Quiet, smooth ride, good handeling.

This is a high maintenance vehicle. Seem to put money into it on a regular basis. Head gasket went out at 95,000 miles. I eventually got reimbursed by Ford. Now at 110,000 miles, the tranny is ready to go - $2000 fix. Two sensors had to be replaced, washer fluid on wiper stalk doesn't work, cheap pull-out cup holders have both broke, and front brake rotors seem to wear too soon.

Paid $11,200 for the lemon back in January of '98. Had high miles on it (68k) but was in excellent condition (little did I know). Trouble started at 95k miles with the head gasket. I have really been turned off with Ford products. The saying is true - Found On Road Dead, or Fixed Or Repaired Dailey. I will get the tranny fixed then trade it for a Honda van!

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Have a 2000 LX for a company car. A lot better than the '95, but still needs a little more refining. Have drove a '96 Grand Caravan 'Sport'. Found this to be an excellent van. Also have driven a '95 Mercury Villager which I found to be put together quit well.

alot of room. very comfortable. quiet, except w/kids in it.good a.c. good gas mileage. no major repairs yet at 83000 miles.

needs better speaker system. location of oil filter!

paid 14,000 in '98 with 55,500 miles. have put almost 30,000 more on it in 2 1/2 yrs. with no major problems. have changed oil every 3,000 miles and inspected every year. van runs great. rear seats come out easy. hope to have it for a few more years at least. i think i got lucky with it. but remember, sometimes you get stuck with a lemon and sometimes you don't.

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test drove a few others, but we fell in love with the windstar.

Very Roomy.

Piece of JUNK.
Alot of wind noise.
Transmission does not shift smoothly.
The middle and rear seats are very heavy and hard to put in and take out (almost impossibe to do by yourself).
The engine was very noisy. It was not a very "refined" engine. It was and old pushrod type engine that was noisy and did not run smoothly.
The worst part of all was the transmission leak that developed after only 30,000 miles. I noticed it was leaking and took it to my local Aamco. They told me it was leaking at the front of the transmission (where the engine and transmission come together). They said the entire transmission needed to be pulled and all of the seals replaced. This would have cost me $1300 to $1600 if it had not been coverd under the factory warrenty. Remember this vehicle is only 2 years old and has 30,000 miles on it.

I bought the Windstar used with 22,000 miles for $17,000. The worst part is that it was purchased to replace and 1994 Ford Taurus with 102,000 miles that needed a transmission.
When I sold the Windstar, I sold it (8 months and 11,000 miles later) for $13,000. You can see how well these "Ford Quality" vehicles hold thier value. We now have a 2000 Toyota Sienna which cost $26,000. I did not mind paying 50% more for a vehicle that will last at least 10 times as long as a Ford. After all, 10 times as long as 8 months is only 6 years and 8 months.
As you can probably guess, I will not buy another Ford ever again. We had the Windstar for only 8 months and it was nothing but trouble from the beginning. It was not very long ago that I said I would never buy a "rice burner". It is strange how lifes experiences can totally change our attitudes. At this point, if I never own another Ford, GM or Dodge, it will be too soon.

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2000 Toyota Sienna. Absoutly no comparasion. The difference is like night and day. The Sienna has a very smooth, refined engine and transmission. It is very quiet. The Sienna is smaller than the Windstar. But that is a very small price to pay for the smoothness, quality and relibility of the Toyota.

Roomy comfortable ride and plenty of room to stretch out

Open door sensor that would not stop even though we had it checked out. Another unexpected repair bill on vacation.

I have just purchased this vehicle this month. The purchase was intended for a much needed family vacation. Much to my surprise we were stranded due to transmission problems. Excellent ride, plenty of room but know I am very concerened about the durability of this vehicle.

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Caravan

Very easy to drive, reverse sensing system, entertainment system- TV has crystal clear picture, very safe, power operated sliding doors, lots of room

Seatbelts lock tight (as a safety feature), going from rear to drive can cause the car to jerk a small bit (no big deal)

I recommend the SEL without a doubt in my mind. This is a great van, especially with the Entertainment System. If you are looking for a mini-van, look no further.

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Much better than the '96 Windstar, performs better than the Plymouth Voyager, Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country

- Nice highway riding vehicle
- good gas mileage
- good power with the 200 HP 3.8L engine.
- comfortable seats
- lots of cargo capacity with the 3rd row removed (hauled 1000lbs of bricks and the van stayed level)
- good sound system
- good a/c system (BUT get the rear air, you will not regret it)

- steering, too much road wander
- brakes, 3 trips to the shop to remove a squeal. $600.00 touch.
- transmission, clunks when taken out of park. Also, we were on a vacation 3000 miles from home and 100 miles from a major center when the trans. decided to slip in and out of 1st and 2nd gear. Had to drive at 30 miles/hr for 100 miles to a Ford dealership. Problem was a computer chip. Had the vehicle not still been on warranty I would have had a $300.00 tab.

