Ok So we all probally didn't plan on building a Rock Crawler or a slammed Show truck out of our explorer when we firsr picked it out. So why did you chosse the Explorer?

Myself? Iowned a Ranger before, and wanted something with more doors, but not a car. I loved my ranger, so the Explorer was a natural fit. I planed on putting bigger tires and off roading it a bit from the begining. Just never imanged it would turn it the monster it is.;)

Live in New York and every other vehicle is a SUV. Got a little one and figured I even the playing field and not get crunched like a car in a crash.

I factory ordered a '93 Sport. Then a '97. I scored a '00 Sport with low miles and also my current '99 Eddie with low miles. I'm obviously into Explorers. It all began when I entered the market for a SUV back in early '93. I was at car show in town and was aching for a 4-Runner or a Pathfinder. Then I sat in one. Felt cheap and small car like. Then I sat in a Grand Cherokee. Felt rickety and the interior felt cheap. I wasn't even looking at Ford because the 4 door seemed too big for me. I didn't even know a 2 door was available. I sat in one, slammed the door (felt like a truck) and wanted one. I factory ordered soon after and the rest is history. I liked the 1st gen, but much prefer the 2nd gen. I plan to keep my Eddie for a long time. When I have to give it up I'm not sure what I'll do next. The 3rd gen looks nice, but they're too soccer mom like for me. The 4th gens are even more so.

I haven't owned Explorers consecutively however. After I scored my '93, I moved to Bermuda, put it in storage for a year and then sold it to a friend. I owned a right hand drive, Hyundai Scoupe in Bermuda (hot car down there). There was a Mazda Navajo on the island that was specially imported, but they'd cost a fortune. First thing I did when I got back was factory order the '97. When lease expired, I decided to get back into a car. '00 Contour SVT. Sweet ride, but it got abused on the backcountry roads I was using to get to mountainbike trails. I traded in the SVT on the '00 Sport and the rest is history. :D

my 96 was $500, I rolled it
My new 96 was $900

I already had alot of spare parts before I even owned an Ex.

personally I own a 4 door V* because it tows a boat and I needed a second vehicle so I could turn the BII into a trial rig, Explorer is a natural fit since parts interchange with my BII and I am so used to working on them.

BECAUSE my toyota tore up!!!!!! was on a trip to brason tranny blew in the toyota we went to rent a cavaler but the phone resvation and what they actullay had was different so I was stuck with a explorer I abused that thing it was a 97 bright red.... well after the trip wife wanted one couldn't find a 95+ reasonable so I we found a 93 for 9,000 (nada was 12,000) .. went to texas and tranny started building pressure so we decide to trade it off found a 97 at car lot for $6500 so we bought it and had two explorers.... well I replaced the motor and tranny in the 93 motor ended up being junk so I parked the 93 for 5 years in that time the 97 racked the miles got up to 238,00 found our 00 e.b. for $9000 and swap the 97 in.... bought a 93 sport then bought a 92 to fix my 93 so now I have 4 first gens (2 good 2 parts trucks) and 1 second gen...

The first one I owned was my first 4x4 I ever had, and I new I was going to lift it and beat it up. The seating was more practical for me at the time as well since I didn't want a car.

I have the one I own now, because it was a smokin' deal. :smoke:
It's also just to beat up on.

Because I didnt do enough research at the time...;)

Back in '90 I had a bronco, and wanted something a bit smaller and practical. Out came the explorer and about 6 months later I picked up a flood damaged (hurricane) one at auction. I kept that for 4 years, never had any problems with it but the body was rusting bad, and bought a low mileage rollover at auction. Babied it for a while, passed it on to the wife, considered trading it in on a new one numerous times but I was never impressed with the new explorers. Its been an extra vehicle for a few years now and it just wont die, Its worth next to nothing so I keep it as a beater.

I wanted something smaller than my K5 blazer and bigger than my 87 crx, 4 doors and 4X4. I also wanted a domestic so I wouldnt have to drive 3 hours to get warrenty work done, so that left dodge ( bad past experiences) and GM (also bad experiences), so that left the explorer

We bought our first one (92 Sport) in 1995 when we were at the dealership looking for a used Ranger. Took the Explorer for a test drive, and it followed us home :) . In '01, my wife was knocked off the road by a heep and rolled it, so we replaced it with an '01 XLS. Unfortunately, the '01 never quite measured up to the '92 in quality, driveability or durability, so we traded it in on an '05 F-150. We had actually gone to the dealer to look at the '05 Explorers, but after driving the Explorer and the F-150 back to back, it was no competition, the F-150 won hands down. Then last year, I went out and bought a '94 Sport for a beater/wheeler.

I got my explorer just to tide me over because me and my dad were building a 1953 f100. it was gonna be sweet but the explorer seemed to grow on me. After i found this site and after i did some looking at ricks explorer my mind went to work. the rest is just history and i am hooked with explorers. i am a young gun and i want to stay with this site as long as it is here.

