1995 Ford Contour SE - Consumer Checklist - Long-Term Wrapup

Overall quality was rated highly by surveyed owners; almost 46 percent judged it as excellent. Yet almost 35 percent claimed to have problems of some kind with their Contour. Like our surveyed owners, we found the fuel filler door reluctant to open at times, and the filler neck proved unfriendly to some gas pump nozzles, causing them to shut down midflow. We also had difficulty with the transmission, as did almost 4 percent of our surveyed owners. At 1000 miles, we experienced a malfunctioning overdrive switch. Our local dealer handled these problems under warranty, getting us back on the road in minimal time. Two months later, the automatic transmission would not shift out of Park; our dealer traced the trouble to a malfunctioning solenoid. A week later we returned with a broken rear brake caliper, which also was corrected under warranty. With these repairs handled, the Contour performed without fuss for five months until a suspension rattle developed. Simply tightening the rear shocks took care of the problem.

Aside from these warrantied repairs, the Contour needed only regular oil and filter changes. The low maintenance cost combined with the fuel expenditures results in a year-end operating cost of $913.65 for our 14,772 miles of use.

Despite the transmission and other problems, we had a good year driving the Contour around the city, up the California coastline, and on occasional interstate getaways. With cars like this on the market, it's easy to understand the trend of coupe owners moving to sedans; the Contour offers the same driving pleasure of popular four- and six-cylinder coupes with the added bonus of extra doors.

MT Thumbs UpSporty handlingMicronAir filterLow-maintenance engineComfortable front seats

MT Thumbs DownCramped back seatNo tilt steering wheel