10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 3 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 109,048 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
The rear wheel well is corroded and the corrosion is into the structure that the seat belt is mounted to and it ruined the REM(rear electronic module) there is supposed to be a recall on it but all the ford garages say its been done but it hasn't and now I have no way to work or to take my kids anywhere and the van only has 96000 miles and we just bought
- Pinegrove, WV, USA
I own a 2003 Ford Windstar LX. It was at the mechanic for some repairs and he pointed out the issue with my rear axle being cracked and corroded. Which its very dangerous to keep driving like this.
- Baytown, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. While driving approximately 60 mph, a clunking type noise was present coming from the subframe and the vehicle became unstable. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the front passenger side subframe mounts separated due to rusting. The cause of the rust was not determined. The vehicle was previously repaired per NHTSA campaign number: 11V030000 (structure); however, the failure continued. Toycen Ford (1000 chippewa crossing blvd, chippewa falls, wi) and the manufacturer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 220,000.
- Bloomer, WI, USA
Rear axle broke under bracket that was put on by Ford for the axle recall. I was pulling out of a parking lot with my husband and 4 kids in the van when all of a sudden there was a load noise and the tire was rubbing the wheel well. I immediately pulled over, looked under the rear end and could see the brake. Had my van towed to my house. Called Ford on Monday morning and towed van to dealership. $300 between tow bill's and a Ford service charge just to have Ford tell me they won't do anything to fix my van and make this right.
- Akron, OH, USA
Axle broke under bracket that was put on by Ford for the axle recall. I was pulling out of a parking lot with my husband and 4 kids in the van when all of a sudden there was a load noise and the tire was rubbing the wheel well. I immediately pulled over, looked under the rear end and could see the brake. Had my van towed to my house. Called Ford on Monday morning and towed van to dealership. $300 between tow bill's and a Ford service charge just to have Ford tell me they won't do anything to fix my van and make this right.
- Akron, OH, USA
Rear axle broke under bracket that was put on by Ford for the axle recall. I was pulling out of a parking lot with my husband and 4 kids in the van when all of a sudden there was a load noise and the tire was rubbing the wheel well. I immediately pulled over, looked under the rear end and could see the brake. Had my van towed to my house. Called Ford on Monday morning and towed van to dealership. $300 between tow bill's and a Ford service charge just to have Ford tell me they won't do anything to fix my van and make this right.
- Akron, OH, USA
Rear axle broke under the bracket Ford put on the axle for the axle recall. I was pulling out of a parking lot with my husband, 4 kids and myself when all of a sudden I heard a loud noise and my tire rubbing the wheel well. Pulled over immediately and looked under the rear end of my van and I could see the brake. Had it towed home. Called Ford and towed my van to the dealership. Paid $300 between towing bill's and a service charge just to hear Ford tell me they won't do anything to help me and make this right.
- Akron, OH, USA
Rear axle broke under bracket that was put on by Ford for the axle recall. I was pulling out of a parking lot with my husband and 4 kids in the van when all of a sudden there was a load noise and the tire was rubbing the wheel well. I immediately pulled over, looked under the rear end and could see the brake. Had my van towed to my house. Called Ford on Monday morning and towed van to dealership. $300 between tow bill's and a Ford service charge just to have Ford tell me they won't do anything to fix my van and make this right.
- Akron, OH, USA
This is due to a recall. The rear axle and subframe snapped and Ford is not honoring fixing it even though it happened at the repair site of recall.
- Mentor, OH, USA
Was on the street driving, lights started flashing on dashboard van shut off in the middle of the street battery, alternator, blew out, was driving again van was ilde up really bad and while my feet was on the brakes it started moving on its own and ran into someone else vehicle, and also van was on the road started running bad broke down on a busy street once I was pushed to a safe location all my fluids were on the ground and the van was smoking really bad and lights on dashboard were flashing.
- Houston, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. While inspecting the vehicle, it was discovered that the subframe had rusted and a hole was present located behind the front driver side wheel. The hole was approximately 1.5 inches in diameter. Also, the instrument cluster would randomly stop operating. The failure was not diagnosed or repaired. The local dealer (dick brantmeier Ford in sheboycan, wi) was notified along with the manufacturer, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 150,000.
- Sheboycan, WI, USA
Hello I was driving my 2003 Ford Windstar minivan. I purchased around March 2016 I was taking my kids to school when the rear axel broke. I looked under and it looks like Ford put enforcement brackets on it but it is broke at one of the brackets. Thankfully I was able to keep control of my vehicle. 20 minutes later I would've been on the freeway. One man has already lost his life from the same thing with this vehicle. I have a lady from Ford offering to give me any information she has because it is not right and there is things she has that I cannot find. I looked up my year on the vehicle and what was wrong and realized there are thousands of people with the same problem. Not only that there has been three recalls since 2010 for the same thing. Ford put brackets on to fix the first problem instead of just fixing the problem. That explains my brackets. Ford realized the brackets wasn't working so in 2015 offered to replace them for 300 dollars. Even though it was there fault. But that expired in Dec 2015. I purchased the car around February March 2016. The problem is if its happening with so many Windstar's why not fix the problem in the beginning instead of patching it and taking the easy way out. I'm sure the mans family and kids that lost there loved ones wish this would've been taken care of the right way. I was on the phone all day Thursday with Ford there not offering to help at all. There telling me it will be over 1,000 dollars to fix it. So we almost lost our lives someone could've died thankfully were okay. We have no vehicle the stress of getting kids to school and work and what we are going to do. I have 5 children plus 2 I have taken legal custody of from children services there is no way I can pay that. All because Ford didn't want to fix it right and just replace it the first time around. How does a safety recall ever expire.
- Creola, OH, USA
The passenger side sub frame has rusted through. The dealer had done the recall repair and still right in the spot of the repair the sub frame cracked and split. Ford says there is nothing they can do even though this is a known issue and their repair didn't resolve the issue.
- Stewartsville, NJ, USA
When I was pulling out of a parking lot onto a busy highway I could smell rubber burnig and I heard and felt a big loud bang, .then there was smoke all around van.it was the rear axle/ sub-frame fracture and yes there were recalls and work was done by Ford dealer thank god me and my children were not hurt or killed this was very scary..
- Gloucester, MA, USA
The rear axle on my vehicle cracked and caused my tires to rub against my vehicle, damaging brand new tires. When bringing the vehicle to the shop, was told that a patch had previously been made on the vehicle, but it was done badly and did not hold. Ford would do nothing to right this and denied that there was a recall on the vehicle. I was driving to school while this occurred on city streets.
- Marquette, MI, USA
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle a clunking noise was present coming from under the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who discovered that the sub frame had cracked and separated due to rust and corrosion. The vehicle had previously been repaired under a related recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 236,000.
- Albany, IN, USA
Our engine cradle recently broke and needs to be replaced. We just found out this falls under recall number 15V608 (Ford recall # 15S27). We would like this to be resolved at little or no cost to us, but we are unsure how to start the process with a recall.
- Maysville, KY, USA
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. While attempting to turn into the driveway, the contact heard a clunking noise and a snap. The vehicle was diagnosed by an independent mechanic who stated that the subframe fractured and the tie rod snapped. The vehicle was not drivable. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was invalid. The approximate failure mileage was 160,000.
- Escanaba, MI, USA
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. The contact stated that while in park, the steering wheel seized. As a result, the contact was unable to steer the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the engine cradle had corroded and needed to be replaced. The mechanic also stated that the cradle was previously glued. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 121,000.
- Allegany, NY, USA
- Reelsville, IN, USA