Interior room and ride.

Engine, transmisson, intermitant wiper, rear wiper arm.

Had purchased Winstar new but had less than 80,000 miles. Use for service vehicle for computer company. Very little in town driving. Mostly interstate mileage. At 123,000 miles 1 cylinder hydrauliced from a leaking head gasket which caused the connecting rod to twist and bend. I am 42 years old and have worked on and owned many cars and trucks. I have seen very few if any vehicles that have this type of problem at only 123,000 miles. Sounds like to me that Ford still has not corrected the problem with the 3.8L engine. Luckily I can do the in frame repair myself for the company that I work for. Just changing the head gasket would have cost our company around 1,600.00 dollars. I have not abeen impressed with this vehicle. We had not owned it very long before the transmission went out. We purchased a extended warranty on it luckily. In less than 30 days later the transmission that Ford had put in it went out again. If you are looking for a Minivan I would not recommend the Winstar.

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full size E150 cargo van

Roomy, Good Gas Mileage (20-22) reliable.

Small Gas Tank (limits range), Interior Road Noise, Uncomfortable Seats, Big Turning Radius

We purchased our 98 Windstar new from the dealhership and have had great service from it until today. Previously, it would downshift from 2nd to first. The Ford dealership told us that it was normal and that it needed transmission fluid change and it corrected the problem. Two days ago, it shifted so hard from 1st to 2nd that the tires chirped from the extra torque. The check engine light immediately came on. I took it to a Mr. Transmission. As I pull into the parking lot I noticed smoke. I get out and notice a drip of tranmission fluid under the van. About that time the drip turns into a drain. Torque Converter failure to the tune of $1,200. I hope after reading all the forums that it will be my only problem. Otherwise, we have been very satisfied with it.

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Everything, from the cup holders to the rear vented windows. I'm upset they stopped production of this van. ( not a fan of the freestar )

Could use a little more interior room like the dodge but i could live with it, better then having a dodge,lol

Never thought myself to be a minivan person but at the age of 28 married with a 2 year old this van is heaven sent, leather heated seats, Video system, Power Everything who could ask for more. I bought this after I handed in my 2002 explorer one year early (that truck, stay away from, I filed lemon law and won!!) The Service department at toms ford is ABOVE AND BEYOND what I have ever dealt with that is the main reason i went with another ford after the lemon. I have read all the reviews, and I have to say, im not sure they are driveing the same van!

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none Similiar, 2000 Dodge intrpid, 2002 explorer, 1994 Ford SHO

Steers and handles nicely quiet operation on highway

Fog Lamps are Hard wired to the Head light switch, Parking lamp position, and Cannot be switched off by vehicle operator In Park position, Nor on High beam, nor on low beam ( poor design for parking and meeting uncoming traffic) Portrays too much light for others. Especially in clear weather. Unit requires installation of an illuminated,Dash Mounted, fog lamp control switch to improve vehicle safety

This is a nice vehicle to drive and own

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1960 1/2 ton 1963 1/2 ton, 1986 station wagon 1988 station wagon all Ford or mercury

Powerful engine, good handling, roomy, good interior and well laid controls

heavy seats, big turning radius.

I'm very satisfied with the van, for 8 years old vehicle it's doing very well. I don't understand why Windstars have poor rating in reviews, mine was never towed and I have to bring it to a mechanic once a year for some repair other than maintenance. for last 4 years I had to replace a serpentine belt with tensioner, some sensor in exaust system, front weel tie rods and that's about it. I think that for 1996 Windstar was a best minivan, big powerful, comfortable and it has good handling.

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Roomy

TRANSMISSION!, REAR A/C, ELECTRIC DOORLOCKS, REAR SEATBELTS, INTERIOR LIGHTS.

I am very dissappointed with this van. I just had to put in a transmission ($2600.00) Of course Ford won't own up to the problems with the transmissions. But my son had a 95 Ford Taurus and so did my room mate. Both of them had to have transmissions but in. The trans. guy told me that on averg. he replace 3 ford transmissions a week! on Taurus's and Windstars. The other problems are that the door lock (elec.) don't work. The rear air doesn't work. The interior lights stay on. and the seat belts in the back are not working. Now since I have had the Transmission fixed it is stalling when I stop. But of course that is not Fords problem or the Transmisson shops problem either. I just had a tuneup on it 3mts. ago. But they say I should take it in for another one. I think that as much money as the Ford Corp. has they should be able to make a solid vehicle. Especially since this vehcile is FAMILY oriented. I only have 6 more payments left on this one and then I will purchase something that is not made in the USA. That is a Shame. Ford should come forward and read what people are saying about their products.

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Would be a decent driving van if it could stop falling apart.

leaking gasket, blown engine at 90k, transmission problems. Two most expensive parts were designed poorly.

