Faults:

Head Gasket is going bad at 58,201 miles.

Horrible Gas mileage--approx 17 mpg--with a complete tune up, proper air pressure in the tires, etc. My previous van got approx 21.

This is a nickel and dime you to death vehicle, although its 100's and 100's. I've had this vehicle for 7 weeks and thus far have put $400 into it for some basic maintenance. Now I have a head gasket going, and was quoted at starting price of $800, if the head isn't warped or cracked, which probably it is (according to the mechanic). He told me it may be cheaper in the long run to put a used motor in it. I have read so much online about the head gaskets in the 1995's being awful (class action suits against Ford) and they finally did something about it, but nothing has been done about the 96's.

My Dodge Grand Caravan (1997) had the tranny go at 118,000 miles, here I have this POS with 58,000 miles with a blown head. No more Fords for me!!!

Faults:

Dome lights stay on, causing a dead battery.

Check engine light on, despite changing sensors.

Speedometer jumps badly over 50 mph.

General Comments:

Very comfortable, but with all of these problems, I'm not too sure I would buy Ford again.

Faults:

Virtually nothing.

Brakes at regular intervals. Very typical.

Engine work has been minimal.

New serpentine belt, new idler pulley. Easy to install both...

General Comments:

Been a terrific vehicle, would have recommended a new one to most people, except of course Ford doesn't make it anymore. Worst feature is (was) low MPG, but for a 1996 vehicle. Comfortable ride, not too noisy, been a real workhorse for us.

Faults:

This has been a great van so far. We haven't put much money into it. I probably just jinxed myself.

We were having problems with it running rough or stalling when backing up, but found out that if you clean the ports in the top of the engine, and clean out the carbon, it takes care of it for quite awhile.

My wipers don't work on high.

The speedometer hasn't work in probably 7 years.

Now the door ajar is chiming and the dome stays on for awhile. Goes off after about 2 minutes.

The front end does make noise. My hubby is too lazy to put in the new stabilizer pins. Put on new ball joints, and the steering is whining.

Other than that, it still runs great and looks not too bad. A little rust on the passenger side by the rear fender well, but other than that, it has been a great vehicle.

Faults:

I had just made it to Virginia from NY for a vacation, and the car died. The ignition coil and module needed to be replaced. I ended up giving it to charity. Too expensive to fix.

Recently, I've had to replace the ERG valve at 125,000 miles.

I replaced the gem module at 85,000.

The brakes system needed constant attention/repair.

The key ignition had to be replaced 2x.

The door ajar alarm constantly went off.

General Comments:

The brakes constantly squeaked and locked up.

Too much money to upkeep and repair.

Van was not reliable.

The cabin was roomy however...

Faults:

The car threw a rod at 66,000 miles, the rod broke, even though the bearing did not seize up and oil flow was normal. The check engine light is always on. I had to replace a cracked timing chain cover 5,000 miles ago, however the engine still overheats, and leaks coolant all over the ground. I now have a misfire code for #3 cylinder. This engine only has 30,000 miles on it. All efforts to correct it have failed. Must tear down engine.

General Comments:

The van does high speeds very well. It carries a lot. I find I spend more time watching my temperature gauges more than I watch the road. I sweat every backup on the road, and run the heater full blast even in 90 degree weather. I love the body and the color and being able to see everything around me.