Contours Solid/reliable car?????

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I am thinking of getting a contour svt for a car and i was wondering if they are a good reliable car, like i heard they have electrical probloms, and stuff like.

Please share with me your reliability of your contour!!!

I test drove one a few weeks ago and i absolutly love it! i just dont want to get a "money pit".

Thanks for your help!

Welcome

. Any car which is maintained well will be reliable. Can't comment on the SVT as I do not own one but I would say my Contour LX is a pretty reliable 10 year-old car. It is my daily driver.

Thanks! any input is valuable to me.

Contours in general are reliable cars IF taken care of. My zetec has been so trouble free for the 4 years I've owned (and beat on it) that I sorta hate to sell it.

SVTs/duratecs do have some problems that the zetecs don't have, but in general if the car is taken care of then they're not big issues. Most of the problems are easily fixed and have already been discussed on here, so finding information on fixing stuff is not hard.

Just don't overpay on the svt and look over it good for any existing problems.

Mine was a lemon, if you want a hint, don't buy a car when your uncle says "it's a V6 5-speed thats fully loaded."

You will later learn that he never even looked at it and its really a 4cyl, auto, base model.

Mine is reliable for the most part, you will run into small problems at 130,000 miles and if you like to pppush a car, the 'tour is really fun.

i think the biggest problem with my SVT yet is the fac that every job seem to cost so much in labor and most of the mechanic dont even want to touch my car... so be ready to dirty your hand ;p

I've only owned/driven 3 cars so far, two being contours.

Everyone know how reliable tempos are, I would put a contour in the same category.

it is all in how the car was taken care of. out of the 4 that my family has we have had the typical problems, nothing outragous or anything, but then again we take the time to fix things as needed or be preventative about it, funny out tempos that we had were about the same, they always got us home ...

obviously don't buy one that has been beat to death as you will most likely have problems, and do note there are many owners with high miles and they don't have many problems

What sort of things should i "look" for when shopping for a contour? besides the obvious

on a SVT, third gear grind, waterpump are the two normal things that crop up

otherwise look for the normal things

IMHO, the used Contour is a good choice if you do your own repair & maintenance. Lots of fun to drive, but you have to be very pro-active & aggressive with maintenance. If you're looking for a car you can drive hard & just keep to the basic gas & oil, this is not it. Buy a Honda or a Hyundai.

I think the Contours are pretty reliable for a lower-end older car. There are problems that occur especially with age and abuse, but I think that is pretty normal.

I would be a little leery of a used SVT if you have no idea of the history. Was it taken care of? Or did some kid think he was a street racer? I guess there might be no way of knowing. If you are getting it from someone you know and have some idea of the history, and like doing your own work, then the Contour is a GREAT driving car. I've also heard the complaints from mechanics about the engine bay of the V6's and SVT's. One said "that engine does not belong in that car".

Good luck. Don't over pay.

Well I own a 4 cylinder and I havent had big problems. The key is to stay on top of the maintenance.

Originally posted by TourDeForce:
IMHO, the used Contour is a good choice if you do your own repair & maintenance. Lots of fun to drive, but you have to be very pro-active & aggressive with maintenance. If you're looking for a car you can drive hard & just keep to the basic gas & oil, this is not it. Buy a Honda or a Hyundai.

Originally posted by Bicycle commuter :
I would be a little leery of a used SVT if you have no idea of the history. Was it taken care of? Or did some kid think he was a street racer? I guess there might be no way of knowing. If you are getting it from someone you know and have some idea of the history, and like doing your own work, then the Contour is a GREAT driving car. I've also heard the complaints from mechanics about the engine bay of the V6's and SVT's. One said "that engine does not belong in that car".

I second both of those...

Take my 98 SVT for example. Lots of mods the original owner did, but were done half assed. Like the 24mm rear sway bar isn't attached to the subframe anymore. It didn't "rip out" like others have said, there just isn't any mounts at all! No bolts, brakets, anything!

Another is the aftermarket cooling fan. A blade broke off for some reason right after I got it, replaced that and now it's falling off! Damn plastic thru-bolts!

And it's got quite a few small things wrong with it, like the IAC valve is acting up, CEL has been on since day #2 of me owning it with no apparent reason.

Hopefully I can get that stuff fixed here when I take a whole day and put on some stuff I got from Bill J.

But I should stop complaining, it's only stranded me twice due to transmission issues, but both were caused by faulty repair work. Guess that's what happens when the previous owner beat on it

I went straight to the best with the tranny rebuild (Terry Haines... search for him in "Transaxle"), so I have a little security now!

Having owned three Contiques, I would say that they are just as reliable car as any.

For the most part the 'unreliable' aspect comes from skipping maintenance, not being prepared for when something breaks, or putting off fixing things. Don't be afraid of maintenance, these cars definitely need it.

If you're buying used without history be prepared to fix blown water-pump on a V6, possible IAC sticking, and oxygen sensors. It's also worth checking the A/C accumulator as the padding around it can cause it to rot through, but that depends a lot on your climate, and it can be removed to help prevent it too.

Other than this I've never come across a problem that isn't basic maintenance. (Except when my clutch blew). The Contour for me, over a combined 8 years on three cars has not been any worse than most vehicles I've owned.

Buying used be prepared to replace any rubber, bushings wear and perish. Also be prepared to replace rear struts, wear is a little quick on these IMO. These are all maintenance though.

I have owned one now for 4 years and three of them were trouble free until I broke it by blowing the motor street racing. Otherwise yeah they are very reliable. I love mine and still have it and will not sell it lol.

