1995 Ford Windstar GL review from North America

Inside the passenger area, electrical shorts in the front and back lights.

"Door Ajar" goes off for no reason sometimes.

Traveled across Europe each summer for three years in a row, each time with excellent vehicle reliability.

On the German Autobahn, it handled high speeds of 180 Km/h (110 MPH) over extended periods of time of up to 3 hours each, exceptionally well.

Excellent traction up mountain passes with 3 passengers and 200 lbs of luggage.

Never had to change the brake shoes at the back in over 30,000 miles - just front pads.

The secret to a trouble free engine lies (I am 100% positive) in the full synthetic 15W40 motor oil which requires changing after 15,000 miles.

The secret to a trouble free transmission is in changing the trans fluid every 30,000 miles, and gear oil every 60,000.

In general. the worst lube jobs are done at service centers where they use thin oil (5W30) that reaches boiling point long before the next 3000 miles are up, thereby needing constant temperature monitoring and the ritual "adding" of a quart. Lube joints also use cheap oil filters so bad, you can't even find them in auto part stores.

The mission of a lube joint is to make a high profit buy giving you the thinnest oil (making you return frequently every 3000 miles or sooner) and cheap oil filters (why should they waste money on a decent one that will outlast their oil?).

Their second mission is to provide good customer service (the art of making you think your car is getting quality products during the service). Even advertised oil changes for $19.95 are nearly all a huge profit.

Going there just because a driver know no better is a poor excuse, and when the engine blows eventually (long term, this kind of punishment on the engine has consequences), even a potential lawsuit.

The best is to do it yourself so that you can "put in the good stuff" or get your mechanic to do it for you if you don't like to get your hands dirty (buy good motor oil and bring it to him/her as they might not have it in stock).

A mechanic may charge you one hour (even though it takes less than 30 minutes) at their rate, but well worth it. Try to get then to change the air filter while your at it. All air filters are decent, so it doesn't matter if they use theirs or yours.

There is absolutely no difference between brand names other than price. Oil is oil. What changes are the different grades (ex. 15W40). Full synthetics costs 3 times more but lasts 5 times longer, thus saving 5X on labor.

The manufacturer oil recommendations are only for those folks who don't know anything about oil. In short, dense oil is for warm climates and thin oil is for colder ones.

The best range is between 10W40 and 20W50. 5W30 and 10W30 are just too "thin", evaporate fast and when engine runs with lesser and lesser oil each day, the increased temperatures can do some long term damage to the engine.

Not checking your (thin) oil to see if you need more can lead to a 50% or higher evaporation of oil and "blowing" your engine / cracking the engine block.