I think the 95 or 96 is the best year to have. In '97 they started de-contenting stuff from the cars to make them cheaper to try to sell more. I've noticed that various other things on the newer cars just aren't made as well as on the older ones (ie. search for dash warp).
Pre '98 cars also have a rod shift for the manual transmission which is more robust than the cable shift on the post '97's. The pre '98's just seem to be built better.

We've got a '96 V6 MTX Mystique wich is currently at 318,000 km. It's been a great car for reliability considering the mileage. Have had to replace some things on it, but it's cost us less money than my '95 did.

The only model of the '95-'96 cars that didn't come with fold down rear seats were the GL model. Find an LX or SE or a Mystique and it should have them.


Last edited by KyleH; 02/27/06 02:27 AM.
My Cars 1999 Silver Frost SVT - 80,000km #2603/2760 Aug. 10, 1999. 1996 Mercury Mystique LS V6 MTX - retired @ 323,151km. 1995 Ford Contour V6 MTX-sold @ 214,000km