1997 Ford Contour problems
Owners have filed 314 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Ford Contour. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 16% of complaints. After that come engine (11%) and brakes (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 314 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 16% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 14 and 11
- Injuries and deaths
- 13 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 93,000 miles 45 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 0 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 5 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 18 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 8 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 9 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 45 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 93,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 14 complaints mention a crash; 11 complaints mention a fire; 13 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Ford Contour with enough data (216 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Driving approximately 45MPH and attempting to change lanes, got into right lane and touched brakes lightly to steer car straight, steering locked up, couldn't steer left or right, steering stuck in slant position. Pumping brakes and the brakes were not working. Car ran into guardrail and flipped three times. Air bag deployed.
Tl* the contact owns a 1997 ford contour. While driving 25 MPH on 3/19/07 the driver felt something heavy fall on his foot and he began to lose control of the steering wheel. The steering column fell on the brake pedal and he couldn't stop the vehicle. The contact's vehicle crashed into a parked truck. The passenger side air deployed; however, the driver side didn't deploy. Two passengers in the vehicle suffered minor injuries to their knees and chests.
Could not get an inspection sticker - no mechanic could find out why the check engine will not go off -very costly. It stalls when raining, the passenger door handle does not work, it has to warm up for 5 minutes before it will move, the tail lights came loose, causing melting of housing, every valve imaginable has been replaced, belt squeals when air or defrost turned on.
The wiring harness has deteriorated to where the engine runs lean and dies. The check engine light came on while driving. Once home I checked everything I could until the engine compartment cooled then noticed the wiring on the number 1 cylinder. The more I looked I could see all the injector plugs were deteriorated badly with number 4 being worse. Just touching the harness causes the insulation to flake off and bare wires to be exposed.