9th Oct 2004, 01:20

My husband and I purchased our 1999 Ford Windstar in July of 2002. For the first month we owned the van it was in the shop about twice a week. The check engine light would not go off. Finally the dealership told us not to worry about it. We have had the transmission problems, and many of the other problems already stated. Needless to say two years later and $2,000.00 in repair bills. Monday afternoon the van started to smoke and there was a small fire in the master cylinder. At last check we were at $800.00 to repair the wire harness and the master cylinder to hook it up to the computer to calculate the rest of the damage. Thank God, our 2 year old daughter wasn't in the van at the time. So now my husband and I have decided never to buy any Ford Product agian!!!

5th Nov 2004, 09:17

I recently purchased a used 1999 Ford Wind-star. The van ran perfectly well for the first couple of days and then the problems started. The door ajar light stays on even though all the doors are closed, the check engine light stays on and I now have no heat in the front. The back vents work fine, but with the winter coming up I need the front heat to work as well. Oh, before I forget every time I pressed on the brake really hard it I smelt something burning (A really horrible smell) I took the Wind-star to a Ford Dealership for repair and was informed that the heat core needed to be replaced. This job will be $900. I am wondering what I've gotten into. I hope nothing happens on the road with my kids. I will never purchase a Ford again. Just from reading the comments, I noticed that every one is experiencing the dreaded "Check Engine" light and the door ajar light. What is going on?? For an american car I expected a lot better.

17th Dec 2004, 19:10

I have a Ford Windstar 2000, it has all the problems I have read here, and more. Horrible metal noise while turning the wheel which equals Steering wheel leaking, repaired, now leaking again. It goes through tires like there is no tomorrow, expensive good tires, the van tears them up for fun! Engine light constantly on, had a sensor replaced which cost $700.00 two weeks later, engine light on again. The automatic doors work when they want to, most of the time they don't. Alarm comes on for no reason, NO ONE at the dealer ship can figure out how to fix it. I have been to 3 different dealer ship, spent a lot of money on this worthless vehicle, and it is still having problems! Less than 60,000 miles and it has cost me over $5,000 in repairs! I will never buy a

Ford again, and I will strongly suggest you don't either. What is the most frustrating is that Ford does nothing about it! With so many similar postings here and elsewhere you would think they would recall the steering leak problems, and all the other defects that make this car the junk it is!

9th Jan 2005, 19:07

We purchased a 1999 Windstar with 39000 miles on it in 2002. It ran great for the first few months then we started having problems. First of all the overdrive light starts flashing about 10 miles down the road on any give trip. Our Ford service tech says that there may or may not be anything wrong with it. The only thing that they can do is replace the transmission. We shouldn't have to, the problem started occurring with 59000 miles. We also live on a gravel road, during the summer months the dust inside the van is unbearable. We are also having problems with the service engine light coming on. Again the service tech says there is nothing wrong, we should just ignore it.

14th Feb 2005, 13:52

We purchased our 1999 Ford Windstar new from the dealer. Less than 6 months after driving it off the lot, the engine light came on. It was under warranty and dealer made repairs (not really fixed though). Approximately, 6 months later, same thing happened. At this point, I called Ford Motors Customer Service and told them what was happening. They reminded me that I had purchased a four or five star van. I said I knew that and thought I had made a good purchase, but was having too much trouble with the van to say it was a good product. I asked them to file a complaint. I also asked what was going to happen after the warranty ran out, but they would not give me a definite answer. I have had to take it to a local repairman three times since that at my own cost and he cannot get the engine light to remain off. When I idle, sometimes, the van chugs after operating short distances. We, too, are very displeased with Ford Motors, the Windstar van and will more than likely not purchase a Ford product again. DISGRUNTLED.

3rd Apr 2005, 18:47

Add another Windstar 1999 transmission that went out at 105,000 miles during a trip! The frustrating thing is that I had the van checked out by three different service centers. The first was a transmission shop that said everything is fine, they thought it was a sensor and sent me to Ford. Ford Service Dept. checked it out and they said everything was fine, just get a $400 tune up with new plugs, wires and other misc. items. Left there with a $113 check engine charge and took it to a friend of a friends garage. They confirmed it needed plugs and wires, flushed radiator and had a transmission specialist check out the transmission clunk from 1st to 2nd. They recommended changing transmission fluid so I said fine. $600 later they said it would be fine for the Florida. Trip. 4 miles south of Bowling Green, Ky, 10:00 PM the transmission blew! Ford dealer said $2500, Avis said $400 for rental and I took off with family. Tie rods went out about 5 months ago, $400 engine light fix a year ago plus more. On top of all this, I have a 2002 Explorer that had 52,000 miles on it and I had to get the transmission overhauled for $2600!!! No help from Ford. Bottom line, I am stuck with the 1999 Van since it is only worth $5000 for a 5 1/2 year old vehicle and the new transmission plus car rental was about $3,000. Will sell the Explorer and to no ones surprise... NO MORE FORDS!!!