6th May 2008, 13:10

The door adjar is definitely a killer. I have a 2003 Explorer, with almost 70k on it. It has been great so far, and I hope it'll stay that way. The door adjar is very annoying though.

9th Sep 2009, 23:11

I'm a Ford guy, but I have to admit the door ajar light sucks. My dad's Windstar does it on occasion (which is hopefully being replaced by an Explorer), and my Taurus SHO does it randomly too.

26th Oct 2009, 20:11

My 03 EB Explorer has had nothing but very costly problems. I have owned it for 3 years now with 84000 miles on it. I have spent $1500 replacing the rear differential because of the auto 4wd a year ago. Now, the rear end is making about 3 different noises; grinding, screaming, etc. It is so loud that I have to turn the stereo up loud.

I am so disappointed, because I really love the comfort and controls in the car.

The door ajar was another nightmare. WD40 does work on that. This after reading Autobeef and replacing my battery.

I am trading this car in the next week or so, and not on a Ford. I can't afford to replace the rear end problems every year.

2nd Aug 2011, 21:25

The chirping you hear is the idle control valve on the intake. Mine was doing this too. Replaced it myself; no more chirp.

Our 2003 V8 4.6 Eddie Bauer has 180,000 on it, and have replaced the brakes once and the tires once, plus a battery. This is the best I have ever owned; no major problems at all.

I maintain it myself. Dealerships are crooks, and out to pocket some money, no matter who they are.

3rd Aug 2011, 17:53

Commenter 21:25 mirrors my experience with all my vehicles. I have never owned any new domestic vehicle that ever required a single repair in 100,000 miles.

When I see all the outrageous comments on here from people being out tons of money in repairs, my immediate response is "Some dealer or shop is taking them for a ride".

Like 21:25, I do all my own servicing and repairs. As a result I seldom HAVE any repairs.

I just did a full bumper-to-bumper inspection on our 9-year-old GM vehicle. At 100,000 miles it has had only one set of tires and two batteries (which I replace routinely when the warranty on them is up to avoid getting stuck with a dead battery). The original brake pads are good for at least another 10,000-15,000 miles. All hoses, shocks, wiring, suspension components, etc. are like new. This sort of experience has been typical, whether the car was a Ford, GM or Chrysler.

When I read of someone having brake pads replaced at silly mileage intervals like 30,000 miles, it is an immediate tip-off that unnecessary repairs are being done. Even more poorly built Japanese imports will easily go 60,000 on a set of brake pads. I recently did a brake pad replacement on a good friends very shabbily built Corolla, and even it had gone 63,000 miles on the original pads.