9th May 2007, 11:47
You are correct on that one, I don't take what consumer reports says about initial quality seriously because they recommended the Contour and that car was crap on wheels. I had a Toyota Celica that had 235K miles and I wanted something newer so I was looking at a 95 Honda Civic, but then I read on the contour so I gave Ford a chance in part to Consumer Reports. Needless to say that was one of the biggest mistakes of my life and because of its whooping 18 recalls and overall lack of knowledge on their own vehicles I have not looked at a Ford Since. The contour was built as a "Civic and Corolla killer" and the Contour has been dead for about 7 years, and the Civic and Corolla are still going strong. The same thing will happen to the Fusion.
9th May 2007, 11:45
I doubt that CR gave the Contour a good rating. Nevertheless, my wife owns a 99 Contour. Other than the stupid dash peeling up, it's been a good car. We've had only 2 repairs on it. A fuel pump died, which was my fault because last year I ran it dry, and a brake job to replace the pads and 1 rotor.
For an economical compact car, it's done just fine.