I never owned a Windstar but I wonder why they seem to get so much disrespect now. My brother-in-law had one and I thought it was very nice as far as minivans go. I remember talking to a veteran car salesman who said he had owned every brand of minivan made and the best of all was the Windstar, this was back in 2000.
Here’s one reason. I bought a “certified used” ‘97 Windstar with 47,000 miles on it. By 83,000 miles, I had put the 4th replacement tranny in it. I got rid of it after that. I spoke with many Windstar owners while I had mine, and I really don’t remember one who hadn’t had a tranny replaced after 40,000 miles. I was told the tranny parts for that year were made of a “high grade” plastic or something like that, and the parts warped frequently. Tell me about it.
I (and my family)had owned Fords my whole life, with no problems. Now I have a Honda Odyssey and a Hyundai Santa Fe. No problems at all.