Decent take-off, excellent braking, comfortable drive (front only) except for the length of the armrest

Recalls, seatbelts wear out, factory tires and brakes wear out quickly, cheap carpet, cup holders substandard, horn hard to use when needed, tranny slips at fast takeoff, Armrest not long enough to rest your arm comfortably and hold the steering wheel Rain drains off into the trunk when you open it.

I,ve had several recalls on this model- Heater/blower assembly, accelerator cable to name a couple. Brakes and tires wear out quickly and I,ve replaced an alternator and a dashlight/sensor. I had to have the blinker assembly replaced within a couple of weeks of purchase (it was making a God-awful clicking noise when turning). I had to get the seat belt replaced due to wear as it came in and out of the housing. The glove box latch breaks easily (the little hanger). The horn is a problem , you have to push it in just the right spot and that's hard to do when you need it quickly. The paint seems a little on the thin side- my Sundance had a more quality paintjob than the Contour. This car is only 3 years old, so I can only imagine what's in store later on down the road, so to speak.

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74 Toyota Celica (used)- Contour better, different class
86 Chevy Cavalier (used)- Decent car, sold it to my sister
91 Plymouth Sundance (new)- OK car, alternator and aluminum block problems
fixed them and sold it to my other sister

fun to drive when running properly

- transmission
- recalls
- tight back seat

WHAT A LEMON! This is the worst piece garbage I have ever owned. We have owned this car for almost 4 years and the transmission has gone 3 times, it ate batteries for lunch and the alternator was the most expensive one made. There have been several recalls which are just another inconvenience. Also the back seat is cramped for my two very small children, I can't imagine having any adults sitting back there.

We will be sticking with those foreign cars from now on!

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My husband and I have owned Hondas, a Mitsubishi, and Toyotas. This was first time we decided to buy an American product and we were really disappointed.

Handling is very responsive. for the price i paid it's all the sports car i need. at times it has quick pickup for a four banger, and when racing with six cylinders i can keep up. the contour is easy to clean and maintain. it's a very decent car.

Cup holders really blow, that is unless you like to drink pop 24/7. the four banger heats up like hell is under the hood to a point where it is almost not cool to drive it around. the back seat room is very small, afterall who needs all that trunk space? i hate the fact that it doesn't have a tilt wheel, and the seats at times are very uncomfortable.

i would have to give my contour a 3 and a half star rating. it performs when i want it to, it does the things that i want it to and it handles and responds nicely. however, the stock stereo speakers suck so bad, i mean come on, for a compact sporty lookin car, at least put some sound in there.

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compared to a saturn or a cavalier, the contour has done a pretty good job considering it is a ford.

Car hasn't desinigrated yet!!

This car is a piece of crap. I have had literally 22 recalls in the first 2 years of owning my vehicle. Some of the recalls were very serious and could be life threatning. I have had to take the car in 3 times to get the air conditioner recharged. On a brand new car Come On!! The starter has had to be replaced twice, and I'm still having problems. The CD player has eaten my CD's and had to be replaced under warranty. The seats are very uncomfortable and the car has no space at all. The V6 engine is very slow in all aspects. Also the paint is coming off the car in big chunks. Even the ford dealership told me to my face that it is a lemon, although they won't do anything about it. The trade-in value is so low, I can't trade without losing my ass. All the dealerships know that these cars are pieces of crap. Fortunately when I bought the hunk of junk I got an extended warranty. Hopefully I will not have this car by the time the warranty is up. I would not recommend by a ford product to anyone ever. I've had too many problems with ford products, and the service is really really bad.

I would recommend that everyone thinking about buying a contour really reconsider, they are nothing but a big piece of crap. I would suggest that you buy a general motors product, or go foreign. Since I have had numerous problems with ford, and extremely numerous problems with the contour, take my advice and don't buy a ford.

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I also own a new Mitsubishi Galant and the Contour doesn't even come close to comparing to it. It is very quick and looks a hell of lot nicer, and has many more features.

very quick and reliable. nice family car and a racer when the baby not in the back.sharp design and amazing style for factory rims (8 spoke)

cup holder will spill anything but a small coffe cup

i sold my 1990 mustang to buy a family car too many to choose from the contour had my heart from the 1997 auto show.so i decided to buy a v6 contour it is much better handling,powerful then any othere it compare to in it class.the only thing ford did wrong is not know how to advertise this fine car.

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bmw 318,my mustang 1990 and 1985

Beautiful Red, Great Lines, Tan interior is uplifting, Styling is second to none

Central Ford [houston], You're the worst thing that ever happened to me!

