The radio is pretty good. Spacious.

Build quality, commitment to customer service, honesty and integrity of the Ford corporation and the dealer network. Reliability. Nearly every component from the wiper motor, alternator, intake manifold, ABS system and most sensors have had to be replaced all at my expense. This is really a pretty poorly manufactured vehicle. We only have about 65k miles and it is falling apart.

This has been a pretty poor performer. Our experience has not been good with Ford's customer service. The van has had problems with the engine intake, door ajar sensors, and brakes. Reading posts online confirm our experience that these issues are widespread. even one of the techs at the dealer told us they have seen an extraordinairy number of transmission and intake problems. The dealer on the other hadn acts like this is the first one they've every seen that has had any problems. We cannot even get a return phone call from Ford. We've essentially turned this into a pickup since we are fortunate enough to own several other cars. We have a VW, an Audi and two Toyotas. Our experience with these vehicles is completely opposite that of our Ford. In fact we were interested in the Ford equivilent of each of our other vehicles, I really want to support American Companies, but our poor experience with Ford's commitment to quality drove us to experiment with other manufacturers. I would say it would be take an something exceptional to cause me to put any trust in Ford again. We too are X plan buyers but I will pay more for quality, customer service and integrity.

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We've driven nearly every competitors equivilent since purchasing this vehicle and have bought 4 new cars since iover a 5 year span. Not one of which is a Ford. Hey Ford guys wonder why you are nearly bankrupt. Call your exisiting customers back once in awhile and try to make them happy.

Roomy, nice ride, comfortable

poor quality, not reliable, poor customer service from Ford

I purchased this van used with 160,000km on it. The van worked great for the first year but then things started to go wrong. First the head gasket costing $1,300.00, then the transmission about 1 month later costing $2,500.00 (used installed). Our door ajar lights sometimes comes on and Ford has no idea why. Everyonce in a while the warning lights (airbag, abs, low washer fluid, door ajar,brake light) all come on at the same time for about 30 seconds. Now my speedometer and cruise quite intermintelly and the check engine light comes on. I have it in the garage right now and they can not figure out why. As soon as I can I am going to trade it off and never by a Ford again. I d not reccomend any Ford mini vans at all.

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Ford Explorer (piece of crap)
Ford Tauris (piece of crap)
Buick Centry (great car)

Looks like a champ. Feels big, roomy and safe. Has all the bells and whistles; back up sensors, seat warmers, VCR, side sliding doors, leather. In other word, IT LOOKS GREAT!

Seems to "putter" a lot. Doesn't have much get up and go. Not very impressed with FORD's customer service on the times I have brought my van in. I feel like it is a real gas guzzler -- like a Pit Bull on a hot summer day. And too many exspensive things are going wrong for a 4 year old van, with low, low mileage. Mainly, electrical problems.

Absolutely loved my Windstar when I first got it. My husband and I were actually looking into getting the Ford Navigator or the Expedition. But when I saw this Limited WIndstar on the showroom floor, I fell in love. First off, let me say that we take meticulous car of our van. It is only 4 years old and I only have 19,000 miles on it because I am a stay at home Mom. The oil is changed religiously every 3 months also. Had a few minor problems from the start, a leak coming in from one of the back windows which was fixed under warranty and a few other things that my husband fixed on his own. But now, my sliding door locks work when they want to, my interior lights do not come on anymore when the doors are opened. My drivers side window will not roll down half of the time. I have taken it in twice when it happened to be working (just my luck) and basically was told that they need to SEE it not working to fix the problem. Now my problem is that my door locks go up and down on their own, lights flicker on and off and the bell goes off, all sorts of stuff, it is like a disco show in there. Scares the heck out of my kids. I didn't want to take it in because I know how expensive it will be but looks as though things are going downhill fast here, after reading many online websites and postings I am really disappointed at the lack of integrity Ford is showing. I purchased this vehicle because I wanted something safe for me and my family, with the intentions of paying it off and keeping it for a very long time, doesn;t look like that is going to happen, we keep getting new problems arising. I really don;t think I will get a Ford again, even though we're on the X plan. I think I will pay more and get a Toyota, Honda or Nissan.

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Too many to list, (husband works at a car rental)

Safety, larger cargo/rear crash zone than other minivans during this year. Had 5 star safety rating.

Could just be that it's an old van, but the gas mileage isn't that good.

We bought this vehicle used about 3 years ago. It came from Canada. That's one thing to watch out for. Rust underneath, rims will need to be sanded else you'll get lots of slow leaks in the tires. Waterpump went out as we were under warranty. Some of the computer sys is going out, like cannot always use unlock button, horn doesn't work unless car is shut off, one rear window doesn't close very well. I have felt safe with the large cargo area. No rear A/C has been a challenge. Otherwise I would probably buy another Windstar.

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Nothing just a LeBaron. After having twins & baby in back seat it was time to move up in space/safety.

Comfortable ride. Looks great, lots of room.

Electrical problems, needs lots of TLC. Gas mileage was around 20mpg. I have replaced the following non-wear items:
intake manifold gasket twice, wiper motor twice, wheel bearing, driver side door lock and window motor twice and the valve cover once. I plan to get rid of it soon. I hope they sell it for scrap! I was going to hang on to it another year, but all the normal things on a Windstar have failed except the transmission which happens to most of these vehicles, so I will not take the chance, I am going to rid myself of this vehicle. My advice: pay a little more for a Toyota or Honda van, the money you save up front on the Windstar will be consumed by repairs. Good luck.

