1999 Ford Windstar from North America - Comments

Well it has been less than two years since I first added comments to this post regarding our 1999 Windstar. At that time we had to replace the transmission. About six months later it was the power steering pump (twice) followed closely thereafter with the rack and pinion. Now we are living through the early part of this winter without heat from the front. Yes, the dreaded heater box blending door is broken. It actually failed at the end of summer which made heat come out instead of cool air. I rigged up a bent metal rod to manually move the door up and down. From it I tied a piece of cord and wound it over the console to the passenger compartment so we can pull on the cord to move the door one way, or release the cord to allow it to fall back to rest position. We laugh about it, but that is only so we don't get mad. From what I've read, you cannot just replace the door, but have to replace the entire heater box! The dealer wants to remove the dash to do the repair and the cost is outrageous.

I came back to this thread and read through it from beginning to end (many new entries since the one I entered) just to remind me that we are not the only ones living with such a poor quality product. My son has now reached driving age, and over the years has learned that when the lights are doing their own thing, you just manually switch them off. When the doors won't lock just drive on and eventually you'll hear a beep and then... like magic the doors will lock. This year, out of nowhere with no warning signs, the paint on the hood began to peel off, on both sides of the hood (where the metal forms a little valley on each side). Now we say that this thing is falling apart so badly that the paint is literally falling off.

Like many others we loved the spacious size inside the van, but that is where the love stopped. Ford deserves to lose fortunes over what they have put their customers through with this vehicle (oh, wait a minute... they are). I feel bad for all of those whom have lost their jobs, but NO company deserves to survive knowing they have sold people such junk and won't do a thing about it.

Someone asked a question about a class action suit. Well, I hope I hear about it if one can get started because I will add my repair bill receipts to it in a heartbeat. This has truly been a nightmare of a vehicle and, while I was hesitant to buy a Ford vehicle to begin with, this was the one and only Ford I will ever own. What Ford must not be considering is that our children have lived with this as well, and now they are the future buying generation that will not own a Ford either. Nor will those that I have shared our experiences with.

I'll be on the lookout for a class action should one start, but otherwise this will most likely be my last entry here as we are currently (finally!) shopping for a replacement vehicle. I'm praying that we can get at least 1 thousand on a trade-in, but I hope they then send it straight to the junk yard so someone else doesn't get stuck with what's left of it. I truly feel sorry for those of you who still owe money on one of these and can't afford to get out of it. That has been us until this year. Financially it still isn't the best time. I wish it could have lasted longer, but I can't justify spending what it will cost to fix the heater box blend door issue. My wife and children are LONG overdue to have a "reliable" (I know, Ford, that is a foreign word to you) vehicle for transportation.

So Ford, if you are listening (by now we know they aren't) there are a lot of vehicle options we'll be looking at, but FORD will NOT (ever again) be one of them... for generations to come!

Well I guess it is time for me to add my two cents here. I own a 1999 Windstar. I bought it used from my company in 2003. At that time it had 99,915 miles on it and over the previous 10 months the company had invested approximately $10,000 in repairs to this vehicle. It had a new transmission, brakes, rotors,& cylinders, throttle-body assembly, power steering & rack and pinion, windshield, Door locks and radio repaired. I purchased the vehicle for %3500.00 figuring there was nothing left to replace and this would be a second vehicle with low mileage use. Well, in 2004 the front brakes seized up and needed total rebuilding at 102400 miles ($1100.00) the van now has 109,000 miles on it and the door lock problems are back, the rear speakers on the radio no longer function (not the rear door contact problem) and early this month the heater is clicking away when I move the temperature adjust bar to active (any heat setting). The transmission is starting to shudder going around corners under power. The built in alarm system now goes off randomly for no reason and the car must be started to deactivate it. As this car is free and clear it looks as if I will be replacing rather than repairing. I believe I have been cured of the desire to own a FORD.

Hate to say this, but most of my vehicles including my heavy 8 ton trucks have been Fords.

I have had the Taurus and the Windstar which is just a Taurus on steroids.

I have fixed myself most if not all of the above problems.

In my personal repair experience 90% of these problems from trans to anything remotely connected by a copper wire is caused by poor workmanship in the main wiring harness of which I have bought a few to cure major problems.

These wiring products Ford sources from Mexico.

Do not get me wrong, Mexicans can build some good products, but Ford has a mind set where the bean counters will not spend an extra $.05 cents to markedly improve a part.

So in the end the bean counters (accountants) rule the day.