Found this car at Central Ford in Houston. The dealer made what I thought was a good price, so I purchased the car. Having driven foreign cars all of my life (I'm 40), I wanted to purchase an American car. At the time of purchase, the sales guy says the service department is backed up and I will have to come back in a week for warranty adjustment:( When I brought the car back, they kept it overnight for what was a minor repair (front end alignment). When I got the car back, it had a strong vibration in the front end and it pulled severely to the right. The local tire place showed me that the right front wheel was out of round. Also, the local mechanic showed me that the frame was bent. Plus, I found a wine corkscrew (not mine) in the back seat! Have taken the car back three times for this problem, the service manager told me that I was stupid! He said no one can see a bent frame and only his computer can tell. Still, the car drives poorly and has a vibration in the front end. I emailed the dealer two weeks ago and have not received a response. I emailed the Ford SVT website and someone called weeks ago, but have not heard any followup. Am looking for an attorney in Houston. Nothing like this has ever happened to me.

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Honda Prelude, BMW 525i, Honda Accord, Mazda 626, Nissan Maxima

Good Power with V6 and manual. Sporty Handling as well. Roomy trunk.

Problems with emission control systems. Cat and O2 sensors replaced several times (under warranty). Heater/AC controls week and general cheapness of switchgear.

Good sporty compact for the money, if you can put up with quality control problems. Much more fun to drive than Malibu, Stratus or other similar cars.

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Better than any gm or mopar compact. Not as well put together as foreign makes

Great V6,stick shift very fast,awsome marron color, very attractive, handles like a porsche & stops on a dime.

Terrible headlights, plastic covers sun faded. Carpet coming up in the back floorboard, cupholder broke within weeks of purchase.Cold wheather affects it like no other car i had ever seen,such as doors sticking if it under 30 degrees your going to have a fight to get in your own car.also emerg.brake will freeze up, and let me tell you thats no fun to drive in the snow.and those are just the major headaches the others are minor.

As much as i love the car,& a big FORD fan that Iam, I must say that Iam very dissapointed in the quilty of this car and apparantly Iam not the only one after reading the other reviews.Ford is pissing alot of people off with this product,and you would think for their sake they would responed to such outrage of this particular car. And make their loyal customers happy. It could have been a great car. I have had to replace the motor, thank you for extended warranty! ($4500) Transmisson and componets($912) and that was very cheap from other qoutes,well that only lasted for 8 months before doing the exact same thing & leaving stranded once again And thats were it sets now waiting for me to get a little bit MORE MONEY to have the pleasure of driving it once again. Also the radiator failed, causing it to overheat so i had it rodded($100) The check engine & cooliant light have been on for 2 1/2 years with nothing wrong but the (2 1,000 dollar sensors), nothing a ciggarette pack cant cover up.New water & fuel pump ($350). The starter will screw up for a few months and then be fine for a year. Iam crazy about the car and hope once i repair it again it will treat me right.

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I believe its one of a kind, does not belong in a class group with any thing else,however I have spanked so many other high perfomance cars that if i told you you would not even believe me so i will leave it at that

Perhaps if it was running that would be a strength.....

check out the review summary. I think that it is self-explanatory.

Ok, I bought the 95 Ford Contour for $15916.09 (after taxes) on March 11, 1995. Little did I realize that this would be just the beginning of the expenses.... I should have known when I first test drove it, since the little latch that secures the center armrest consol piece was broken... and the paint on the inside of the drivers door was a little scratched... but I wanted a car, was 17, and this was the vehicle that my parents were inclined to buy. I had little car experience and figured that it since I take good car of my belongings that this car, with proper care, would be no problem.... Boy was I wrong.

#1 - Bought touch-up paint for inner door
Mileage ~150 miles Date 06/10/95 Price $4.48

#2 - Brought the car into the shop... the paint was peeling on the left front fender and passenger side hood.
Mileage 9490 miles Date 10/05/95 Price $410.30 (warranty covered)

#3 - Ah my FIRST recall.... the gas tank had a recall, as well as my seat belts.
Mileage 19284 miles Date 04/04/96 Price $220.45 (warranty covered)

#4 - Everytime it rained I would lose my power steering, I would hear a horrible squealing sound and the battery light would come on. I took the car to the dealer, only to have them tell me that if it happens when it is not raining to bring it back... IT ONLY HAPPENED IN THE RAIN!!!! So I went home got my dad, since apparently my female youthfulness was not going to earn me any respect. We returned... he threatened to sue... they looked at the car. They had to replace the crankshaft damper with a new design as
well as the drive belt.
Mileage 23832 Date 07/12/96 Price (not on the paperwork) Warranty Covered.

