Ford Aerostar (US minivan)

[Seeker]

https://jalopnik.com/the-1989-ford-a...own-1840018353


I had one of these in the US. My ex wife wanted a minivan with a high roof line despite the fact that the Plymouth Voyager/Dodge Caravan
was far more car-like and nicer to drive. It was a 3 ltr V6 with very little power (the 4 litre was much quicker).

We bought a second hand one from a Ford dealer, a couple of years old with 19000 miles on the clock. It was in excellent condition and looked attractive in metallic
silver and metallic blue. Our first trip was to drive up Mount Baldy which, in April in Southern California, still had snow and the kids (3
and 2 yrs) hadn't seen snow. We didn't make it - the water pump failed.
It was repaired under warranty
Then the top hose went. followed by the bottom hose and then every other hose.
6 months later at Sea World San Diego with my parents, the top hose went again.

Changing the plugs was a knuckle scraping nightmare - 4 plugs could be reached from outside but 2 had to be changed from inside the
cab - no plug could be turned more than 1/8 turn at a time because of clearance.

Hoses replaced again (always Ford parts).
Relocated to Texas and it ran well 25mpg (US gallon) fully laden although a vac one way valve (plastic) failed on the a/c (held vac reservoir for heater controls)

Back to California
Radiator failed - collapsed internally.
The heater core failed (steam in the cab) - the Ford dealership tried to tell me it was the a/c condensor (!) I argued, they rechecked and agreed with me but
told me the a/c had lost all its Freon (yes - because they'd changed the wrong part) 6 months later the heater core failed again -
when I told them I was making a warranty claim - they tried to tell me it was the condensor that had failed. I managed to stay calm and told them to check the parts usage at which point they agreed it was the core and it was a warranty claim.
It was an automatic and it always shifted harshly from Park into Drive but one day when put into Drive nothing happened. I mentioned it
to a lady at work who said she'd had the same problem with her Ford Explorer and a month later her transmission failed - we traded the
Aerostar that weekend.

One of the worst vehicles I've ever owned.

[SV650rules]

Fix Or Repair Daily = Ford

Just like Fiat = Fix It Again Tomorrow ( one Fiat was enough for me, it was a money pit ).