Model-year matrix

Ford Contour
which year?

Compare every Ford Contour model year the EPA recorded, 1995 to 2000. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.

Evidence-led answer

Looking for the best Ford Contour year—or years to avoid?

The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.

What is the best year for the Ford Contour?

No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.

Which Ford Contour years should you avoid?

The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.

01 · More reports to inspect1995

891 indexed complaint reports; engine and engine cooling is the most-reported component label.

Open the 1995 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect1998

846 indexed complaint reports; engine and engine cooling is the most-reported component label.

Open the 1998 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect1996

563 indexed complaint reports; electrical system is the most-reported component label.

Open the 1996 dossier →

Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.

Read this as evidence, not a ranking.

Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.

Direct comparison

Compare two Ford Contour model years.

Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.

First model year

1999 Ford Contour

NHTSA complaint allegations: 419
Combined EPA economy: 20–25 mpg/MPGe
EPA configurations: 4
Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate: $2,450–3,100
Fuel labels: Regular Gasoline

Most-reported component labelsstructure 94electrical system 73engine and engine cooling 57

Open the 1999 evidence dossier →

Second model year

2000 Ford Contour

NHTSA complaint allegations: 199
Combined EPA economy: 21–25 mpg/MPGe
EPA configurations: 4
Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate: $2,450–2,950
Fuel labels: Regular Gasoline

Most-reported component labelsstructure 79fuel system, gasoline 36unknown or other 26

Open the 2000 evidence dossier →

Observed complaint-record difference

2000 has 220 fewer indexed complaint allegations than 1999.

This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.

Side by side

Ford Contour by year.

Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.

Ford Contour model years with NHTSA complaint totals, most-reported components, EPA fuel economy and configuration counts
Year	Complaints	Most-reported components	Combined MPG	EPA configs	Annual fuel cost	Dossier
2000	199	structure 79fuel system, gasoline 36unknown or other 26	21–25	4	$2,450–2,950	Dossier →
1999	419	structure 94electrical system 73engine and engine cooling 57	20–25	4	$2,450–3,100	Dossier →
1998	846	engine and engine cooling 154power train 143electrical system 139	21–25	4	$2,450–2,950	Dossier →
1997	218	electrical system 49engine and engine cooling 44power train 31	21–24	4	$2,550–2,950	Dossier →
1996	563	electrical system 148engine and engine cooling 143power train 86	21–25	4	$2,450–2,950	Dossier →
1995	891	engine and engine cooling 282electrical system 215power train 140	21–25	4	$2,450–2,950	Dossier →

Evidence snapshot generated August 25, 2026. “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.