Faults:

I previously owned a 2000 ford escort bought it brand new off the lot. Never had a problem with it ever! So I thought to myself since I had such good luck with that I would be loyal to ford and go back for another. My family is growing and it was time to move up into something bigger. My credit is not all that great so the dealership wasn't able to put me in a brand new van, but they were able to put me in this 2000 wind star, which only had about 36,000 miles on it. In my mind I was thinking what could possibly go wrong with a vehicle that is such low miles? Nothing right!

Wrong, everything. Since I have bought the car in November 2003 and it is now March 2004. I have put more money into this vehicle in the past 4 months than I ever did in the complete 3 years that I owned my escort. So far I have had to do all of this.

New brakes, cost: $319.00.

New tires, cost: $230.00.

New back window, cost: $500.00.

Shattered with no reason at all.

New front head gasket, cost: $543.00, Due to a change in this head gasket by ford, but they are not doing a recall on it!! (??) Why they are not doing a recall on something that is a design flaw is beyond me. When they originally designed this head gasket it had a tiny hole in it which they have now found this is a defect and the new head gasket does not have this hole.

While it was in the shop getting the head gaskets fixed they also had to put in a new set of spark plugs, cost: $130.00, because the spark plugs in this are buried behind the engine. The spark plugs going out is also a result of this head gasket problem. Because the pan is faulty and allows the oil to sit in there it gets the spark plugs all wet with oil which in turn corrodes them and sparks them out faster than normal.

Also the rubber boots or bearing which hold the compression arms in the motor had to be replaced because they were worn, cracked, and falling off.

Upon buying the car I advised the dealership that the blower motor for the front was making a ticking noise, but they shrugged it off as nothing. Now I see on line this is a current recall on this van.

The passenger side electronic door only works when it wants to. Like it has a mind of it's own and now the only way to get it unlocked is to hit the door open button on the remote. Even when I unlock the doors from the inside this side door will not unlock. It is stuck or something, but it seems this is the least of my worries.

All of this work and repair has really soured me on buying another ford.

General Comments:

I would say in all this has been a very bad purchase. I know now with my next vehicle purchase that I will do extensive research on that vehicle before buying, before even walking into the dealership I will do this. Since this has happened I have been on line looking at all the other things people have said and the problems are all the same. If you ask me we all need to gather our paperwork along with all the information on these same problems and send them to ford. Not that I think they will do anything for us, but it should be on the books that this is an ongoing problem with this vehicle.

Faults:

At 15000 miles a cylinder went bad. Ford replaced the engine under warranty with no problem.

At 24000 miles the torque converter went bad. Ford replaced under warranty, but it took 3 trips to dealer to diagnose.

At 40000 miles the brake light would come on intermittently. As the car was leased and not covered under warranty, I did not repair it.

The plastic on the interior is very flimsy and several pieces came loose or broke off.

General Comments:

I had intended to purchase this car at the end of the lease, since I had previously owned an Aerostar which was extremely reliable. After three years, I did not feel that this car was going hold up very well over a long period of time.

I returned it to the dealer and purchased a '97 Aerostar, which has a lot more room inside, and the seats are easier to remove. It may not be as car like as the Windstar, but it suits my needs.