If Ford were willing to spend more on thicker copper wire and better insulation (for the assembly employees that accidentally nick the harness and cause shorts from day one out the gate) they could reduce a major portion of the problems experienced by sensors, trans, ABS, etc. not being able to talk to the computers.

Ford can build a fantastic transmission that will last many hundreds of thousands of miles for a few hundred dollars more. They race the very same trans in these vans, albeit with vastly upgraded components from kevlar brake bands to hardened sprague rollers and sun gears and cages.

So basically if you want a truly bullet proof very long lasting Ford you should be prepared to strip the entire vehicle to the bare shell and order all upgraded parts from the various racing outfits.

Then you will probably pay double if not triple the vans price new, but you will have one of the rare vans that will outlast you.

This is where the Japanese excel.

They will overbuild some (not all) of their high priced luxury vehicles (of course they do this in various ways by overworking their employees and not paying overtime, but that is another story) and their machines will cost only about double and in some cases triple the Fords price, but you will not go through the aggravation of breakdowns.

Blame corporate America where the bottom line rules and customers will vote with their wallets.

So in the end you pays your money and takes your chances.

It is Dec. 27th 2007.

We bought a '97 Windstar GL 3 years ago, obviously we were duped. From the get go the seller (private) tampered with and had reset the "Check Engine Light" so we did not see it then (during testing/evaluation) and only saw it after few more miles/days. It was the dreaded P0171/P0174 (lean banks). Luckily there is a nice post on how to fix that (http://leckemby.net/windstar/windstar01.html) it will save you (as it did with us) a $1000 at least (The dealer wanted $1200 to fix this... parts are less than a $100, shop in the internet).

The door ajar light (WD40 on trunk door sensors), rear AC blew hot air (the control module need replacing, FORD were using a tiny piece of plastic that simply goes bad), speedometer going wild after 40 MPH (I never fixed this, but bought a GPS), etc... After checking the net I managed to fix few of them myself and simply left the others. My OD light started blinking, and that was the end, when I realized it is the transmission ($2K at least, my car is worth less than that - I'd rather throw it away and breath a sigh of relief).

Obviously FORD had put an absolute piece of junk out there, it beats me as to why would they do that??? Don't they have access to the net to see all of this, and may be use it as free user feedback to improve their product - may be even say thank you to all of us who had to put up with this nonsense. I do not think it would have been a business stroke of genius if they upped the price by $2-3K even more and made a high quality product to be proud of, that last, with no aggravations, high resale value and every body wins, and I mean every body. As it would seem most of us here truly wanted to buy American, I did, now I regret it and I'm very mad.

I though I was naïve, and may be I am, as I still considered buying a 1999 Windstar SEL just few days ago. It had the P0171/P0174 check engine light… it looked fine and was cheap… but then it dawned on me. I absolutely care less about buying American any more… I'll buy a good product that I can afford, a reliable product period.

America use to be the emblem of high quality, now it is the laughing stock for garbage quality. You know it a sad day when you take your car to the mechanic and they know the problem and the fix by simply looking at the make/model.

I can ditto all of your comments (negative ones) and I'm looking for a new car today; Toyota or Honda. Folks like to say buy American, but Ford makes it almost impossible with the sub-par quality that they deliver with a competitive promise. Ford has to be Toyota or Hondas best sales rep.

What can I say that hasn't been said about the 1999 windstar except that I replaced the transmission twice once at 76000 second at 10200 and then you thought I learn nope! Now I'm at 13700 can you guys guess? yes my trans is on its way out! I only pray when it goes its in front of a ford dealer that way I can leave a note that said I'm returning your piece of junk. And yes its not just the trans my dashboard looks like it's a chrismas tree wow the colors. Did I meation the the disco tech of the cabin lights or should I say strobe lights? And I can go on, but I wouldn't want to hurt ford image like ford hurt my pockets. Let's just say I won't be driving any ford lately.

My wife and I have suffered through huge medical expenses with my daughter who was born prematurely at 1lb 6.5 oz and our credit is shot. We only had my 98 GMC Sierra standard cab pick up (a great rig all around) and with a family it didn't work really well. We looked around and by some miracle we were approved for a loan so we shopped for a mini van. We found a 2001 Windstar with about 120k on it. It seemed solid and a great deal... 2 days later the ABS brake light came on, the passenger side front door does not unlock remotely or from the master switch on the driver's door, the window in the same door will not roll down, and now the check engine light has come on. I wish we would have chosen a different route. Now I am afraid that we will be getting into costly repairs that we can't afford. What a disappointment Ford has become.

OK...lets see here...

