1999 Ford Contour
118,000 miles
Trans went out
1 Cat Conv out the other 2 going bad
Vinyl Dashboard is lifting
Needs springs
Worth fixing?
If you can do the work yourself and have a source for reasonably-priced parts, maybe.
If you have to pay someone else to do the work, and have to pay full retail for the parts, definitely not, IMO.
My own feeling is that this is just the beginning of a lot of problems that will wear you out. This car is the Americanized version of the Ford Mondeo, not a bad car in Europe, but few are probably still on the road there since they don’t keep their cars very long.
Many poster have had trouble with this car; it never sold well new and had poor resale value. I would be inclined to sell it for parts, as is, and look for something newer and more reliable.
10 years old + failed automatic transmission = instant junk in majority of cases
Automatics can be a serious fault of older vehicles(8yrs/150k+)
Just a new transmission is more than the car is worth, even if it were in excellent condition. The repairs will probably cost 2 times more than the car is worth. I’d move on. The car would be worth no more than $2000 in great shape.
The Contour was not exactly the high point of Ford quality when it was new.
Historically, they have not been reliable vehicles.
IMHO, a 10 year old Contour with a bad transmission (plus other problems) is a candidate for the junk yard.
how much did you pay for the car? Are you going to sell it? If you are figure out the worth value and how much you are going to put into it. could be worth it
If I were mechancially inclined, I would take a stab at it but I am not. I do have a great mechanic who has helped me keep the car running this long.
Totally agree with you. This is what I was thinking. You want your car to run forever but it just doesn’t happen.
I would say no to fixing it, but it’s a lot cheaper than a new car. A running car is cheaper than both.