Ours is now 4 years old and has 74,000km (42,000 miles). We are going to "try" to get one more family vacation trip out of this vehicle next year without a major expense, then trade it for a Honda Odyssey. We purchased it in 1998 as a lease return for $18,500 Cdn. plus approx. $800.00 in unexpected maintenance. Current value today is probably $12,000 - $14,000 Cdn. If you buy one, get a low mileage unit and don't keep it too long. Major problems occur before 100,000 km (60,000 miles.)

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Dodge Caravan was a better experience. Tighter steering and brakes. Better road feel on slippery roads. Far less service issues, but the Windstar gives a smoother and quieter highway ride (so long as the trans. is working!)

Vehicle is roomy, responsive, and comfortable to drive. It has a very smooth ride and is great on the road.

Front end problems which took a while to figure out groaning noises, finally replaced tie rod ends and something in the power steering.
Transmission replaced at 51000 miles. Not expected at this low mileage.

I have bought Ford products for many years. I am concerned with the reliability of the vehicle for long term use. My 1991 Conversion Van had a transmission go at 85000 miles. Traded in for the Windstar, but the transmission went at 51000 miles. What's next, and after the extended warranty expires I will be concerned. I have researched and driven the Odyssey, which may be an excellent next choice. I would like to consider Ford an option, as well as an American car, but this reliability on major components must be fixed. A vehicle should be able to go well over 100000 miles without such major problems.

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1987 Caravan, 1991 Ford Econoline Conversion Van

Roomy, Interior is great, Quiet,

Reliability - Head gasket blew at 63K, Trans at 68K, Ford did pay for Heas gasket bu not the Trans, Check engine light goes on all the time. at 78K the transmission light came on again!

OK as long as covered by warranty or keep less than 60K miles. Not a good choice if you expect a long lasting drive/Train. My next car will be a japanease choice such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda, or Mazda.

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Mercury Villager

Roomy, attractive, powerful, reasonably good mileage. 5-star safety rating was the lure for our new family.

Front end work involving the grinding in the power steering (2 visits, 1 loaner), replacement of tie rods and other front end suspension parts. Elec window openers work only sporadically. Now, at 26,000 miles the transmission is not shifting properly and the car is revving or clunking into a lower gear when not required. The transmission always made a thunk when shifted, especially if on an incline or decline and now it appears to be on its way out. Just called Ford for service and was told I have to wait two days. Again, no loaner. They also charged us $30 for a 25 gallon tank. Only problem is that the gas gauge in the car will only read about 17 gallons. Ford discovered this mistake too late and dedcided to make it a feature rather than a problem. They decided to call it a 'high-reserve tank'. So the light goes on at 17 gallons, and you prety much have to guess how close you actually are to empty from there. Basically I am giving a ride to 7-8 gallons of gas at all times that I will likely never use because I cant risk being stuck on the side of the road w/an empty 'high-reserve tank'! (I wonder how this extra weight is affecting my mileage??) Their service department in my home town has been consistently apathetic to our concerns. Their response to our complaint one time was, "hey, we dont build 'em!", as if it was expecting too much for them to stand behind the company and product that pays their check each week. They are always backlogged at this service department and it is a two-day wait generally. This might siggest that all Fords are problematic, though I dont know for sure. The Windstar has erased favorable experiences with Tempos and Rangers. No more fords for this family, however. I'll pay more for Toyota or Honda next time.

Price was reasonable given the extremely high prices of cars nowadays, but I would not recommend this van to anybody.

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Heard good things about Caravan (family have/had them)and Odyssey and will likely choose one of those as we like having a van.

The van has plenty of room. I recently took a trip to Myrtle
Beach, and the 5 of us were quite comfortable. The van seems to
have plenty of power and gets good gas mileage as well. The
sliding doors on both sides are a PLUS too ! The stereo system
sounds good. I like the safety feature of ALL of the doors
locking when the van is put into drive. I also like the feature that
won't allow you to lock the driver's door IF the van is running !!

At times, the speakers in the doors go out. Especially when I
hit a bump or rough spot in the road. They do however, come back
on in a minute. The overhead storage compartment for the garage
door opener rattles ALL of the time.

I gave 17,000 for this van in 2000. I have heard BAD things about the
product but, I would recommend this van to others.

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