21st Oct 2003, 21:17
I have a 95 contour, and its name is lemon. I have replaced my engine also. I bought the car in 99 for around 8,000 since then I have put aproximately 10,000 into it. This car is a safety hazard the recall in 99 for the under-hood wiring many did not get fixed at the time because the wires were not bad at that time, now all of the wires are fried and the cars are no longer covered by warranty. Many people have had their car catch on fire. They need to recall all ford contours before someone gets hurt.
19th Aug 2004, 16:01
I have 95 SE with an S.V.T engine.
I too have spent close to 10K on this car.
IMHO it was worth every penny
I still have OEM alloy's
OEM hood
OEM pain
OEM everything besides the transmission, clutch, engine, tires, and fog lamps.
I read all of your posts, and I respect your opinions, but yours are a few out of hundreds of thousands of contours. Mine isn't bad, I just drive it hard. Thankfully, I quit driving the baby so hard, and drove it like it was meant to be driven. As a Sedan. Good luck with your future endeavors. I plan to have my contour when it hits classic-car status.
-Jeremy
Houston TX.
22nd Jun 2005, 12:54
Hello, I too have had bad luck with my 1995 Contour SE – It has been a very costly car. I have replaced my engine because it locked up, before that I had to have a cylinder replaced, the transmission need to be worked on and had power steering leaks. I also had to replace some sensors. I have spent thousands of dollars on this car and now my A/C has gone out. I agree that Ford should reimburse some of the money we have spent fixing their not so reliable cheap car.
June 22, 2005
DV - Rosenberg.
11th Oct 2006, 09:45
The Contour will reach "classic" status; unfortunately it will on the same level as the Pinto, Vega, and Yugo.
11th Oct 2006, 14:21
Ford does not "make" Mazda. The Festiva had an engine by Mazda, was built by Kia, and was sold by Ford.
17th May 2008, 19:47
I have 95 SE V6 stickshift and have put on 180000 miles, it has been excellent still fun to drive. I have done some repairs but nothing major that I would complain. I plan to drive it as long as possible.
16th Jul 2008, 22:36
I had a 95 SE 5spd for 9 years and 150K miles with only general maintenance, 1 water pump, and 2 wheel bearings.
Sold the car to my niece. She now has over 190K miles still with the original clutch. The car has been involved in SCCA autocross racing since '97 and has taken the punishment without fail. I raced it and now she races it.
All new cars have their faults. It's knowing what they are and fixing them before they fail. The plastic water pumps have eaten many motors on these cars, and others.
When buying an car it is wise to Google their warts. They all have them.
I've had Ford, Honda, Pontiac, GMC, Acura, BMW. They all have their issues.
26th Jul 2008, 15:55
I also have a 95 Contour SE, with 114,800 miles on it and also the most expensive repair was the alternator. Just now my brake line has rusted out and that will likely be as expensive in labor.
But I like the car very much and it has been low maintenance for me.
31st Aug 2008, 16:52
I am the original poster of this review. I liked the car or I would not have bought it. It was a beautiful Turquoise Blue Green with light gray cloth interior. It had a small spoiler on the trunk and factory alloy wheels. It was beautiful.
Time heals all wounds I suppose as I did have some things I liked about it. It looked great and got, if I remember correctly, 28 mpg with 2.5 V6 and automatic transmission.
It handled great. It rode very hard due to the suspension settings, and required 2500 rpm for cruising at 60 mph, a little high for an automatic with overdrive. The good gas mileage may have been even better if it had been geared to do 2000 rpm or so.
The transmission light (overdrive) started flashing, paint got thin and flaked off on the spoiler, the chrome strips on the bumper trim went bad, driver's headrest would not adjust, right power window worked when it wanted to.
The air conditioner had a pressure line leak freon, the intake leaked oil, the windshield leaked water onto the right floorboard, and maybe a few other things were wrong with it along the way.
I am doing this from memory without being able to see my own review, so forgive me if I duplicate it!
The oil was clear up until oil change, but it used about 1/2 a quart between changes when I sold it... maybe 85K? The car was maintained well and it still had issues.
Still, it was a looker and nice inside and it drove well. I still see Contours on the road and have seen V6 models like mine with well over 200k on them. I wish mine had been as good as those... who knows... maybe it was and has now joined the 200k club. Yeah, begrudgingly, I do miss it!
4th Aug 2011, 16:03
I am the proud owner of a 95 SE, and a 98 SE. If Ford mechanics knew how to fix their cars, you might enjoy your purchase.
A local Ford dealer replaced my VCT 2.0; the mechanic had trouble setting the timing, and the car continued to stall etc. Their diagnosis was a faulty sensor on the VCT.
I would later find out that if you have problems setting the timing, you should stop and recheck the installation, because it's something, probably air in the VCT system. Ford quoted 2,000 to fix. They were wrong; all it needed was the cams and belt being reset, cured the problem. It's not a bad car, just bad mechanics. Great car; avoid Ford dealers and you'll be fine.
jharpman@hotmail.com
21st Apr 2003, 16:03
Riding the bad notes on Fords Contours, I bought a used 1995 Contour in 1998, since them the air condition failed, the engine was replaced, the new engine just failed, and the started was frayed. Toked it to the shop, the mechanic, told me the engines was lock. And the dealer no want to touch it. It have so many recalls that dealer start knowing me by my first name. Very baddddd...!!!