1998 Ford Contour SE from North America - Comments

Tires had to be replaced at 15,000 miles.

Brakes and rotor out at 25,000 miles.

Has had 3 serpentine belts on and 2 tensioner pulleys on in less than 5 yrs.

Had brakes done again at 50,000 miles

Check engine light stays on.

O2 sensor out at 70,000 miles

Too many recalls

Mass airflow sensor out at 77,000 miles and left me stranded on side of road.

Not a good reliable car. Will not last until I pay it off.

I am a single mother and don't have extra money to continuously keep making repairs. They quit making these cars-that speaks volumes.

Dealership won't even give me pay off for trade-in cause they know it is a piece of crap and don't even want to buy it back.

This is my second comment on a review, but again I have to say, operator error? being ASE certified I will tell you most times when breaks wear out "early" its the drivers fault. secondly as for the tires, if you take care of them they will take care of you, make sure your air pressure is right and that you rotate them when you change the oil and they will last! (also lead feet tend to eat tires)

Well, I would have to agree with the poster. This car is junk. My wife has one and I do all the maintenance on it, so I know its done right. I too, am a mechanic and I can tell you this car eats tires bad. If this car is a hair out of alignment, say bye bye to tires. Also, in the winter if the car is a hair out of alignment, the rear end of the car wants to swing out from under you. Explain that to me... Now I just got back from a ride in the tow truck because we were going to my brother in laws new house... Driving down the road and boom, there goes the tranny. FORD CONTOUR SUCKS BASS... We will never buy another FORD again.

I own a 98 contour SE and I got it with 70,000 miles. I put new tires on it when I purchased it and they now need replacing. The brakes were recently replaced when I got the car and I drive a lot of highway miles, but the brakes still are doing fine. The car now has 125,000, and I had to replace the O2 sensor at about 85,000 and the timing belt at about 105,000. The car has been otherwise extremely reliable.

I really agree with this comments of the contour SE. I own one myself,and I have to repair that car every other month

Transmission is the first one to go,i am using the 2nd transmission right now. The speed sensor is broken right now,it does not register the speed on the car,and it is stalling, the paint is chipping off. This is the worst car I have ever own.