24th Mar 2003, 02:52

Wow do I feel like an idiot for buying this car. Especially after reading all the other comments. I bought the car with 58,272 miles on it. Within 1 year @ 69,000 miles the transmission was completely gone. Lucky for me I bought the extended warranty too. Unlucky for me it has been 2 months and it still isn't fixed correctly. The place I bought it at sent it to a transmission shop and 1month later I got it back... they had rebuilt the transmission and it now slams when shifting (enough to jerk the car and cause the tires to squeal). I took the car back to them and 3 weeks later I got it back (after a 2nd rebuild), still same problem!! I am really starting to think this is a lemon of sorts. Buyers of America do you really think this is a coincidence, not me.

27th Mar 2003, 08:50

My 1997 Ford Contour, four cylinder SE has 103,000 miles and is now experiencing the severe automatic transmission problems. It started shifting on its own between the overdrive off and on. When I took it to the dealer, they simply told me that the transmission was shot. They quoted me $3,200 to rebuilt it, and then charged me $50 for the diagnostic evaluation. Talk about adding insult to injury!

4th Apr 2003, 15:30

My 1998 Contour SE's transmission died at 40,000 miles (I had only driven 23,000 of those myself) ; only 4,000 miles over the warranty. Luckily, after some fighting with Ford, I was able to get a new transmission and extended warranty for _ONLY_ $500. My family has been a Ford family for years, but after this and problems my Father has had with a 2000 Taurus, I will never in my life buy another Ford.

18th Jun 2003, 14:33

98 ford Contour, Tranny replaced at 55k Miles and now out again at 88K Miles. Time to ditch!

24th Jun 2003, 09:08

I bought a 1998 Ford Contour SE in 2002 for my teenage daughter to drive. It had 33,000 miles on it when I purchased it. 15 months and 20,000 miles later the timing belt has broken, the transmission slips, a rear tire blew out while she was driving and it needs new rotors. She drove a 1985 Honda Accord before I bought this car. I wish I had kept it now. This car is a piece of JUNK.

7th Aug 2003, 00:10

My daughter has a 98 Contour that she bought new and is now paid for. She has had VERY little trouble with it. I am amazed at all the trouble people are having with theirs.

The ONLY thing that I can think of is that she has been using AMSOIL in the motor, AMSOIL in the trans., AMSOIL is used 100% on this vehicle and NO problems.

She lives in California (hot and cold weather).

All I can say is that I will continue having her use AMSOIL!

3rd May 2005, 16:14

I have a 1998 Contour, 6 cylinder with 69,000 miles and I bought it new. The car runs good and handles OK for a 4 door sedan. And it has always passed the CA smog test. But... it needed a new trans at 50K miles ($3000), a water pump at 58K miles ($500) and the front brake rotors need replacing every 20K miles. Very frustrating, and now I can't get more that about a third of a gallon of gas in the tank without the pump shutting off, so filling up can take 15 minutes! And the check engine light comes on and goes off more than the brake lights in stop and go traffic.

I'm afraid Ford has lost a repeat customer with this gem...

29th Jun 2005, 14:32

Have spent some time today reading anything I could find on the internet about the 1998 Contour SE. Mine is starting to run terribly; it has only 53,000 miles; I bought it nearly new with only 3,000 miles... thinking that the problems other Contour owners are having reflect how the car has been maintained? My own brother works at a Ford dealership and he has been helping me maintain my car all along. My car has been carefully watched by Ford, as I purchased the extended warranty and would not take it anywhere else.

No - my Contour is sputtering (bucking/backfiring/whatever) down the road; every once in a while I put it into Reverse and it goes into neutral (Dealership says nothing is wrong with it because these things don't happen when they drive it.) I've already had a fuel rail done; water pump, temperature gage & sending unit; brakes, and a number of other things I can't quite recall at the moment.

As someone else said - I'm afraid to drive the car. It's a mess right now, and Ford seems to think it's fine! I suppose trading it in is the only answer.

I agree with those who state that the Contour is fun to drive. When it runs correctly - it runs GREAT! But it seems those days are over at only 53k. I suggest to anyone who is not having problems with their 1998 Contour - enjoy it while you can!

30th Sep 2005, 15:15

Ford Contours are garbage! I own one and I will never own a Ford again! My transmission has been replaced, it jerks and pulls and stalls out all the time! If my husband was still alive, he would have been able to fix it, but come to think of it, he wouldn't have gotten one in the first place.

Florida.

10th Jan 2006, 21:49

I purchased my 97 ford contour sept 04. It had 59,000 miles on it. Now at 89,000 miles my transmission has gone bad before this I only had to replace two sensors which cost 120.00, repairs shops say the transmission for these cars are difficult to work on and would cost 1600-2000 to be fixed.

I have an option of getting a trans from the junkyard and paying for labor. The trans will cost about 400-500 and then the cost to pay someone to put it in will be about 300. Reading other peoples comments I think I will look into buying another car instead of throwing away money. THUMBS DOWN TO FORD!!!

11th May 2006, 10:48

I have a 1998 ford contour SVT. This car is a nightmare. Transmission is dead just after owning it 3 days.3,000.00 is the price for it to be fixed. If anyone has an option for me.. maybe would like to buy it for cheap... call me.678 431 8686.

23rd Aug 2006, 18:59

Ford would have you believe that their poor sales and poor market share are a result of no new models. They would also like to blame health care costs and retiries on losing money every year. But eventually when you make a car as unreliable as this Contour, word gets out. They put garbage on the road and expected because the name "Ford" was on it, it wouldn't matter. Thanks to sites like this, the average person is becoming more informed. Thus Ford sells less vehicles.

16th Sep 2006, 16:30

I just finished reading the comments on problems related to the 1998 Ford Contour. As an owner of this car, I agree with each and every complainant. I have had my transmission replaced twice in four years ownership. I have had four sensors replaced, alternator went out twice, starter replaced, water pump replaced twice. I could go on and on with the maintenance problems needed, and I bought the car in 2002 with only 27000 miles on it. The problems began with the rear windows not working after having it only one week of purchase. I would say that these people have legitimate complaints, and I have all the repair orders to prove my car problems.