O.K, Just need to vent. The tranny went out on my 2000 Widstar last week. Estimate to fix $1200-1700 depending on how bad it is. I worked a bunch of OT the last month and almost had enough saved to paint the '69. And all this right befoe Christmas. I typed in "windstar transmission" under a search at Yahoo, I found  several hundred hits, all complaints about the tranny. My mom has the same tranny in her taurus, she just hit 100k and is on her third tranny! I'm now going to be fully converted to GM. Anyone know if the S10 Blazers are reliable?

Thanks,

Matt 

Our windstar was on it's third transmission in 27,000 miles when we decided enough was enough. We dumped it.

When will you people learn!! Stay away from the Furds!!!

The trans in the FWD Ferds are not now, nor have they ever been, reliable! They have several inherant design "flaws", that FoMoCo has refused to correct. We in the repair business have devised many "updates", and "fixes" to help these units(AXOD-AX4S-AX4N) survive. Even so, they still are not economically feasable to repair. To really FIX these units, retail costs are around $2500-$2700(here, anyway!)
I have rebuilt many of these units, with less than 20,000 miles on them, from the factory! BOOOO!
The newer S10 Blazers have the 4L60-E, an electronicaly controlled version of the 700. So far, so good, with these. They will survive very nicely, IF serviced regularly, Adams' Apple38690.3924884259

I have a 96 Aerostar and lost a head gasket at 60K miles. I call Ford corporate and bitched about how I would not buy another Ford unless they help me out. Told them about a Taurus I had that lost its head gasket at 70K mi. Well, they sold me a extended power-train warranty for $500 that covered it. What makes me mad is that I maintain my vehicles = to or better than their recommendations and I still have problems. At least Ford was willing to help. I don't view GM as being any better than Ford when it comes to reliability. The next vehicle for the wife will probably be a Toyota, Honda or Acura. I do have a 01 F150 Supercrew 50K mi and so far no problems.

I certainly understand your pain. You would think these cars would last a little longer. I guess that is why Ford and GM are loosing market share and is closing down production facilities.

I think there will always be some bad ones in the bunch no matter what car make you go with.  That's why I hate looking for a new truck now.  I talk to one person, they had a problem with chevy so they say go ford or dodge, another one says go chevy, another says go dodge.  I think no matter what you go with you may end up with something that seems to have problems.  With all the parts and electronics on today's cars it seems like the chances of something going wrong would be pretty good!!  Personally I can't really complain about Ford.  I have a '97 F150 with 110,000 miles and other than the usual maintenance its still running strong.  (I realize I just set myself up for a disaster.)  We also have a '97 Expedition w/ 135K, '97 or '98 Mercury Cougar w/ 85K (I consider that a ford!!), and an '01 Ranger w/ 25K.... all of which have never had a problem with the engine or transmission.  (once again, knock on wood!!!)  So now when I look for cars/trucks, I hear what people are saying, but I try to do some research on whether or not it is a very popular trend!!

I am with you VT. Now days before I buy I always spend a few months researching the vehicle on the internet. I look for reliability and what people are paying. Shoot, even the Acura TL type S had transmission problems there for a few years. Like VT said vehicle now days just have a lot of stuff that can cause problems. At least with the C3 I can fix it myself. Can't say the same for my truck.

Gee, I guess I don't feel so bad about my '93 Honda, made in USA. Major components are still functioning great (knock on wood) after 145K.

Sorry to hear about your Windstar tranny nightmare, Matt.      Ford = "Fix Or Repair Daily." I've always heard that, but then again there's a lot of people I know that swear by their F150.

I researched & test drove Toyota's for 2 years before I bought one. Toyota makes a good reliable car. The only thing that's not too good is their radio/cd player (junky). Over all the radio thing is not that important, but to me the reliability is. So, if your looking for a reliable vehicle, go look at Highlander, 4-Runner or Rav-4. They are good for 10 years, then ditch it.

Bummer Matt.

 Unfortunately people I know who own(ed) a front wheel drive Ford have had expensive transmission issues. That is one reason I'm staying with GM products. But even GM is losing my faith in them. I'm seriously looking at Toyota for our next trucks.

'96-'03 S10's are pretty reliable.

Front suspensions are the big problem with them. Parts in particular are the lower ball joints, pitman and idler arm. The lower ball joints especially are known to go bad first it seems. Mainly due to an improper "grease job."  The fittings are kind of hard to access, so some of these oil change places even dealers don't take the time to do it right. And there are 2 grease/zerk fittings on the idler arm. One is easy to see and do, the other is hard to access and even see. So those always seem to lose out on proper lubrication.

At the small used car dealership I "moonlight" at, I can honestly say that out of the past 50 plus S10's I have personally worked on, at least 40 of them required lower ball joints and idler arms. And about 20 needed a pitman arm. Which is a pain to do. The steering box needs to almost removed from the vehicle to change a pitman arm. PITA!

Michele and I own two '03 S10 4x4's. I don't even let the dealer service them. They do half a$$ work when they need warranty work done.  

my .02 cents,

Sarge

Sarge8138690.8487268519