Welcome to CEG, sounds like (unfortunatley) you bought a used vehicle that was not maintained by the previous owner. We invite you to the site to gain a wealth of information about the Contour/Mysteque/Mondeo. I currently have 117k miles on my contour and she runs like a champ because I have maintained the car from the beggening. Never a problem with the ATX, or cats and its the best car I have ever owned. Sounds like the previous owner drove the car into the ground and then you bought it.. good luck..
