 70K or so. You can upgrade to the metal impellar waterpump. Also, spun rod bearings on hard right turns due to oil starvation in the oil pan. Usually people add 6 qts of oil, instead of the normal 5.5 to help with this problem. There is a revised oil pan also available. Either that, or upgrade to a 3.0L which has an extra oil line in the block.

[iorn eagle]

you also need to be carefull, a friend of my bought one use the person that had it before him doged it out he had to replace the motor.

[killer_cr80r]

Heh i got my contour for $130 1995 ford contour gl with 142k miles put $22 into the strut assemblys at a junk yard and now its a awsome running car only paid $152 and 2 hrs of work not bad eh?