The Windstar was a front wheel drive minivan that used an engine borrowed from the Taurus, a midsize family car. That engine had serious head gasket problems in the smaller car. When it was put in the minivan, which weighs 700 pounds more, the problems got much worse. This problem was solved by 1996.

The transmission problem affected many more vehicles than the head gasket problem, and it took many more years for Ford to solve. Some would say that Ford never did figure out a good way to fix the transmission problem. Some drivers claimed that the transmission would fail with even normal usage.

These are not the best minivans to buy used, but they are readily available on the used car market. You can also buy them on eBay. For the most part, they are considerably cheaper than their counterparts from Honda or Toyota. You might want to buy a second one for parts. Or just buy the parts on eBay.