In September of 2006 I purchased a 1997 contour with a 4 cylinder, automatic. In 2500 miles I replaced the right axel shaft, right ball joint, left front wheel hub, plugs, air filter, oil filter, both wipers and the big one.... the flex plate which of course required the removal of the transmission. I have had my fill of the VERY poor quality of this car. I am very happy to announce that it is SOLD. And with all the work that I did I only lost about $500.00. This is the first Ford that I have ever owned and now that it is gone I can also assure you that it is the last one too. I have had 2 happy days with this car, the day I bought it and the day I SOLD it. I hope your luck is better than mine with the little Kansas City built POS.
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Oh happy day
- Thread starter mbraun
- Start date
zorrex
Enjoys the Abuse
May I just point out you should have checked this stuff out before you bought the car? :shrug: I'm sorry you didn't like your car. There's a reason everyone else here loves their 'Tours. It's too bad you didn't get to experience it.
Southont
CEG'er
Its funny, but I've owned Fords and then other manufactured cars and then my Contour. When I bought it my mechanic said... oh no... then he found out I had the 2.5L and said good choice. Its been one of the best cars I've owned. Oh and dont forget you bout a 9 year old car. You're bound to have problems. I guess you had a few more than you bargained for. The Contour is a good vehicle. Too bad you didnt have better success.
Ive had thee mystique for over 3 years and and have spend alot of time and money in repairs and loved every minute of it !!! And will do it all over again when the time comes. Looking forward to dropping the transaxle to replace that flywheel again....:laugh:
thanks for telling us!! we should all sell our pos's right now!
thanks for the heads up!!! :help:
thanks for wasting this sites bandwidth!
hetfield
or hetfeild
Wait, out of the eight things you listed, four are routine maintenance items. Who the hell gets pissed about changing the plugs, air filter, and oil filter on a 9-10 year old car? Needs less whining. See sig for further details.
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But did you notice he had to replace "BOTH WIPERS" ??
alex894
Hard-core CEG'er
No offence but you should've checked for problems before you bought the car. Contours are excellent cars if you know how to take care of them. Fords are great, you just had the bad luck of picking up one in a very bad shape. Anyways, I personally would have kept it after all the repairs done.
that's my 2 cents
FavoriteMystaque
Hard-core CEG'er
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2004
- Messages
- 1,192
I looked up your old posts because your car problems seemed familiar, at least CEG'ers gave a good effort at helping, and you found the real problem (from local help). That flywheel is an odd failure. Hopefully, the next owner will enjoy it more
TGO
King of the OFT
Actually, my luck is a lot better with my Kansas City, MO, Built in America "takes a beating and still keeps ticking" car. Maintenance is the key word with cars. I wish you well with your "new" car. A piece of advice. Maintenance is the key word with cars (repairs matter too).
m4gician
Hard-core CEG'er
are you kidding?! the 2.5L is a mechanics worst nightmare, it's hard to reach everything, an alternator job will cost you $200. It's so damn tight in some places.
If someone charges $200 for an alternator replacement, it is a steal. Most cars with V6 options are really tight when it has the V6 option instead of a 4 cylinder. With an ATX, it is worse. Everybody said the water pump takes 30 minutes to change out. They forgot to mention, it is 30 minutes with an MTX :laugh: . With the ATX, it took a little longer
as you had to remove the battery tray and cover up the tranny, and to make sure you don't knock the MLPS or wiring harness connector, you had to proceed slowly with your socket wrench. :blackeye: Playing with the thermostat after taking it out did not help with the clock either. :laugh:hetfield
or hetfeild
hetfield
or hetfeild
Why is that so surprising on a vehicle that was clearly designed around the 2.0L?
Southont
CEG'er
I think I didnt get the context across correctly. My mechanic said that I did good by getting the 2.5L as they have less problems than many cars at the time. This was appx 10 years ago when I purchased mine. Yeah they dont like to work on them, but they think its a good solid engine that doesnt require the same level of repairs as other engines.
dSVTj
CEG'er
same here. my mechanic was relieved that i was going with the 2.5L duratec when i said i was looking at a contour. he was even happier when i told him it was an svt. i guess theyre prone to less problems than the smaller engines and the mtx makes things easier as well
Well, I did have to drive it back to the hotel from the restaurant for you at SZ... I guess that trip was just my turn. I don't know who else you had lined up to chauffer you around... :laugh: