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Ford honors 20th anniversary of Mondeo (Motortrend article)

As a used car they're highly underrated and a great value if you can find a good one, IMHO. I can see why they never took off though as the sticker price was too dang high. I paid $5000 for mine because it only had about 35k on it but I never would have paid the $18k on the Monroney back in 1998/99.
 
Yes, very nice indeed. I sure take exception to the article reference to US sales as though it is a US buyer acceptance issue. I recall visiting 3 dealer sin two cities in 1998, and BOTH pushed me into a Taurus by giving much better price break than on the Contour. I even went thru my employer, who has a Ford contact for "Ford Employee pricing".....still sweeter $$$ for the Taurus than the Contour. Chevy Corsica, Pontiac Grand Am, and there GM siblings as did Dodge Stratus, Chrysler Sirrus and Plymouth Breeze all sold well.
 
Well the pricing was only one part if the issue. A base Contour was the same price as a loaded Escort and a loaded Contour was the same as a base Taurus.

The other issue was back seat space. I think that the lack of leg room was by far one of the biggest along with lack of advertising. Additionally, the ride was very european feeling, more so in the SE than the base. Look at the cars of the time, they didn't drive like that.

I would put that all into "acceptance" of the vehicle.
 
BrApple said:
Well the pricing was only one part if the issue. A base Contour was the same price as a loaded Escort and a loaded Contour was the same as a base Taurus.

The other issue was back seat space. I think that the lack of leg room was by far one of the biggest along with lack of advertising. Additionally, the ride was very european feeling, more so in the SE than the base. Look at the cars of the time, they didn't drive like that.

I would put that all into "acceptance" of the vehicle.
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True re:ride. It was ahead of its time for the US market. That's what I like most about it though. It handles a bit like more upmarket brands.

It also has so-so interior styling for the money, IMHO.
 
dchawk81 said:
True re:ride. It was ahead of its time for the US market. That's what I like most about it though. It handles a bit like more upmarket brands.

It also has so-so interior styling for the money, IMHO.
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Well, since I came from a history of european vehicles, I did not suffer from these noteworthy issues/concerns, hence I don't accept them valid for me. My '86 GTI outhandles any stock Contour, and my '93 Passat lacked rear seat legroom and cost more new than a '98 SE loaded. And both VW's ride extremely firm; much more than the new SVT I drove in '99.

Simply the fact that myself and others were "pressured" by sales to move into the Taurus is reason enough to go elsewhere. BrApple is correct regarding sticker pricing - same was true of the Dodge Stratus SE and the Dodge Intrepid. Difference there was the two Dodge dealers discounted both Stratus and Intrepid equally.

Remember the reason for the plethoria of models we do have - individual buyer taste and preference - what is the buyer willing to accept and ultimately purchase. All these qualities or degree thereof are extremely subjective to the individual perspective buyer. Selling price is not subject, but hard fast numbers. I assisted Ford in getting Taurus move into the rental fleets, partially due to flat sells/move inventory. I recall hearing automotive "experts" crying fowl - that the reason Taurus outsold Camry and Honda in certain years was due to the "dumping" of vehicles into the rental fleet. I am sure the bean counters at Ford saw these stats. So did other manufacturers. An accepted business practice.
 
contour_r_us said:
Well, since I came from a history of european vehicles, I did not suffer from these noteworthy issues/concerns, hence I don't accept them valid for me. My '86 GTI outhandles any stock Contour, and my '93 Passat lacked rear seat legroom and cost more new than a '98 SE loaded. And both VW's ride extremely firm; much more than the new SVT I drove in '99.

Simply the fact that myself and others were "pressured" by sales to move into the Taurus is reason enough to go elsewhere. BrApple is correct regarding sticker pricing - same was true of the Dodge Stratus SE and the Dodge Intrepid. Difference there was the two Dodge dealers discounted both Stratus and Intrepid equally.

Remember the reason for the plethoria of models we do have - individual buyer taste and preference - what is the buyer willing to accept and ultimately purchase. All these qualities or degree thereof are extremely subjective to the individual perspective buyer. Selling price is not subject, but hard fast numbers. I assisted Ford in getting Taurus move into the rental fleets, partially due to flat sells/move inventory. I recall hearing automotive "experts" crying fowl - that the reason Taurus outsold Camry and Honda in certain years was due to the "dumping" of vehicles into the rental fleet. I am sure the bean counters at Ford saw these stats. So did other manufacturers. An accepted business practice.
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Yeah I have a very "American" experience regarding vehicles and I suspect too many more were like me in having little Euro history or having a poor opinion of them due to limited experience in the driver's seat. I had never owned or even drove a European make before getting the Contour and I still have yet to own or drive said vehicle. I have been a passenger in the older ones though (1990s Saab, 1980s Golfs & Jettas, etc) and as a passenger they didn't offer a great experience. They just feel rough rather than sporty. When I got the Contour, my ownership experience had been 1990 Ford Escort, 1984 Chevy Cavalier, 1991 Honda CRX HF (the slower, eco version), 1990 Ford Aerostar, 1977 Olds Cutlass, and 1998 Ford Taurus.

