Consumer Complaint Detail

FORD / WINDSTAR / 1996

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 006067368 Incident Date: May, 29 2006
Consumer's City: ORANGE CITY Consumer's State: IA
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Ford Motor Company
Model Name: WINDSTAR Model Year: 1996
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Electrical system:ignition:switch
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 2FMDA5143TB Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jun, 06 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Jan, 19 2002
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 6 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: We own a 1996 ford windstar. in december of 2005 the van was parked in our driveway with the engine off. while my wife and i worked in the front yard, the van spontaneously started. i got in, put it in gear and it died. it ran fine for a time after that. we spoke to our independent mechanic who had never heard of such a thing. we basically forgot about it until may 30, 2006. this time it happened in the garage with all of the doors shut. my daughter came in the house asking why the van was running. we did the same thing to again make it stop. the garage was filled with exhaust and a black exhaust stain on the floor. this time we brought it to our local ford dealer. he diagnosed it as a faulty transmission range switch. charge for the repair for parts and labor was $175. the dealership would not help because there had not been a recall of the item and it was no longer under warranty. i called ford's customer service department and they would not help citing the same excuse as the dealer. i feel this is a significant safety issue. had we not caught it in time we could have experienced significant carbon monoxide poisoning or even death of our pets in the garage or family members in the house. we've been very disappointed with ford through the years. we have had gasket problems with our van, yet the recall for that item extends only through 1995 and they have not stood behind the 96's. *nm