Faults:

Bought a new set of tires at 102,000 miles.

New brakes at 107,000 miles.

Had the center console recovered at 125,000 miles.

Nothing else has required any attention.

General Comments:

I bought this Explorer from my cousin, who is a technician at the local Ford dealership. He took great care of it, and I have too. I have had all scheduled maintenance done on time.

Can't beat this vehicle for $4,400. Leather seats, and the interior is in great shape. The outside has minimal dents and dings.

It rides great on long trips.

For a 13 year old SUV, it runs and looks great. These body style Explorers aged very well. They look much better than the new ones in my opinion.

Only complaint - MPG could be better... My previous Explorer was a V8 AWD, and I assumed this V6 2WD would get much better, but it doesn't seem to get but a few MPG more.

Faults:

Exhaust work.

Replaced front wheel bearings.

General Comments:

I like the Ford Explorer. Used to think they were only wimpy grocery getters. WRONG! Actually a genuine SUV.

Handles snow and inclement weather with ease. Very surefooted. But use common sense.

Pulls my 17ft travel trailer with ease.

Slow acceleration, but it's not built for speed, but to get WHEREVER you need to go. Jeeps don't lose me.

Faults:

Power lock for tailgate went at 200 000k, just use the key now.

Rear wiper stopped working at 240 000k.

General Comments:

Lots of power for towing and acceleration.

Handles and drive smooth for an SUV.

I have had this Ford now for almost 7 yrs, and have not had to spend any money on repairs outside of regular maintenance, tires, brakes, oil changes.

Starts and runs great everyday, fun to drive. The only negative thing that I have to say about the Explorer is that, it is very hard on fuel. Especially when towing.

Started to get surface rust around the bumper and running boards about a year ago. After 9 years, that is to be expected.

Faults:

Truck needed new radiator at about 175,000 miles, and a new driver's side door handle around the same time.

Those have been the only repairs to date!

Still has original starter and alternator.

General Comments:

Purchased this truck brand new.

5.0l V8 has excellent passing and towing power.

Still starts first turn of the key, and runs perfect.

This truck came with 2WD, not the AWD.

Wind noise is slightly noticeable.

Rear window wiper doesn't work well.

Drives nice, drivetrain is bulletproof...

Faults:

Every 3k miles we service the vehicle ourselves.

My family has had this Explorer since new. So, I have a lot of info in this section.

I listed the “out of ordinary” repairs. I did not list brakes, spark plugs, ext...

Auto transmission replaced at 70k miles by dealer.

Replaced idle air control valve at 150k miles.

Rear wheel bearing went out at 215k miles.

Driver seat recliner broke after 100k miles. The factory missed a bolt for the seat track, and the track broke in half. I added the bolt, and the seat now works. But, there is a lot of play in the recliner. The seat really needs to be replaced.

Cruise control button on the steering wheel fell apart.

The temp gauge keeps bouncing around from time to time.

General Comments:

Where do I start? I remember when my father and brother pulled up to the driveway in the new Explorer. I liked the outside and inside color from the start. New car smell and power everything! I remember telling my brother “too bad it’s not going to last”. He had a puzzled look on his face. My brother said “What?”. I continued on with a simple reply “yeah, it’s still a Ford”.

Only now do I realize how wrong I was. Now it is my Explorer, and when I think back on that memory, I just laugh inside. We have always taken good care of all our vehicles. My family has never driven any of our cars into the ground. They seem to last well beyond their years of service. Most people compliment us on our cars, because they are in such great shape. I must have thought little of Ford at that time, seeing how so many people complain about Fords. Maybe it’s because there are a lot of Fords on the road. Or, maybe it’s because people don’t take care of them. I realized this fact a few years ago. A friend of mine was talking about how well her Acura has lasted through the years. I replied “yeah, you take it to the dealer every few months”. She replied “it’s an expensive investment. I do that to protect my investment.” I replied “yeah, too bad you didn’t take your previous car into the dealer every few months”. She responded “That Escort was a piece of junk, it was lucky it I went to the Jiffy Lube once a year!”

If you are thinking about buying an Explorer or keeping your existing Explorer, I can tell you this. We have 257,500 miles on our Explorer at this moment. It has that original engine. The transmission was swapped out under warranty at 70k. If you were to ride in the passenger seat, and try and guess the mileage, you wouldn’t even come close. Most people I ask when riding along guess 50k miles. One person thought I swapped the gauges with a junk yard vehicle just to trick people. It rides that nice!