Originally posted by JonnySVT:
it was the owner's fault for not keeping the oil up to par or digging into right turns a lot.



I guess I don't understand that one. Not the part about keeping the oil up (more on that later) but mainly the digging into right turns.

What self-respecting car company builds a car that can't turn right and handle a little lateral g-force? Where I live there are cloverleaf ramps on the freeway. Most of these involve sustaining a right hand turn for an extended period of time, while making sure you are at a high enough speed to safely merge onto the freeway. That maneuver was enough to turn the oil light on for a second.

As for oil, I guess I'm just supposed to check it every week or something. The last time I changed it, there was about half the oil in, but the oil light never came on unless I turned right. Why can't the car tell if the oil is low at idle? It would seem that the oil light is just useless.

To sum up, I'm in the same situation as Hodge Podge. I've had my car for two years and it's been nothing but bad water pumps (twice) Power steering hoses, wheel bearings, O2 sensors, transmission, and now a possible spun bearing. This car has me considering leasing. I'd pay 300 a month, just like I do now for repairs. My dad told me I should buy used all the time and let someone else take the depreciation. He later told me he's never had the same ammount of trouble with a car as I've had with this one.

I'm not going to go off on Ford, but maybe there's a reason the Contour specifically is no longer built. Overall, it's much more appealing than the Focus, but mechanically it's not reliable at all.


PS -- this is what that part of the alphabet would look like without Q and R.