10th Apr 2005, 20:30

Are you trying to say, that a vehicle you buy brand new with only 20 miles on it, had that many problems, and Ford and the dealership both refused to to a buy back, or repairs under warranty even though all brand new vehicles come with at least a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty? If that is the case than that means they broke a contract, and you need to take them to court. Also I have never seen a vehicle brand new with that many problems, so either you didn't buy it new with only 20 miles on it, you were stupid and didn't use the warranty, the problems didn't happen, and your making it a lot worse than what it is, or you drive the vehicle doing 150MPH on a race track and never do any maintenance to it.

11th Apr 2005, 13:28

My aunt just got rid of her 1998 Explorer and has never been happier. She has had the transmission rebuilt, pretty much the entire front end replaced, numerous tune-ups, and a host of other major mechanical repairs in 3 years. The cruise never worked, and the airbag light was perpetually on. With the 4.0L V6, it averaged 13mpg with granny style driving and simply could not accelerate to save its life. It had about 152,000 miles and she was able to trade it in for $1800. She would have taken $1000 for it because she just wanted it gone.

On the plus side, it had good cargo capacity and did very well in the snow with its 4WD. Not worth the gas and $7000 worth of repairs, though.

9th Jun 2006, 16:48

To solve your problems, try buying a GM vehicle, especially GMC now that they are professional grade, they really did their homework. Ford is still laggin. I believe a GM vehicle uses less gas and less maintenance, better lasting product.

19th Oct 2006, 14:58

My 98 explorer has been very reliable. No major problems. It has over 200,000 miles on it. I am expecting to start having problems since the truck has so many miles on it, but none yet. The front seat assembly has broken, this I found out was a problem that ford actually issued a recall for. Other than that, I've been happy with this purchase.

28th Feb 2007, 03:43

I'm considering buying a 98 Explorer 4.0 from a co worker. The car is spotless and I know it really has been taken well care off and he bought it brand new. It's got 110K on it and price is $3000 which should be somewhat below market price. It's got a full service history and everything should be in order.

But I'm getting cold feets here even if I really like this car. My co worker showed me all his receipt for works done on this car. He probably did this to prove how good the condition of this car is, but this pile of receipts really scared the s*** out of me! And many of those repairs was done when the car had less than 60K on it. Also, major work has been done to this vehicle like transmission replacement less than one year ago. On this site I've read about all kinds of work being done on cars with less than 100K on them.

$3000 for a SUV is little money, but if I have to spend huge sums for repairs it's simply not worth it, better to buy new or maybe japanese. I'm really lost here, I was thinking I was doing a steal here, but I start to maybe understand why he is selling. He says he is really satisfied with this car but I don't know.

28th Feb 2007, 14:44

To 28th Feb 2007, 03:43:

Look at it this way: the previous owner has already fixed the problems for you, so you should be okay. You're right, $3,000 is a good deal for this SUV. What's the worst thing that could happen, like if the engine or transmission outright blew? Say you had to spend $2,000 on something --- so what? It's still $5,000 spread out over a few years as opposed to getting a loan for $15,000 for a 2-year-old SUV. Just take care of it and follow the maintenance schedule.

5th Mar 2007, 01:39

Hi, thanks for your response. If repairs is limited to $2000/year owning this Explorer should be no problem. I was actually thinking about repairs in the $5000-$6000 region like replacing the engine. But I've checked various sources and these engines should be very solid although head gaskets may blow.

Paying $28000 or more for a new Explorer is somewhat over my budget and the warranties I get for 3 year old SUV's are a joke. What IS a "6 month limited warranty" or a "50/50 one year power train warranty". I mean they only cover a little part of the vehicle and you have to pay a fee every time you use the warranty. That's useless for me.

So I think I'll take my chances and buy this old SUV for little money. I'll try to set aside at least $2000/year for repairs. If I spend less I'll be glad and if the engine blows or something I can probably sell it off for parts.

5th Mar 2007, 09:35

Just think of all the money you'd have for repairs if you bought a vehicle that didn't guzzle gas.

5th Mar 2007, 14:50

I think that's the right way to go. It's not for everyone, but for somebody who is more comfortable with machines and can keep repair costs in perspective, it can save you a lot of money. I was just about ready to write a check ($20,000) for a new Wrangler, but then I found a 2002 Explorer with 78,000 miles for $3,750 at a repo auction. How can you go wrong there?? When you save that much money, you can afford to absorb a lot of repair costs and still be very far ahead, and if you baby a vehicle like I do, those repair costs may never come up.

30th Jul 2012, 00:23

Where do people get the idea that a replacement engine will cost $5-6,000? A used 5.0 V8 from a reputable recycling yard costs no more than $1,000. Installation is never more than $750. And a factory built engine from a wreck with less than 50,000 miles is a slam dunk to be 100% reliable.

No one in their right mind would undergo surgery without a second opinion. Why should car repairs be any different?