Way OT Anyone tell me about Ford Windstar Van Options

[germaneighter]

I'm not sure where OT questions go......

My elderly father-in-law looking at buying a 2000 FORD Windstar van. Does anyone have any feedback to help me to help him decide?

[IronHillRestorations]

We purchased a 2000 Windstar SEL new in Nov of 99, and got decent service from it, although the power sliding doors needed expensive repairs every two and a half years. The first time it was fixed under the extended warranty, the last time the repair cost us $512.00 and took three days at the shop (waiting for parts), after it was six months and three thousand miles out of warranty! The door wouldn't close under power and wouldn't latch at all. My wife was 50 miles from home and had to have a band-aid repair to get home, so it was another $60 just so she could get home.

This really was the corker for me. I could imagine being somewhere in cornfield IL on the way home at 6:00 Sunday evening and have this happen.

Besides the door issue and no better than 21 mpg, we didn't have too much gripe with the performance of the vehicle. The resale value is what sent us to a van with the funny little H on it. Our new Odyssey is heads and shoulders above the Ford. Sunroof, rolldown glass on the rear doors, Nav and Entertainment, lots of storage, fold flat rear seats, etc.

Did you know the Honday handles better than a Jaguar XKE (stock) and as good as a 356 (stock)??? Put some plus one wheels and tires on the Ody and it handles better than the 356! This van drives like a very good sport luxury car.

3.5 Six that shuts off half the cylinders, plenty of power, and much better resale (if that's a consideration). Our Windstar was valued between $7000-$8000 and a year older Ody is worth as much or more.

Bottom line is that the Windstar may be a good deal on a used one, but I'd want to see the service history. We got out of ours before the value tanked anymore, but when we got it we planned on keeping it for 150k miles, which I don't think is realistic.