1 of 5

Las Vegas, NV  Ford Windstar 1995 All options, dual air conditioning, power driver's seat

KS has some complaints about her van. Her complaints are serious enough to raise some concerns. The van has only 66,000 miles but has required major repairs. The van is in its third transmission, fourth speedometer and new crankshaft. The van has needed a new head gasket, air bag, door gasket and seat belt. She exclaims "If I hadn't purchased an extended warranty, I would have traded [it] a long time ago." She is especially surprised by all of the problems considering she maintains the vehicle well. There are some things she likes about the van. The interior wears well and still looks good. There is adequate power. Unfortunately, for KS says the positive points with this van do not outweigh the negative.

Contact: kluksich@aol.com

Overall Rating:

 2 of 5 - 1/26/2000

Oklahoma City, OK  Ford Windstar GL 1995 Fully Loaded

"Ford Windstars seems to be bad about blowning head gaskets and going through transmissions as well. The 1995 Windstars seem to be the most affected but have read about many other 1996 models having the same problems.

Trouble Free: No

Repairs = Blew the head gasket at less than 75,000 miles which seems to be the norm with the 95 Windstars, I have not had the transmission replaced yet hope I am one of the lucky ones."

 3 of 5 - 1/4/2000

Spruce Grove, AB Canada  Ford Windstar GL 1995 Champagne PW, pwer doors, AC, Tinted

"Although the van was rated high at the time of purchase, it has had numerous problems. The electrical system has given great grief - the door lock system has failed twice; the sliding door lock has had to be repaired twice because it quit working even though the others would work; the 'door open' indicator can stay on for days if the rear door is used - even if the contact points are cleaned and the doors are securely closed. The rear power windows motor (both windows) failed. The engine light keeps coming on (dealership can figure out 'what' is wrong, not 'why'); there is a very noticable 'clunk' in the front end when turning corners to the left or even driving straight - very inconsistent in that it will clunk 12 time in 1/2 hour driving, then not again for days. The service mechanics cannot find the problem.
At 10,000 kms the engine had to be replaced. In this new (rebuilt) engine there were faulty injectors, which were replaced, but there continues to be misfiring in the engine causing hesitation, stalling, etc.; the engine light (of course) is constantly on, and I am tired of being in a 'loaner' car more than my van.."

 4 of 5 - 1/18/2000

Meridian, MS  Ford Windstar GL 1996 Red 73,000 mi GL options

"We really like the van because of the way it handles and because of the room. We have driven others recently, and none of them seemed as roomy as the Windstar."

Trouble free = no

Repairs = "Even though we like the roominess of the Windstar, we have had nothing but problems. At first, it was little things (while it was still under warranty. It seemed that the brakes had to be worked on a lot and we had to replace tires too frequently. Lately, though, it's the transmission. We had to replace it last year, and surprise, surprise, just after it is out of warranty, it is in the shop right now being replaced again. Because of this problem, I have been without a van for 2 and 1/2 months. They have "tried" other things first. This has been the biggest piece of junk we have ever owned, mechanically, speaking. We will NEVER buy another Ford!."

 4 of 5 - 2/4/2000

Ford Windstar GL 1998 Green PW, pwer doors, AC, Tinted, captains chairs, cruise, tilt

Owners's Comments:

"This was my second Windstar. My first was a 1996 which was far from trouble-free. It had problems with the engine light coming on as well as the antilock brake light coming on. It was leased so now it's gone. As for the 1998 Windstar, it did not fare much better. It has been serviced several times for a faulty gas gauge. The transmission has be service three times for faulty sensors (or so I'm told). Even as I drove it back to the dealer last month when it's lease was up. The transmission went again. The car is gone now and I am the owner of a new Ford Focus which I submitted a survey on about 2-3 weeks ago. I've been buying Fords for a lifetime and discounting the Windstar, They are not bad cars."

Trouble free = No

Problem description = "Transmision repairs three times. The transmission would not shift past 2nd gear one time and clunking sounds the second time and rough shifting the third time."

"The Gas Gauge never accurately displayed the amount of fuel. It would go to E and show a low fuel warning when there was more than a half tank of gas. It was serviced several times for this but it was never resloved."