Hi there:

My wife bought this 1997 Ford Contour, (used) in 1997. For the first
year, the car performed what it was supposed to do. The rest
is being itemized here..all this from the Ford Dealship in Clear
Lake. (Houston) Texas.

1. A/C leaked directly into the car (passenger) carpet, thereby making
various stains on it, (and I'm sure rusting the parts underneath
the carpet). Told this to a Ford Dealership, and they check it out,
and said it was nothing...and laughed when we told them it was the A/C...

2. Then the car started to breath (i mean idle..and BREATH) ...WROOM.....WROOM
...WROOM...in a red light, with brakes on! Sometimes people assumed
we wanted to race them, OH BOY!...took it to the dealership, WAS TOLD NOTHING
WRONG WITH IT.

3. Then the "Check Engine" light came on and off. When it was with
the dealership, the light was off, and they said...(u guessed it)...NOTHING
IS WRONG WITH IT....

4. Then the car died at a parking lot of the mall, luckily....after
we waited for 10 minutes, and then started the car...the car started,
took it to the dealership....NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.

5. The car started breating more, and more, and at times just died..and
we had to restart it. OK!!!!

6. HAD A MEAN talk with the service agents, and they took a nap at
it for a day and told me the O2 sensor needed replacement, and
therefore the car was blinking "check-engine"....I had been complaining
this for over a year, and when my car turned over 36,000 miles, then
they inform me...HOW APPROPRIATE!!!!!

7. The car overheated...the thermostat says..C...NORMAL...H
The dial was always close to "L"..and At times, ive had to turn off
a/c just not to over heat the car.....(I worked parttime as a valet,
and other contour's that came into my hands, all had their dial between
R and M....., so there was something wrong)...but the dealership
didn't say anything...and suggested that we might be happier with
a aftermarket low temp. thermostat....Then blamed my driving conditions...Yeah
right, going 15 miles (on city driving) and that too at 35mph, is
called harsh driving according to FORD!........OH WELL

8. Finally, there were unusual noices coming from the car's engine........at
that point....ENOUGH WAS ENOUGHT....

Went to another dealship, traded this car for a very fine v6xle,
Camry. And am happy every since. Now (TOUCH WOOD), the only time
I see the dealership is every 3000 miles.  Mind you in Europe, this
car performs well....but here in the US...its a whole
new thing...

Jai