Faults:

Things that have gone wrong with this car were mainly have to do with rust, because it was not taken care of before me:

Power steering lines/transmission fluid lines rusted through at 125,000 km. Replaced them for $20 with neoprene lines.

129,000, had to rebuild rocker panels, which I did for free with sheet metal and rivets.

130,000, safety inspection exhaust pipe broke near manifold, and check engine light has been on ever since, not sure how much it cost because my grandfather paid for it.

140,000, engine coolant line burst. It was in the winter so it was fine, fixed with neoprene again.

But again all of these have to do with a rusty 12 year old car, not a design flaw with Ford.

General Comments:

I paid $900 for this car December of 2008, and it has a very inviting interior, came with power windows, power locks and AC and everything on the car works perfectly. It was also a very clean car when I got it.

I also drove it for a very long time on low transmission fluid, and I noticed a lot of people getting their transmission replaced on this site, but I looked at the records for my car and it has not been replaced or rebuilt once, and I pretty much floor it everywhere I go, being 18 and all, it shifts perfectly fine.

I've gone 180 km/hr in the car before, and one amazing thing about this car that nobody can complain about, is that it can handle turns like no other car.

Faults:

Nothing substantial.

General Comments:

Has never failed me.

Is falling apart piece by piece, but keeps on running.

AC quit after 11 years.

Has saved my butt on a number of occasions through its nimble handling.

Good visibility on all points.

One brake replacement in 130,000 miles.

Replaced the battery once.

For $16,000, I haven't had a car payment in 10 years.

Faults:

Fan blower resister.

Worn engine mount.

A/C stopped blowing cold.

Transmission @ 142,000 miles.

General Comments:

I reviewed many of the comments regarding this car. Many said the Contour was junk.

My overall experience with this car was pretty good. Bought it 1 year old from a rental fleet with 38,000 miles on the odometer. I had virtually no trouble with this car for the 8 years and over 140,000 additional miles driven.

It had decent power for a 4-cyl, handled like a European car and felt solid.

The only major repairs were replacement of a worn engine mount and a transmission rebuild @ 142,000 miles.

The fan blower resister for the A/C burnt out several times. It was a Ford recall, but was more convenient to do the work myself since the part was cheap and easy to replace.

The water pump was also replaced, but only as preventive maintenance along with a new timing belt at 105,000.

A refrigerant leak did develop in the A/C system, which I never bothered to repair.

At 180,000 miles the engine valves started to rattle and the engine would mis-fire at high rpm. I seriously considered having it repaired, but decided I had gotten my money's worth for the car, so it was time to sell cheap and with full disclosure.

Faults:

Windshield wipers don't stop.

A/C doesn't blow cold and causes the RPMs to jump around.

Sensors (check engine light, etc.) are blown, so lights go off randomly for no reason.

More flat tires than is reasonable.

Problem with muffler/exhaust system (going to take in it to find out what.)

General Comments:

First car, and I've really enjoyed it.

Problems I kind of expected because of the age of the car, and wear and tear.

Has gone from New Hampshire to South Carolina five times, and never failed me on any of those trips.

Comfortable and lots of good memories.