2000 Ford Windstar SE from North America
Summary:
A nightmare of a vehicle!!
Faults:
Paint began peeling off the left side door 1 month after our purchase.
At 1,000 miles the computer in the car seized and needed to be completely reinstalled.
At 1,885 miles the electric sliding door ceased functioning.
At 3,000 miles the electronic module needed to be reconfigured.
Engine light stayed on continuously due to faulty fuse and malfunction in rear connection.
The computer cluster needed to be repaired and replaced.
At 5,200 the rear air conditioning stopped working altogether (conveniently in the middle of summer)
Recalled blower motors.
At 6,100 the wiring in the vehicle was found to be faulty and had been since the beginning, it just took them that long to discover it.
At the same time, another light came on the dash and would not go off - faulty cluster again- needed to be reprogrammed again.
At 18,000 miles the gas gauge stopped working - needed a new fuel sending unit.
One week later the vehicle stopped in mid-motion on a very busy highway - yet another faulty cluster.
At 18,450 the cigarette lighter stopped working.
Traction light went on and never went off- dealer suspected yet another cluster problem, but could not be sure.
20,000 miles- terrible grinding noise started whenever I decelerated or accelerated... when I brought it in for servicing they said they did not hear the noise- outside mechanic said it was clearly the suspension on the vehicle.
I brought the vehicle in for a routine oil change- they forgot to put the oil cap back on...
Both brake lights ceased working simultaneously.
Recall on wiper motor gear cover.
Vehicle stalled out again while on the highway... gas gauge not working again... indicated 1/2 tank, but was completely out of fuel.
Tank sender not functioning properly.
Rear sensor stopped working... performed parameter reset.
A terrible noise resurfaced... Ford said it was normal and they could not find any problem... outside mechanic instantly found the motor mounds had deteriorated and were barely holding the engine in place.
General Comments:
This was our first vehicle purchase, and we investigated thoroughly before making the purchase. This mini-van turned out to be our nightmare!
It has spent 94 days in the shop for servicing, and Ford could never fix the problems.
We spent a lot of money on a car that was frustrating and dangerous!
I was almost killed twice in the car with my infant son and my husband.
We are lucky to be alive! Never, never again!!!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 19th January, 2003
17th Mar 2005, 14:03
Technician not putting the oil cap back on is not a fault through the car, rather human error.
20th Apr 2008, 05:28
I am only offering that I am seeing a 2000 Windstar with 98,000 miles in my town for 3,600.00. Needing a minivan and not wanting to incur any or too much debt, it sounds like a real deal and how badly can you get hurt for $3.6k?
Reading these notes, I have to hesitate even at such a low price. My heart goes out to all these folks who spent for-real-money on their Windstars.
6th Jun 2011, 12:21
Buying a new Windstar was a gamble as some individual vehicles were of great quality, while others turned out not-so-great. A used Windstar with close to 100k that is still in good condition is likely to be a safer bet. After all, it made it that far.
7th Jun 2011, 19:56
Yeah, it made it to 100k. Great. So did both of mine, and both of them died at that mileage too.
28th Sep 2004, 23:05
Since I bought Ford Windstar LX on september 1999, I had so many problem with it, light engines started on at 6k, and at 11k I have to fix some problem with AC cost me about $2600, and not long after that I have again problem with the heater cost me about 1200, after that I have problem with ABS control module and burned all wiring inside (speedometer not working) and it estimated around another $3000, this car not even get to 80k miles, but give me headache. I will never... buy this piece of junk anymore.