[WANAGOFAST]

Here's the story:
Last October we(my wife and me) purchased our first new car; A very nice Ford Windstar SE.I got one hell of a deal,from 29655.00 MSRP down to 18799.00 with all incentives and employee discounts(Blue Oval discount)
At about 2300 miles The engine started making noise at idle(Tapping noise.Sounded like a little man was tapping at my fender everytime I idled the car) Happened to be a timming cover case/oil pump problem.We replaced the cover and noise went away.Approx 10000 miles later the noise came back accompanied by a Upper valvetrain noise,again the case was replaced along valve pushrods/rokers/lifters,etc...Job done,take car home(50 miles) Severe lower engine Knocking is present along with the little man tapping on my fender again.Bring car back,my boss sais lets put in a new engine.OK.Said and done.New engine installed,20 minutes after startup,The little *uckin man tapping on my fender was back! Ford sent an engine without being updated.(updated timming case cover,also wrong year engine was sent)I still one more time allowed them to install the "updated timming case cover"But Alas. at 14K it was back.Ford was called on it and they sent a "FIELD ENGINEER" to check the problem.After hours of checking with "chassis ears" he determined:There is a noise comming from your front Timming case cover :roll: (like we didn't know this) and his recommendation was to add 10W 30 oil to see if noise goes away....(Mind you ,this vehicle oil specs reccommend 5W20 oil)If it did, he recommended replacement of the timming cover case/oil pump.Again.
I E-Mailed Ford with the story and told them I am filling for Lemon Law and within a weeks time, My main Boss(the owner) offered me a 2005 car for my Troubles.
So ends up that ford decided to end this one by buying back my 2003 Windstar and I get a 2005 Ford Freestyle SEL AWD with no penalties( I do have to pay a difference of 400 bucks and some change for the difference in MSRP's,but I have a new car again and when the lease ends (2years) all I have to pay is the original diiference from the first deal(10k and change) to buy it if I decide to keep it
I have to wait 8 to 10 weeks to recieve it,cause there are no Freestyles built as of yet with the option packages I choose,so it became a "Special Factory Order" Here is a picture of the car with the upper color I chose,(I chose Charcoal grey for the lower cladding)Blue Pearl Metallic

 

[1Sleepy93]

Nice! I'm glad it all worked out. What a bunch of frustration to go through though.

 

[siragan]

they sent a "FIELD ENGINEER" to check the problem.After hours of checking with "chassis ears" he determined:There is a noise comming from your front Timming case cover :roll: (like we didn't know this)

Hahaha engineers are morons.

Fords are the biggest waste of money. They're always breaking, they're built like crap, and they have no resale value. I've done the math and it's actually cheaper to go with honda, and you get a much more reliable car to boot.

Well whatever... I'm never buying a ford again. Worst cars on the road imo.

 

[1Sleepy93]

Well at least Windstars are crap. My parents owned two of them and both of them had the tranny go prematurely. First van, a 97, had it go at like 70k miles. Second van, a 00, had it go at 54k miles. That's f*cked up. They won't go with anything other then Dodge now since they never had a problem with them.

 

[WANAGOFAST]

Honestly,I like Fords.At this time I own the Scort,a 95 Taurus,a 96 Windstar and the 2003 Windstar.Non of them has given me any mayor headaches with the Exeption of the 2003.
I mean it is easy for me to take care of them (you know working for ford and all) Parts and preventative maintenance are accesible to me....
As for the Engineer, he is a moron... :roll:

 

[thescortgt]

if you're going to buy a ford, you gotta spend money to get the good stuff. for example, the triton 4.6L V-8 in the F-150 and Expedition. has a different transmission than the 5.4L Triton V-8, and the tranny with the 4.6L is absolute crap. in my mom's expedition, it should tow about 6000lbs i believe. towed about 2500, and it started leaking fluid. piece of shit it is, they've had problems with that transmission in the past. the 5.4L tranny however, is really friggin awesome. if you get the newer cars with mazda engines in them (for example the new focus with the 2.3L PZEV engine) you're going to be ok.. but you gotta spend some extra $$
ranger, get the 4.0L mazda engine and you're golden. once again, more $$
noticing a pattern here? mustang..... want a good one, gotta get the GT... spend some $$ don't get me wrong.... the new V-6 especially is pretty bad***, but the GT is just awesome. i rode in an 05 Mustang GTthe other day (friend's dad brought one home from work), and even with the automatic, that thing just rips

 

[Caymen]

Sirgan,

I did the math. Fords are cheaper then the Honda's over time. Remember, the Honda usually costs more to buy in the first place. The money you spent extra in the begining is waiting for you when you sell it. If you were to take the money difference and put it in a CD for the ammount of time you keep the car, you will be better off with the Ford.

Ford isn't number two in the world because they build crap.

There is a reason thier trucks sell so well. Drive one, then drive a GM and Dodge, then grab a Nissan and Toyota. Trust me, the Ford will be the truck of choice. A friend purchased a brand new Nissan Titan. At 4500 miles, the engine self destructed. He had to wait a month before they could get a field rep to look things over. After two months with a payment, but no vehicle, he got his Titan back. Never heard an opology from the dealer or Nissan. On the way home from the dealer, he purchased a new Ford. He regrets getting the Nissan and will never buy another.

Mitsubishi is one of the most unreliable automaker in the world. VW is worse the Mitsubishi.


Tom

 

[fordboy4ever]

i must also comment on sirgans post...

yes hondas last longer... of course that is a well known fact. hondas will last longer than anything. but as mentioned ford isnt at #2 because all their cars suck... the 05 model year f150 was i believe car and drivers #1 truck in that catigory. ford knows how to make cars. and the lightning lost to the rt10 in the qt mi by ii believe hundredths of a second with 110 less horse power. mustang cobras see 12s easily with a girl driving (sorry dont hate me i was joking females what chevy will get you to the 12s stock, not the corvette (a 2 seater) deff not the camaro. and the only dodge that comes to mind is the viper but who can pay for one of those?

i know all my reasons have basically been speed related and thats not why you buy a car (for me it is ) but other than that they really are pretty dependable cars and i like them... not to mention they look way better than all the competition

 

[ibri]

You can, however attribute Ford's being #2 because they are "American Made" *snicker*...for the most part anyways. Despite recent events people still take pride in having domestic built cars over imports. That whole American pride thing :/

 

[thescortgt]

yeah.... my dad just traded his 03 F-150 for an 04 F-150 (he wanted the new style... what can i say) and my mom is trading in her 02 expedition for an 05 this saturday (lease vehicle). so far the only problems we've had are with the crap transmission with the 4.6L expedition. my dad's F-150s have all had the 5.4L, and have had no problems. even with me driving :twisted: also, my sister has a 2003 Focus, and she drives the piss out of it.... only thing wrong is she never cleans it out. i have a friend with a 00 focus, only problem he had was a bearing went bad on his back wheel. covered by warranty. OH. another problem with the expedition was that my mom complained it was greatly underpowered (the 4.6L.... 230hp in a 5500 lb car.... yeah... the 5.4L has a ton more torque than the 4.6L too....)

 

[thescortgt]

oh and by the way.... my dad has previously owned a 2001 F-150, a 2000 Mountaineer, and alot more..... he slammed into the back of a corolla, and the whole backend crushed in (on the corolla).... he got a small crack in the plastic on the bumper HOORAH