1998 Ford Windstar ?? (No plastic decals on car) from North America - Comments

I was stunned when I saw all the bad luck people have been having with this vehicle. Ours was very good while we had it (Don't have it anymore - Please see 'general comments below' - really you should!!)

One power steering hose rusted out - Cost $100 to buy new one (No labor - I do the work). It took me about 2 days and I had to remove several components to do this - Thank GOD I don't pay for labor!!! We live in Buffalo, so maybe that's part of why it rusted, but it looks like the AC condensate drain emptied right on top of it which probably accelerated the problem.

Passenger window rail guide broke - Bad spot welding - Costs 20$ US to buy one from Ford dealer, but I fixed the welds myself for free. I've never taken apart and easier door to work on! Nice design there.

Driver window also came off rail about 6 months ago, but not for same reason. The window was able to go high enough to pop out of rail - I never got around to fixing it, but I think I could have.

Front driver bearing started making noise, but I fixed before it failed. Cost $40 for bearing (aftermarket), $40 to have it pressed out, and $50 for the ABS sensor I destroyed getting the knuckle off! (Oops)

Once on a long-trip a shift-sensor on the transmission failed and caused it to not be able to shift out of 1st gear. In about 2 hours a dealer had it diagnosed and fixed - cost about $250. I think if I wasn't away from home I would have probably been able to zero in on it at home and fix cheap (looks like that part was easy to replace).

Ford dealer did a recall once (front springs get a shield because if they break the tire gets slashed). Mechanic didn't put the nuts on tight enough and the sway bar linkage (which shares the stud) came loose - It was so loud I thought the front wheel had come off!! After some dialog, they replaced that linkage for free.

I'm a pretty good home mechanic and I think maybe somebody who isn't might not have been quite so happy with it - certainly paying some bozo $50 an hour might add up quick.

HOWEVER.

My wife crashed this van on Jan 7, '03. She got hit by a Dodge Caravan going around 55-60 MPH. My 6-year old daughter and she BOTH walked away with only bruises from the seatbelts!!! Both airbags deployed. This car has the best crash-test ratings of ANY American-made Minivan (to my knowledge) - and it was hit broadside (which the crash-test people don't rate vehicles on). We are looking for a replacement right now and we will absolutely ONLY buy a WINDSTAR!! Even if I had to pay for a $2000 transmission, I still have my little girl - You should think about that before you buy a Honda.

One thing I noticed about the other reviews is all the bad ones had the 3.8L engine - ours was a 3.0L. I think I might lean toward the 3.0L for the replacement for this reason. I thought it had PLENTY of power even with a full load of passengers and cargo - who the hell needs to do 0-60 in 5 seconds in a MINIVAN (gimme a break!!) Sounds like the 3.8 might be a little too powerful for the tranny (or they put a different, less reliable tranny in 'em - I don't know).

Other thing of note was most bad reviews were for the 95/96 when the Windstar was new, and for the 1999 when it was redesigned. I'll stay away from these years also.

It was a very comfortable vehicle for long trips and VERY roomy for cargo. Interior held up to rough children quite well (we've got 4).

We live where they pour lots of salt on the roads in winter, and even with 80,000 miles it had essentially no rust - that's really an amazing thing - Ford must be using MUCH better steel than they did in my 78 Zephyr (That melted from all the rust!)

By the way, for all you who complained about blown head gaskets, if you don't replace your coolant at least every other year, head gaskets blow. (Happens in ANY car with an iron block and aluminum head)

Like I said - we're buying another one. Period.

I wanted to agree with the positive review about the Ford wind-star G L. I HAD a 1998 G L myself until I was smashed in the middle of a 4 car pile up on Sept 5,2003 considering it is now totaled it faired really well.I suffered bad whiplash and a slight concussion, but walked away from the wreck.I bought my van at 45,460 miles and the ONLY trouble I had with it was 3 of the fuses under the hood kept popping up causing it to not start which turned out to be that I had bad tires,once we replaced the tires it was fine. It also held up well after being driven through a pretty steep ditch (to avoid hitting a car that stopped suddenly in front of us) with NO problems at all. It had 75,000+ miles on it when it was TAKEN from me in the wreck.

I am in the process of finding another for I found it to be a VERY enjoyable automobile to own. It had plenty of room for my self, my husband and our 4 children and a load of extras.It was great on gas in both driving city and highway. I only had it 14 months, but that was long enough for me to know I WANT ANOTHER ONE!!! Also mine had the 3.8 engine.

I am shocked at all the problems I have read on this site. We just bought a '98 Windstar GL at a Repo Auction (only paid $2700) and I'm in love with it. Even with 142000 miles on it, it runs great. No idea what has been replaced or fixed, as it was a repo auction. Also my sister has a 2000 Windstar LX she bought new, hasn't had any problems in 4 almost 5 yrs. By the way I did notice that some of the problems listed are also on the recall list for '98 Windstars. Not all, but some. I never wanted a mini-van, but after a couple of weeks driving mine, I'm in love.

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.

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!!

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!

My Honda Pilot (8 passenger SUV) has a 5 star safety rating and gets better fuel efficiency than your Windstar! A couple of reasons it holds it's value better than any American car in it's class as well!

I am grateful that people are kept safe by some American cars like the Windstar story I just read. I can't help but feel the deep feeling of powerlessness and disdain when I think about American automobile manufacturing, and how so many Americans have been coerced, fooled, baited and basically lied to in the name of buying these hunks of mostly junk in order to be surrounded by more metal for the feeling of safety.

Even when America could build a decent mini van (the Voyager and Caravan) it was short lived as suddenly they had major problems (see the list, transmission, engine electrical etc.). When will these American companies take a hint and build a car that lasts like a Japanese or even Korean car and ad the value of safety we pride ourselves so much on? Then we can brag!!

Until then I take no pride in these machines of planned obsolescence, sub par performance and terrible fuel efficiency. I will stay with my Honda Pilot and enjoy best in class fuel efficiency and reliability and 5 star safety rating.

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.