Outcome of Ford Windstar Recall

[luvmy3]

Kind of impressed they'd do so much for a 11 year old vehicle.

Never owned one, several co-workers have and drove over 150,000 miles before they traded them in. Never heard many complaints.

Maybe they are trying to make up for their lack of doing anything on the transmissions problems of their Windstars.

 

[IDoDis]

We had a Windstar too long ago. NEVER again, never Ford again! At about 100K miles the engine died. Just died. This was 2003 or 2004.

I can't remember what year it was though.

Dawn

F-O-R-D = Found On Road Dead

Never again here, either. Saved money on initial purchase vs getting a Toyota Sienna (which is what I really wanted), but spent wayyy more in repairs than I ever dreamed would be possible. Learned my lesson.

 

[SeaSpray]

I finally got the recall notice in the mail a week ago. I'm going to call the service department of the closest Ford dealer, tomorrow morning. I just spoke to someone at the dealership (the service dept was gone for the night) and he explained everything. Basically, what he said is exactly what all of you are reporting. He said that it seems to be about 50% of the vans that have the bad axle. They currently have 95 vans waiting for the new axles to come in, and he said it's currently about a 3-month wait. He also said that if the axle is ok, they will install braces or brackets, plus epoxy, and it would be done the same day that they inspect it.

If they need to keep it, he said that Ford will call Enterprise for a rental, and they will bring a vehicle right over. I asked him if I could get a minivan, and he said that as long as Enterprise has them in stock, then it would be included. All costs are covered. With winter hitting my area now (South of Boston), I really want to get my van in and checked out. He said I could probably bring it in tomorrow which is great because I have off of work for the next 5 days.

I just bought all new tires for my van, it has very low miles and is in excellent shape, so I'm hoping that my axle is ok.

 

[snowqueenof3]

I posted on my 2003 Ford Windstar in July 2008 when the transmission went out while we was on vacation. It had under 50,000 miles on it. Talked to Ford Motors on it and they would not stand behind their faulty transmission. If our transmission went out while we was driving on the highway we could of caused an accident. Now the recall on the van with in only having 58,000 miles on it. It has also had problems with the drivers side sliding door not coming unlocked and until recently didn't have heat in it because of a vent problem. I don't like the idea of them holding my van hostage and only giving me book value on it. After spending $3000 on a transmission and new tires on it, I need to drive it awhile longer to get my money out of it. After the transmission problem, my driveway is full of Chevy vehicles EXCEPT this Ford van.

 

[wdw_girl_18]

We took our windstar in this monday and the back axle was cracked. The mechanic said it could have caused a deadly car accident. We have a rental car that ford is paying for (small sports car....) They said it could be a month or more as parts are in production. They were originally supposed to buy the car back if the axle was cracked, but I guess ford decided to make the parts.

As others have posted, our transmission went on our 2004 windstar last year. My car was still under warranty so they replaced it.

 

[scrapquitler]

My husband is at our dealership with the 2002 windstar right now, waiting to find out if they can do the repair now or if I need to get a rental. I"m really hoping that they fix it...we just spent $1200 on repairs in November, and I'd hate to have them buy it from me at this point...the buyout would probably not be much more than what I just paid in repair costs, I'd much rather be able to drive it for 6 more months before I have to buy something else.

 

[scrapquitler]

I posted yesterday that my DH was at the dealership with our van, waiting to hear the verdict. Well the verdict was in....the rear axle on our van was fine, no cracks. They did the repair, and I have my van back. I'm happy because I don't feel like I wasted all that $$ on the starter, tires and fixing the heat last month, and I'm under no pressure to buy a new car or deal with a long term rental.

My FIL actually used to work at the dealership where we got our van. The service manager told my FIL that they've looked at several dozen Windstars so far for this recall, and our van was only the second one they've seen that didn't have the crack in the axle.

 

[klj27]

I posted yesterday that my DH was at the dealership with our van, waiting to hear the verdict. Well the verdict was in....the rear axle on our van was fine, no cracks. They did the repair, and I have my van back. I'm happy because I don't feel like I wasted all that $$ on the starter, tires and fixing the heat last month, and I'm under no pressure to buy a new car or deal with a long term rental.

My FIL actually used to work at the dealership where we got our van. The service manager told my FIL that they've looked at several dozen Windstars so far for this recall, and our van was only the second one they've seen that didn't have the crack in the axle.

You might want to double check that they did the repair. We were told that the "fix" wouldn't be available until early next year and that we would receive another letter from Ford when we can take it in for the recall the second time.

 

[luvmy3]

I posted yesterday that my DH was at the dealership with our van, waiting to hear the verdict. Well the verdict was in....the rear axle on our van was fine, no cracks. They did the repair, and I have my van back. I'm happy because I don't feel like I wasted all that $$ on the starter, tires and fixing the heat last month, and I'm under no pressure to buy a new car or deal with a long term rental.

My FIL actually used to work at the dealership where we got our van. The service manager told my FIL that they've looked at several dozen Windstars so far for this recall, and our van was only the second one they've seen that didn't have the crack in the axle.

I'm glad you got good news
My SIL's dealership has had the opposite of your FIL, there have only been a few with cracked axles and most were fine.

ETA Our heat had issues too, and it turns out it is a very common problem in the windstar for the heat door actuator to break because of its cheap plastic part. Luckily dh can fix most things so he took care of that one, the transmission was another story.

You might want to double check that they did the repair. We were told that the "fix" wouldn't be available until early next year and that we would receive another letter from Ford when we can take it in for the recall the second time.

The fix for the cracked axle won't be in until then. If there is no crack found they reinforce the axle with brackets and epoxy and can be done the day you bring it in.

 

[klj27]

Great. They told us Ford didn't have the brackets or way to even do the reinforcements yet and that would also come after the first of the year.

 

[luvmy3]

Great. They told us Ford didn't have the brackets or way to even do the reinforcements yet and that would also come after the first of the year.

Things could have changed since I was told that, I haven't brought my van in yet so maybe they will tell me that now.
I wonder if they expected more of them to be cracked so they didn't have enough supply of brackets to cover the ones that weren't. Also, I don't see why they couldn't try to get them from another dealer.

 

[scrapquitler]

You might want to double check that they did the repair. We were told that the "fix" wouldn't be available until early next year and that we would receive another letter from Ford when we can take it in for the recall the second time.

I dunno DH and FIL were telling me about it, and when they talk cars to me it all sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher talking wah wah wah... They said something about epoxy and something to reinforce something since there was no crack, and that if it was cracked the parts wouldn't be ready for another month or two. I figure I did my part,. its documented that the did whatever they did. If I'm driving around and the wheels fly off and I end up dead, DH will have a good lawsuit and live happily without me.

 

[scrapquitler]

I'm glad you got good news
My SIL's dealership has had the opposite of your FIL, there have only been a few with cracked axles and most were fine.

My FIL said it has something to do with road salt. I think they use a lot of salt where we are, mabye not so much where you are?

ETA Our heat had issues too, and it turns out it is a very common problem in the windstar for the heat door actuator to break because of its cheap plastic part. Luckily dh can fix most things so he took care of that one, the transmission was another story.

The blender valve. The darn thing clicked continually when the vent, heat or ac was on. I had lots of AC, no heat.


The fix for the cracked axle won't be in until then. If there is no crack found they reinforce the axle with brackets and epoxy and can be done the day you bring it in.

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