Thinking of getting a Windstar

Hi,
we are thinking about getting a 1999 Winstar Lx. Are they a good Minivan or do they have lots of problems?? We have a Dodge Caravan Now

Hey Luco, my mechanic has been fixing fords all his life and he sold us a 96 windstar that came into the dealership as a trade in and he fixed it up and sold it to us. All things considered it's been running fine.

He has always said there are certain years to avoid and I think the 99 is OK. Avoid anything with the 3.8 litre engine (which I think was gone by 97) and he also says to avoid 2000's because that was the year they made some major changes to the engine design and had lots of problems.

Hope that helps a little.

Almost bought one-until I did some research. Not sure about the 99 specifically but overall they were racked with some major problems. Intermittant Head gasket problems, shorts in the wiring under the hood, brake problems, and i think transmission problems. They stopped production until they could solve the problems, now virtually the same vehicle is called the freestar. Personally, I would never buy one.

DON'T DO IT! I own a 2000 Ford Windstar and Yes, it's very comfortable but mechanical issues are many and EXPENSIVE. I bought one last November and it now has 48000 miles on it. I have replaced the brakes, replaced the fuel filter, the Master cylinder, the drivers side window, the back window windshield wiper and the Transmission, which I got lucky enough to pay the low end price on that. $1550.00. I have a family of 5 that keeps us pretty much paycheck to paycheck and this van has put us in quite the financial bind. I bought this from a private seller not a dealership so I have no warranties either.>:

Thanks for the reply but we decided not to buy it.

What a piece of JUNK !!! we own a 98 (3.8 L) and this thing is nothing but PROBLEMS. The van only has 67000 miles and we replaced the transmission twice, and yesterday we were told that the rack and pinion is shot FOR THE SECOND TIME !

DON'T DO IT !

[sider68]

I own a 98 with 150,000 miles on it and haven,t had much problems at alli,ve had it since new and still hope to get a few years out of it

[gsdreams]

Originally Posted by nldas3

What a piece of JUNK !!! we own a 98 (3.8 L) and this thing is nothing but PROBLEMS. The van only has 67000 miles and we replaced the transmission twice, and yesterday we were told that the rack and pinion is shot FOR THE SECOND TIME !

DON'T DO IT !

Personally I would find a new mechanic. If they can't fix it right the first time. We own a 2003 Windstar with 57,600 miles on it. Just had a full 27 Point inspection done by the Ford Dealer, a full inspection done by an independent mechanic, and a full suspension/drive train inspection by Les Schwab. No problems found whatsoever.

ALONG WITH THIS we did the Routine maintance. FOR ANY VEHICLE TO LAST ROUTINE MAINTENANCE IS REQUIRED.

What does this mean?

30,000 Miles = Tranny Flush
3,000 Miles = Lube Oil Filter (no, not a quicky walmart oil change with no lube, pay the extra $10.00 and have it done right).
15,000 or 50,000 miles coolant flush.

And always have everything checked up about once every 25,000 to 30,000 miles to nip problems in the bud.

[dbarrows]

Don't do it. I have a 98 Ford Windstar and it costs me on average 1000.00 a year in maintenance. It is a piece of junk and undependable.

[psychpike]

See another one of my posts in this forum for a synopsis of ongoing problems. We have a '98 3.8L with 217,000 km on it (roughly 135,000 miles) and it has been a POS from day one. Sure, it's comfortable to drive in, but mechanically unsound. We have been faithful and rigorous with our maintenance as well, so I can categorically state that our failures are not due to poor maintenance. We've put out nearly $6K over the last two years and are facing another $4K in fuel system and transmission repairs. Do yourself a favour and avoid this product.