Passenger and plenty of cargo space. With the center captain chairs and rear bench seats removed, there is 106" of length from the front seat backs to the rear hatch. I have transported furniture and plenty of vacation travel luggage and items bought on trips without any problems. Going through mountains in upstate NY and through the Great Smokies caused NO problems whatsoever. The dual A/C works good. It is rear-drive with 155 hp (doesn't sound like much but surely does the job well).

At 150,000 miles and at 193,000 miles had to replace an alternator. At 170,000 miles had to replace A/C hoses, but the compressor and evaporator are still originals. These are the only problems I've had. I had my trusted mechanic check the entire van out recently to give his advise on it's over-all worthiness and he said it is still in great shape -- steering, drivetrain, etc. I just need to replace the tailpipe and muffler, which are original. There is no driver side slider door, as in the newer minis, and the rear bench seat is heavy to remove. However, since the seatback folds flat to make a "bed", I can tumble it forward against the second row captain chairs to increase the cargo area and still have the seat if needed. It may not be as handy as the Odyssey's hidden bench, but it does the trick.

This review is for an Aerostar, for those of you who may be considering a great used minivan. I bought a new XLT extended with all the options in March of '95 and now I have 194,000+ miles on it. It has plenty of room, rides very good, and still has no rattles and plastic parts rubbing together sounds. This has been the best vehicle I've ever owned with basically no problems.

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No minivans but a 1977 Impala wagon and a 1984 Caprice wagon (which was always in the shop for repairs, often for the same problem). I will never even consider another GM product since the Zone Office

The vehicle seats 5 persons adequately

SEE "REVIEW SUMMARY"

Purchased '00 Windstar less than 90 days ago & put approx. 5200 miles. The PART & REPLACEMENT LIST is too long to share although here's a few: filter & gasket, new fluid, servo o-wring, seal fo servo pisto, gasket int band, seal rev. band, oil pan & gasket, kit trlrcon wring, r & r cap due to crack, front brake pads. LAST & MOST RECENT: the POWER STEERING RACK & PUMP are being replaced in the morning! NOW, for the condensed list of PART REPLACEMENTS that I was not made aware of upon my purchase of the van:hose assembly for power steering pressure, vacum line replaced, HUB & bearing asembly, rear wiper arm, wiring assembly a/c/b/m, etc ... need I continue?

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none

Hey, BrianB28_88@yahoo.com, you contacted me about my review, and I tried to write you back, but your email bounces. Please contact me again and include a valid email so I can give you more information, thanks.

I don't have it anymore.

My grey matter when I bought it.

Bought the van new in 1995....the first mistake. It had a couple of recalls that we received letters on and had it fixed. But then at just 76k miles the head gaskets started leaking.....my mechanic informed me that Ford had a recall on these with the Windstar. Of course I called Ford immediately and they informed me that the recall had "expired" ... I never received notification of the recall. This is poor business by Ford in an enviornment when they should be doing everything possible to keep customers. This machine is a faulty piece of pooh.

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Chevy Suburban now...love it.

Engine was strong.

Reliability.

Was an excellant vehicle for the first 2 years, then all hell broke loose! Very hard 1-2 shift at slow speed, this was repaired under warranty and covered under Ford TSB 983580. Then I noticed that all the paint was flaking off the top of the rear liftgate. Drivers side rear shock broke, fixed under warranty. Tie rod ends replaced at 40K at my expense. 25 gallon gas tank still has 6-9 gallons of gas left in it when gauge reports empty, this is covered in Ford TSB 97B17 but I've not had my fixed. Then there was the stalling problem. Lifting off the throttle when approaching a stop sign or durning a slow speed left hand turn caused the engine to die. This problem is covered in Ford TSB 5271. I paid $120 to have that fixed. Then there was the passenger side power window. It stopped working and it cost me $100+ to have it fixed. Last but not least, the BIGGEE! After 4.5 years and 55,000 miles the head gasket in my Windstar decided to allow coolant to fill one of the cylindars. While attempting to start the van the coolant in the cylindar would not allow the piston to reach TDC and resulted in a bent connecting rod and total lower end failure. Dealer wants $3250 to replace the engine. Currently in negotiations with Ford on repairs. This van isn't even fully paid for! I still have 4 more payments to go and it's already dead! I highly suggest the public NOT buy a 1994-1998 Windstar with a 3.8L V6!!!

Roomy. Nice looking. Captains chairs are nice.

Reliability.

I have a 98 Windstar. This is the worst vehicle I have ever owned - but hey its a minivan. To be fair, it has never left me on the road so thats good. However, it has some annoying reliability problems. Sometimes it stalls for no apparant reason. The electronic door locks do not always work on the side door. The door ajar light is ALWAYS on and because the rear door is ajar the interior lights always stay on until a 45 minute time out has elapsed. Had a new transmission at 50,000 km. Has an engine squeak that was fixed and then was back a week later. Transmission shifts hard and if on an incline the move from park to drive sounds real "tinny" and cheap. Engine has a ugly "whine" when accelerating. On the positive side these are cosmetics, not problems that leave you stranded on the road. Mechanically its ok and has the 5 star safety rating. The van has tons of room for kids and stuff and its nice that the seats can be easily removed. I have also driven a Dodge Caravan and would still recommend a Windstar over the Dodge if you are looking for a minivan. Just beware that these are not BMW's and you'll have to put up with the annoying little problems.

