1996 Ford Contour oil and information

[javacontour]

OK,

What is the methodology used here?

I see 20+ year old cars compared to cars that were not even available when the car was out? So are we even comparing apples to apples?

I saw someone suggest the Vibe is more reliable. Not disputing that. I would hope a car that is a decade newer would be more reliable than something from the mid-90s.

My point isn't that the Contour is a serious contender to the Corolla for reliability. I've owned both and hands down, the Corolla is the better screwed together car. My point is the site upon which you are relying upon to bolster your point seems to be short on data.

How do cars like the Cruise and Focus rate BELOW the Cavalier and the Escort, or even the Contour?

Relying on auction data, which it appears the site does, seems to focus on the cars people are dumping, without any measurement of the cars that people keep.

I've owned three of them. They had their issues, but were fun cars to drive. Yet at the same time, they had their weak spots and are not as reliable as a Toyota of the same era. So any buyer needs to go in eyes wide open.

But I'm not sure that Dashboard Light is the end-all, be-all for reliability data.

My gut feeling, and it's just that, is that compared to similar vintage cars, it's going to hover around average. Not as good as the Hondas and Toyotas of the late 1990s, but better than some other options on the market.

Parts will be cheap, but you'll need more, because it will break more.

I've moved to the middle of the two extremes. I drive Mazdas now

I get the great handling I had in the Contour and closer to the Toyota reliability I got with my Prizm, Corolla, Vibe and Camry.

Just something about that site that leaves me wanting. But on the other hand, I get it. I've moved on from the CDW-27 platform...

Originally Posted By: Imp4
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Not to say that a 22 year old Contiur is going to be more reliable than a similar vintage Toyota. But it will probably be more fun to drive.

Fun to drive when referring to a 22 year old Ford Contour?!?

Erm?!? OK.

On a totally separate issue, what good is fun to drive when you are broken down on the side of the road?

Here's some of the data from Dashboard Light (formerly Long Term Quality Index).

 

[deven]

Stop showing me the finger!

 

[Wolf359]

I drove it for 8 years with the V6. It was sorta fun for a small car with a V6. It did have the weaker water pump, it was made of plastic so failure of that part was common. Most people replaced it with a metal one. I gave up on my with under 100k though, too many problems. Mine even had the bad wiring harness, they used the wrong plastic on the wiring so it became brittle. I think that was limited to just 95 though. Gave up when it had exhaust/intake manifold leaks. The alternators also went a few times. The catalytic converters also got replaced a few times. First time the car died and the converters were clogged, replaced under warranty. Second time there was a recall so they replaced the converters again although at the time it seemed fine.

 

[Imp4]

Originally Posted By: deven
Stop showing me the finger!

I'm not showing you the finger, but Ford Contour quality sure is!

 

[Imp4]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
.Relying on auction data, which it appears the site does, seems to focus on the cars people are dumping, without any measurement of the cars that people keep.

Good point. If you read their presentation of how they gather and analyze data, they address this very issue.

Dashboard Light analysis techniques link

How Dashboard Light figures their score link.

Now, I'm not suggesting Dashboard Light is the be all end all of automotive reliability. It is not.

I was simply providing a data set (that is open to criticism) as part of a claim I made in a previous post on this thread.

Please note, I also provided a reference to a second data set on reliability statistics (Consumer Reports) at the time I made the original claim.

I stand by my original statement.
If the OP wants to reliably make his 60 mile round trip to work each day, a late 90s Ford Contour probably isn't the best choice.

 

[jakewells]

I drive 70 miles round trip in a 20+ yr old car with out problems. My mom is still driving her contour SVT she bought new in 1998 and it has over 300,000 on it now.
Take it with a grain of salt there is a lot of good contours and bad contours.

 

[jongies3]

Ended up taking the car. It needs a little TLC but what 22 year old vehicle doesn't? Cosmetically it's pretty sound and solid for it's age so we shall see! Going to get it licensed and oil changed on it over the weekend and drive the heck out of it before taking it to work next week. Thanks to all who contributed! I'm excited to have a fuel sipper again.

 

[aquariuscsm]

The Contour always reminded me of a baby Taurus. That's a sweet little car,even has a sunroof I see!

 

[brianl703]

The weakest spot on those 95-97 Contours will be the underhood wiring harnesses, made of insulation that can't handle underhood temperatures and starts cracking and breaking.

Those wiring harnesses, by the way, were made by Yazaki. And every single one of them is defective. Ford did have a 100k, 10-year warranty on the underhood wiring harnesses so some of them did get replaced, but I suspect the vast majority did not.

If you encounter this and want to attempt to fix it, I wouldn't bother with liquid electrical tape. A two-part polyurethane rubber potting compound is what I'd use.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: jongies3
Ended up taking the car. It needs a little TLC but what 22 year old vehicle doesn't? Cosmetically it's pretty sound and solid for it's age so we shall see! Going to get it licensed and oil changed on it over the weekend and drive the heck out of it before taking it to work next week. Thanks to all who contributed! I'm excited to have a fuel sipper again.

I had the '95 Mercury Mystique V6 (the luxury brother/sister).

The space around the oil filter is tight. Buy a filter wrench. or leave some blood on the car...
My issues:
-flying wheel, so had to change the damaged starter each year (could not afford to change the flying wheel at that time)
-ac leak
-oil stick tube rusted and was loosing oil (got a friend to check it and start me in Auto maintenance)
-brakes/hardware will be rusted; I changed the rotors and pads all around and siphon the old brake fluid and it improved brake performance immensely.
-1 set of tires
-street drain "lucky" flood: I parked that day on top of the street drain; luckily it was a HOT summer
-1 battery + 1 pair of windshield wipers

Bought the car at 88k miles, had it for 1.5 years to 110k miles.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

I always liked getting the V6 Contours as rental cars, they were peppy enough to be fun to zip around in and a nice size for parallel parking.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
I always liked getting the V6 Contours as rental cars, they were peppy enough to be fun to zip around in and a nice size for parallel parking.


I'm still amazed what I could do with that car.
I parked at night, rain, wind, low street visibility, with about 4 inches left-over front and back, and I didn't bump the neighbors cars...

OP, remember you have 2 fuse boxes:
-one in the front area of the engine, driver side
-second at your driver feet, low on your left

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: pandus13

-ac leak


Ford used steel AC accumulators on these. They also had the bright idea to put an insulating wrapper on them...

...which traps condensation and makes it rust...

...then it starts to leak...

...so to prevent this, tear the wrapper off the accumulator.

Edit: Not just a problem with the Contour, my 2004 Crown Victoria had the same problem, leaking rusted accumulator.

Odd thing is that the cheapest Ebay replacement accumulator turned out to be aluminum, which doesn't seem to have a problem with rusting and leaking like steel does.