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
Van abs brake light and abs light comes on at the same time. I took the van to local dealer who informed me that this is a common problem with these windstars. He said that it would cost a lot of money to fix. *Tr if this is a common problem and a safety issue why hasn't odi.Nhtsa make Ford call a recall. Minivans are a family vehicle is it safe to continue driving my family in it while this keeps happening? Service brakes · reported at 128,000 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…