1996 Ford Windstar GL from North America - Comments

I bought this van from a dealer that made me believe that everything was OK with it. I test drove it and everything seemed fine. I get the thing home with 98,000 miles on it and it all went down hill.

My front suspension went out at 98,000 miles. This cost me $415.

My speedometer head went out at 98,000 miles, total cost $350.

My air condition went out at 98,100 miles, no cost on it yet. I have been told that it will cost around $800 to fix the problem.

My alternator and starter went out at 98,200 miles. This is going to cost around $250 to fix and that is only because my fiance is going to do the work for me.

The van has good get up and go, when it is running properly. I am not happy at all with the replacements that have been put in to it already. I have heard nothing, but horrible stories from other Windstar owners and I can only hope that this piece of junk lasts me a year so that I can trade it in for something other than a Ford. Never again will I buy one!!

You purchased a vehicle with almost 100k on it. Also by what you are saying you will have to spend almost 2 grand just to get it fixed. If you add the numbers that comes out to a nice down payment on a brand new vehicle. A person once told me to avoid used cars. You are just buying somebody else's problems. Don't be surprised if the previous owner didn't maintain it that well. I hope that you have better luck with your next car.

Depending on what you paid for this vehicle, these repair costs are not all that unreasonable. The starter and alternator are things that you can just assume will need to be replaced on any older/higher mileage car, and these are things that can be changed on your own. Regarding the front suspension, you didn't say exactly what was wrong, so it's hard to say if $415 in repairs was necessary or reasonable or what. If it was a case of replacing the front struts or something, then that's to be expected. Regarding the AC: it seems like $800 is the magic number quoted for AC repair, because I was told the same thing for a totally different car. I decided I could live without it for the handful of days per year when I would actually use it. If you got a good deal on this car, even having spent $1,100 on it could still be a good deal. The proof is to check Kelly Blue Book. Use the method of splitting the difference between the retail value from the dealer and private party value in good condition, which is about what you should have paid. If you paid a couple thousand less than that, then you're still coming out ahead. Just be sure to take gentle care of the car and make it last. The key is maintenance and taking care of things. It is possible to drive a used car successfully and much more cheaply than making the big monthly payment for 5 years, but you do need to gain some knowledge about cars and repairs.