Overview & Reviews

Designers sculpt and adjust interior seating to make more leg- and headroom in the backseat. Five new colors are available and improvements to shift effort on manual transmission models make the 1996 Contour more competitive.

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 68.00

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  Satisfied longtime owner - 1996 Ford Contour
  By original owner - April 13 - 12:20 am

  If youre reading this, youre probably wondering about a 96 Contour as a used car prospect. There were some early recalls and warranty problems, but Ive done decent maintenance and ended up with a reliable, fun-to-drive, economical car. The timing belt broke at 90K (no harm done I should have replaced it sooner), but routine maintenance has been fine, brakes long-lasting, transmission no trouble. Ill be selling it reluctantly, cause I think it has many more miles on it!

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  Had this one a while - 1996 Ford Contour
  By big rick - November 30 - 10:36 pm

  Bought this Contour in late 1997 with 18,000 miles, and had it ever since-2L four and 5 speed manual makes it a fun- to-drive econo car. Replaced battery and alternator at 43000 m and valve cover gasket and spark plugs at 85000 m. Mine gets great mileage and never has left me stranded. These cars might fall apart if they are flogged hard, with light construction and 2750 lb curb weight. But mine is still fun to drive and has cost me next to nothing to own.

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  1996 Ford Contour 4 dr SE - 1996 Ford Contour
  By JB - November 7 - 1:09 pm

  Ive had this car for almost 10 years now and I really love how it drives. Great styling, power and pretty good mpg. But the build quality and reliability are no so good. Ive replace the catalytic converter, rear strut, brakes 3 times (not too bad), 3 tune ups, radiator, water pump, and now the brakes are going again, clutch is going and there is a small oil leak. The car is worth less than a 1000 bucks so Im sending it to its grave. 145,000 its bad for a Ford but there are a lot of fixes

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  Gets Better with Age - 1996 Ford Contour
  By Annelise - January 3 - 6:11 am

  My Contour hit 200,000 miles last night! Ive got the V6 5-speed. Though I had problems with it early on--water pumps, numerous recalls and that darn engine light that wont go off--its been great for the last 120,000 miles. I love the way it handles and it still has plenty of power. Im curious to see how long it will last!

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  Good first car - 1996 Ford Contour
  By jvhofw24 - September 17 - 1:25 pm

  Overall, the car drives well. It has the right amount of zip when you need it, and I found it to be pretty reliable. I owned the car for almost six years, and up until a couple months ago, I only had relatively minor problems with it. (i.e. brake rotors, 1 alternator, 1 battery, and a window motor) I put about 90,000 miles on it while I owned it, I drove it all around the country, and it got me everywhere I needed to be. At about 160,000 miles, the car sort of began to fall apart, but I guess that what happens when you drive a Ford. I still feel I got my moneys worth.

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  Fords cost-cutting shows - 1996 Ford Contour
  By Verbal - February 25 - 12:25 am

  I bought this car slightly used, based on favorable reviews in the car magazines. It is a sporty sedan that packs a lot of value for the money. The engine, suspension and brakes are well-suited for the enthusiast driver. However, this is the most fragile car I have ever owned. With less than 75k on the odometer, I have had to replace the water pump (a flawed design with a plastic impeller wheel), the catalyst, and the starter motor. The check engine light turning on is a quarterly event. The stock CD player would skip if you looked at it cross-eyed. Owning this car makes me believe that when Ford lines up suppliers, it always takes the low bidder. Ford: you have lost this customer.

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  My wheels. - 1996 Ford Contour
  By Marqui16 - September 16 - 2:06 am

  My Contour now has 198,000 miles on it. I bought it used with about 34,000 miles(mostly highway) and have owned it for 7 years now. I changed the transmission once, the alternator once, several belt changes, headlight problems, and several other minor changes, but never any engine problems. It is still a fun car to drive but since it was my first car I am ready to move on to foreign cars (less maintenance).

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  1996 Contour - 1996 Ford Contour
  By Andy Briggs - May 6 - 9:01 am

  Bought from my father who owned it since new. This car has had multiple maintenance related problems. By 85,000 miles, replaced alternator (which is difficult to access for remove and replace and very expensive), heater blower motor, heater resistor pack, and both wheel hub bearings. I have a continuing problem, yet unsolved, of the radiator fan not turning on when the temperature gauge reads high unless the a/c is on. Check engine light comes on intermittently with an "EGR flow excessive" code read-out. This seems to be too many problems for a car that has had regular maintenance and mostly highway miles. For those reasons, I do not recommend buying, even though it drives well.

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  My Contour - 1996 Ford Contour
  By dvargas - September 27 - 2:00 am

  Ive had no major problems with the engine or performance in the last 8 years. The only recurring problems were with the body parts such as plastic interior items breaking including gear shifter, mechanical window repairs on 4 occasions, etc. Overall I have been very happy with my purchase. A very economical vehicle.

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  Weird Stuff Breaks on this Car - 1996 Ford Contour
  By scwallac - April 13 - 2:00 am

  I love the design of the Contour. The outside is nice to look at, and the interior controls are very well placed, with excellent ergonomics. HOWEVER....all *kinds* of weird stuff breaks on this car that shouldnt. Examples: Coil springs(!), front wheel bearings(!), timing belt clatters terribly, headlights-on warning chime, heat only works in defrost position, rubber weatherstrips fly off, transmission went after 125k miles, AC doesnt hold charge etc, etc... You can read all about these flaws in the Ford "TSB - Technical Service Bulletins". If you buy this car, make sure to buy the service manual and technical service bulletins - youll need them!