Faults:

Vehicle would stall when cold. After several trips to dealership had to leave vehicle overnight so mechanics could find problem on a cold engine. It ended up being a rusted clamp.

Where we live all vehicles have to have an inspection before they are sold and every year after that. We had to replace a wheel bearing on our first inspection.

These and our 5000km oil changes are the only reason we have had the truck in the garage.

We have gone on two vacations so far and have averaged over 5000 kms on both trips without even a whisper of trouble.

General Comments:

We love this truck. Some people get confused on these reviews about what an SUV is. SUV, s are trucks. This vehicle sounds like a truck, drives like a truck and feels like a truck. Any SUV that doesn't is just a 4WD minivan. The Explorer drives great in the snow, mud and the highway. I like all the power options and the auto headlights and automatic day night mirror.

Faults:

I have had the vehicle since April of 2002, and it has been in the shop twice with in a month.

It was still covered under Ford Warranty, but the dealership, did not seem to know how to fix it.

I bought my Explorer from a Dodge dealership, and they are the ones that insured that I had a vehicle while my car was in the shop.

The last time it was in, it was idling funny, and it took two weeks for them to figure out it was the Torque Converter.

As of November 6 I have had it back for nearly 3 weeks and it is starting to do funny things again.

My explorer is fun, and I have lots of room, and it is easy to get in and out of, but I don't really trust it. There is always the thought in the back of my mind, that I will have to call someone to pick me up. This is not comforting being that I drive 80 miles from home 2 times a week.

Faults:

* First problem was with the airbag system. They first fixed it by replacing the wiring for the airbag. Then, when the airbag light began flashing again about 6 weeks later, they then decided to replace the electrical module running the airbag system. (covered by the Used Car Department because it was existing when the car was purchased)

* The service engine light came on, indicating a problem with a known defect that had been recalled. (Why this hadn't been dealt with prior to my purchase either by the dealership or the previous owner is not known to me.)

* The motor for the rear wiper went out and had to be replaced. (covered by my extended warranty)

* The transmission went out and had to be replaced. (covered by my extended warranty, thank heavens)

* The passenger side power window motor quit working and had to be replaced. (covered by my warranty)

* The thermostat went out and had to be replaced. (This was detected by the engine surging when I was stopping resulting in the car trying to lurch forward despite my foot being off the gas and on the brake.) (also covered by my warranty)

General Comments:

The money I spent on the extended warranty is definitely the best money I've ever spent in my life. Otherwise, I don't think I'd have been able to afford the payments with the repairs.

However, despite these problems, I've loved driving the vehicle. It's fun, it's sporty, and it handles nicely. It definitely is a much less economical than my previous car (GEO Storm), but the added space and power and refreshing.

I'm concerned that the previous owners did not take adequate care of the car (transmission problem and the recall not being serviced).

Also, a note about the extended warranties...when the transmission needed to be replaced, the company providing for the warranty first asked if the car had been serviced at 60,000 miles as suggested by Ford. (If you're not familiar, the 60k check is a very thorough exam of the car including flushing the transmission.) Luckily, I HAD done this at 60k. When speaking to the service guy at my local dealership, he said that they might have declined the repair it hadn't been. I definitely recommend that people be diligent about the suggested maintenance program.