99 Windstar - Worth Fixing?

You know what they say about selling a car to a family member. In February I sold my 99 Windstar with 125K on it to my brother. His wife has since blown the engine (totally her fault - drove around for 4 days with the oil light on). He's getting estimates in excess of $3,000.00 to replace the engine. My question is if it's worth fixing. The van had the transmission replaced at 100K, new rack at 115K, and miscellaneous other repairs. There's no reason to believe that it wouldn't run perfectly with a new engine. The $3,000.00+ quote sounds high to me as well. I'd appreciate some input... Jeff

To replace the engine with a Ford reman, $3000 sounds low. If you rebuild the engine yourself: expect $2500+ in parts and machine shop costs. If the $3000 gets you a "good used" engine .... don't touch it! There is no such thing as a good used Winnie engine.

In short, if you have to depend on others for replacement/repair work ... send it to the boneyard ... you'll almost never get good service work by persons who really know what they are doing.

Thanks much for the feedback - any idea what it's worth?

You are in a "buyer's market". If the van looks good, no blemishes, no scratches, rust, etc ... and you find someone who is willing to buy it for a "project car" (I'm "full up" at the moment) ... you might get $2500.

But the planets are gonna have to be really aligned for you for that to happen.

Absolute scrap value ... probably $750 in most municipal areas.

I can't help thinking that paying $2500 for a 1999 Windstar that, at best, needs another $2500 spent on it is a lot of money to pay. You could buy a n unmolested 2000ish Toyota Sienna for that money, according to what's on at eBay at the moment.

On the other hand you did say it only had 25 000 on the tranny. And the steering rack is new. You will still have other issues but the big 2 will be out of the way. Depending on the condition of the rest of the verhicle you could have a good 99 that may last another 4 years.

I am toying with whether I want to spend $1500 on a transmission. If it gets me another 3 years (with some other maintenance/repairs) that works out to be very little per month when compared with a new car payment.

I also know my Windstar so well now and there is always a lot of help here in this forum that I would have a hard time parting with it.

Also a fair point!