Needing some opinions/advice

[cnewton44]

Here's the deal. It looks as though I will be moving to Minneapolis in two to three months. All of the work involved with that aside, I can't decide what to do with my car. I haven't really "driven" it in two years and I'm not sure if it's even drivable at this point.

I believe it will need a new engine, a new clutch, and I would want to put a new diff in it. I would have Blackcoog drop a 3L into it and the other goodies along with headers and a few other things. All told I would be dumping A LOT of money into the car and I'm struggling with whether or not it's worth it to me.

The "budget" for this problem or endeavor is roughly eight to ten thousand. I'm trying to figure out whether the car is worth putting that kind of money into or if I should pick up something decent and used for around that much. If I get something else I've thought of either a CSVT or an FSVT. I've perused the classifieds here and on some Focus forums and I'm not very impressed with what is available..

As far as keeping my Mystique and dumping money into it, the body is in pretty decent shape it's just the mechanical end that is having problems.

My disclaimer is that I know that people here are biased.. :laugh:

Otherwise if I get rid of it, it will be heading to the recycle pile..

 

[Jaybird]

Dont scrap it yet, you have got plenty of miles left on that car. Why do you think the engine/clutch ect. needs to be replaced?.

If I remember correctly your car had just turned 100,000 miles. My Contour has 210,000 miles and still running strong. Original clutch and trans, but burns/leaks quite a bit of oil and the alterator light is flickering on occasion.
Just took It for a spin today...:laugh:

 

[cnewton44]

Well, I'm pretty sure I baked the engine.. The water pump in it had stopped working and it wasn't circulating at all. Unfortunately I didn't notice (yes I know I should have payed more attention) and therefore it over heated. I'm pretty confident the clutch in it is shot because when I quit driving it it was slipping and grinding very slightly. As far as the rest of it, it's not stuff that it necessarily NEEDS but I want to get some of the after market stuff in it anyways.

For mechanical stuff right now what I would wanna do with it would be these things:

A straight 3L
Headers
Clutch
Differential

The tranny might need some other work that I'm not aware of at this time also. I guess I'm largely trying to decide if the large amount of time, money, and work I would have to put into it would be worth it. Also there is some light rust that has formed on the rocker panels right behind the front wheel wells. I would have to get that fixed also which would cost me a good chunk.. I guess I kinda have a vision in my head what I want it to be. :laugh:

 

[Redlineracer12]

I don't think I'd mess with fixing your car, If you're going to be moving someplace and just need a dependable car I'd get just that. Not some 11+ year old car that's hard to find parts for. I don't know that I'd recommend an FSVT for a daily driver either, but they're easier to find parts for than a Contour/Mystique/Cougar.

How about a newer Focus ST?

 

[cnewton44]

How about a newer Focus ST?

That's actually one of the ones I was looking for. However I want an ST that has the REAL body kit they used to put on them with the ridiculously large spoiler. Unfortunately I can't seem to find one with that package for sale anywhere.

 

[Smokinjoe]

If you put 10 thousand dollars into that Mystique, you belong in the looney bin.

You can get a lot of car for 10k. A good condition, average mile SVT Focus should run about 6k, and similar SRT-4's run from 6k to 8k.

Hell, you could get into an LS2 GTO for close to 10K.

Putting 10k into a Mercury Mystique would be a very poor investment.

 

[FFE]

Well thought I would throw in my 2 scence

First off you have to reliese you will be putting yourself into thsi car for the next 7-10 years. For a cost you will never recover, not that any car is a good investment. Just your over all lose would be bigger. If you absolutley love the merc I would say go for it. But reliese you can get some nice cdw-27 platforms for that price, if you really want to stick with this platform. And some nice performace viechles for that price as well, depending if you will have 2 viechles or not

 

[cnewton44]

If you put 10 thousand dollars into that Mystique, you belong in the looney bin.

I often think that myself... :laugh::laugh:

SRT-4's run from 6k to 8k.

No thank you.. I would rather die before owning a neon...

Hell, you could get into an LS2 GTO for close to 10K..

I would love to be able to afford one. However, I'd rather not get raped by insurance companies.. :laugh:

First off you have to reliese you will be putting yourself into thsi car for the next 7-10 years. For a cost you will never recover, not that any car is a good investment. Just your over all lose would be bigger.

Yeah I realize I would be owning it for many years to come and that is not a concern. I love the car so I'd be willing to stick with it that long

If you absolutley love the merc I would say go for it. But reliese you can get some nice cdw-27 platforms for that price, if you really want to stick with this platform.

Yeah I know there's a lot I can get for that amount of money. I've been thinking about a panther again, but to find one that would fit my heavy scrutiny would take months to find. :laugh:

Largely the problem is that if I get something else, there are so many different things I like, that it would be a painstaking process to find something new. I'm extremely picky is mostly why..

 

[elraido]

You can buy a fully built 3.0L with tranny mods for $4-6K. So investing that much into your car would be a poor choice. I drove a ST a couple weeks ago....sort of peppy, handling wasn't quite what I was expecting. Wouldn't be horrible for a DD, but I know for me personally, I would always want more power out of it...and it seems like there are only a couple things you can do to them. Intake, cam, exhaust....then after that you need to go turbo.

 

[CrazyTalkSVT]

You scrounge 2k more together and I'll sell you mine for 12k.

 

[CSVT#49]

You scrounge 2k more together and I'll sell you mine for 12k.

Or I'll sell you my powertrain for the same amount...:laugh:

All things considered... scrap/sell the mystique. Put the $10k down as a payment towards a new Ford Fiesta or... maybe a Lotus Elise (w/21k for miles about $28k)

 

[Blackcoog]

Or I'll sell you my powertrain for the same amount...:laugh:

All things considered... scrap/sell the mystique. Put the $10k down as a payment towards a new Ford Fiesta or... maybe a Lotus Elise (w/21k for miles about $28k)

Those would be fun. If only I were a bit shorter. lol

 

[newb]

ill buy the whole car for scrap price, or ill buy just the whole interior. PM me if your interested in this.