I'll assume no intentional malice intended and why I bought my Mazda Navajo is allowed in the thread.

I had just returned from Saudi Arabia. I had gone diving every weekend in the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf and looked forward to regular diving in the Gulf of Mexico. I was living in a hotel on NASA Road 1 and my 30 day per diem was running out so I needed transportation.

I had my eyes set on a 4WD Chevy Blazer. Chevies were what we had in Saudi Arabia, Chryslers and Fords were scarce because of the boycott. When I inquired at the delearship - none were in stock. They don't sell well in Texas. The only two they had were purchased shortly after arrival by farmers. Clearly I did not understand automobile dealership logic.

So over to the Dodge/Jeep dealer I go. Texas has blue laws and car dealers can be open Sturday or Sunday but not both. No problem - I'll price them and come back on Sunday. The son of a guns had removed the price stickers off the windows. They had their own 'dealer' stickers they hadn't put up yet.

The Mazda dealership next door was open, had price stickers and a Navajo on the showroom floor. They literally drove it off the showroom floor so I could test drive it. That evening I bought it. They took an unpersonalized check, drawn on an out of town bank from a guy living in a hotel. What a deal!

Long story short, the Gulf here is mud from the shipping churning up and down the coast. I never went diving, have used the 4WD four times and have had it for 16 years. I'll retire in ten years to Eagle River, Wisconsin and will actually get to use it in the snow.

Thanks for asking.

'cause

Myself? Iowned a Ranger before, and wanted something with more doors, but not a car. I loved my ranger, so the Explorer was a natural fit. I planed on putting bigger tires and off roading it a bit from the begining. Just never imanged it would turn it the monster it is.;)

That's my exact story too.

I wanted a lifted truck and always liked 1st gens. Then i saw my 1st gen (bigcheck1's old truck) for sale with 3" bl and shackels/spacers on 33's.

3 Explorers and thousands of dollars later, im glad I was at walmart that day.

I grew up in Explorers and loved them. My dad had two year leases on a 91, 93, and a 95 V8. He moved up to the Expedition when it came out in 97. The 91 was bought by my grandparents and is still my grandmas vehicle today. Its got over 300k mi on it. :eek: :thumbsup:

So, when I went to buy a vehicle in Dec of 2000, I had to have one. I wanted a manual trans w/ 4x4, with the only intention being for driving in the snow at school in Utah. The 4 door so that it'd be my future family car. I was looking for a 1st gen, but everything was pretty well beat up, and found my 1 year used 2000 when I went to help pick up a new company truck. Well, I never went back to school in Utah, and I'm still not married, so that shows you where planning gets ya. :p:

I found this site a month after buying it, heard about the Truckhaven run, bought some used 31's off a fellow forum go'er, went wheeling for the first time and got hooked. :D

'cause

'cause why? :D

Sadly enough, I went to the dealer for a J##p. The one I wanted weren't in the price range i wanted to, so I test drove a 2wd Explorer EB. I liked it, however the dealer was a moron and pissed me off. I left that dealership and went to another one. I there drove a 4wd Sport that I later bought.

This just hit me but im about to be 4 yrs older than my explorer. this is pretty funny its almost as old as i am

Seemed like a cool ride. I bought my 02 sport in the fall of 2002. Year end deals came around so I saw all the options on the model i wanted. Fully loaded except leather and a sun roof. So being engaged at the time it was perfect! Sense then I've thrown bfg A/T's, clears corners ect, ect, STill mint condition outside, and in. I've thought about selling it 3 diff times this year but, I'm not into huge carpayments and mines almost paid for.(FINIALLY)!!:D

And now i also bought a 2000 xlt 4 door cause i've always wanted one. So now it's lifted w/ 33's and runs great. More then likely I'll sell the sport next year and get a new explorer,,, or possibly an Expedition,,

My dad bought this new. The reason he liked it was it rode really nice and he liked the sound it made. Also, back then these things were luxurious. I always liked it, and when i turned 16 i would always drive it. When i turned 17 i bought it off of him for 3k well the rest is history. Shes my pride and joy.

In '98 my dad traded our '85 Suburban 2500, 454, 4.10 locked tow vehicle with only 65,000 miles on it +$500 for the '91. It was his until I graduated in '02, at which point it became mine and he bought a '95 Chevy K1500. In the summer of '04 I picked up my '92 for $250 from my girlfriend's sister as a parts truck. It got rebuilt and the rest is, as they say, history.

(bigcheck1's old truck)


I didn't know that. I went wheelin with him once up in paragon years ago.

Cuz i wanter a prerunner 4x4 and room for my chocolate lab. A trip to dixon & perrys after christmas.

I was going to be starting my senior year in high school in 2002 and knew I was going to be driving back and forth to school when I started college. My 81 F100 just didn't get good enough gas mileage and was 2wd. My dad saw the Explorer for sale near work and was 4x4 in great condition with only 50,000 miles on it. Well, I bought it and drove the Explorer and the F100 senior year til I sold the F100 (wish I still had it). I have had it for 4 years now and have 110,000 miles on it now.