We purchased a used windstar two years ago with 85K on it. The previous owner did all the maint. Clean, cheap! In the last two years I have sunk more than $1000 dollars in this thing.

roomy and great under warrantee

problems problems problems. if you buy one, make sure you have an extended warrantee that will be honored.

I bought this car with 11 miles on it. I loved it for the first couple of years. I only had minor problems covered under warrantee. rear window wiper and lock on sliding doors. Then when my warrantee expired we had problems. $2000.00 break job including tie rods. air compressor and the $180 tubing for it. then something cheap that reaked havoc. The cruise control switch went out. It caused abs, break light, o/d off light to come on, it made the speedometer sit on 0 and the odometer flash ----- and the ac blow hot air. 25 dollar part but a pain in the rear. Now my transmission is going out. I am tired of putting money into it and going to trade it in and buy a Toyota.

nice minivan - good comfort features

Defective head gaskets

Engine failed after 38,000 miles due to the well-known head gasket design flaw.

While this is old news I just wanted to warn everyone never to buy a Ford because Ford hides problems from customers, refuses to acknowledge that its defectiveive service procedures caused damage to vehicles, and does not honor its extended warranty.

Ford does not honor their extended service warranty terms. Ford provided a letter to Ford Windstar owners in June 1998. This letter describes a Ford extended warranty coverage Service Program, which Ford has labeled as 98M01. This extended warranty coverage was applicable to 1995 Ford Windstars and some other Ford vehicles equipped with their 3.8 liter front wheel drive engine. We owned a vehicle covered by this warranty. This warranty is not expired as it is good for 5 years or 60,000 miles. The five years has elapsed but the 60000 miles has not. The warranty does not specify “whichever comes first” or any similar conditions.
Ford refused to honor warranty.

Ford knew about its problems but hid information from its customers/Ford owners.
The service procedure, replacement components, and/or installation process used by Ford in the 98M01 service program were not adequate to prevent contamination or to ensure an effective repair. There is a strong likelihood that a subsequent failure of the replacement head gaskets resulted from inadequate surface cleaning, surface preparation, or contamination control, or that parts were damaged during the service due the use of improper tools or procedures.
The service procedure used in 2000 under the second warranty states that their internal audits have revealed problems in following the procedures. It states that some engine assemblies replaced under warranty have been found with internal contamination and that Ford states the scuffed pistons and camshaft bearing damage can result from improper engine gasket preparation.


Another service bulletin issued by Ford in January 2002 – Ford specifically acknowledges that overheating can cause a head to warp or be damaged, and that resurfacing will not correct the damage. It also has strong language against a wide range of techniques for preparing the surface because they could result in scratching and thus leaks. There are warnings against abrasives and sharp objects in capital letters for emphasis.
There were no such warnings in 1998 in the service procedure used for the plaintiff’s car. It is likely that techniques such as grinders were used when the head gasket was replaced on the plaintiff’s car in 1998 because there were not prominent warnings against their use.
There are also specific directions and materials for surface cleaners. These warnings and directions were not evident use in the 1998 procedure.
Another service bulletin issued by Ford in June 2002. This later bulletin identifies yet another potential problem associated with residue preventing an adequate seal on a new head gasket. It also has strong language cautioning against a wide range of techniques for preparing the surface because they could result in scratching and thus leaks. emphasis.
There were no such warnings in 1998 in the service procedure used for the plaintiff’s car. It is possible and likely that techniques such as grinders were used when the head gasket was replaced on the plaintiff’s car in 1998 because there were not prominent warnings against their use.

When it extended the warranty to 100000 miles and 7 years - Ford knew that its defective service procedures were the cause of engine failures but it did not mention this at all in its second letter to owners.

We experienced engine failure in 2003
(past the 7 years) but not past the 60000 miles of the first warranty (only 38000 miles on the car, which was impeccably maintained by Ford dealers through its life)

Roomey, good looking for a manivan and fairly comfortable ride.

Disappointing mechanical engineering. I've had problems with the transmission, electric doors, electric seats, intke manifolds, airconditioning, powwer steering and the alternator. A lot of stuff in onlly six years

At the risk of driving my resale value down even more; I'll air my complaint.

At 118,000 miles on this car our third transmission just quit. Ford replaced the first two under extended warantee but now I'm on my own. This one made it to almost 36,000 miles before it began to slip.

I took the car to a very good transmission shop nearby. The owner said that he repairs lots of low mileage Windstar transmissions. He said that there are some cheap low grade aluminum parts which wears out easly inside these units. He hase been replacing them with some better quality steel parts and has had no complaints or return customers....Why can't Ford do this?

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Audi A4 wagn, VW Passat, VW Golf, Nissans, and Dodge trucks.

Roominess, Adjustable pedal, seatbelt, cruising feature (I really like that).

Trying to put those darn seats in the back down. The glove compartment is so far away I can never reach it and I have long arms (?). I wish the drivers seat would go up and down so I can adjust it when the sun glare comes up.

I purchased this van because of the nice features it has. It's big, roomy, wide. It also drives well. The kids fit. My mother fits. I haven't had any problems yet although reading these reviews I'm noticing alot of dissapointed people.

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Mercury Villager

Nice looking van, very roomy.

EVERYTHING mechanically.

This is by far the WORST minivan I have ever owned! I had it for 3 days and the ignition coil went on it. After 5 days, the fuel pump. The things only has 66k miles on it, and it is nothing but garbage. I will never own another Ford as long as I live. I wouldn't even take a free one. The place I bought it from is being VERY helpful, and are paying for it to be fixed, and allowing me to bring it back for something different!

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