Anyone own a Ford Windstar?

[RunDanceSkate]

Just got rid of my 2001 WindStar, and I'm doing a happy dance. It was worth less then $2000

The 2001 are bad for having the paint chip off. My hood was repainted twice and still had paint coming off.
Transmission went at 101000km, Ford paid 1/2 of rebuilt because it was 1000km out of warranty.
Brakes replaced 2, and need to be done again.
All wiring is corroded on front end, burned through one headlight every month.
Contacts on doors need to be replaced. At night went it was in "sleep" mode it would think the doors were being opened and alarm would sound. (My neighbours loved that)
Master Cylinder for brakes went this week.
Air conditioner replaced.
Heater replaced
Rear hatch door fixed twice, because it wouldn't close properly.
There was more, but to sum it up the van I paid $30 000 Canadian for in 2001 was worth $2000 in 2007, and I have put over $6000 into it for repairs (beyond normal wear and tear). That doesn't include the $3500 that it would have cost for the headlight wiring, door contacts and master cylinder brake work.

I just gave up and bought a car. I also have 2 kids and to be honest we just don't need the van, I will say $600 to $1000 per year on fuel with the car, and if I need a van, I'll rent one.

C

 

[fiveforall]

We bought a 2001 Windstar despite a friend telling me that she'd had nothing but trouble with hers. Well, so did we. At 60,000 miles when I was stuck on the side of the road with three toddlers due to the transmission going out. In addition, we had light problems, door problems, air conditioning problems, and I could go on and on. LEMON!!!!!!!! We had a Toyoto Sienna and loved and adored it.

 

[TSBRN]

I just got rid of my 2001 Ford Windstar because it was nickle and diming me to death. Granted, it had 160,000 miles on it, but the constant annoyance of having it in the shop and putting more and more money into it made it time for a change. I bought a 2007 Toyota RAV4 and LOVE it!!! Toyota has some of the highest reliability ratings on new and used cars.

 

[TnTWalter]

and he was reading the Consumer Reports latest reliability ratings...Toyota has gone DOWN considerably while FORD has gone up! Ford still hasn't made the top list as far as reliablity though. The worst are LandRovers, Mercedez and another fancy title one. The best is Toyota's inexpensive line. Buick made the top list.

Trish

 

[scoutmom41]

We have a 1996 Windstar,
we have also had the head gasket problem, as others have,
replaced it and also had the vacumn line issues.

Worst repair to date was the new transmission we had to
put in on the way home from Disney. Cost almost $3,000

We probably will not purchase another Windstar or Ford Minivan.

 

[jultomzach]

Ford discontinued manufacturing the Freestar in August 2006. They are not making any minivans at this point. I know this because I recently won a lemon law suit with my 2005 Freestar.

 

[NCTWINSMOM]

We bought a new Windstar back in 2000 and it ran really good for several years...until one day it broke down on me on Mothers Day on the Interstate with me and my 3 year old twin daughters . After that it was constantly in the shop (transmission and other problems) our mechanic said he would never buy one because of the problems and price tag to fix after the warranty goes...we traded it in after 230,000 miles and an undertermined fortune for a Explorer (mechanic recommended) and after 4 years we've had no problems .

If I was going to get another minivan it would be a Honda Odessey, but those things are so darn $$$.