Faults:

I had this vehicle in for repairs 3 times in the first 2 weeks of ownership!

Engine overheated a couple of days after purchase (on a weekend) so we changed the thermostat. The following Tuesday, engine again overheated, leaving me stranded, towed the vehicle to dealer (my expense as the roadside assistance that was part of my warranty put me on hold for 30 minutes) head gasket was replaced by Ford motor.

The sensor on the exhaust was replaced next, then the motors on both rear windows. I never did replace the motor on the rear window wiper (too costly for such a simple part), nor did I replace the sensor on the carriage door, actually the dealer took care of the first time... the next time they refused to even work on it even at my expense. I replaced the belt at least yearly. The transmission leaked from day one. The tensioner broke also, leaving me stranded we a van load of groceries and kids... another tow at my expense. There are probably more repairs that I am forgetting.

Oh, yea... I couldn't keep air in the tires because the rims were bad.

It handled like a bus, took corners poorly, and never seemed to idle smoothly.

General Comments:

I like sitting up high and needed lots of room for family. The van was purchased without any research into the history... will never do that again.

Even for all it's faults I would still be driving if I hadn't stumbled upon the vehicle I am driving now. Once you put that much money into repairs you hate to quit and chance having the same problems on another vehicle. Basically, I felt as though I had replaced everything and therefore was comfortable that I would get to where I was going.

Faults:

The head gaskets blew about 4 months after purchase.

Open door signal/light on despite doors being closed.

Rear suspension blew.

Right power window does not work (Not lubrication) It is the window motor.

Power steering gets louder and louder. When I take it to Ford mechanics, they say it will always do that, even if I replace the power steering.

Currently, I constantly smell radiator fluid. I noticed it after the head gaskets were replaced by Ford due to a recall.

General Comments:

I want to be patriotic and say "Buy American", however Ford seems to be shooting themselves in the foot with such poorly made vehicles. What I do not understand is, mini vans are for families. I would like to think that if a motor vehicle company such as Ford made a ridiculous decision to "Cut corners", you would think that obvious family vehicles would be omitted from the list. I am not surprised after that whole tire incident a couple of years back.

Faults:

The ABS light came up and won't shut off, that's in the 1st two years we own the car (brand new), can't remember the mileage, but we were not heavy users. We brought it to the dealer, and the mechanic did a fancy electrical diagnosis on it and still can't find the problem. Of course, we spent a big chunk on that. Just so happened, one day we hit on the brake hard, emergency stop for a reckless driver cutting in front of us, miraculously the ABS light went off and stayed off for about a year. The same problem showed up again after a year, but disappeared after we added some brake fluid, then appeared again, but became fine and stayed so after we replaced the brake pad. No one can explain why the ABS light acted that way - not even the Ford dealer's mechanic, and it works fine now.

Then the head gasket blew. At first it's just some light smoke coming out from the muffler, that I thought we needed to replace one. We brought the car to a Ford dealer, and found it's the gasket that caused the problem and was advised to replace it soon. As you can see, I am not much a car person. Within 2 days, thick smoke coming from front and back of the car while I was driving from work, I have to stopped the car at roadside, and have it towed to the Ford dealer. It costed me a little over one Grand to have the gasket replaced. Luckily (or not??) I received a recall notification from Ford Manufacturer claiming the gasket design is bad and could easily causes problem in certain states with humid weather, anyhow I got a reinstatement for the part & labor for replacing the gasket, but Ford refused to reimburse us the $49.99 labor on the 1st Check-up. Well, at least we got about one grand back.

A year later, it's the Power Window. We were away for 2 months in Summer, we asked our friend to come start the car at least once a week. He did, but only drove it on the road once. Well, after we came home, the first week, the right+front passenger power window started acting funny. It's getting harder to wind it up and down. It struggled for less than 2 months and finally "died" on us. We thought it's the sizzling sun of Florida melted something inside the panel - since the car was practically left in the same spot for the whole summer, and that side was "baked" everyday. We didn't have the money to fix it, and since winter was coming, we figured we can live without it for a while. Now the Driver side window is acting up, and we are afraid to use it, and it becomes embarrassing when we pass by drive-thru, toll booth and security gates, that we have to open the door and get out to explain the puzzled guards.

After some extensive research, we think it's the problem of the bearing/plastic gear, rather than the motor itself, but still it would cost us hundred for a simple lubricating job. We want to try it ourselves. But first of all, we need to figure out how to take the door panel apart. Anyone know how?