13th May 2008, 16:06

I have never been happier with a vehicle in my life. I have a 1998 Windstar with the 3.0 which now has 168000 miles and to this day does not leak any fluids whatsoever. I love driving it as its such a pleasure. I do my own repairs and the only repair out side of normal maintenance was a alternator just now. I previously had a 2000 Dodge caravan now that was junk. I will stick with the Windstars even though I'm not a Ford fan.

26th Jul 2008, 23:28

Some people might not have had great results from their Windstar, but we have had fantastic results. We have a 1996 GL with a 3.8L engine. It has 160,000 miles on it and all we have changed is regular maintenance items such as oil filters and tires. We have never had a major repair, nor have we had any transmission problems. If for some reason I had to look for something else, it would have to be a Windstar. My daughter was in a Grand Caravan in a slow speed side collision and was severely injured. The Dodge did not hold up well. I wish Ford would keep making these units!!

3rd Nov 2008, 17:41

We own a 1998 Ford Windstar GL 3.8L, and we now have 187,000 plus miles and it runs like new, and has never leaked a drop of oil.

We get good MPG City/highway for a seven passenger van and the power is great.

We got it new, and have used the same mechanic for the 10 years, and he cannot believe our luck, but last time we saw him for our regular maintenance, he thinks we can easily get 250,000 mile out of it.

Great job Ford!

5th Nov 2009, 15:57

I too have a '98 Windstar with the 3.0 "Vulcan" engine. This engine is known to be extremely reliable, and has been used by Ford since they first came out with the Taurus in the 80's and up till 2000 something, with no major design changes. This is a motor where they truly "got it right". I've seen em with over 300,000 miles on them with strong, even compression.

My Windstar has had none of the problems of the other reviews I've seen, but maybe because mine has the 3.0 and was built by Ford of CANADA, which I find unusual, but maybe they have better quality control up there.

We've got over 80,000 miles out of our Windstar with no major problems and very few minor ones. Now at over 115,000 miles it needs quite a bit of front-end work (most all minivans are weak in this area). I think it'll go another 100,000 easy on the same motor and tranny. Not bad for a Ford.

18th Mar 2010, 00:17

I had a 95 and I loved this van. I believe it saved our lives, and I am going to get another one. My son and I were in an accident. The van is definitely a safe van. The van is gone, but we walked away with bruises and I had a concussion from hitting the driver's window and getting slammed with the airbag. We were alive. The talc in the airbags made my son's asthma worse, but he was OK otherwise.

I haven't seen another 95 LX, so I am looking at 98. I love the safety rating on it, but I'd stay away from the 2001 or newer.

I am wondering about the sensor problem for the sliding door and locks issue, but I would have someone do the fix for the doors and lights. We didn't have that problem in the 95. I almost couldn't move the key; it has a locking thing, but I got it didn't have to get a locksmith. It's in the manual how to unlock it if it locks. It did it for my mechanic; he got it lose, so did I another time; it's in the manual how to get it.

I do worry about head gaskets. While my 95 didn't have the issue, my friend had a 2002 with two blown head gaskets, but her kid was driving it and didn't keep enough gas in it she says, but I think if you change your fluids regularly, you don't have the problem.

My kids are big, we need the van for their tallness. I hope this one is as roomy as the 95.