This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My automatic transmission shift position indicator mounted on my floor console has disintegrated over time, and no longer exists. This failure has been recognized previously, and is due to defective, poor quality, plastic material that the shift indicator is made of. The consequence of this failure is that one cannot determine which gear the transmission is operating in, and can cause overheating of the transmission and/or engine, and possibly cause an auto accident, or fire. This has been a recognized defect failure and was reported as a safety recall as early as 1998. However upon contact with the Ford dealership and also the Ford Motor Company representatives, they deny that my 1995 Contour is included in the safety recall. There are numerous 1995 Contour vehicle owner complaints filed with the Ford Motor Company on this denial of safety recall application by other 1995 Ford Contour owners who have experienced that same lack of support through the Ford Motor Co representatives. This material defect is a generic problem that affects all 1995 Contour, however the Ford representatives deny that my VIN is included in the safety recall.
I have experienced several incidents with the transmission in my vehicle. After you drive the vehicle long enough for it to warm up good, the transmission will quit pulling. You can be driving down the road and it acts as if it just kicks into neutral. You can pull over and put the car into park and then into drive again and it will go a little farther before it will do it again. The car has only a little over 70,000 miles on it and is now basically junk. I have been told by several mechanics that these cars all have transmission problems and that rebuilding the transmission doesn't usually work for very long.
- the contact owns a 1995 Ford Contour. The speedometer works intermittently. She stated that the transmission was contatantly skipping gears, and downshifts when it should change gears. There is a safety recall on both of the components that are failing on her vehicle. Power train:automatic trasmission: Lever and linkage:floor shift-98V233000, and vehicle speed control cables-97V225000. The contact did not know the current or failure mileage because the odometer is broken.
Experienced transmission issues, with intermittent rough shifting and intermittent failures to engage in drive or reverse. It mysteriously started to run fine for several days. One morning I drove a short distance for an appointment. Upon returning and starting the car I noticed smoke exiting the left side of the engine compartment. I turned of the vehicle and inspected the engine compartment, and I could still see some smoke coming from the left-rear part of the engine compartment. After this incident, several of the vehicle's electrical functions failed, including park/brake shift interlock, heater fan, backup lights, directional flashers. Following the incident, the transmission issues have resumed. Upon inspection, I noticed several wires had cracking insulation, and some even had bare wire exposed.
I have a 1995 Ford Contour and I paid over $16,000 for it. I have had nothing but trouble since I got this car. I have 50,888 miles and the transmission has been replaced 2 times and worked on 4 times. Water pump went out, air went out all wiring covers has crumbled off leaving exposed wires to start a fire and much more. I have been treated like I was a child and didn't know any better with the dealership and Ford Motor Company. I now have a car that I can't drive because it is a fire hazard. I want something done to my satisfaction. I know they quit making the 1995 Ford Contour because there were so many manufacturer problems. I am now told they can't get parts to fix the car and I can't trade it in on another one. I am a female and I am tired of the treatment I'm receiving from Ford. My car has always been serviced at a Ford dealership. I have contacted several agencys concerning my problems.
- St. Louis, MO, USA
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The transmission on my 1995 Ford Contour locked up suddenly one evening recently. Trans shop rebuilt the trans for me. I received a call from them with bad news. The bad news was that the mechanic realized that the failure was due to the transmission wiring harness being damaged. It was damaged in a way that the owner of the shop said it could very well have caught the vehicle on fire, and apparently led to the failure of the trans (I am not mecahnic, so I can only go with what I gathered from them). Ford had issued program 99M03 which covered engine compartment wiring harness failures. This program was for 10 years/100K miles. Ford refuses to take any action towards paying for this repair because the vehicle (although 10 years old), has exceeded the mileage (it has 130K miles). However, I do not feel this has anything to do with the miles driven, but rather a poorly routed wiring harness. The harness was run under the battery, and the shop says it appears as though it was eaten away by acid over a period of time. Can you help me get through the endless red tape at Ford? ths is a quality and safety issue that I feel requires better "involvement" from Ford.
While driving at any speed vehicle jerked and changed gears on its own. Vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that transmission needed to be replaced, and replaced it. However, the problem recurred.
My 1995 Contour gl V-6 sedan's automatic transmission failed after only 43,000 miles. An internal pump was found to be defective requiring the replacement of the entire transmission. Ford apologized by offered no compensation.
Gear and indicator do not match. Indicator says reverse when really drive. Especially problematic when others drive the car! dealer and manufacturer informed VIN not covered under previous recall 98V-233. Seems to be an awful lot of VIN not covered, but with problem.
For the past five years, I have made excuses, stuck by my choice in buying the 1995 Ford Contour, but in the past two years I have spent over 6,000 dollars on repairs, most of which could have been avoided if the wiring harness had been replaced at the time of the original recall (Oct.99) or the motor mounts had not failed. I believe that the transmission and electronic problems are directly attributable to the motor moving around when hitting potholes or stopping suddenly. The car has a pattern of shutting down without a problem showing on the computer analysis. I have had numerous problems with sensors, even before it was out of warranty. I think that Ford should reimburse me for the last two years of repair bills.
The egr valve, egr gas regulator valve went bad. The shifting sensor went bad causing it to feel like the transmission was slipping. The transmission and engine mount broke causing the engine to vibrate very badly. The A/C compressor locked up causing the belt to brake and stranding my wife and 8 month old daughter.
Speedometer needle fluctuated wildly, then it registered zero. Ten seconds later the car's driveablity went down due to the on-board computer receiving zero speed input: Limited accelleration, no cruise control, etc. End result: Both speed cable and speed control sensor broken; connection pin from transmission to sensor stuck or snapped --> will need to drop transmission and tear it open just to get at a $25 part!
Transmission gear selection became difficult to determine. Lever would indicate drive and would actually be in 1st or 2nd gear. Lever became stiff and difficult to operate. Contacted Ford about NHTSA recall for problem and was told that vehicle was not covered by recall. Don't understand. Problem is exactly as described and covers the manufacturering period indicated in nhsta 98V233000.
First the A/C started flooding the passenger compartment. Result the condenser was replaced by plantation Ford, who told me this was a common problem with these vehicles. Then the transmission started lurching in reverse. Result $2000, and again Ford told me this was a common problem with the Contour. Finally the engine quit on the highway, and the head gasket was blown. Much later Ford issue a recall for the cooling fan fuse, aand the wiring harness. Both of which I was not informed about, but had to learn from a mechanic. And when I did take the car to plantation forn they told me they could not tell if the head gaasket was blown because of the cooling fan fuse, and that the engine wiring harness recall had expired at 100,000 making my vehicle ineligible since it had 106,000. I have E:mailed you pictures of the harness, which are so brittle, and corroded I would be scared to start any motor with it for fear of a fire.
A numerous amount of times my car would get stuck in park and after about 5 minutes of hitting and trying to press the button in on the gear shaft, I was able to move it into park. I got the problem fixed and it cost $345, which luckily was covered in my 30 day warranty. But I still worry that the problem will happen again. Another problem is that the steering wheel and part of the dashboard vibrate extremely hard when I have my foot on the brake and the car in drive, like when I'm at a stop light.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Arlington, TX, USA