Overview & Reviews

A redesigned face gives this Ford more character, but the new taillight treatment is almost identical to the Contour's sibling, the Mercury Mystique. New alloy wheels and a slightly more commodious rear seat debut. Midyear changes included a model consolidation, the addition of depowered airbags, as well as improved handling and new wheels for the SVT.

• Energetic performance in the spirit of more expensive German sedans.

User Reviews:

Showing 11 through 20 of 99.00

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  Nice car - 1998 Ford Contour
  By Carp - September 27 - 4:47 pm

  I bought my 1998 Contour used, have had the car about 5 months, Very nice little car eventhough it is 10 years old it is still tight, holds the road well. Replaced the 02 sensor because it would stall, also the fuel pump, extensive brake repair but then again I dont believe that the brakes were ever repaired. Nice car, worth keeping to me.

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  Fun Daily Driver - 1998 Ford Contour
  By Kevin S of NC - September 25 - 4:46 pm

  I purchased my 2.0L Zetec with automatic transmission at 26,000 miles. Now at 154,000 miles, I have experienced one major problem: lesson learned - change the idler pulleys with the timing belt since the OEM bearings are failure-prone. Small oil leaks from the valve cover were resolved with a new gasket and grommet set. I have really enjoyed this car and have kept it up with an excellent preventative maintenance program. Being a mechanical engineer may have something to do with it, too.

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  Great Used Car - 1998 Ford Contour
  By vishal konnur - July 17 - 7:38 pm

  I got this car or $2200 with 103,000 miles. For the price, it was a great car. Spacious, enough power and great features .

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  I like this little guy! - 1998 Ford Contour
  By jumpingbean - May 10 - 9:10 pm

  Overall, I love this car! It gets great gas mileage (average about 26, though I have easily managed to get 30+). Its fairly attractive and pretty quick with available 2.5L 6-cyl. The only real problem I had was my air idle control went out at about 115k miles (Symptoms: Real low RPM idle that causes the car to shut off right after starting, but you can drive it if you hold in the gas constantly.) That was a pain, but after it was fixed it ran great again. The interior has some annoying features like no lumbar support, a real shallow passenger cup holder that renders it practically useless, and a lack of little helpful storage compartments. Controls are pretty smooth.

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  The only Ford vehicle I will buy - 1998 Ford Contour
  By Jeremy - April 10 - 10:50 pm

  My mother had owned an old contour for some time. It had two things I find invaluable in any car. With gas prices now, fuel effeciency is a must and ours made it from Louisiana to Florida with-out a worry on one tank. Reliability is the other it ran quite well until someone who had no idea how to drive a standard borrowed it. Even though it had some problems after that, it still ran fairly well. It was not until my sister ran it into a stump, that it finaly stopped running. And that was because the tire ripped everything off the engine still runs though. The only drawback that I personally had issues with was the seat adjustment was messed up and Im 6.

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  Solid, fun drive - 1998 Ford Contour
  By pakman6 - October 19 - 12:40 am

  My 6 cyl. Contour replaced an 88 Subaru that quit at 150K (so you know how hard I am on a car). I purchased the Contour with 60K and now have 117. We have been everywhere from North Dakota to New Jersey, up to the top of the Black Hills on a dirt road and down plenty of country gravel roads as well as cities and interstates. Aside from the mediocre mileage (20-30), it has been a joy to drive, easy on the eye, and much less costly to maintain than the Subaru, though I fear those days are numbered. Only one minor oil leak (compared to the Subaru that must have had a sieve for a gasket) and various this and thats. A nice car, not the most durable out there, but still solid.

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  1998 Ford Contour Has Been a Good Car - 1998 Ford Contour
  By RDB - February 5 - 4:42 pm

  There are many bad reviews on this car. Even Consumer Reports says to avoid it. But so far, our 1998 2.0L SE, after nearly 80K miles and 8 years of driving, has had few problems. Total repairs for 8 years comes to about $1500.00. Quite reasonable. We bought it in 1999 when it was a one year-old demo. It has performed much better than our 1994 Ford Taurus 3.8L V6 which has had two blown head gaskets, one just recently. After 140K miles on the Taurus, we now have to get rid of it, though we had planned to keep it indefinitely. The Contour has been a much better car overall!

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  The Contour Experience - 1998 Ford Contour
  By Gnat - January 4 - 8:39 pm

  Faithful starting, efficient, rear trunk trickle leak from above in process of repair, regular maintenance with 3,000 mile oil changes, traveled half of East Coast, mostly a commute car, comfortable, about to do 90,000 mile maintenance, spent too much time diagnosing and dealing with problem locally. Ford dealership found problem and quickly and resolved, zeroing in on specific problem area with computer diagnosis.

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  Been a Good lil Car! - 1998 Ford Contour
  By gluis55 - August 8 - 10:04 am

  I bought this car since we had two kids, and the other car I had was a Beretta, (two door). We needed a 4 door. The car is quick, and comfortable. My wife loves driving the car. The only complaint is the oil leaks! When I first bought it it was leaking from what appeared to me was the front gear cover and oil pan. It wasnt too bad, now it is definitely getting worse. You can smell the oil burning on the exhaust when it leaks. So now it is time to fix it, but not sure I want to spend the $850 the dealer wants to repair. Car has 97k on it got it used with 62k. Have had no real problems with it. Just maintenance 26 mpg.

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  Its all right - 1998 Ford Contour
  By rrice8755 - March 10 - 11:43 pm

  I bought my Contour 3 months ago and i runs pretty well but in the winter time its a piece of junk. The VSS went out on me that was only real big thing that went on me.