Has been a very reliable vehicle, handles well for a minivan, gets decent mileage (about 18 mpg around town, 25 on the highway), price was very good

Could use a little more horsepower. Back window exterior becomes very dirty very quickly.

I paid $13,995 in June 1999 for a 1997 Villager with 33,000 miles on it. I highly recommend the vehicle. I was sold by the fact a Nissan powerplant moves it along.

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Windstar, Voager. Drove both before buying a Villager. Villager outperformed both, in my estimation.

Great seat comfort on long trips. Seats are high, deep, firm, and easily adjustable. Rides very smoothly and handles almost like a sedan--and seems just as quiet. Excellent fit and finish. Excellent visibility, especially when entering on-ramps. Controls are logical and easy to use. Highly flexible seating arrangements. The sliding back seat is a great feature. You can create a nice cargo area in a few seconds. The space is large enough for us to load four touring bikes, upright, without any modifications--a great convenience. Routine maintenance is very easy to perform at home. Decent gas mileage for this size and shape vehicle (about 17 mpg in metro area, 23 to 24 on the highway at 70 mph.) Dealer warranty service has been quick and done well.

Engine is not super-peppy, but I'm no hot-rodder, so it works fine for me. Removal of captains' chairs takes some getting used to, and they aren't light, but it's nice to have the flexibility. Also, these chairs are comfortable. On my first Villager ('94), the only problems were a failed heater blower (fixed quickly under warranty) and failed air-conditioner just after the warranty ran out. On this one, the remote entry control and the electronic dash control panel (heater, etc.) failed, but both were replaced quickly under warranty. Gas tank shield can rattle against tank in cold weather--a bit unnerving when you first hear it, but easily buffered or wedged.

Price was a major factor. The discounts were huge (over $7000 from MSRP) on this one. I had checked the car Websites for dealer prices and kickbacks, and couldn't believe the price (admittedly, quoted during a terrible rainstorm at closing time on the last Friday of the month). I'd strongly recommend this to anyone wanting a small van with good ride, comfort, and flexibility of use.

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Only vans I've owned have been Villagers. See no reason to try any others now.

Bought a 1993 van new and performed great for 100,000 miles.

The later models have not updated the interior enough -- a 1999 MY looks like a 1993, so I replaced my 93 with a Windstar

Excellent vehicle, great engine/trans, I only changed oil and a tie rod end and brakes over the entire 100,000 miles. I took it in for one warranty repair -- the rear window defogger stopped working on one strip.

Most reliable vehicle I have ever owned, better than the Toyota Corolla HANDS down. (Never had to tow my Villager in the 100k, towed my Corolla three times in 90k.)

Ratings are for my '93 -- I replaced my Villager with a Windstar because the interior of the Villager looked dated to me......

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'99 Windstar, '85 Vanagon

Road manners, gas mileage, smooth engine, reliable

Wind noise, dives under hard braking, needs a bit more power, a second sliding door needed

I believe the newer models have addressed most of the earlier models weaknesses. I am very happy with my Villager nontheless, it has stood the test of time, have schlepped it all over the place loaded to the gills without a whimper. It drives well and feels car like, not at all cumbersome. I would definately purchase another one eventhough my mainseal is toast at 80k, but that is not uncommon for a front wheel drive.........

Handling, styling, ease of parking, smooth relatively quiet ride.

Could use more power, but I don't carry major loads.
Only 1 side door.

If I were buying new, and needed lots of room, I would consider the Caravan or Voyager. If reliability was a factor (again, when buying new I would go with the Sienna, or possibly Honda.
This was a very clean, and low mileage lease return. It made out fine for 2 people on a 1000 mile round trip with it loaded up on the return leg.
Has had a couple of minor problems, picked up by an extended
warranty. Love the handling and ride. A little wind noise, but drive train is very quiet.
I run full synthetics in the engine and transmission, and use a K&N air filter, which makes a noticable improvement in pick up from a start.
I didn't believe it until I changed it with the original paper filter (clean) twice.
The 'premium' radio and speaker, is actually quite good. I added a 12 disk changer to complement it.
It's a nice vehicle, utilitarian, but nice enough to take out on the town.

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none

handles well, feels more like a car than a van.

Not much room for storage, even with the back seat removed. In the shop to much, and it's always something expensive: Replaced 2 fuel pumps in 2 years. injectors go bad occasionally, $400/each to replace. Rear A/C hose $800 to replace. etc. Can only remove 1 seat, the other take up too much room

recommend for someone who only needs a little more room than a car. It does have to be repaired to often, but I heard the injector problem has been fixed on replacement injectors, so usually you only need to replace them once.

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None

Good gas mileage, good stereo system. I like that the middle seat can be completely removed and the third seat can be moved up for more cargo room.

