Faults:

Ball joints wear out (every 60,000 miles). This is due to them being "maintenance free". They cannot be greased. Therefore, you have to replace them about ever 50k - 60k miles. Plus, to make things worse, the upper ball joints are part of the upper control arms so you have to replace the entire assembly. About $200-400 per occurrence.

Radio display quit working. This is due to the worst designed heating system I have ever seen. Heating system you ask? Yes, that's the real problem here. The heating vents are directly over the radio. Because of this, and the fact that the dash board does not "breath", the radio is subjected to large temperature swings. Eventually, a few resistors/capacitors on the radio's power board will break loose. It will still work, but without the display. You can fix/replace the radio, but it will happen again.

Need to slam on the brakes to get the heater to work. Again, this sounds really strange, but can be explained... You see, there is a plastic arm that controls the blend door (it controls hot vs cold). It tends to break which may leave the blend door to swing on its own. I have found out that if you slam on the brakes, you can get the blend door to move to a position that will allow hot air to come through. As long as you keep the heater fan on, it will stay in that position. Luckily, though, Max A/C can overpower this so I am left with either full heat or full A/C. Unfortunately, its about a $1200 fix because only the dealer will do it (due to air bags) and they have to remove the entire dash board. The newer Explorers use a more durable material for this arm.

Transfer case needed rebuilt (twice). Apparently, there are a few plastic parts in the transfer case (a pretty stupid idea if you ask me). I have managed to melt these parts twice so far. Each time has left the Explorer with only 4WD low. First time was about a $1600 fix. Second time was under warranty from the first time as it happened only 6 months later.

Transmission needed rebuilt. The transmission died about 2 days after the transfer case (above). I believe it was because of it. Another $2200 fix.

I have had many other (minor) problems that are to be expected of any vehicle. What I have listed above are what I consider major design issues. If you have a 1998 Explorer, you should expect similar problems. I have talked with others that have this vehicle and they seem to all have some of these things in common--especially the radio.

General Comments:

Other than the design issues that I listed, I really think this vehicle is all right. It is comfortable and quite powerful and is very nice to drive through the mountains. I have had it on a few true 4x4 trails and it does okay. It has low ground clearance which limits it quite a bit.

I have kept it for about 130,000 miles so it really isn't that bad. I would say that I spent about $5000 total on repairs that should not be necessary. Most of that was when the transfer case/transmission died. Still, I don't think I would buy another one. Just too many stupid design flaws.

Faults:

Leaky fuel injection line. Twice. Both times after I jump-started car by connecting earth lead to engine block (as per instructions I thought).

Just replaced cruise control buttons since plastic had cracked (I use it a lot and it has done 160000 kms).

Steering rods (or something like that) just been replaced - maybe off-road driving damaged them?

Replaced worn shocks with Konis - they're rubbish. Couldn't get Bilstein here, but next time will get them shipped in and try them.

First set of tyres lasted about 90,000 km I think. Replaced with Michelin Synchro 265s. Great tyre. 70,000 km later still look good for another 50,000 km.

Couple of minor thinks done under warranty - chrome bumper replaced because of corrosion, check engine light coming on due to fault in sensor.

Overall I've been very happy with reliability.

General Comments:

It's a truck, not a car so comfort is not car-like. Having said that, it's a very comfortable truck. I drive 250km and 2.5 hours five days a week at the moment and will buy a car for comfortable cruising. Otherwise it's been great value for money and I'd happily buy one of the 2003 Explorers or preferably Expeditions if I wasn't doing all this driving. Heavy initial depreciation would be the main thing that puts me off.

I surf (so need the interior space) and sometimes drive to isolated beaches where a 4wd is necessary. Occasionally do some desert driving too. Despite negative comments about it's ability in the desert, I've found it to be fine. Not as good as a Landcruiser or Patrol, but I've only got stuck due to crap driving rather than vehicle limitations.

Performance for an SUV is impressive I think. It will surprise a lot of saloons at traffic lights. Fuel consumption is bad. Getting slightly over 20 mpg with highway cruising. What is it about American cars and their fuel consumption? I had a Mercury Sable that was rubbish too. Australian Luminas get well over 30 mpg on the highway - with a 3.8L V6 motor.

I think handling is pretty good for an SUV too - except without independent suspension at rear and decent shocks, ride is harsh compared to 2003 models.