Ford Windstar - Problems, Statistics, and Analysis

Ford Windstar owners have reported a total of 11,853 problems for their cars built in the 10 model years listed in the chart below. The chart shows the number of problems reported across all service years for each given model year of the Ford Windstar. The 2001 Ford Windstar cars have the most problems reported (1,933 problems).

Table 1. Total number of problems by model year for Ford Windstar

Model Year	Number of Problems
2005 Windstar	2
2004 Windstar	29
2003 Windstar	1,777
2002 Windstar	1,613
2001 Windstar	1,933
2000 Windstar	1,843
1999 Windstar	1,607
1998 Windstar	1,453
1997 Windstar	191
1996 Windstar	1,385

🔍 Common problems of Ford Windstar

The following chart shows the 28 most common problems for Ford Windstar cars. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's service brakes, hydraulic (2,395 problems). The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's suspension (1,588 problems).

Table 2. Common problems of Ford Windstar

Problem Category	Number of Problems
Service Brakes	2,395
Suspension	1,588
Power Train	1,524
Electrical System	1,369
Engine And Engine Cooling	1,057
Structure	975
Vehicle Speed Control	485
Steering	477
Equipment	230
Wheel	219

Air Bag	216
Visibility	197
Gasoline Fuel System	155
Latches/locks/linkage	145
Unknown Or Other	140
Tire	131
Exterior Lighting	104
Seat Belt	96
Electronic Stability Control	82
Seats	66
Parking Brake	59
Interior Lighting	44
Other Fuel System	44
Child Seat	21
Air Brake	19
Traction Control System	13
Forward Collision Avoidance	1
Back Over Prevention	1

📉 Compare Reliability Across Model Years Using PPMY Index

It would not be fair to compare the Ford Windstar of an older model year to newer model years since older vehicles have been in service longer and thus are expected to have more problems. In order to compare the reliability across Windstar model years, we use the PPMY index which is defined as the problems reported per thousand vehicles per Year. A smaller PPMY index indicates greater reliability of the given model year cars.

PPMY = P / S / Y * 1000,

where P = total problems reported during the life of a Ford Windstar model year; S = total units sold of the model year; Y = years since the debut of the model year (the age of the vehicle).

The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Use PPMY Index to Compare Reliability Across Windstar Model Years

Windstar Model Year	Problems	Sales [1]	Vehicle Age	PPMY Index
2003	1,777	144,878	23	0.53
2002	1,613	142,175	24	0.47
2001	1,933	177,515	25	0.44
2000	1,843	229,830	26	0.31

📊 Number of Problems Reported During the First Year

Another way to measure the reliability across the model years of the Ford Windstar is to use the total number of problems reported during the vehicle's first year in service, as shown in the Table 4.

Table 4. Number of problems in vehicle's; first service year

Model Year	Problems Reported
2004 Windstar	1
2003 Windstar	36
2002 Windstar	35
2001 Windstar	52
2000 Windstar	93
1999 Windstar	80
1998 Windstar	117
1997 Windstar	8
1996 Windstar	60

Switch Model:

Select Model Year:

☘ Windstar Service Bulletins

⚑ Windstar Safety Recalls

☤ Windstar Defect Investigations

Compare Reliability:

Select vehicle 1:
Select vehicle 2: