FaultScore

Worst years for a Ford Windstar

Owners have filed 19,460 complaints about the Ford Windstar with NHTSA across model years 1985 to 2005. More of them are about the brakes than anything else.

Avoid

1995 Ford Windstar

4,799 complaints — the highest FaultScore of any year, mostly engine & cooling.

Cleanest on record

2004 Ford Windstar

33 complaints — the lowest FaultScore of the graded years.

Every Ford Windstar year, graded

The grade compares each year against the rest of this model's own run — never against another car. Click any bar or row to open that year's report.

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded
Year Grade Complaints Crashes Fires Median miles Most reported
2005 1 0 0 Engine & Cooling
2004 A 33 0 2 129,000 Suspension
2003 C 2,057 54 31 99,000 Brakes
2002 C 1,928 72 73 101,500 Brakes
2001 C 2,297 91 79 107,245 Brakes
2000 C 2,191 87 66 107,000 Brakes
1999 C 2,040 64 86 101,850 Transmission & Drivetrain
1998 C 1,949 84 90 90,000 Transmission & Drivetrain
1997 A 249 6 11 88,890 Transmission & Drivetrain
1996 C 1,855 71 53 85,550 Engine & Cooling
1995 D 4,799 179 66 97,657 Engine & Cooling
1994 A 25 2 0 134,000 Engine & Cooling
1993 B 12 1 1 Engine & Cooling
1992 3 0 0 Transmission & Drivetrain
1991 3 0 0 Body & Structure
1990 11 1 2 Fuel & Propulsion
1985 7 0 1 Engine & Cooling

What breaks on a Ford Windstar

Across every model year on file. Follow a row for that part's complaints and the year it was worst.

Brakes 3,678 18.9%

Worst in 2003

Engine & Cooling 3,104 16.0%

Worst in 1995

Worst in 1995

Suspension 2,092 10.8%

Worst in 2001

Electrical System 1,630 8.4%

Worst in 2003

Body & Structure 1,278 6.6%

Worst in 2001

Worst in 2002

Steering 742 3.8%

Worst in 1999

Worst in 1995

Worst in 1995

Worst in 1995

Airbags 325 1.7%

Worst in 1995

Lights 305 1.6%

Worst in 2003

Wheels 295 1.5%

Worst in 1998

Exactly what failed on a Ford Windstar

The named sub-assemblies behind those complaints, across every model year.

Engine 1,685 25.7%
Automatic Transmission 1,652 25.2%
Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip 631 9.6%
Gasoline 578 8.8%
Rear 560 8.5%
Frame AND Members 490 7.5%
Coil Springs 289 4.4%
Door 260 4.0%
Body 227 3.5%
Axle Assembly 186 2.8%

Complaints filed over time

Every complaint about every Ford Windstar, by the month it reached NHTSA.

Jan 1995 peak 365 Jul 2026

Ford Windstar problems by state

Where owners filed from. Heavier states are usually just bigger markets, but a part that fails in heat or salt shows up here first.

Compare the Ford Windstar

Side by side on complaint history. Remember that raw totals track how many were sold as much as how good they were.