Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting CEl Problems and want to sell - Need advice!

I have a 96 Contour SE (V6). Due to my husband's commute, it has 110K miles on it. We are best friends with the CEL and it keeps telling us the CAT is bad. The most recent code we had read was the one about the Catalyst below Threshold. Everytime we get something fixed the stupid CEL just comes back on again with something new. We didn't start having the CAT codes until after the 80K warranty was up. I had the car to my mechanic and to a exhaust guy and they both said that the car doesn't drive like there was a problem with the CAT.
Well, with our growing family, we are upgrading to a Honda Odyssey. We are keeping our '93 Dodge Spirit since it has lower miles and very few mechanical problems. The dealer offered about $1700 for the Contour but doesn't know about the CEL being on. Now the car has also started to make a loud fan/idle noise when it is hot.

I dont know what the Honda dealer would do if the CEL came on the minute we gave them the car. Should I care? Also, for $1700 with all these problems, should we just keep the car and drive it until it blows up on the freeway? I dont have the money to replace the CAT on my own dime and have something else go wrong.

Advice Please!!!!!!

Don't worry about the dealer's offer for your trade. He will stick to it if he is reputable. Don't agree to less! All dealers base the trade price on something less than auction wholesale. Regardless of the number he quotes you, he has over $1000 pad in his calculation to cover repairs (and that does not include the amount for his potential profit). Just follow through with the deal and ignore the CEL. Good Luck

Al

Which cat is it? The V6 has precats and a main cat. Which codes exactly does the car give the dealer? Did they tell you? When it comes on, have AutoZone pull the codes for you. They will do it for free, and will tell you what they mean.

Personally I would tell the dealer where to go if they only offered me $1700 for my car. Mine only has a 4-cyl and the same mileage.

Welcome to the CEG.