#5 - I got another recall notice for my seatbelts and gas tank... I took the car in and they said that the recall was already performed on the seatbelts and that one was not needed on my gas tank.. (hope that they are right) My right side passenger speaker was also cracking horribly. So it was removed and replaced.
Mileage 28669 Date 05/27/97 Price (not on the paperwork) Warranty Covered.

#6 - I had my 30,000 mile tune / check up. I had my fluid levels checked, belts and hoses inspected. Breaks checked. Tires Rotated... ect... I also had to have more coolant added since the car wasn’t cooling off properly. As well as an annoying buzzing in my right passenger door taken care of.. apparently there was a loose screw. (no charge for tightening the screw) I also had a tire looked at that continually lost air... they couldn’t find anything wrong with it.. so I just continued to put air into it weekly.
Mileage 30471 Date 07/02/97 Price $196.75

#7 - On my mother’s birthday she and my dad came to my work, and from there we went to the mall in separate cars. We ran our errand, then I was supposed to follow them to the restaurant where we were going to celebrate her birthday.... that is.. if my car would have started...thank god for AAA, they came and jump started my car. It didn’t make it out of the parking place before dying again.. AAA towed my car to Star Ford at Oxmoor, where it sat a day until they could work on it. Diagnosis the alternator was damaged and would have to be replaced as well as the battery.
Mileage 31322 Date 7/21/97 Price (not on the paperwork) Warranty Covered.

#8 - Tires were worn out. Contours seem to go through them quickly.
Date 4/16/99 Price $184.06

#9 I began to suspect that the Ford dealership was screwing with my car, and I was getting tired of seeing them, so I took my car to my friendly family mechanic when I kept hearing awful thumping coming from beneath the rear of the car. The mechanic had to adjust my sway bar away from my frame. I also had him look at my door lock on the driver’s side.. When I lock it from the inside, I can’t get out. It doesn’t happen every time... about 15% of the time. he couldn’t find anything wrong with it. To this day it is
still broken.
Mileage 48014 Date 6/18/99 Price $52.39

#10 - Had to replace brake shoes and pads. Also had to add more Coolant AGAIN to my A/C system.
Mileage 48150 Date 6/21/99 Price $417.12

#11 - Transmission had to be resealed and more transmission fluid added.
Mileage 53308 Date 12/04/99 Price $500.18

#12 - Had to buy Battery #2
Date 07/09/00 Price $42.39

#13 - While I was at college my parents had to take my car in, apparently there is a little plastic $25 dollar piece of plastic called an engine mount. Yeah... it had to be replaced, and since the engine is so poorly designed they had to lift the engine in order to do it. I also had the mechanic listen to the steering wheel.. when I turn the wheel you can hear the clinking of metal inside. I am terrified that if the airbag ever deploys that I’ll have a piece of shrapnel in my face. The mechanic said that in order to remove it they’d have to take the steering column apart, about $1000. I decided to leave the object in the wheel.
Date Summer of 2000 Price $525.00

#14 - Another Recall, this time for spontaneous combustion. Apparently a part in the cooling fan was malfunctioning, and it would cause the car to overheat... At the same time I decided to have my idle worked on since the car would stall out in reverse. They replaced the mass air flow sensor, replaced the drive belt, idler pulley, as well as a major tune up. They also reinstalled my passenger side hub cap, the hubcap was warped and
wouldn’t stay on. They didn’t charge me for the hubcap... however.....
Mileage 61429 Date 04/09/01 Price $777.07

#15 - Well apparently when they worked on my car they destroyed my transmission.. I barely got the car home before my car refused to go into 4th gear.. the interstate is great fun at 35mph... so currently I have the car in the shop again. If I have to get a new transmission I can expect it to run between $1000 = $2500...... The blue book value of this car is only about $1500... and yet I can’t afford a new car. I hate my Contour.

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I would rather have a go-cart.

It gets me from point A to B, not bad gas mileage, good car for slow drivers(ones that ALWAYS GET PASSED), have had no problem with any mechanical or computer device.

You can hear all the wind noise as a convertible, no speed, not a good take off, not much room for a 4-door car, automatic trans, I would highly not recommend. No products to change the looks of he car. I would like to make it look like a racing car but there are very few things out there to "hook the car up". Not a very smooth ride.

No real problems, just a real let down in overall performance. I feel like I'm driving my great-grandmothers car.

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Does not compare to the '95 mustang that I had or the '83 mustang convertible. The 3 tempo's I have owned all had more get up and go then this thing. Would not recommend buying one, unless maybe it was a five speed.