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Consumers told KARE-TV that the 1995 Ford Windstar is plagued by premature transmission failures. Local mechanics agreed they appeared to be failing at a much higher rate than would be expected from the first 5-star rated mini-van and often right after the factory warranty had expired. Owners were outraged to be paying an average of $2000 out-of-pocket expense to replace these transmissions before they were even done paying for their vans. The authors looked through NHTSA's database and found Ford had predicted these transmissions would fail in a technical service bulletin and had redesigned a key part midway through the fires model year.