Do NOT buy this van. Family transporter but you can not leave town with it and feel safe. Some dealers will not accept it as a trade in due to the problems with the Intake Manifold gasket leaking coolant into the engine and mixing with oil. Transmission problems consist of a clunking noise when you are driving down the highway. I hear they too have a tendency for premature death. Interior lights stay on periodically expecially if you have an oil change place grease the doors. Windshield has cracked three times with small road debris. Must be thin. Knocking noise and shimmy from under the passenger side floor turned out to be a piston rod that shot through the oil pan at 55mph and 90K. Luckily the oil shooting out behind me did not kill someone or catch fire. Paint job is poor and peels, also has some strange shadows in it. Like a poor mix of red. Odemeter went out at 42K and shoots up and down so you have to guess your speed. Ford recalled all of their 95 and 96 windstars for the engine problems but nothing that I can find on the 97. Mine was F.ound O.n R.oad D.ead again Friday smoke everywhere. Hate this car, hate ford for not caring about safety in a family vehicle and am disgusted with how little pride todays cars are made with. Engineering and no support from the automakers after they hear of complaints. I did an internet search on Ford's gasket problem and it came up with 20,100 hits of various web sites with complaints of the windstar!!!!! But Ford says they have never heard of this problem before. William Clay needs to stick to "playing" football with the lions team he owns instead of helping destroy the company his grandfather built. Boy would he be ashamed to see it now. I am totally disgusted with the lack of responsibility this company takes for their lackluster product.

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Always owned ford cars. Will try foreign car maker now after 20 years. I can't afford to keep the Fords wealthy any longer at my expense.

Roomy

Hmmm...haven't found it yet...(hope I won't find it anytime soon lol)

I think I've been lucky that I never drive those luxury cars, because it makes me to think that this Windstar is a blessed for me :) So far I like this van, we only have one baby and sure it left alot of room for three of us. I don't really know about the engine to tell you the truth but this van sounds very smooth (I hope it will last forever that way), drive really smooth too. The only thing that bother me is I have to use pillow cushion when I'm driving. I don't have the power seat on this van, and I'm short (I'm an asian, but I think I'm tall enough compare with asian women lol), so if I don't use the cushion I cannot see the nose and it makes me uncomfortable when I drive. But after put a cushion problem solved.

Dual sliding doors, excellent safety ratings.

Several recalls on electrical-types of problems, road noise, mileage, transmission, uncomfortable seating, lack of storage

Don't buy this vehicle!!! The resale value is terrible! We just got rid of it... finally, but we took a huge hit. We couldn't get more than $6,000 for it. We had nothing but problems with it... it's been recalled several times, which is annoying, and we've had to have the brakes and air conditioner replaced. The road noise was awful... you literally could not carry on a conversation while driving down the road. It had several annoying rattles that no one could ever quite find, and the transmission would slip periodically, especially when accelerating quickly. We purchased this when we started our family because at the time it had the best safety ratings of any mini-van.... we always felt very safe in it, but we always feared what repair bill or recall notice was coming next. It was roomy in the front seats, but completely lacked any storage of any kind. Also, the seats were very uncomfortable. There was ample leg room in the middle row, and lots of cupholders, but the 3rd row offered no legroom, and was difficult to get in and out of. The 3rd row seat is HEAVY. No mom I know is strong enough to remove that seat by herself. It really is a 2-person job. And it's inconvenient that it doesn't just fold down. The turning radius was terrible, and the mileage was terrible!

Very spacious inside.

Poor electrical system, poor gas mileage, and poor braking system.

They say that your vehicle is the second biggest investment you'll ever make. What a big error I made when I purchased my 1996 Windstar. So far we have had 4 new wheel bearings for the front passenger side, complete brake system more times than I care to mention, rear & front wiper motors, new radiator, new water pump, electrical problems which include the fact that the vehicle is always live in that without the ignition switch on the windows will roll down, the interior light stays on, the speedometer needle flips around (costing me three tickets for speeding), Completely new ignition system, cigarette lighter sockets won't work, reverse lights don't work on many occasions, 4 brand new batteries in less than a year, new vehicle speed sensor, new transaxle sensor, and it overheats a lot of the time. Many more problems too numerous to go on. Whenever we've asked the dealer about these problems they tell us they've never heard of the problem before and we're still left with not knowing for sure how to cure the problem. Just trial and error. Am I pleased that I bought this vehicle? Definitely not. I can't sell it because I'm still making payments on it. I'm fortunate in that I have a mechanic on hand to put most things right or else I would've spent more than the vehicle is worth just on labor. I wouldn't recommend this vehicle to anyone, especially if they want a reliable vehicle

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