Welcome,
You may come to find, as many of us have, that the CEG is an asset to the Contour. I've read a lot of car enthusiast forums, and like the Contour itself, the CEG does the best job of balancing practical and performance topics. You will find many step by step tutorials, objective analysis, heated debate, and collaborative experimentation.
Beware of scammers (classifieds), and don't take any advice without second, third, fourth, fifth opinions via searching. There is a lot of good advice on the CEG, but also some pretty scary posts that can catch you off guard if you don't read carefully.
I haven't posted a lot, but searching these forums has saved my car from catastrophic failure at least twice.
By searching the forums and reading as many of the sticky threads as you can, you'll have the opportunity to learn every detail about the Contour -- and chances are, within two months, you'll be craving a SVT Contour.
Regarding ATX maintenance (sticky from the Transaxle forum):
CD4E FAQ 
You might want to change the trans fluid, unless it has been done recently. I put Mobil 1 trans fluid in my 1998 Mystique, 80,000 miles. If it drives well and no Check Engine lights or overheating, it's fine. The waterpump often fails, causing overheating (mine did) at your car's mileage. It might be a good idea to change it to a metal impeller pump, although it is likely to have been done. If the coolant temp stays near the center of the scale, the pump is OK.