Ford Contour - Problems, Statistics, and Analysis

Ford Contour owners have reported a total of 3,083 problems for their cars built in the 6 model years listed in the chart below. The chart shows the number of problems reported across all service years for each given model year of the Ford Contour. The 1998 Ford Contour cars have the most problems reported (1,146 problems).

Table 1. Total number of problems by model year for Ford Contour

Model Year Number of Problems
  2001 Contour
4
  2000 Contour
239
  1999 Contour
599
  1998 Contour
1,146
  1997 Contour
295
  1996 Contour
800

🔍 Common problems of Ford Contour

The following chart shows the 24 most common problems for Ford Contour cars. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's electrical system (400 problems). The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's engine and engine cooling (393 problems).

Table 2. Common problems of Ford Contour

Problem Category Number of Problems
  Electrical System
400
  Engine And Engine Cooling
393
  Power Train
278
  Equipment
260
  Service Brakes
223
  Structure
212
  Suspension
202
  Air Bag
180
  Visibility
178
  Exterior Lighting
173
   
  Gasoline Fuel System
163
  Steering
99
  Vehicle Speed Control
82
  Seat Belt
64
  Tire
52
  Seats
48
  Wheel
24
  Latches/locks/linkage
20
  Air Brake
12
  Parking Brake
10
  Child Seat
4
  Other Fuel System
3
  Electronic Stability Control
2
  Traction Control System
1

📉 Compare Reliability Across Model Years Using PPMY Index

It would not be fair to compare the Ford Contour of an older model year to newer model years since older vehicles have been in service longer and thus are expected to have more problems. In order to compare the reliability across Contour model years, we use the PPMY index which is defined as the problems reported per thousand vehicles per Year. A smaller PPMY index indicates greater reliability of the given model year cars.

    PPMY = P / S / Y * 1000,

where P = total problems reported during the life of a Ford Contour model year; S = total units sold of the model year; Y = years since the debut of the model year (the age of the vehicle).

The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Use PPMY Index to Compare Reliability Across Contour Model Years

Contour
Model Year
Problems Sales [1] Vehicle
Age
PPMY Index
  2000 23961,73523    
0.17

📊 Number of Problems Reported During the First Year

Another way to measure the reliability across the model years of the Ford Contour is to use the total number of problems reported during the vehicle's first year in service, as shown in the Table 4.

Table 4. Number of problems in vehicle's; first service year

Model YearProblems Reported
  2000 Contour
12
  1999 Contour
61
  1998 Contour
107
  1997 Contour
18
  1996 Contour
53


Fuel Economy of Contour Vehicles
Contour Service Bulletins
Contour Safety Recalls
Contour Defect Investigations
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