had a 93 ford contour and the a/c went out about 6 yrs ago. the ford dealer charged me $1200 to replace the a/c system. the part (comp.) only cost about $240 at the time. they said it was for labor???? last year the a/c compressor went out on that same car... local repair shop wanted $800.00 to fix it by replacing the a/c comp. never got it done as the car was kinda getting old and had some trans. problems also... later it wss wipped out when the Hurricane flooded the car. it might not be the a/c compressor. it might be the bad wiring jobs on the ford contours, check to see if your car is under the 10 yr. 100,000 mile warranty..
for the defective wiring... go to the dealer and get them to check your vin. number in their computer.....they can let you know in about 5 minutes if its covered....