Nothing came even remotely close to the 1999 SE Sport that I have now, and it to me compares more to the Euro cars I rode in and is NOTHING like the purebread American junk I owned before. For me it was a HUGE difference in the Contour's favor but for a lot of Americans it was a huge MINUS. People tend to have long commutes here in the USA and at the time they didn't want the ride of a Contour Sport, they wanted the ride of a Taurus. The Taurus is a floater by comparison and better for those longer drives to work. Even I get a little tired of the Contour when I'm just trying to get home from a long day of photos and bridezillas. Sometimes it's a 3 hour drive, and that's long when the car was engineered to me more fun than cushy. I'd probably fall asleep behind the wheel of a Cadillac and eat up all my profits in gasoline though so it's kind of a plus that I'm not too comfy.

Anyway, that's my opinion about why they didn't sell. They weren't quite European handling but they weren't floaters either. To me it's good but only because the car was relatively cheap with low mileage on the used market.
 
dchawk81 - very well stated explaination. Your reasoning is very sound. Thank for this perspective you bring to pen. I can even relate, but wiht my 43+ years driving, the few American vehicles that my parents owned, or rental cars while I was on biz would hold true to your experiences. I recall getting so bored with American rental cars, that I would ask for anything out of hte ordinary - 1988 Chev BLM style 4 dr full size pickup 4X4. Sure kept me awake, but what a challenge to parallel park!! Thank you for your "story".
 
You bet. I'm always annoying my family and friends by telling them I probably wouldn't like the car nearly as much if it was the basic 4-banger. It would probably feel like a slightly refined version of my old Cavalier or something. I liked the Taurus because it had that 24 valve DOHC 3.0 in it but it was sooo front-heavy I couldn't really have fun in the turns. Every day commuting was great though until the blower fan went out. :D

If you think about it, two of the most popular cars are the Taurus and the Camry. They're reliable, cheap (relatively), and the ride is nice for everyday.


I loved the MPGs of my Honda CRX HF (50+ & gas was only 89c/gal when I owned it) but I quickly grew tired of the bouncing....especially on the seams of the interstate....you know...the ones that allow the road to expand and contract with temperature. You get rocked constantly since it has such a short wheelbase and those seams are spaced out almost exactly twice the length of the car.
 
dchawk81 said:
You bet. I'm always annoying my family and friends by telling them I probably wouldn't like the car nearly as much if it was the basic 4-banger. It would probably feel like a slightly refined version of my old Cavalier or something. I liked the Taurus because it had that 24 valve DOHC 3.0 in it but it was sooo front-heavy I couldn't really have fun in the turns. Every day commuting was great though until the blower fan went out. :D
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Hear this, but I own one of each (Zetec w/MTX75 and SVT) and find the Zetec to be musch more "tossable" and less "nose heavy". Zetec feels lighter all the way around, much more like my VW GTI.

If you think about it, two of the most popular cars are the Taurus and the Camry. They're reliable, cheap (relatively), and the ride is nice for everyday.
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Agree - good compromise cars. I enjoyed the rental 2011 Fusion SEL w/3.0 much more so than the rental Taurus or Camry.


I loved the MPGs of my Honda CRX HF (50+ & gas was only 89c/gal when I owned it) but I quickly grew tired of the bouncing....especially on the seams of the interstate....you know...the ones that allow the road to expand and contract with temperature. You get rocked constantly since it has such a short wheelbase and those seams are spaced out almost exactly twice the length of the car.
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Oh yes, I-580 in Alameda, Ca is noted for it's infamous "hwy hop"!!! Know that which you speak of ;-)
 
I forgot that I usually have about 100lbs of crap in my trunk so that's probably why it feels perfectly balanced. :-D
 
contour_r_us said:
That would defiantley move the front/rear weight bias more toward 50/50, not to mention a possibly smoother ride.
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Indeed. I did empty the trunk last week though and it's still far less prone to understeer than the '98 Taurus we had.
 
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