1999 Windstar purchased 3 years ago with 50k miles.

Like everybody else the rack and pinion has been replaced... and the tranny went out 14 months ago... was rebuilt by AAMCO... well today my OD light started flashing, the car jerks from 1st to 2nd gear AND the tranny is slipping...SO...it appears that it is ready for another tranny here...

First and LAST FORD EVER!!!

Absolutely ridiculous how everybody has the same story...

Later.

I also have a 1999 Ford Windstar and did not realize just how common all of my repair problems were. I had read before about the transmission issues, but thought I would be one of the lucky ones that would not be affected - are there any? The van I own has 91000 miles on it and the transmission went out on Friday evening as my son was driving home from work. Estimated costs to replace run from 3500 to 3200 and to repair run from 1600 to 2000. I've already repaired the rack and pinion (last year). Also the heater shutter door thing that others have talked about (was repaired last year as well). I have constant check engine light on and each time the mechanics tell me that the code is that it's too lean ~ they don't offer advice on how to fix so we just ignore it. The ABS light comes on when the weather is warm or lately when the vehicle has been running for a while, we ignore that. Mainly in real wet weather, we get the light show inside, but as we've been in a drought for a while have not had that happening as much. I've had standard repairs with brakes and have replaced the tires once. This is really a third vehicle for us and I really wanted to keep it as a spare in case other vehicles needed repair, but I'm having a real hard time justifying spending any more money on this vehicle. The body is in good shape as well as the interior and I liked my son driving it as I felt the size protected him and kept him from acting like a race car driver. I had thought about keeping it until the end of the year and then trading it in on another Ford, but now I just don't know. I feel fortunate that I can do without this van if I have to, but I'm really disappointed. I started searching the internet looking for confirmation as to whether or not I should fork out the money and do the transmission repair but I think that is more than the vehicle is worth and I don't think I would ever recoup the cost. I would feel guilty knowing someone else might be driving this vehicle and have it break down on them. This should not be this hard and it shouldn't cost so much to get it repaired. Class action suit ~ what do you have to do to get one going?

This will put a smile on your face!!! My Ford nightmare is just the same as everyone elses, sitting at stop light, press gas, loud bang, no forward gears! You know the story; 2000 Windstar and now I am the proud owner of a new Honda Odyssey!!

Oh yeah, the way my golden retriever loved to ride in that van I am thinking of giving it to her as a dog house, and at least someone in this world will enjoy that piece of junk!!

"1st Mar 2008, 20:17.

This will put a smile on your face!!! My Ford nightmare is just the same as everyone elses, sitting at stop light, press gas, loud bang, no forward gears! You know the story; 2000 Windstar and now I am the proud owner of a new Honda Odyssey!!"

Wow, going to a Honda Odyssey is like going out of the frying pan and into the fire for transmission problems. Good luck.

I purchased 1999 Aerostar 1 year ago. Immediately the engine light came on. Ford shop had no idea why it was on. Reset it and it was off for about 20 miles then come back on. Yesterday it started to surge when you come to a stop. Back to the shop we go.

"I purchased 1999 Aerostar 1 year ago"

You meant to say "Windstar". Aerostars were discontinued after '97.

I too have a 1999 Ford Windstar SE. We bought it in 2003 and didn't really have any problems until a few years later. It will be going back to Ford this week for the check engine light that has been on for the past 2-3 years and the o/d light that flashes at times while driving. We have taken it in before to have the check-engine light fixed, but nobody can seem to figure out the problem.

I have had some of the other problems that have been mentioned here also. I have experienced the cabin lights flashing for no reason, "clicking" noises, and right now the back wiper works when it feels like it.

I must say... over all I am not impressed! My next van... Toyota... here we come!!

Two days ago the O/D light on our 1999 Ford Windstar started to flash. Once we turned the car off and then on again, the blinking O/D light was no longer flashing. The car lurched when increasing speed; the car was having trouble shifting.

Yesterday while driving, the gears started to slip, and the car wouldn't go faster than 20 mph. After stopping at a light, he pressed on the gas and the car wouldn't go at all. He was able to turn the car from a major road onto a side road, but my husband and I ended up pushing the car into a parking spot. It was really embarrassing!

We had it towed to a transmission shop. Of course we needed a new transmission. We've decided not to replace the transmission because the van's Blue Book value is only $2000, and it will cost that much to replace it with a used transmission. Forget about putting a brand new one, as that would cost over $3000. The car is paid for, so to the junk yard it goes. It's sad; our Ford making it to 105,089 is probably considered a good run.

My husband has vowed that we will never own another Ford. We'll most likely never own an American car again, given his dad's Toyota Camry has over 200,000K miles on it and has never needed a thing.