Hey Guys. I just looked at a couple pre-owned cars and SUV's. I was wondering if anyone has any input on how reliable the Ford Explorer's are. I saw a pretty clean 02 XLT for a decent price and with about 65K miles for about $12K. It's loaded with leather, third row, sunroof, roof rack, etc. I can get it with an extended warrranty to 100K for about $1000 more. They also had a Certified 04 XLT with 48K. I just don't know if it's worth an extra couple $3K to $4K for the 04.

Thanks.

 

I know the 5R55W/5R55S transmissions in the 02 Exploders have a poor reliability record...

 

The new ones I don't much about. I have a 94 & have had 2 94's. The 94 is a VERY different suv from today's Explorer's.
try this forum.....www.explorerforum.com
I can tell you my aunt in NYC has an 04 & the only thing wrong with that was a recal for the rear hatch glass.

 

I'm partial to GM. Both I and my neighbor have 1500 based trucks with over 150K on them.

Mike

 

GM trucks are pretty good...

 

yeah i would have to say that ford sucks....i would stay away from them...try something like a 4runner

 

What do you base this on? Have you owned a Ford? Their trucks & suv's are very tough. I've owned several & they have been tanks.

 

Don't do it..The tranny sucks, my friend had one on a lease and it died at 36k and Ford didnt wanna replace it

 

wanna buy my 01 QX4.... i'm seriouse it's up for sale.....and it does have a 100K exteneded transferrable warantee. just a thought

 

My mom has a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer (basically the same thing as an Explorer). It has 30,000 miles on it and it is falling apart. The rotors are warped, the suspension sqweeks, the tires are shot, the steering is pitiful, the transmission hesitates, the power is less than acceptable, the sunroof howls when shut... I could go on.

DO NOT buy a Ford. If you insist on buying American, go with GM. Ford is crap

 

yes i have owned a ford explorer and it wasnt really that bad of a truck....the ride quality sucked and the tranny started to slip and what not so i sold it....also were lots of other minor problems i didnt like either.

i just think the 4runner is a way nicer truck, rides alot better, and is very dependable.

 

and it wasnt that bad huh?

no more than 8k for that pos

 

For around the same price you should be able to find an 01 or 02 pathfinder.

 

That era explorer is MUCH better then similar era GM's, ie S-10 Blazer. At 65k on an explorer the things to check are the 60k mile service(the tune up, spark plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter and PCV valve if equipped), and brakes, when checking the rears make sure you look for an axle seal leak, not common, yet not uncommon. Other then that not much should go wrong, or be wrong. I will say I always recommend staying away from american vehicles, they are what makes me 70% of my income, if all vehicles were built like the Japanese I wouldn't be in business

 

No matter how relialble they are, there are many better SUVs out there. I know the Explorer is very popular, but no matter what you want to do with it, there is something that does it better. 4runners are great on and off road. CR-Vs and Rav4s (not first gen Rav4s, those are ugly) are great if you want a commanding view of the road but not terrable gas miliage. Pathfinders and Xteras are pretty good, too. Just stay away from the big Nissian SUVs (Armada, QX4, and the Titian truck), they have very poor reliability ratings. I just think people need to look around before they just jump on the Explorer bandwagon. I think for the money you can get a similar 4runner just a year or two older and have much less trouble down the road and have much better off road utility. Those things go almost anywhere right out of the box.

Oh yah, notice that Jeep is not there? That is beacuse I had a '01 Grand Cherokee V8. It would go anywhere and was pretty fast but it died on me at 38k miles and I had many little problems along the way. It was a great SUV when it ran, but the Koreans can make cars that run better than Jeep can.

 

i have to disagree with what you said about the reliability about bug Nissan/Infiniti SUV's. I currently own a QX4 and it is a beast. i have had no problems with it at all other then the heatshields needed to be cut off because they were rusted through(common problem with all of them). thats the only problem it has had in the year i have owned it and all the maintaience, including Brembo breaks have been done on it at 50K, i went right through the whole truck when i got it, i do that to every used car. i do live in the northeast and it is very off road capable, i've gone through 3 feet of snow on a steep high grade hill with this thing and went right up the hill and past everyone while F-150' couldn't get through.

Granted my father does own an 05 4runner Limited, now that has a more capable off roading ability but if you know what your doing the Infinit can keep up with it on some extreme conditions. I'm selling it ebcause i need more gas milage and want to get back into a car due to my commute to school.

so Ravin, if ur interested let me know....

 

If you get it - GET THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. Those transmissions have a problem with the two band application servos on the side of the case. The average failure is at about 60-80k miles.

There is a long lasting fix - but that's part of an overhaul.

Other than that, I think they're nice vehicles.

 

The new big Nissan/Infiniti trucks suck in terms of reliablility.
The old ones like your QX4 are fine.

And never compare your truck to a pick-up in the snow. Anything is better than a pickup in the snow.

 

yea i know, but this pickup had a plow on it and tried plowing his way through and he got stuck. i didn't mean to get defensive, just my opinion and experiance with my SUV.

on the explorer note, my freind has one and his tranny blew and he needed to get a replacement and it's about to go again not to mention many other things that need to be fixed that keep on breaking. he's fed up with it and wants out.

