Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Should I buy a Contour?

Take care of your car, it'll take care of you. Unfortunately, with that many miles, you gotta worry about whether the previous owner took care of it. The Duratec has a number of design flaws (I'm about to go on engine #3), but they can be fixed and avoided if you take care of your car.

I'd say get the car, as they've said before, you can't beat that deal. Doesn't matter who makes the car, you're not gonna find something that much more reliable for that price range. Just don't beat up on it.

"I recently wrecked my 240sx and I came across what looks like a good deal. A 1999 Contour SE V6 auto with 120k miles for $1850."

soon I will be dropping 743 for struts and springs 399 for new axels and 300 for some one to install everything totalling near 1850.

So you may need to spend twice as much to get her in good running condition

I say if the car is in good shape and looks well maintained, go for it! As said above, these cars are a blast to drive.

My car ran a 17.2 @ 82.56mph in the 1/4 (Mystique, V6, Auto, fully loaded) with my brother in the car, full tank of gas, small set of tools, etc. About a week later (and in no way, shape or form related, maybe some performance though) started stuttering when there was less than 1/4 a tank of gas. I knew it was a clogged up in-tank fuel filter, got that fixed yesterday and the car runs like new again.

There are some minor bugs with these cars, as said. Be sure to find out the build date and see if they can tell you, or show receipts for all maintenance work done to the car. Maintenance is key to keep a car running good!

Thankfully, if you do the stuff yourself the CEG is a rock-solid support base.

Is the car from a lot or a private party? If a PP, then look into how long they have owned it and what they have done to maintain it. Be sure to check the tranny fluid on the dip stick too see if its been changed or is smelling burnt. The ATX can be troublesome if it hasnet been flushed or at least drained on a regular basis. If you go for it I would suggest slowly changing over to synthetic tranny fluid, there is a drain plug on the bottom of the tranny pan that allows you to drain about 4 qts at a time so I would recommend changing the 4qts out when you change the oil until you've done it enough to get the old fluid out. I would also suggest adding an ATX tranny cooler.
I say go for it if it checks out good. Cars are expensive and if your going to go Jap your not going to find much for under 4K with decent year/miles.