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 21 through 30 of 99.00

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  Best car ever owned - 1998 Ford Contour
  By Momasauras44 - November 7 - 9:59 am

  My Contour was bought for 2,500 with 97,000 miles. I really enjoy my car. I drive it all over town for my job. Ive been told its a cute little get around car. I agree. It now has 127,000 and needing some minor repairs. The timing belt, alternator and steering pulley. All in all, a really great little car.

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  Wish wed never bought it - 1998 Ford Contour
  By Atlanta - October 19 - 5:57 pm

  I never cared for the car from the first day my husband bought it (I was out of town). It was o.k. for the first few years except the speakers never worked right. Then the rear brakes started chattering and we have spent a lot of time and money trying to fix the problem. Took it to a Ford dealer and they couldnt fix it. Weve have tried to have it fixed several times at different places but the noise always returns within a few weeks. The front end is always going out of alignment and pulls to one side. Last year, all the seals blew and we spent $1,000 to fix it. Weve kept it for our teenagers to drive, but plan to get rid of it next year. It has about 90K miles. CR is right about it.

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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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  Dependable car I will miss driving! - 1998 Ford Contour
  By Jill - June 28 - 5:34 pm

  After 8 years with no expenses (aside from basic maintenance), I have had a great experience with the Contour. I only wish Ford didnt discontinue the line! This car brought me back and forth across the country with great control, comfortable handling and no problems. After 120,000 miles and many years, its time to move on. I hope my next car treats me as well as the Contour has!

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  Money pit - 1998 Ford Contour
  By John - June 16 - 4:18 pm

  We purchased this car with 98,000 miles on the odometer from a reliable individual wed dealt with before. Heres a short list of whats gone wrong with the car: 1st year: The fuse block had a meltdown and had to be replaced ($500). 3rd year: At appx. 120,000 miles the transmission failed ($1,000). 4th year: Battery coupling ($100) Theres other numerous repairs that have added up to over $5,000.These are not normal wear and tear items, just poor design. The worst thing is that we paid $4800 for the car and after all the repairs we couldve actually bought a good car.

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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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  Oh the Contour - 1998 Ford Contour
  By Amanda - January 3 - 11:10 am

  I bought the Contour used in 2005 with 110,000 miles, as soon as we pulled off the lot, my power steering pump had a leak and we were unable to drive it home. It costed $350 to fix. Two months after I purchased the car, three window motors/regulators blew. It cost $150 to fix just the drivers side window. About 6 months later, my check engine light came on. O2 Sensor. Replaced it, $100. Came to find out that wasnt the problem, the wires connected to the 02 sensor were messed up, $300 to fix it. After owning the car for two years, I came across the worst problem. Computer was fried, wires to the computer were fried, Timing Belt, and tensioner. $2000 to fix, didnt do it. Just got rid of it.