On the first milage check that I ran for my 2000 Contour SE, it made 25.5 mpg. That's on a mixture city/highway driving. My previous Contour, a 95 GL, averaged 30mpg/city and 35 to 37mpg/highway. (my previous Contour had 5 spd. manual trans...current Contour is an automatic)
I'll wait until I do subsequent milage checks over more varied terrain, before I decide whether there is cause for concern.
