Ford Windstar / 2003
2003 Ford Windstar problems
Owners have filed 2,057 complaints about the 2003 Ford Windstar with NHTSA. Service brakes account for 14.4% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of service brakes, hydraulic at 14.3%.
Complaints2,057
Crashes54
Fires31
Injuries49
Deaths1
What owners report breaking
Service brakes 14.4% · 296
Service brakes, hydraulic 14.3% · 295
Electrical system 13.9% · 285
Suspension 12.5% · 257
Power train 11.0% · 227
Structure 6.2% · 128
Vehicle speed control 4.1% · 85
Service brakes, electric 3.4% · 69
Severity
Of those complaints, 54 describe a crash, 31 describe a fire, 49 report an injury and 1 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 9 model years of the Ford Windstar in this data, 2003 sits 4th by complaint volume. 1995 draws the most.
Filings have fallen off, 8 in the last three years against 31 in the three before. That is normal as a generation leaves the road.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 99,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Swerved to avoid collision and the brakes locked causing car to lose control on the wet road. The van hit a tree, flipped on its side and smashed into a light pole. The airbags did not deploy even though there was front end damage. The abs and brake lights were illuminated prior to the crash. Also noticed the speedometer started acting up over the prior weeks (not moving until after a few minutes of driving.) Service brakes · reported at 163,000 miles
Brake light and abs come on and go off repeatedly . We have replaced the alternator and battery .The brakes seem to operate ok under normal braking conditions and can find no other problems but my carries our children around in this thing .What the info I have gathered there seems to be some kind of defect with the Ford ecu that needs to be addressed before someone gets killed from faulty abs not working . Service brakes · reported at 57,000 miles
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. The contact stated that the abs light illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to a local mechanic. The mechanic stated that the abs system had malfunctioned. The mechanic did not detail what needed to be replaced. The contact called the manufacturer who advised the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer. The failure mileage was 170,000. The vin was not available. Service brakes · reported at 170,000 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…