1996 Ford Contour GL review from North America

Car shut off and was towed to an independent ASE auto repair shop, who told me that the timing belt went and so I had the timing belt, water pump and belt tensioner replaced as well as a part of the camshaft that had been making noise when started up, as well as a pulley from the lower part of the engine block that was completely rusted out, took the car home and every morning the car would shut off a few times after starting and when it stayed on it would shudder and vibrate like an old washing machine, returned the car to the repair shopa nd they claimed it was a dirty mass air flow sensor, they cleaned and returned the car to me and it was still the same, returned the car and they claimed they re-checked the installation of the timing belt and the camshaft and claimed it was on the money, but said the gas pump was not putting out the correct pressure on start up or even when fully warmed up, however since I had the

gas pump replace by the a dealer and it was still under warranty I took the car back to the dealer who stated that the gas pump was fine and that the problem was the Idle Control motor, $ 400.00 later the car still had the same problem so I returned it to the dealer who decided to replace the gas pump under warranty anyway, but that didn't resolve the problem either, I was at my wits end and decided to tell the service manager the complete recent history of repairs in the hopes that some detail would enlighten them as to the problem, however they came back to with Since the timing belt wasn't installed by a Ford dealer, it leads them to believe that it was installed improperly, but they wanted 200.00 in labor to check the installation and wouldn't guarantee that this was the problem. Since I had already paid handsomely for the work at the independent shop I returned the car to them they still have the car for 1 week, they claim they have checked the gas pump relay, the throttle body & all engine vacuum hoses for leak, the engine compression, the Mass Air Flow sensor, the camshaft timing, ck the air cleaner box for a vacuum leak and all have checked out and the car still has the same problem. The ford dealer said that they doubted that the independent repair shop would have the specific tool they use for fords only to align all the pertinents gears and camshaft for the correct installation of the timing belt, the independent claims they do have the tool and that they have checked the installation and swear it was done correctly. This problem started right after the installation of the timing belt. The car is still in the shop and $ 1400.00 later I as well as the mecahanic's are at a total loss.

Windshield was always cloudy and unclear.

Headlights lenses are plastic and they cloud and reduce nigh time visibility.

Other than some electrical problems at the Fuse box in the engine compartment this car was a very reliable vehicle for years.