Noise in rear suspension, front end will not stay aligned, automatic door locks have gone nuts - locking and unlocking randomly; poor quality paint.

Soon after we purchased, a horrible squeaking noise developed in the rear suspension. It took 10 (no joke) visits to the dealership to get it resolved and only after I threatend to evoke the lemon law and threw about five fits in the dealership. I later learned that there was a TSB on this make/model for this problem. Dealership tried to make me think it was all in my head. I talked to everyone from Ford Motor Co. World Headquarters on down and kept getting sent back to my dealer. Ford's dispute settlement board turned down my request for a refund or a new van because they said it was out of warranty. In fact, the problem started long before warranty ran out and I had service records to prove it.

Stress crack in the windshield and had to be replaced at my expense (another TSB to the dealer), paint wore off the windshield wipers two times (dealer did repaint twice at no cost), van consistently pulls to the right even after having front end aligned repeatedly, rear brakes make horrible scraping noise (dealer says there's nothing wrong with them even though they got a TSB to them on this problem also). Now the automatic door locks lock on their own and make a loud noise from the back of the vehicle when I hit the door lock button (you guessed it, dealership received another TSB on this). Have to be careful and NEVER leave the keys in the vehicle or run the risk of having the doors lock on their own with the keys inside. Dealer says master switch needs to be replaced (also a TSB to the dealership on this problem). I have been very dissapointed in this vehicle and even more so with the dealership and their failure to acknowledge design and manufacturing problems. Once we get rid of it, I will never buy another Mercury van.

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This is the first experience we have had with a van. I love the concept but will research better before next purchase. Before this, I had a 1990 Honda Accord with 174,000 miles. Would still be driving it but had twins and needed more room.

drives like a car, smooth engine, reliable

Ford-issue turn signal lever and radio; they should have stuck with the better Nissan lever

We've had this van for two years now and have experienced virtually no problems except for a check engine light that came on a few times. We never had it looked at, but it hasn't came back on for a while now. If you're in the market for a reliable minivan, this one is definately worth a look.

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better than "pure-bred" American vans; not as good as Honda's Oddesey

-ride-drives similarly like a car-smooth and takes bumps/holes well.
-engine-nissan maxima engine (quality)
-comfort-great for looong trips as well as short ones
uphill torque-was pleasantly surprised at how this van performs uphills. we were passing cars left and right. the O/D on/off switch comes in handy.
-20-gallon tank

-needs more ponies
-wish the middle seat was lighter
-alignment - it took two alignments (drifted to left) to get neutral steering (straight)
-throttle position sensor (TPS) went out at 47K but was replaced promptly (warranty)

overall, the villager has been a reliable vehicle.

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96 dodge caravan-great power but ergonomics was the pits. middle and rear bench seats were terrible on lenghty road trips.

Extremely reliable, always starts regardless of weather conditions.
Engine does not burn oil,spark plugs in good location and easy to change.
Transmission shift very well. Nissan running gear,engine/trans.
Good Braking, ABS works well, does not engage to early or to late.
Tailgate glass opens,nice feature on the LS


Auto lamp is a handy feature when needed,great when parking at night.
Side lamps add lighting at night when turning.
Big fuel tank

#1 weakness is the noisy exhaust/manifold leak(s). fixed twice,once by previous owner,myself in 1999 I replaced all the exhaust studs, washers, bolts & gaskets. Noise is back! In my opinion this a major defect which Mercury/Nissan should be held responsible.
Sliding door is bad, will not stay open on hills, need to be careful.
Flasher/wiper lever is now going, to be replaced. very sensative, wipers sometime start when I turn. But I need to push hard if I want washer fluid.
Light bar bulbs are expensive.
Engine lacking a few horses, 151 is not enough.
Rattle noise under dash.
Gas line leak from high pressure line on fuel rail under intake manifold,
it took a few weeks before locating it, bad smell at start up.

Comfortable and easy to drive.
Did not like the GS models, lacked int' finishing and options.
purchased LS less leather.(ABS,sun-roof,keyless entry,digital dash,premium cloth,captain seats,power front seats,roof rack,dual a/c,heating,light group w/theater lighting,good radio & reception,head-rest in last row,tinted windows.) I had to intall mud flaps,after marker but perfect fit.
The O/D switch in handy. Also,the Power E-AT switch is good when the van loaded.
Purchased in 1998 96000kms, now 150000.
Would have a given this van a higher rating if not for the exhaust leak.
I only use sync 10w30 oil. Transmission fluid was replaced for synthetic.
replace airfilter used a K&N. (Another Villager onwer shared the same idea)
replaced tire size for better traction and footing 215-65x15 on stock wheels.

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caravan,o.k but less reliable. Winstar 3.8 awesome power and more room