 

How much. PM me details.

 

AS3.3CL---I have to apologize. You are right. I got your QX4 (the Infiniti version of the Nissian Pathfinder) with the new QX56 (the Inifiniti version of the Nissian Armada). I had a friens who had a 2004 Nissian Titian and it literaly spent more time at the dealer than with him in the first 2 months. Many people are having problems with these trucks and the SUVs that are based on them. I just do not know what is going wrong with Nissian. They are just putting out a lower quality product now than 4 years ago. But a 01 pathfinder/ QX4? Good to go.

 

I'm not sure about the reliability of a Titan, but I know that a guy I work with did this to his and came out with only a broken foot...

 

^^^

Before anyone else says it...."I'm sure they can just buff that out."

 

Car shopping sucks. I'm going to look at a couple Jeeps tonight and tomorrow. I'm not a huge fan of the Pathfinder. Don't know why, I just am not blown away by them.

Actually, so far I've test driven 2 Pathfinders, a Pilot, Highlander, 4 Runner, Explorer, Grand Cherokee, and the Escape.

The best was the Pilot, but too expensive. Followed by the GC and the Escape.

 

What is the reason you want a SUV? That may help us help you find what you want. God knows the dealer is not going to.

 

I have a 2001 CL-s. I also have a 3 month old. It's tough to get around as a family. So, the plan is to trade in the CL for 2 cars. I'm thinking about a Maxima for me to get to and from work. And I'm looking at a mid sized SUV for the wife. This will also be our primary road trip vehicle. Neither of us like mini-vans and we're on the road a lot. My sister lives all the way out on Long Island and her family are in VA and PA.

Originally I was looking at the smaller SUV's, most of what I've seen is that they ain't that much better on gas than a larger one and not a whole lot more room than some cars.

 

don't worry everything is all good. yea the QX56's are pretty bad so aren't the armadas.

Ravi- PM sent

 

A co worker has an Armada. I towed 2 jetskies with it to NYC 1200 miles straight. And he towed them back & tows a boat has 45K miles & not 1 problem.

 

I guess what I am getting at is why do you need/ want a SUV over a sedan? I went and did a quick look at the Explorers MPG and both the V6 and V8 are rated at 15city/ 21 hwy (4x2, not 4x4). My wifes 2005 4 cyl. Accord EX gets above 30 MPG all the time, and we got 33, with me driving (ie. 10 over all the time), going to Portland and back, overall. That car has 160 hp so enough power to do whatever you want and is just over $25k new. I just feel that all you gain in most SUVs is a higher line of sight, lower MPG, and a little better cargo area (unless you get a wagon like a Subaru). Most front wheel drive sedans are as good in bad weather as a SUV with part time 4 wheel drive. I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee with full time AWD and it was awesome on wet and snow roads and off road but it got 13 MPG and the 12k mi. mantiences were over $200 (changing out diff. fluids). By the way, if you only drive 12k mi. per year, there is over a $500 differance between 14 and 18 MPG at $2.75 / gallon so a small differance between MPG can hurt a lot.

 

Yah, I kinda grouped the Armadias in there, but did not directly point at them. I know some of them are fine but I am sure there are some Pintos out there that have not had any problems not related to normal wear but who wants one?

 

I did not read all of the above posts, but I have a '03 Mercury Mountaineer and it hasn't been to bad to us. My Acura CL was honestly in the shop more than my Mountaineer.

As far as problems, in 3 years and 60K miles, I have had to replace a hub assembly. While it was still under warranty a couple of the window motors went out. Other than that, it has been trouble free. We did opt for the V6 because power wasn't a necessity (the wife drives it most of the time). We needed the third row of seats and no one could be the size/price that was offered by the Mountaineer.

When I replace it in 3 to 4 years it will be with an Expedition or a Tahoe for sure. When going with Trucks I still beleive American is the way to go. Although I like the Titan and even more so the Tacoma, I do beleive I will stick with American made Trucks...

 

It's a little of both. I would like to not have to cram everything into a car for road trips. So a sedan is not the best option.

We looked at a Subaru wagon last night. Price is about the same as the Jeep GC we looked at, but the Subaru was a 4 cylinder and all the reviews I have read, the main complaint is that it lacks power. And the 6 cylinders are a little more, but the complaint about those is that the gas consumption is not much better than an SUV.

What year was your GC? You only got 13 mpg? Was that all city? It seems a lot lower than everything I have read.

 

The above are the things that could be caused from the driver, not the car.

My boss has an exploder and it has over 120k on it and hes never had a problem with it. I rented one for about a month and loved it. The only thing I would look for is the V-8. The V-6 is a little underpowered due to the weight of the truck.

 

It was an '01 with a V8 and the full time AWD (which is awesome and has saved my life twice so some would say that I should stop compaining). It got 13 in city/ freeway mix on my commute to work. I could get 14-15 on the freeway once I put a K&N CAI into it and a better exhaust. I guess I am gettting too bitter about SUVs after my bad experance with that Jeep. I should have gotten a Toyota.