13th Feb 2008, 14:22

Hello I bought my '98 contour about 5 years ago because I was going thru divorce and he got everything except my daughter. it was cheap and qu8ick. If I had known then I would have gone with the Toyota. I love Toyota's had a '79 hatchback that I had to push start everywhere, but it was in way better shape. However I have to admit I love my 98 contour it has gotten my thru some tough times. I just had to spend a lot of money on it. Had the timing belt replaced, driver window won't roll down, had to replace a bracket under the passenger side front tire, all parts for this car are expensive. I am now at 238,595 miles (woohoo) and the transmission went. BUT, I just learned that it is the seals. My mechanic boyfriend said he has worked on a few contours and said that the transmission seal goes. when it starts it will work fine when cold, but when it gets hot it will slip out of gear and not go back because the seal is leaking and loosing pressure. he said it is a transmission pressure problem. It is going to cost me 9.00 for the seal and then labor at the shop (not sure how much that will be seeing how my boyfriend is the mechanic). but the AAMCO transmission people I talked to first said it would be around $3000 to replace, so if this is your case you might get a second or third opinion about the transmission seals before you buy. Goodluck.

26th Feb 2008, 08:43

To 14:22.

Thanks! Knowing about these transmission seals could save a lot of money! It's the first time I heard about it.

6th Mar 2008, 08:18

I had a 1998 Ford contour for six year and its has 109000 miles on it and it is one of the best car I have ever driven. I had no problem with the car. I will be in a hurry and my car with make 60 mph sharp turn easy. I put my contour to it limit. The only problem I had was the tranmission sensor, but it only cost $196 to fix. I have done everything to this car and it has not quit on me yet.

7th Apr 2008, 15:14

I have 242000 miles on my 1999 Contour that I purchased brand new. I have used only synthetic oil. I still get 26 miles per gallon. It runs smooth and has great pickup.

I have only started having problems recently, the last 10,000 miles or so. I am going to nurse this car for the next two years so I can get one of Ford's new Ecoboost engine cars. It has been a great car and I am going to miss it when I trade it in (for the new 3.5 liter Ecoboost Fusion).

7th Jul 2008, 21:22

My 1998 Contour had a fluttering noise coming from the engine on the passenger side. While driving there was a very loud fluttering noise, sounded like a helicopter. Went straight to the garage and of course the noise had stopped by then. Two garages and no one knows what's going on with it.

Any suggestions?

27th Aug 2008, 16:24

I had 3 oxygen sensors replaced and was told my catalytic converter is bad. I took it to Big Al's and the manager told me there are 3 cat converters on this vehicle. I told him he might be mistaken because to my knowledge there are 3 O2 sensors and only one cat converter. Can someone please clarify this concern of mine? Are there 3 Cat converters on a 98 Contour or just 1. Thanks.

28th Aug 2008, 15:40

You can find out for sure if you search the spare parts list of O'Reilly's or another Car parts shop.

17th Oct 2008, 23:50

I think for anyone to get on here and cry to the world that they had to replace brakes, tires and such are just here to complain. This car is no different than any other car on the market. They all have problems and take maintenance to keep them running right... ALTHOUGH I see a lot of issues with this car. My front coil springs are broken and I just found out about the recall on them, except for the fact I can't get new ones as the recall expired..

11th Feb 2009, 16:08

My girlfriend and I purchased a 1998 Contour SE with just over 120,000km last month out of desperation due to a bus strike in our city. The car generally runs well, however as soon as we bought it we started experiencing some problems. The first being the airbag light on the dash flickering on and off, it now stays permanently on. Next, the emergency brake light on the dash started flickering, and again now it generally is always on. After that, one of the turn signals burnt out (no biggie, at least I hope that's all it is). Throughout all of this, there has been various clunking sounds from what I assume is the rear suspension. The wheel vibrates violently while in drive (again, no biggie, only a bit annoying), and there is a hard clunk sound when turning sharply left. After some research, most of these problems are faults of the car that other people have experienced. After doing a lot of research, I can honestly say this car was not built well.

The engine and transmission seems to run well, which is important. We don't expect much from the car based on its age and the price we paid, however we didn't expect all these problems. All the problems started about a week after buying a car that was seemingly perfect.

If buying, be cautious.

23rd Feb 2009, 13:31

I have a 1998 Contour SE with the 2.5 V6 and a manual transmission. I put a water pump in at 150,000 miles which I wasn't too happy with. I'm used to not having to replace anything on my Fords. My Ford Escort went 190,000 miles without needing anything except brakes, tires, and a preventative replacement of the timing belt.

I now have 170,000 miles on my Contour and it won't start. No fuel or spark. Someone told me it's the crank sensor. Where is that, and could I replace it myself?

I don't really take very good care of my car. I work construction, so it gets driven offroad in horrible conditions all summer. I do keep the oil changed though. My Ford cars treat me well. My relatives brag about their Toyotas, but why did they just have over $3,500 dollars of work done to their Toyota that is 6 years newer than my car?

30th Mar 2009, 17:13

I had a 95 Contour and within the first three years, the engine mounts needed to be replaced two times. Then, one month after my warranty expired, the engine mounts needed to be replaced again. I made my plea to Ford headquarters to consider replacing the third set since it is unusual for any car to need engine mounts in the first three years. Ford turned down my request. Consequently, I'm back to buying foreign cars.