Comments: 1-15, 16
Power steering fluid leak.
Broken trunk latch.
Cargo liner warped and loose.
Fuel flapper broken causing slow fueling ability.
Recall for the headlight and airbag mounting brackets to be replaced, they were damaged or faulty.
Recall for damaged or faulty hood latch replacement.
Sun visor fabric torn and wrinkled.
Speedometer cover flap fell off of the dash.
Recall to install rear crash sensors, originally never equipped on the car.
Recall for damaged or faulty rear mounted brake pressure control reduction valves.
Replaced the horn electrical assembly. Horn was not operable.
Airbag mounting assembly pad had to be repaired, re-secured.
Interior dome light cover has always been loose, eventually falling off completely, had to be replaced.
Weather stripping and insulation fell off allowing water and moisture to build up inside the trunk.
Most critical concern is the frequent engine failure in all weather conditions.
Ford Motor Company are not responding to engine failure concerns.
Comfort level is very satisfying.
Power and handling are very good.
Pretty much agree with the survey. I will never buy a new ford vehicle again. I haven't had that many problems with my car. I bought the car in July of '98 and in October '98 the sunroof motor went out. then two months later the horn went out too. since then I haven't had any major problems with the car.
I agree with the comments. Ford has a real quality problem with this product. The transmission was the first to go. Then we have had several recalls.
The car has 23,000 miles and all the rotors and brakes had to be replaced.
The exhaust fell off the car.
The alternator just went bad last week and now the dealer claims there is a short in the electrical wiring to the radio speakers and the door locks. They claim this will take several hours to find since this circuit runs all through the car.
We also have a current recall on the car for a bad resister in the blower circuit. The part is on order.
I have a 1998 contour se and with 103,000 miles on it. the transmission went out at 66,000 miles, but other than that it has been an excellent vehicle.
72,000 miles on a 2000 Contour SE five speed V-6:
Clutch hydraulic line leaked at 32,000 miles
IMRC control module failed at 65,000 miles
Dash warped at 67,000 - covered in a recall.
Other than that the car has been bulletproof.
I work in the car industry and the number of problems that people are seeing with this car are quite normal for most cars out there regardless of make or model. BELIEVE ME your opinion of mid line domestic car quality would change for the better if you owned a Porsche, BMW, Mercedes - I used to work on them, some never leave the shop. When they go out of warranty, the repair issues and costs on Porsche turbos and 12 cylinder cars are insane. How would you react if the new $75,000 400 horse sports sedan stayed in the shop for a month each visit for oil leaks and engine electronic failures? Believe it or not, most owners just accept it.
August 12/02 1998 Contour V6 5 Speed.
Overall, a well performing car, a pleasure to drive, but costly to repair.
At 90,000kms the engine went. Ford Goodwill and Dealership participation and an affordable owner contribution replaced it. The alternator and starter were replaced on separate occasions around 120,000kms. Engine check light always on happening continuously to the point where it is ignored.
At 135,000kms the clutch needs replacing. Estimate for repair from $1100 to $1600.
I have a 1998 Contour SE V6. The sunroof will not go back, although the motor runs. If you use your hand while holding the switch down, you can ease it back. Don't know what the problem is there. The car was originally owned by a good friend of mine who never had any problems with it, this started right before I bought it. Any one else with this problem that can clue me in to an easy repair? Email me at: Chami90655@aol.com Thanks!
I have a 1998 SVT. Good power and comfortable, although the road noise can be annoying. The vehicle has had several mechanical failures. The power steering failed, the pump had to be replaced at 40,000 miles, $1100 parts and labor. The clutch has been failing since about the same mileage, this will be a $1,300 repair at a dealer. The cam positioning switch has failed and at about the same time (52,000 miles.) the ABS system failed. Ford says the entire wiring harness must be replaced, total for CPS and ABS problems, hold on to your hats, $6,000 to $7,000! The $1,200 spent on the extended warranty was, for a change, well worth it.
I have a 98 Mercury Mystique. There is a water leak on the passenger side under the dash. Anybody have any experience with this. I have had it looked at by mechanics, windshield people, and two body shops nobody has any ideas, they all say one of the other guys should be able to help. HELP PLEASE!!!
Neil@tjsamson.com.
Well, I inherited my mothers 1998 ford contour GL at about 74k. I was not aware of any problems with the car - I had always ridden in it as an underage kid (being driven around by mommy). However I know when it went in for it's 60k check, it ended up staying for a few extra things the shop found wrong.
For the last six to seven months I have been driving this thing like it was the end of the world. Taking it on short trips on curvy country, pretending I'm in a rally - this cars performance is incredible AND IT'S ONLY A GL!!! My contour is completely stock, with the 4 cylinder engine, and I have raced and BEATEN supped up rice rockets. My view on why these cars are ALWAYS reviewed as being "high performers that are held together with bailing wire and duct tape" is because they are such a dream to drive that we all kick the piss out of them - then come on to a site like this an whine about how they are falling apart.
OK, now for things that are bad about the vehicle: truck allows water in, road noise is horrible..HORRIBLE, rear suspension arms of car squeak very loudly, even after mechanics put new bushings on (400 dollar repair that was pointless) water pump leaks, needs replacing, engine has stalled ONCE with no warning, or reason, brake rotors SEEM like they are warped - pads SEEM low, but the shop says the brakes are fine?
Some of the problems I have been reading about mirror my vehicle, but none of them are dramatic PROBLEMS, so the trunk leaks.. who cares. I honestly don't know why some of your cars are such piles of junk, and I'm sorry for that. As for me, I'm saving money to purchase a '99 svt - these cars are said to out perform expensive imports, and they are FORDS!!! I love the styling and performance of my car - I used to drive a 1985 Nissan truck, so the road noise and rattling of parts doesn't bother me. Ford must just have a lot of "monday" cars built...luckily, mine was not.
