1998 Ford Contour problems
Owners have filed 1,189 complaints with NHTSA about the 1998 Ford Contour. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 12% of complaints. After that come engine (10%) and transmission (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 1,189 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 12% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 56 and 23
- Injuries and deaths
- 63 and 4
- Typical mileage
- 81,000 miles 200 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 | 11 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 15 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 29 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 39 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 47 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 24 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 16 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 9 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 5 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 200 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 81,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 85,000 miles (47 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 56 complaints mention a crash; 23 complaints mention a fire; 63 injuries reported; 4 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Ford Contour with enough data (731 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 9 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.
Driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid hitting an animal in the street, the vehicle overturned onto its roof and ran into a ditch and after impact the air bags deployed, as a result of the faulty air bag the driver was killed and the passenger sustained injuries to his head, prior to this accident the consumers received recall notice 000-000 for the air bag and went to the dealer for repair, the delaer was unable to perform repairs due to lack of parts and the consumer was advised to return in a…
Car turned over upside down in small creek. Safety belt of driver and rear passenger failed to release after multiple attempts by driver. The rear passenger was my two year old daughter and she died, because the safety belts failed to release and jammed. She drowned and my sister in law was the driver and almost died due to the safety belts jamming and not releasing, so she was unable to get to my daughter.
1998 ford contour seat belt jammed when vehicle landed upside down in a creek resulting in a fatality. The consumer's two year old daughter drowned because the driver was unable to release the seat belt. The driver of the vehicle received two lacerations.
Constant problems with the vehicle. Alternator, fuel tank, gear shift indicator, computer sensor's (variable cam timing over retarded), automatic shift labored and fails, cooling fan motor, etc. This vehicle is in some form of repair shop on a regular basis. Have I driven a ford lately? Yes, and sorry I chose to do so.
On 98 ford contours both of the headlights form condensation on the inside and then become pitted. This greatly reduces the visibility at night and during stormy weather. We have changed the bulbs but not the entire headlight assembly. When we went to look for a set of headlights we discovered that all the used sets have the exact same problem. The lights need to be replaced and this problem is occurring on all ford contours and its mercury counterpart.