Just got a free car.

[jhoff]

That Ford 6 cylinder has a pretty good exhaust note. Theres a couple SVTs running around here with exhaust. I always thought of the Cougar as a chicks car, nothing a guy would drive.
My Grandma is a heavy smoker, so I am going to have to clean the shit out of the car. I am going to upgrade the stereo, maybe add a sub. Thought about tinting it, because I have a little girl in the back.
Ive never driven or owned a Ford. So this is going to be interesting.

List of the cars Ive owned.
91 and 94 Bonneville Se.
98 Grand Prix Se.
90 Integra Gs.
93 Accord Se.
92 Astro.
96 Accord Lx.

[deevergote]

A buddy of mine picked up a BEAT Contour for $250. It ran like shit. Did a tune up, and it purred.

I agree with the Cougar. Definitely a chick car! It had potential, though... far more than it was given credit for. Largely due to Ford's otherwise shitty rep at the time.

[jhoff]

A buddy of mine picked up a BEAT Contour for $250. It ran like shit. Did a tune up, and it purred.

I agree with the Cougar. Definitely a chick car! It had potential, though... far more than it was given credit for. Largely due to Ford's otherwise shitty rep at the time.

Ford in the 90s had a pretty much hard plastic interior right?
Just globs of black plastic.
I think the interiors were worse than GM and Chrysler.

[deevergote]

Yeah, Ford was the worst of all US manufacturers back then. Horrible interiors, crappy engines (with some exceptions), fairly unreliable. The Contour MIGHT have better than average stuff in it if the interior was carried over from the Euro models as well... but probably not.

[jhoff]

I geuss we will find out.

[stevediraddo]

Actually, the Contour would likely hold up to some pretty hefty abuse. Far more than most other Fords of the time. Perhaps not Honda-level abuse, true... but the car has a considerable amount of potential for reliability and performance.

Sure, they may appear hard to kill, you can beat them up and it'll take it no problem. At least you didnt get 1st year contour, they were known for randomly breaking engine parts.

[jhoff]

Oh yea? good thing than eh?

[deevergote]

1st year ANYTHING tends to be iffy (says the guy with the 1st year GE8 to the guy with the first year CB7... )

[jhoff]

1st year ANYTHING tends to be iffy (says the guy with the 1st year GE8 to the guy with the first year CB7... )

I think you have proven that the GE8 is more than reliable.

[deevergote]

Aside from two prematurely blown clutches... there's a flaw there, for sure.

[crazymikey]

Alright, my turn.

I've had 3 of these.

1998 Mercury Mystque GS Sport 2.0 ATX
1995 Contour GL 2.5 MTX
1995 Contour GL 2.0 MTX

I loved these cars. IMO, the closest thing an American car comes to an Accord.

I got the Mystique from my aunt and uncle for $700 in 2005. They originally leased it, and then bought it out after. I got it with a little over 200k on it. Had a new motor in it. Ran great. The auto tranny is shit in these cars, just like in an Accord. Sluggish, no power. Just a typical auto tranny.

I pimped this thing out with leather seats from an LS, custom stereo and some other stuff. It was a pretty nice car for what it was. This one honestly one of the best, reliable vehicles I've ever owned. I loved this car.




I traded that one straight across at a Ford Dealer for this 2.5 V6 5 speed. What a quick car. I hated the auto in the Mystique and really wanted a 95-97 V6 5 speed, so I happened to find this on wholesale at a local Ford dealer. Had 260 000km on it. I junked it at 301k. Drove it for almost 2 years. Loved this one too. I had all the SVT engine parts on it except the cylinder heads. Basically turned it into an SVT clone. Great car to drive. These were literally my favourite cars before I got into the Accords. I had a ton of money into this car.







Then about a year after, I got this one as a winter beater, for $600. Had 270k on it. I drove it for about 6 months before the clutch, alternator and starter and began to fail. I drove it to the junkyard and got $200 for it. It smelled like wet dog whenever the heater was on. It was gross inside. It also had a rebuilt title. Must have been in an accident and repaired. The 2.0 sucks with the auto but is almost as fast as the V6 with the 5peed.






Overall, I'd say you ended up with a pretty good free car. On the V6's, you'll want to watch out for water pumps. Common failure. Plastic impellers heat up and break. The aftermarket ones have metal ones. 3rd gear grind is typical too. Look after the car and it'll be as good as any other.

[wed3k]

Id trade that sucker with a taurus

[crazymikey]

Drop a 3.0 in it. That's the common swap for them.

[jhoff]

Drop a 3.0 in it. That's the common swap for them.

Lol. Sometime down the line.
Its a 4 banger, base, auto.

[crazymikey]

Ehhh, that'll be ok for the gf.

The 2.0 engine is fantastic. DOHC, "Zetec" as they call it. Only 125hp, but it goes decently. The auto sucks, but the engine itself is rev happy and a great little unit that's easy to work on.

You guys should be happy with the car. I'd gladly own another.