1995 Mercury Villager GS 3.0L V6
Summary:
A good value used, but buy a late model
Faults:
75K miles (did not repair)
- Driver motorized seat belt failed - disconnected it and locked it in place due to high cost of repair.
83K miles ($1142)
- Replaced shorted cooling fan/motor assy
- Repair connectors on wiring harness, shorted wiring to ignition
- Replaced power door lock actuator in side sliding door.
93K miles ($104)
- Replaced transmission shifter linkage in steering column.
107K miles ($242)
- Investigate Check Engine Light (Repaired burnt wire on EGR transducer)
- Replaced filler pipe vent hose (covered by recall)
- Repaired bad solder joint in HVAC control head (in dash), prevented rear blower motor from operating.
Little things I fixed myself
- Windshield washer sprayer broke off
- Cassette storage console bin latch broke
- Sliding door window latch fell apart
- Driver side sun visor disintegrated.
General Comments:
First of all, this is my wife's kid hauler, so it gets all kind of abuse. Still, it lives a relatively gentle life since we live in a temperate area (no snow, low humidity, etc.)
Pros:
- A definite upgrade from my previous van (MPV) : more refined and less trucklike
- Fairly comfortable & roomy
- Well-designed (spacewise) interior
- Decent power, but needs more low-end torque
- Good mileage on highway, long trips
- Seemingly reliable drivetrain
- Quiet ride, smooth on the road.
Cons:
- I bought it thinking that it would benefit from the Nissan-based roots (similar to Quest). The part that has been reliable has been the Nissan part (engine, transmission, running gear). The part that has been miserable has been the Ford piece - electricals, interior components, etc.
- Lots of niggling little things that have broken down that have eroded my confidence in the vehicle (see details above)
- Engine needs more torque on the low end: With 7 in the van, you really feel it strain. Also when we have 5 plus bikes on the hitch rack
- Tranny has held up so far, but no starting to exhibit a little bit of lurching on takeoff when cold, so that has me a bit worried.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 19th October, 2003
21st Apr 2004, 13:42
I have a 1995 LS Villager and I've had basically the same problems that you have. When my drivers seat belt failed, I looked through the manual. Somewhere in there it mentioned something about manually rewinding the belt, and also mentioned something about filling gas tank up as another remedy. The gas tank worked for me. However I have had numerous electrical problems, some I've fixed by just buying new fuses/regulators, others, like the occasionally light flickering on and off in the rear compartment... too costly, so I just removed the bulbs in the rear door. Still I occasionally get a warning light that flickers every few months, mostly in the winter seasons. I've had to replace my battery only twice since 95 because of the drain from the flickering. The front tires wear down about every 2 years, even the expensive ones, so this year I finally decided to go cheaper. It still runs great between tuneups. It doesn't like heavy rain (electrical parts) -- it has died at least twice in bad rain storms back in 97/98, but hasn't since, because I try to avoid the rain if possible.