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Ford Windstar Problems - READ ONLY

2608 messages,  Last post on Oct 27, 2006 at 8:51 PM

You are in the Ford Windstar Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Windstar, Van

Messages Page 231 of 262

#2296 of 2608 The cost of "reliability" by jeffyscott

Mar 02, 2006 (11:57 am)

Following up on my own comment about the Honota costing thousands more...
 
A 2001 Windstar SE with 87,000 miles has average retail value of $6287, according to edmunds. A 2201 Odyssey LX has average retail value of $8698. So the extra reliability costs $2400 in this case.
 
Meanwhile in the TCO area of edmunds the 5 year cost of maintenace and repair is $6987 for the Ford and $6640 for the Honda. So the savings is only about $350, due to the greater reliability. Note that the M&R costs are based on 2002 models, as that is as far back as edmunds goes.
 
Overall the average Windstar saves a net of about $2000, if edmunds data is accurate.

#2297 of 2608 Re: The cost of "reliability" [jeffyscott] by ross

Mar 02, 2006 (5:20 pm)

Replying to: jeffyscott (Mar 02, 2006 11:57 am)
Obviously no one at Edmunds has ever owned a Windstar. Or read any of the posts here.

#2298 of 2608 Re: The cost of "reliability" [ross] by jeffyscott

Mar 03, 2006 (7:10 am)

Replying to: ross (Mar 02, 2006 5:20 pm)
I think it is that you hear from those who have a $3000 or $5000 repair and not from those who do not.
 
Suppose one ford vehicle in 10 has a $5000 repair while for Honota it is 1 in 50 that has that $5000 repair bill, that translates to an average extra repair cost difference of $400 per vehicle. I think it is probably something along those lines is the basis for the difference in average repair costs.
 
If so, then you have to ask is it worth spending $2400 now to reduce my chances of possibly paying that $5000 later. It could be put this way...would you rather pay a sure $2400 now and have a 2% chance that you will have to pay an additional $5000 later or would you rather just have a 10% chance of having to pay the $5000 later.
 
There is an assumption that all Fords are crap and all Honotas are bulletproof. I have found very interesting reading on the Accord problem board here. There are people posting there about huge repair bills on relatively new cars, too.
 
The edmunds figures for repairs are averages and are supposed to based on cost of extended warranty for the vehicle in question. I'm not a fan of extended warranties but I wonder...what kind extended warranty could one buy with the $2400 savings from buying the Ford?

#2299 of 2608 Re: The cost of "reliability" [jeffyscott] by hault

Mar 04, 2006 (5:41 pm)

Replying to: jeffyscott (Mar 03, 2006 7:10 am)
I agree with the analysis. A lot depends on how long you intend to keep the vehicle. If you have an extended warranty it helps also. The percentage of high costing repairs per vehicle would be nice to have before purchasing. The quality of all new vehicles is questionable. All the "plastic" weight saving parts have been disastrous in most vehicles. I wouldn't keep any modern vehicle past 10 years or 120,000 miles.

#2300 of 2608 Ford Windstar 2000 not auto shifting to higher gears/speeds by micelle

Mar 04, 2006 (11:38 pm)

Have a Ford Windstar 2000 with 108K miles. Runs in Drive, but would not auto shift gearup to higher speeds (max is about 25) unless I manually shift lower to gear 2, then it only runs as fast as 40. Check engine light also came on. Battery was weak bcos the van has been sitting for a while, but appears to charging back up.
 
Later checked transmission fluid and added some Mercon V. Runs a little faster in Drive, but soon started flashing O/D light.
 
After about 2hrs of resting the van, started the van, the O/D light did not come on again even when driving but the speed issue returned - runs in Drive, but would not auto shift gearup to higher speeds, runs as fast as 40 in gear 2. Check engine light still on.
Please advice.

#2301 of 2608 Re: Electrical [the5fours] by sherylp

Mar 05, 2006 (1:27 pm)

Replying to: the5fours (Dec 08, 2000 4:29 am)
we just took the alternator out of my 2003 windstar and can't get the belt back in without an extra 2 inches. any ideas on what ere doing wrong? I think extra isn't good.
Thanks

#2302 of 2608 Re: Ghost in the Machine [drohrer] by paulk4

Mar 05, 2006 (1:40 pm)

Replying to: drohrer (Feb 15, 2006 8:18 am)
hi having some what the same ploblem. this is my first time on this web forum did you get any answers

#2303 of 2608 98 windstar by paulk4

Mar 05, 2006 (1:42 pm)

door ajar light stays on interior lights stay on can anybody give me a clue

#2304 of 2608 Re: 98 windstar [paulk4] by hmclaughlin

Mar 05, 2006 (2:13 pm)

Replying to: paulk4 (Mar 05, 2006 1:42 pm)
Hello .. We are encountering the exact same problem. It started when my husband was walking away from the van and double clicked to check to see if he had locked the vehicle. We get ding, ding, ding. We have interior dome lights that stay on. We have a constant "door ajar" message on the dash. We tried to remove the fuse, thinking that even if we didn't have an interior light, at least it wouldn't drain the battery. Guess what? Couldn't open that damned panel door. Our son suggested we remove the bulbs. Haven't tried that yet. Were you able to find out anything?
 
The air has been replace, the original rack and pinion has been replaced twice, the rear wiper motor has been replace and is down again. The paint is chipping away.
 
If you can offer any advice that assisted you, we would trulyl appreciate hearing from you. Thanks. Helen McLaughlin

#2305 of 2608 Re: '98 that idles rough when started warm [groman] by doinwi

Mar 05, 2006 (2:23 pm)

Replying to: groman (Feb 17, 2006 1:01 pm)
You know, it's funny you should mention the fuel injectors. I figured it was either spark or fuel so I had the mechanic replace my plugs are 85k, a little early, to rule them out. Then, since we were starting to notice the problem around town this winter I put some STP injector cleaner into the tank. Things seemed to have cleared up, but we occasionally still notice the problem. I'll have my mechanic look at replacing injectors. Can they isolate a bad one, or do they have to replace all at once?

Messages Page 231 of 262

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