10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
27,047 miles

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The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

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problem #15

Jul 152013

Contour 4-cyl

  • 84,000 miles
The contact owns a 1995 Ford Contour. While driving approximately 70 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was restarted after fifteen minutes and driven to the contact's residence. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that a new transmission sensor was needed. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 84,000. MA 10/2 updated 11/28/2017

- Beckley, WV, USA

problem #14

Aug 152003

Contour

  • Automatic transmission
  • 84,000 miles
This problem is not fixed. The transmission goes out of gear at about 60 miles an hour (od transmission) and the vehicle "bangs and spudders". additional, the temperture gauge has always run hot and yet the vehicle seems to be find- makes it difficult to know if the vehicle is overheating. The transmission problem is going to become more costly. Concerning the transmission- I do live in Maryland and am required to have a vehicle emissions inspection that has the vehicle put on a device that takes the vehicle to high speeds!

- Baltimore, MD, USA

problem #13

Feb 152001

Contour 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 0 miles
I'm a hearing impaired driver/owner of Ford '95 Contour gl (low-incomer, average $21,000 a year). I've bought this car in 1997 from a minneapolis-area Ford dealership (quality auto dealership in bloomington, Minnesota). At the time, I had less than $10,000 to pay for a recent used car(one that is within 2-3 years after it came on the market). I tried out few cars and the white 1995 Ford Contour gl. The dealer insisted that '95 Ford Contour gl was a good buy at an affordable price. I was willing to trade up my old car to reduce the price but it was still too high for me since it didn't included other fees like the title and registration license. After a short, persuasive negotiation, I got the dealer to agree to mark down to $9995 and I accepted that. So I bought the car. After a few days, I was experiencing a problem with it, so I had it towed back to the dealership and later told me that the whole engine was bad and need to be replaced. I was stunned but they were willing to do the repair for free. It took me a week to get my car back. Everything went fairly fine for the next couple years. In 1999, the air-conditioner in my car stopped working and it was too expensive to repair at the time. I moved to columbus, oh in Jan. 2000. For the last 3 years, that car has become a trouble for me. One repair after the next. The biggest repair cost I've paid out was $2060.43 to replace a flywheel. I have tried to take good care of my car by taking it to jiffy lube for oil/check-ups every 3-6 months faithfully and I'm still having trouble with my car. Right now, it is at another Ford service because there may be defected wiring coils in my car (a dealer recall that I'm not aware of). I have kept all the service maintenance papers in file for all the repairs and services on my car. I wanted a new car and I'm not very happy. I'm tired of paying for the repairs. Thank you, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Columbus, OH, USA

problem #12

May 122003

Contour

  • 142,310 miles
The vehicles shift indicator was not visible. Dealer notified.

- Bloomington, IL, USA

problem #11

Aug 182002

Contour 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 95,400 miles
The engine mount on the bell housing is weakly made, possibly fractures can occur in the aluminum. It will break under normal driving conditions. The bell housing in my personal vehicle broke and caused a domino effect of other problems.

- Memphis, TN, USA

problem #10

Mar 222001

Contour

  • miles
Speedometer is erratic.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

problem #9

Dec 302001

Contour

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Consumer was traveling about 50mph on highway and noticed a smoke smell coming through the vents. He pulled over to the shoulder and vehicle was on fire. Dealership was aware of problem. Prior to recall 00V367, engine was overheating and burning excess oil from overheated piston rings, after recall repairs, there was an internal antifreeze leak that was going into motor oil, engine cooling fans were operating intermittently when engine was hot, dealer found upper radiator hose at water pump had a pinhole leak, engine cooling fan wiring overheated and burned out at fan relay and fan connectors, then consumer received recall 01I009 and had these repairs completed on vehicle, after recall repairs, engine and in-dash wiring overheated and burned, dealer installed recall parts for blower motor again, consumer later informed a new motor was needed due to no compression due to overheating damage. This took place prior to vehicle fire. Headlight and taillight lenses replaced. Overdrive light was inoperative, shift lever internal sliding bezel had a stress crack, at times it was hard to get out of park when temperature was cold. A/C did not blow cold air and was noisy. Fuel door would not open at times. Speedometer cable was replaced due to a ticking noise.

- Fountain Valley, CA, USA

problem #8

Mar 222001

Contour

  • miles
Speedometer is erratic.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

problem #7

Aug 282001

Contour

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Speedometer needle fluctuated wildly, then it registered zero. Ten seconds later the car's driveablity went down due to the on-board computer receiving zero speed input: Limited accelleration, no cruise control, etc. End result: Both speed cable and speed control sensor broken; connection pin from transmission to sensor stuck or snapped --> will need to drop transmission and tear it open just to get at a $25 part!

- Red Bank, NJ, USA

problem #6

May 102001

(reported on)

Contour

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Speedometer has failed prematurely at only 80,000 miles, causing incorrect reading of speed. It is not registering the miles.

- Paducah, KY, USA

problem #5

Aug 201999

(reported on)

Contour

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
Speedometer cable broke, emergency brake froze up. Mjs

- Fort Wayne, IN, USA

problem #4

Sep 091999

(reported on)

Contour

  • miles
When traveling speedometer reading is incorrect, vehicle could be going as fast as 60 mph, and speedometer reading states zero. Consumer has contacted the dealer, dealer has replaced the speed sensor five times.

- Seaford, NY, USA

problem #3

Dec 011998

Contour

  • miles
This vehicle was subject of recall for throttle link cable. Ignition/plug cables also failed and had to be replaced. The speedometer/odometer cable that failed failed because of a link. This leads to a question about the overall fitness of cables that Ford is using on this vehicle. I've never before heard of a non-traumatic failure of a speedometer/odometer cable at under 100,000 miles. I am not sure of dates or mileage as submitted. This happened a while ago, and I only saw notification of your website on a public bus this evening (8 Feb). Please investigate and let me know if this is a common problem. I've long since replaced the speedometer/odometer cable and have learned my lesson. Never again will I buy a Ford Motor Company product.

- Germantown, MD, USA

problem #2

Sep 011997

Contour

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Speed control sensor failed 3 times. Also transmission slipped improperly due to speed sensor failure. Inaddition, speedometer/odometer failed.

- Melbourne, FL, USA

problem #1

Feb 281996

Contour

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Speedometer failed twice.

- San Francisco, CA, USA