The car mag reviews (C&D, R&T, etc.) intrigued me. Could not find one to rent. Would love to drive a SVT. Won a loaded '98 SE/V6/AT on eBay with a sick tranny and killer sound system, 169k miles. for $1175. Great cond. and drives supurb except for bad trans. Have put 1000+ miles on it with few hickups. REALLY enjoy this car. Previous cars: Lotus, SAABs, Jags. I just drove a nice '97 Saturn SC2 5-speed across country and the Contour is a much superior automobile in EVERY respect...quality, comfort, engineering, fun-to-drive, etc. I am currently driving a 94 SAAB 9000CSE Turbo 5-spd w/185k that was maintained very well by it's only owner and WOW... what a GREAT car for $2750. You guys really need to learn to accept that cars are much more complex than they used to be. Lots of things that go @#$%^&* ()!!!
Sell 'em, park 'em, or fix 'em... - Jim.
We bought a 1997 Ford Contour for my wife to drive back and forth to work. Up to last year, I would’ve called the car, Economical, Clean and Reliable. But that was a year ago. Ford apparently cut a lot of corners in the car, and the corners they cut call into question every Ford product rolling out the door. I could go into long excruciating details of what when wrong with this car, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll just give the basics. The root of almost all evil in the Ford contour is the wiring. Now wiring is not something you think about when you by a car, and traditionally, wiring will out last the car’s life span by a significant number of years. Not so with the wiring Ford elected to place in the Ford Contour. The wiring in this vehicle will rot and crack in a few short years. The simple act of touching the wiring will cause the insulation to disintegrate in your hands. Ford was aware of this issue and offered an extended warranty (in other words, you pay for our mistake) that last’s 10-years or 100,000-Miles. The limit of that warranty is the life limit of the car. As the wiring breaks down, all sorts of things will happen to the Engine and Transmission due to faulty control and sensor inputs. I’ve had to overhaul the engine (shave the heads and rework valves), and change the transmission, all due to overheating driven by faulty wiring causing spurious signals. The car is currently out of commission because the mere act of turning a corner will short out critical functions and disable the vehicle. Ford offers no help after the extended warranty expires, and that’s when all the trouble starts. The wiring will self disintegrate at the 100,000 mile mark, and from what I see, the only option is to replace the entire wire harness assembly. Changing several harness sets is a costly and time consuming, around $3,500 at a discount mechanic. My advise… DON’T BUY THE FORD CONTOUR. The commercial jingle, “Have you driven a Ford, lately” now has an answer… the answer is NO, it’s sitting off the side of the road with a wiring problem.
I have experienced many problems with 3 ford vehicals that are in my family. Needless to say I will not be purchasing another one. I own at 1998 Ford Contour. I bought it last year used, and it seemed like a great car for going off to college. The summer before I left though, it began making and awful noise everytime I turned or tried to brake. My initial thought was that it was the brakes, however when I took it in I found that it was not that at all. Apparently there was a recall issued on the springs in the front of the car. Mine were so worn down that at any point they could break causing the whole front end of my car to fall off and possibly on my brake line. I had to avoid pot holes for the next 2 months as the ford dealers shipped in 80,000 backordered new springs from mexico. I was never told about any problems with the car or that this was happeneing all over with these cars. Just thought you'd like to know. If you own one, make sure to get the springs checked, because I had my car looked at and fixed other places long before the problem was detected.
I owned a 1995 Ford Contour which I bought used after 13500 miles. The car is GREAT I just sold it to my wife’s grandmother. My wife bought a 1998 Ford Contour which has had more problems then the 1995 did. The 1995 had problems with the springs always going bad. I had to replace them three times. All in all for a car that had 175,000 miles on it it was very well built.
The 1998 car which we bought new from the dealer had a few more problems, but then again my wife tends to be really hard on her cars. We had to have the transmission replaced and the computer chip replace. The dealer stated the chip went bad and caused the transmission to get messed up. Ford went 60/40 with us to replace it.
Recently we had to replace three of the four oxygen sensors, the idle switch and a wire harness for the fuel pump and replace the oil gasket. The total was $1300 for the repairs, but after owning the car almost 9 years who can complain?
I did notice that some mechanics don’t know beans about repairing or troubleshooting a fuel problem. We paid a major tire company for them to replace a fuel pump and then the problem reoccurred. I finally figured out what was wrong with the car and told a small shop mechanic who was able to fix the issue. That was part of the $1300 repair.
The car has 161000 miles on it the interior is looking great. If you think you shouldn’t run into problem with a car over 100,000 miles on it you are crazy. I look at it this way. I spend two grand this year on the car and it should give me another two years of use out of it. Two years of use means a car payment savings of 350 a month for 24 months which equals $8400 I’m not spending on a new car. I just wish Ford didn’t discontinue the Contour.
I have a 1998 Ford Contour that will not go into gear and I wanted to know if anybody knew what was wrong before I payed for a new transmission??
I bought one after it had a previous owner. So far it's been crappy because we had to replace the transmission, but the car also had 100,000 on it when I bought it... so that's understandable...
Some of the problems being complained about are normal wear and tear on a vehicle; if you don't take care of it, you can't expect it to take care of you.
My car runs great now that it has a re-built transmission. Basically take care of your vehicle and treat it like your baby.
I do however have to agree with the truck thing... but again normal wear and tear for a 1998 vehicle; just go pay $5 and replace the weather stripping. You can't expect a car to last forever if you beat the crap out of it!