We purchsed our 1996 Ford Windstar minivan in 1998 when it was a couple of years used. We bought it because it has a decent safety rating, can fit six passengers plus the driver, and can carry a lot of cargo with the rear seats removed. The car gave us no problems for the first two years of ownership.
In 2001 the automatic transmission broke, and the replacement cost $3000. Since then the transmission has not had serious problems. Also, one time, a friend driving the car pushed the brake pedal to the floor but the brakes did not work. They released the pedal and pushed again and they
worked.
The transmission has not had any serious problems since it was replaced it has not performed as well as I would have liked. It just does not know how to shift properly. If I drive fast up a hill, then take my foot off the accelerator, it shifts into top gear.
When I step on the accelerator again the engine rattles as it tries to push the car up the hill in 4th gear. I push the gas pedal further towards the floor to get the transmission to downshift and it does so with a loud roar of the engine which sometimes scares my passengers. Once I was ...