Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Should I avoid buying a 95 Contour?

Originally posted by TFI:

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RUN...do not walk, as far away as you can from that 95 Contour.
I bought a 1995 Ford ContourSE/2.5L /v6, in August of 2002.
I have had nothing but problems since the day I bought it.
The car was built in Kansas and I swear it does not like Canada's winters. I have so much problem with it starting in winter and the doors freeze up all the time. The rubber seal around the doors always pull off from the cold.it hates being wet as well and hates to run unless it is sunny and warm.
It has cost me ever 1500 dollars in various repairs and the car still has problems that need attending to.
I had to replace the fuse panel, flywheel, starter, battery and still have to find out where my oil leak is coming from. The care has poor excelleration in spite of 2 tune ups...I could go on but I think you get my point.
If your mechanically enclined and have lots of money, however, go for it! It is a nice looking car, but there are serious defectes common amoung these cars.
YOU can check alldata for a list of recalls.
check out this girls site...
http://www3.sympatico.ca/MadRain/carmain.htm
She talks about all her problems with her Contour.

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some cars are lemons. i love my 95, but your are entitled to your opinion. my coworker has a 95 GL with an ATX (zetec) and it is a royal Piece of [censored], but it was built on a friday . he has replaced the tranny multiple times... the first one was at 44K (now has less than 120K and since then has been through 2 and getting ready to need another new one)and they seem to be about every 15-20K or so...and he has also replaced the OBD computer (the engine computer, dont know the acronym for our cars, so i'll just say OBD, i knwo thats not actually what the computer is called) 3 times as well as many other small things. His Daughter bought it New in 1994 as a 1995 and he cosigned on the loan (total of $18,500...for a contour! )
She beat the hell out of that car. she lived about 10 miles down an gravel road with washboards every inch of the way. She would so fifty down it. her foot was never far from the floor. and she did lots of neutral drops. well guess what...he got stuck with the thing cuz she defaulted on the 12.5% loan in 1997. he still owes 12.5K, so selling it is not an option (for him). if it were me i would have cut my losses and sold the thing after the 2nd tranny/engine computer for 3K and cut my losses. but im not him. his daughter did irreperable damage to that car buy driving it the way she did and NOT CHANGING THE OIL FOR 15,000 miles! (yes she did that twice) she also kept driving it with CEL's on...

my expierence is, no matter how big of a POS everyone elses car is of that same type, if you dont beat the [censored] out of it every time you drive it and you maintain it regularly, you wont have any problems.

Originally posted by pabloquintana:

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Look something newer. Better if manual with V6. I think 1998 is the best year. Better look, no problems with dash warping as for 99-00

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Originally posted by Y2KMondeoSVT:

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I had a '95 SE and had ZERO problems with it . It was a great car , I traded it for my SVT with about 80k on the clock . The ATX tranny worked like a charm , even with frequent autocrosses & trips to the drags . My brother is still running his '95 SE . His 'SE is at 180,000 miles , and he's had very few problems with it . It's even still running the original clutch . With routine maintenance , a Contour will last a long time .
IMHO , the '95 is the BEST year for the Contour . I even like the chrome strips on the bumpers . If they're faded , just clean 'em up with some plastic polish , no biggie . At least there's a reason for the molding being there , to dress it up with a bit of "chrome" . To me , the '96-7 cars look strange with the strip there being body-colored . It looks like someone f-ed up . Don't be afraid of an early car , Ford took a bit more "pride" making the early ones ...

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