I'm glad to hear you had good luck with your Windstar, however, I must respectfully disagree with your opinion of this being a good car.

Just based on the reviews from this very site, you can tell that this is not a quality vehicle. My own experience tells me that this is not a quality vehicle. My 2003 Windstar was nothing but problems, costing me over $6,000 in repairs for the 3 years that I owned it. These repairs included: A starter, an alternator, the upper intake manifold, and another alternator AND another starter. It was always having electrical problems (the interior lights had a mind of their own, and the gauge cluster worked periodically).

I tried many different Ford dealerships and was treated poorly by all of them. Towards the end, it needed a new transmission, however I managed to limp it along for another 3,000 miles or so by shifting manually through the gears (it just wouldn't shift automatically anymore, and it slammed into 4th gear after screaming at 5,000 RPMS. I couldn't shift manually into that gear unfortunately.)

I was going to get the transmission replaced, however, the final straw came at around 98K miles, when the multi-function switch failed and caused my windshield wipers to run all the time. Ford wanted $1800 to replace it. I refused to pay so much for such a simple part and replacement. The dealership then began talking about me buying a new car! I told them I would not be buying a Ford ever again.

I got into my Windstar and limped it a mile down the road to the Honda dealership. Bought a CR-V, and with over 50K on the clock, haven't had a single issue. In fact, just a few months after my purchase of the CR-V, I found out there was an open recall for many Ford vehicles including the Windstar for a faulty cruise control switch, which could overheat and ignite the brake fluid in the reservoir, causing the vehicle to CATCH ON FIRE, and that this could happen hours after driving the vehicle. I'm glad I got rid of that van before it hurt or killed somebody or burned my house down.

By the way, I'm also interested in how you managed to get a 4.0L engine in a Windstar, as it was only offered with a 3.8L V6.

The car was nearing the 100K mile mark and you are complaining about a $1000 outlay? You could do worse. Like the transmission on these cars that may go at around 100K miles. Praise yourself lucky. A 6 year old cars is not a new car. You have to repair these. Yes, the Windstar is not the best car ever built, but not the worst either. If you want zero repairs; buy a new car.