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Dodge Caravan.

The mini van design is great for families.

POOR CONSTRUCTION OF ENGINE TO TRANSMISSION

The head gasket blew and the transmission has been replaced at our cost. Now the engine is blown for the 2 time.

It is very fast. It's safe. It has a good ride and is comfortable.

It is too loud and the muffler has too much hum to it. It has bad handling.

It has been very good to us in the past four years. It is fast, has good acceleration, and is safe. Also, it is good in the snow.At 36,000 miles we had a Tranny leak from the careless workers at monroe muffler. Then at 40,000 miles we had to get new tires and front brakes. Also at 40,000 miles we had a tune-up to correct problems with stalling and while it was at the shop we told them to replace the tranny fluid and the coolant system flushed. Then at 45,000 miles we had the problem with the light staying on and the Bing Bing Bing noise, but that has yet to reoccur. And now with 63,000 miles we need to get a new power steering pump. I has been very good so far.

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A 96 Ford Windstar that fell apart after a year of use. We then bought the 98 in the winter of 97.

Large and heavy Smooth ride enough power*

*This engine prone to HG failure. Ford knows this and should should step up and make good whenever they blow. I have a Volvo with 200,000 miles without a HG failure. The HG problem is either a design flaw and or defective HG material. Seat comfort not that great minor electrical glitchest

We bought a used 95 Windstar mainly because of its size as we needed to mount an external lift for an electric scooter due to a family member with MS. The stock rear springs were replaced with vari-rate springs and adjustable air bags were added as the only modification to accomidate the approx. 500 lbs of added wt. behind. It handles well and I have not experienced the "tire eating" problem spoken of by some. The engine did its thing by blowing a HG at 50,000 miles. The Ford dealer said " Have it towed around back and have them park it with the other 10 waiting on new engines". I didn't intend to let them do the work anyway but was only seeing if Ford planned to help defray the costs. They said no at that time. I had the work done at an automotive machine shop to the tune of $710. for everything. Its now been 80,000 miles without another problem. A year later, I recv'd the extended warrenty info from Ford and they sent me check for $710. to cover the repair. I service everything myself religiously including the tranny yearly (about a 45 min job and the service kit costs about 15 bucks) and it shifts so smooth you can only tell when it shifts by watching the tach. I place a magnet in the power steering reservoir and replaced the PS fluid with Mobile 1 synthetic ATF. I've asked a couple of Windstar owners if they service the transmission and all have said,"I didn't know I was supposed to". The van does have some minor irritations and minor electrical flaws but it has been a good vehicle for us. It's large and heavy and rides quite well, especially on interstate driving but the seats aren't that great. u

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Engine power/torque Excellent ride quality Beautiful van, best looker on the market by far- but that is subjective. Dual sliding doors Dual sound system Lots of cup holders, and plastic bag holders in the rear bench seat back.

Engine noise, vibration, & harshness Needs a rear bench that folds into the floor like my father's 2000 Oddessy Sound system has a lot of saturation in the upper frequencies at moderate/high volumes- no excuse for that.

Traded in our 125,000+ mile 95 Windstar GL on the 2000 LX. The 95 blew the head gaskets at 120,000, and of course Ford would do nothing to help us. I fixed it myself rather than pay a dealership $1700- it cost me $400 for tools and parts (was on vacation, all my tools were at home, I bought a new set of Craftsman). I got what I expected out of Ford. The 2000 is a rocket compared to the 95. I think the 3.8L gained 60 hp for the 96+ model year. The engine is a goot bit harsher though. I wish Ford would drop the 3.0L Duratech into the Windstar. That engine could easily match or surpass the aging 3.8L in power and torque, and be much smoother in the process (same engine used in the Escape). Come on Ford, the 3.8L is almost the last pushrod engine you still put in new motor vehicles (the 4.0L in the Explorer is still pushrod also?). Given the 3.8L's poor quality track record, Ford should drop it like a hot potatoe. The 2000 has a good deal better build quality than the 95. The ride is much improved, and it seems to handle the corners better despite being heavier. the dual sliding doors are a must (we have 4 kids). I would have preferred the video entertainment system (not an option, we bought it used with 18,500 miles), but the ability to let the kids listen to their tapes on the headphones while the wife and I listen to CDs is a definite plus. Ford needs to revamp the video entertainment system so that the in-dash CD player doubles as a DVD player, and still place a VHS player in the center console. Face it, sometimes the kids want to watch their Disney movies (VHS), and sometimes we want to watch movies that we only own on DVD. Ford also needs to add a TV antenna and tuner (the VHS VCR could provide this) so that we can watch TV while on vacation. Listen up Ford, you take these suggestions and you will have one-up on the competition. The sides of the seat bottoms are very soft- they offer no support. The 95 had better seat bottoms, even after 125,000 miles. The 95 was overall good quality, other than the head gasket fiasco. It even had the original exhaust and suspension when we traded it in, though the front suspension needed replacement. The speedometer was also broken- another part like the head gaskets that was defective from the factory & which Ford refuses to stand behind.

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1995 Windstar GL