Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General I give up

Not much of that $9000 is labour costs,only around maybe $1200 for labour. $500 was for my tranny,and then I spent a couple hundred on my CV shafts. I do most of the work myself,or have my mechanic buddy do it,but I help him with the work and he charges me almost nothing for labour. Replacing my water pump took 2 hours and $20. His regular labour rate is $40.

When I bought my car,it cost me $1600 to certify,that includes parts and labour. The shop's labour rate is $74.50,and my car needed 4 struts,2 springs,2 rear rotors,ebrake cable,new balljoints,brake pads all around,3rd brake light bulbs & front wheel bearings.

It's a great car to drive when it's not broken. It's fast,it's comfortable,rides well,handles good. They're just such awesome cars,but man,I'm running out of things to replace on this car,lol.

Anywhoo....for those of you that asked for details on the Zetec,I've posted it in the classifieds. It's medium willow green metallic on grey cloth. Completely stock,and I beleive I am the 2nd owner. Body is in very good shape for age & milage,very little rust,no dents or dings,everything is straight. There are 264k KM on the clock and it runs better than my Duratec and pulls hard...almost as quick as my Duratec. It would make a perfect daily driver,beater or project car.

lets see, what have I had to replace since I have owned my tour for 2 years...
1) timing belt and Serp belt($800 parts and labor)
2) Spark plugs, wires, coil pack ($40 parts)
3) TPS sensor ($22 parts)
4) muffler (had a hole in it, got a can $90 parts and labor)
5) Front brakes ($180 pads and rotors and labor)
6) rear brake cylender and shoe ($40 parts)
7) New battery ($72)
8) AC clutch and bearing ($250)
9) Wheel bearings one front, one rear ($250)
Price of car: $1,750 with exactly 100K miles
Sub Total: $1744
Total spent on car: 3500... That just depresses me... I could have gotten a nice 98+ with that much money.
Seems like thats about it... Probably some odds and ends that I have forgotten about... but thats the bulk of it.

Jumping on the bandwagon and reposting money spent on repairs/maintenance ... the following list only covers the more expensive of things I had done with the car (anything after 6/04 was paid by me; anything before was paid by my parents). There were many smaller things as well ..


8/22/05 - 9/02/05: 75K miles: diagnosis/x2, new WP, thermostat, radiator, O2 sensor (p1151), front brake pads/rotors, coolant flush: $1328.54

5/19/05: windshield (d'oh for no comprehensive insurance ): $245.00

3/18/05 - 3/25/05: 68K miles: diagnosis, lower control arms, inner tie rods, lower ball joints, front and rear sway bar links/bushings, alignment: $1606.43

10/18/04: 64K miles: front pads, rear shoes, rear cylinders: $358.87

10/15/04: 64K miles: tires/x4, alignment: $418.47

2/3/04: 54K miles: upper/lower intake gaskets/manifold, power steering pump and belt, tranny flush: $884.81

1/14/03: 40K miles: diagnosis, O2 sensors: $335.30

3/22/02: 33K miles: both front rotors cracked (God forbid I make an emergency stop ... covered by warranty), new pads: $103.91

3/19/02: 33K miles: failed MA state inspection; tie rod ends, alignment: $222.87

7/19/01: 27K miles: muffler broke at cats, rear sway bar links and bushings: covered by warranty

3/27/01: 24K miles: new shifter (was loose), fuel pump, ignition and all locks, rear plate plastic housing: covered by warranty

as much as I love the contour,I cannot justify spending over $8000 on it...in SIX MONTHS.

Alot of people lose $9000 when they drive their brand new car off of the dealer lot.

OTOH, an 11 year old car isn't going to run like new. But, with 'modern' technology, labor costs are way up!

In old days, 10 year old cars were junked because of rust. Now a 10 year old car is junked because, even tho it's not rusty, labor costs to repair are too high.

Our 95 mystique zetec needs a lot of work, I can smell it (well, not really), but it needs a lot of things.. small cheap things, but it adds up and the work is a [censored] I'm sure.

*makes a list*

Spark plugs (first thing!)
EGR (CEL came on for this)
IAC (maybe) -- I think the spark plugs will negate that one
New transmission mount (maybe, the wheel vibrates at idle and that bugs me)
sanded headlights (my "blue" lights look yellow but now I don't care for blue anyway)
New cup holders (lol, someone broke one of them, well, I guess I only need one!)
A new cabin air filter (really bad)
license plate lightbulbs and some kinda fix to get the water out of the red reflectors on the back of the trunk!

Oh, and one of the covers on the bottom of the car (a plastic door) has a broken latch thingy so the door just hangs open, and looks dumb... and scratches against the curb when you back out of the driveway! .. Totally pointless, but I feel like getting out duct tape to fix that (maybe I should!)

Oh, and an ECT sensor. my ECT sensor is [censored] up. The car will get hot and then after about an hour magically the temp gauge goes back to the middle. Grr!

The funny thing is our car is an automatic and has a tach, I've seen 95s that had a stick shift and no tach!

WTF?

It helps a lot though..

136k on the clock!

Oh, and the engine bay needs a GOOD cleaning, and I mean good. There's dust on the engine and gunk everywhere I hate getting black dirt all over my hands just changing the dang headlights!

First things to come: ECT and spark plugs. Hopefully the misfires stop as the spark plugs need replacing REALLY bad. I'm so pissed at our "mechanic" who "replaced" them, would love to get even, but that's not legal.

Maybe I can coax my mom's friend into finding his old crappy buick and pulling the spark plugs!

OOOH... and the carpet needs a little work, maybe replacing. It's all sticking up on the edges.

I'd hate to let a nice looking car go to waste though. That's so wasteful!

I'll sell you a Zetec and a Duratec for parts cars for $1600.