[Normy]

OK, let me tell you about my experience with an American car, a 1997 Ford Aerostar minivan... and a German car...a 1997 Volkswagen Jetta GLX.

I bought the Aerostar in October of 2003 as an "airport car", or car to park at the airport. It was 6 years old, I bought it for WAY less than it was worth: I went looking for a Mercury Villager or Nissan Quest [same product...] and found this Aerostar with 86,000 miles. There was a bunch of repainting- the right front fender had been repainted, along with the right sliding door. But other than that...there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. This car sold for $14,000 new in 1997 and my understanding is that it was owned for 5 years by an hispanic woman, who did no maintenace but didn't want it at the end of the lease.

The Ford Aerostar vehicle is a product of a "quick program" by the Ford Motor Company in 1983. Chrysler had just introduced their (Cheesy-!) Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager cars in 1982, and Ford wanted to bring to market a minivan. The "crash" Aerostar program resulted. The Aerostar minivan was a Ranger truck frame converted to a unibody, and then with a box body added. It was Ranger based, and Ford initially released the Aerostar with Ranger engines : (can you believe it: the Pinto's 2.3 liter four] the 2.8 liter Cologne German V6.

Later, Ford caught common sense and built the Aerostar with an engine known as a "vulcan", or their corporate 150 horsepower Taurus engine. It is cheap to produce with it's stamped steel rocker arms.

Look on Edmunds.com, or on KBB.com-they'll tell you about Aerostars! These were probably the best American built minivans in 1997. From what I've read about them, and from owning one for four years, I can tell you to replace the radiator and all the hoses immediately.

After that? If you change your oil, your coolant, and your brake fluid every year...you probably won't spend a cent or a Euro on your Aerostar [they were sold in Europe]. These cars are so bulletproof it is almost annoying~

N!