1996 Ford Contour GL 2.0L Zetec DOHC 16v from North America

Summary:

Good handling car that's cheap to run, and a great gas sipping commuter car

Faults:

Tape player broke.

Rear passenger door stuck, can't open from inside or out.

Replaced headlights because of oxidation.

General Comments:

I love this little car. It's my first car bought with my own money, and a commuter car to college.

Besides listed above and oil changes, this car hasn't needed anything. It goes surprisingly fast on level roads, but on hills it tends to struggle.

The steering and handling system I read was designed for European cars, and you can tell, as it handles like it's on rails, it has saved me from other idiot drivers.

The seats are a little hard, and they took tilt wheels off for the 1996 year (don't know why). Other than that, it's been a great car. Cost me $20 a week for gas, and I commute 66-80 miles a week.

Love this little Contour, and you can't go wrong with a Ford. I looked into getting a large truck for my hunting and fishing trips, but I still keep looking at this car, and how little it has cost me.

For having owned it for only 5 months, and paid $1300, I can't complain. I know other people have had problems with Contours, but like others have stated, some are good, some are bad. I was lucky to find one that's GREAT!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd November, 2008

30th Sep 2009, 08:00

This is the original writer of this review. This car after a year of owning turned into nothing but problems. Acceleration died down, tranny made some terrible noises, and 4 sensors went bad on the car. Also, the drivers window got stuck and ended up breaking when I shut the car door. I sold it cheap this past June.

In reply to 30th Sep 2009, 08:00

30th Sep 2009, 18:37

So what was that you were saying about not being able to go wrong with a Ford?

2nd Oct 2009, 11:08

"30th Sep 2009, 18:37

So what was that you were saying about not being able to go wrong with a Ford?"

When you buy ANY 12-year-old car with 117,900 miles on it, you don't know what you're going to get. But you certainly can't expect perfection. The car needed some maintenance, which the owner wasn't willing to have done.

1996 Ford Contour 2.5 liter V6 from North America

Summary:

This car sucks

Faults:

-My freon leaks constantly, no matter how many times I have this "fixed," resulting in me never having air conditioning for more than a day at a time.

-It blows fuses weekly; I'll go to reverse and lose the blowing power of my heater and my blinkers.

-My heat and air doesn't blow through the vents. It will only blow through the defroster.

-The heater will only blow on high... and that's a good thing because recently the knob got stuck there. I don't know how or why, but one day it just refused to budge and has been in that position ever since. Also, sometimes it will only blow if your finger is on the button, applying pressure.

-There are ALWAYS issues with the alignment... I've had it worked on 3 different times and it still shakes when I get over 55mph. This causes my tires to wear quickly and leads to a numb butt when I go for long drives on the interstate!

-My front axle has had 2 broken c.v. joints... I lost gear shifting power while driving up a hill due to a broken c.v. joint and then rolled backwards down the hill into a ditch.

-Emergency break doesn't help in emergencies... It doesn't hold the car's weight in place on a hill.

-Gas door latch doesn't work.

-The trunk-opener is picky... it works 3 out of 5 times.

-My interior lights are screwy... The dimmer knob is stuck and the lights never work by my speedometer.

-The back seat that lets down and into the trunk gets stuck sometimes and won't open without a crow bar; other times it opens just fine.

-On cold days it makes a HORRIBLE squealing sound that mechanics can't diagnose.

General Comments:

I hate it!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 17th January, 2008