If you can work on the car it will cost little to repair, Just dont beat on it and you will be fine, its a fun car that likes to be driven hard, but also respected. Basically you have to try and prevent the problems before they happen, that is, keeping your bushing lubricated, changing oil properly and on time, checking the plugs/wires, dont launch the car at all, etc.

It'll get you from point-a to point-b but they have their problems.

Dash warp
Oil starvation
3rd gear shakes

are the big ones.

There's really no car in it's class/used price that beats it though.

If you want reliable and hassle-free, buy a late model Accord or something. I swear those things never die.

Originally posted by ODC:

There's really no car in it's class/used price that beats it though.

So what cars do you consider in the contique class?

And yeah an accord or toyota corrolla will last FOREVER!

Originally posted by jtour:
And yeah an accord or toyota corrolla will last FOREVER!

Yes, but they have no souls. They're the "gingers" of the car world.

Class ? Four door sport sedans. At the time it was being made the only real competitor was the 3-series but it was more expensive new than the csvt and the 328's and m3's are still more expensive today, used.

Originally posted by IRingTwyce:

Originally posted by jtour:
And yeah an accord or toyota corrolla will last FOREVER!

Yes, but they have no souls. They're the "gingers" of the car world.

Contour's don't have a lot of soul either ...

Well from the 2 CSVT's that i have owned i have the good, the bad, and the Ugly.. well the first a 2000 CSVT Black/Tan
ran fine was as quick as a dream handled like it was on a wire all the time .. was the sweetest svt that i have ever owned .. only prob was the jack covers poped out or off and looked bad ..... #2 1998.5 Silver Frost/Midnight Blue (currently parting out)was a POS,looks are great interior is great but i took the same corner same speed same conditions as my first SCVT and the first one rode that bank like it was on rails the second one spun like i was on ice ... had Exhaust noise .. and threw 2 rods through the block on feb 8th 06 @ 113000 i ran both hard but i also had a lot of preventive maintnance as well oh also i killed 3 alternators in 1 year of owning # 2 and the Alt is A Bioch to change just ask around .. though hoping to buy another CSVT off the Classifieds so im a buyer of # 3 soon so if that helps there ya go ..

Considering what I have done to my car and the amount of miles 155k, I would say they are fairly reliable but somewhat a pain to work on. Even changing the plugs requires undoing the coil pack and such. Things to look for are the waterpump, alternator and possible clogged precats. Depending on the year and if it is auto or manual, the earlier manuals were not as strong as the later ones regarding the synchros and shifter forks. If it is a post 96 v-6, make sure the IMRC is functioning properly. These are just a few areas to look at as there are probably many more, but you will get that with any car.

I just realized you siad SVT so all above applies.

Love my 4 cylinder to death. Will not part without it. I recommend a 4 cyl over a 6 anyday due to the fact their easier to work on. If your going for a V6 get a SVT, otherwise go for a I4. My I4 auto is a little slow, a I4 5 speed would be great. Can't really comment on the waterpump issue, don't know if mine's been done. The only thing that's happened to mine that you might want to watch for is pull a spark plug and make sure no oil is around them. If their is it's the valve cover gasket, which is releatively cheap.

Originally posted by zetec herman:
Can't really comment on the waterpump issue, don't know if mine's been done.

Hmm... guess I could comment here, seeing as I've owned both a Zetec and Duratec...

The Zetec water pump is in the "normal" location on the pulley side of the engine behind the timing belt cover and driven by the timing belt. It is a big PITA to do, and if for some reason you're changing the timing belt (maybe at the 60k/120k/etc maintainence ), you might as well as change out the water pump too.
The Duratec water pump is on the back of the engine (above the tranny) and is driven by a pulley of the end of one camshaft. It's pretty easy to change out, so if (or when!) it goes, it should be a 1/2 hour job.

I can't comment on the SVT, but I like my '99 SE 2.0. It has needed a bit of maintenance, but nothing uncharacteristic for a car of its age and mileage. I bought it in 8/04 with 60,000 miles, and it now has 84,000 miles. It's underpowered, but I'm thinking about installing an intake kit and underdrive pulley. It's no BMW, but it's a nice little car at a reasonable price. If nothing else, it's the car I used to take my son home from the hospital after he was born.

I have had my 98 CSVT for two years. I am one of those people that paid too much for the car, because I needed one quick.

I love the car. I think that the styling is sweet. For the money the SVT is sportier then other similar products. With my passenger side air bag shut off switch I can transport a 4 kids with 4 doors to make entry/exit nice.

But... In the time I have had it I replaced the following:
clutch at 85K (normal wear item
Blew the diff - due to excessive wheel hop
Front control arms
Front swaybar bushings
Engine stabilizer mounts
Front sturt bearings (did it with the control arms)
Synchros
Stupid peaced together radiator hose - small leak again
Little clip that holds the secondary valve connecting rod in place
Need to fix the fog lights because they point almost directly at the ground
Buffed the headlights to remove most of the checking,
Lost one of the jack covers
Driveshafts (because of diff failure)

The Dealership replaced the precats, front break pads and rotors.

I did not know the condition of the car when I bought it and did not get much chance to check it out. Impulse buy.

I had most of these problems in the first six months. The last year has been great. There are a couple small things, but I will get to them. Make sure you keep the oil filled - full or a little over.

Hope I did not scare you away. I did all of the work myself so I could not tell you how much any of this would cost to have done somewhere else. I do wish that they would not have used the Taurus front sub frame and that it was rear wheel drive.

Other then that it is a great car.
Paul