I have a 2000 Windstar with a 3.8 Liter V-6. It has good low end torque and gets about 21 miles a gallon highway. Mine has dual-zone heater/AC. Right now it has 162,000 miles on it with a little rust under the drivers side sliding door. Otherwise the body is in VG condition; just a lot of highway miles as my past jobs required I travel from city to city where I work for 6-12 months. A close inspection shows no rust elsewhere and this is an inexpensive repair.

It has the typical (4) four problems reported by other owners:

1. Bad Speed Control Switch - It is on the master cylinder, and when it fails brake fluid leaks out. The fluid is very caustic and flammable. In my case it began with the cruise control no longer working. Then I had to add brake fluid every 2 months. I did some research, and right before I was going to replace it, it caught fire. Fortunately, I caught it before any damage was done. I bought the part for $27, and it took 30 minutes to replace. Ford finally sent me a recall notice, but I had already replaced it.

2. Drivers Side Power Window Regulator - This began with having to bang the drivers side window to get the motor to lower the window. Later it froze up. I bought a new regulator and replaced it in about 1 hour. I needed to adjust it a few times because the window was misaligned.

3. Heater Blend Door Actuator - You hear this loud clicking sound when you attempt to adjust the front heater temperature. Also you will find you can no longer set the temperature; fortunately I have a dual-zone climate control. I find if I slowly move the temperature slider it will work, but with plastic gears in the actuator I am going to replace it next week. Owners say it takes about 1 hour to replace.

4. Check Engine Light - Owners report this is a bad intake manifold gasket and the fault codes are always the same. I often use my hand held computer to clear the Check Engine Light and the problem comes back after about 2000 miles. Also, my 3.8 L V-6 needs premium fuel or else it pings; I do not know why.

5. Side Sliding Door Rollers - I am unaware of other Windstar owners having this problem. These rollers begin to seize and over time opening and closing the side sliding doors result in a "flat spot" on the roller. It will damage the finish on channel they slide along. I will replace them next week and expect it to take about 1 hour.

Automatic Transmissions - I bought this van with 75,000 miles on it and at 97,000 miles the transmission had to be rebuilt. Since Ford Transmissions are reliable an examination of the failed parts was in order. I lost the ability to engage the transmission into reverse, and could not start the van moving when in 1st gear. I knew it was the "shared 1st-gear/reverse" clutch pack shared in this automatic transmission. I also has a bad solenoid which locked up the overdrive unit placing excess stress on the inner workings of the transmission.

Upon disassembly the technician and I (I'm an engineer) examined the various parts. This includes fluid, filter, clutch packs, bands, sun/planetary gears, torque converter and valve body assembly. Only the 1st gear/reverse clutch pack was found to be damaged.

The clutch pack, which is a set of alternating stacked clutches and pressure plates, had sustained extreme thermal damage. Clutch and pressure plates were severely warped and while parts of the metal surfaces developed a bluish color indicating excess heat. Meanwhile other surfaces of these same clutches were healthy. This was a progressive failure; over time extreme heat generated by clutch slippage resulted in increased warping the clutches and pressure pads. The warpage finally got so bad the hydraulic pressure could not effectively engage the clutches and pressure pads. Additional slipping and a lock up of the overdrive unit generated excess heat, which compromised the integrity of the the steel, and finally caused the clutch to fail.

It is worth noting with most automatics this begins as "a slip" on "automatic downshift" to 1st gear. So take care of your transmission.