After 2 motors blew in my BII I decided it was time to get something newer, I ended up with a '98 Contour. Well 2 years later someone decided to run a stop sign and I unded up underneath a Navigator. Needless to say that car was totaled so shopping I went. I knew I wanted another SUV, and have always preferred Fords. The dealer was trying to get me into a 97 Blazer but I hated the thing from the instant I sat in it. I said how bout this Explorer, and he told me I didn't want that. So I found his manager drove the X and bought it. They even knocked 1500 off for the poor customer service :D

The Explorer was my first vehicle right when I got my license. I already liked going 4 wheeling and I had ridden in a 4 door Explorer off road and on road trips a few times and I liked it. I also considered a Toyota Tacoma because I had been offroad a few times in one as well. At the car lot the Tacoma I was looking at had a few minor problems under the hood and the Explorer was in near perfect condition so I took it for a test drive on the city streets and I even took it off road on some easy stuff to test out the 4x4. Everything worked great and I liked it so I bought the Explorer.

I wanted a truck (Ranger) but the wife was insitant if I bought a Ranger I would have to buy a shell since we camped quite a bit at the time.
I was insistant I was not going to buy a shell as they can be more of a pain than the are worth. So I compromised & bought my Mounty and have never looked back.:)

'cause


it is a Mountaineer!!

Seriously, we had been shopping and looking, found a Jeep Cherokee which was black, and purty.
After driving it, we parked it next to the Mounty, which was on the lot also.

Since it was also black, and looked nicer, we asked to drive it. Guy said"I thought you want 4wd?"
We'll try in anyway

The smooth engine, and nice quiet ride sold us, we were ready to give away the 4WD, This mounty was marked with no AWD or V-8 badge, I expected a v-6.

We were working the deal, dealer had it selling as a 2WD v-8, he was suprised as us when the insurance agent ran the VIN and quoted it as a 4WD
( I always quote insurance before the deal, sometimes it is leverage!!)

We both probably looked like kids as we raced to look under the truck for a front diffy!!! lol
No 6 disc, EATC or Air ride, but full load otherwise v-8 AWD, with 29k on the clock-previously an Oklahoma Turnpike Cop Car
sold to us Nov 30, 2000 for 15K

So, I guess I could answer your question by saying "Because I drove a Jeep first"

I got mine for free, does that count?

My dad had a 96 and we loved it, never had a problem with it for 2 years before he totaled it. so when i got my licence, i wanted on. i drove it, loved it, got a great price, 3800 for a 97 SOHC 4WD, great shape, and havent had any problems, got it inspected, and the place said it was "mechanicly sound" so we bought it, i will always drive fords, and if i can, 2nd gen ex's!

In april of 96' my dad bought ours....we needed somthing to haul people and stuff around and to also do well in the snow. We test drove a blazer and a pathfinder....but the explorer jsut won it out in the end. then when i turned 16 i got it and i have been driving it ever since.

with 29k on the clock-previously an Oklahoma Turnpike Cop Car
sold to us Nov 30, 2000 for 15K


I bought mine in June 2001 w/79K for 11K
By Monday it will have 184K on the clock.

i got my 2000 sport 4x4 for free...i got it from my moms friend because her baby had acid reflex anmd puked all over the interior. it just got a new engine and tranny too! body has 144k... it still smells like puke but whatever and the car itself is green but wutever. i plan on wheelin the piss outa it anyway...

Both of mine were low mileage/good price. It will have to be a flat out amazing deal for me to buy another one though.

I had an 85' Trans Am and was living in Spokane Washington in 96'. During the winter I had to park it since it was horrible in the snow. Decided to buy a 4WD vehicle so looked at a Blazer (seemed small) and a Cherokee (seemed cheap). Decided to look at a 94' Explorer XLT and it felt really solid and roomy with a lot of cosmetic upgrades. In 02' I bought a 00' XLT V8 with 24,000 miles for $15,800 (I thought that was a really good price) and this year traded it in on an 07' Limited. Over the years I have driven quite a few Suv's but I guess when you are comfortable with something nothing else seems to fit quite right.

I originally wanted a ranger more than an explorer, but I didn't have too much choice, and this was my first vehicle. Now, I am happier with the explorer than the ranger. I test drove a ranger awhile back, and I was surprised how much different it handled and drove. I like the explorer better now, because I orginally thought I could haul alot more in the ranger, and it would be more useful, but I enjoy having the closed in cargo space, and being able to use it and not having it be a truck bed (well, you know what I mean).

Plus, with having more weight in the back naturally, I don't need to mess with sandbags and such in the winter. Or a bed full of snow:D

my mommy gave me mine when she was tired of paying so much for gas just to get groceries

wanted smaller and always driven fords so got a ranger. Wanted a 97 or older but found a plain jane 03 5 sp 4x4 4.0 and couldn't beat the price 11k for 27k miles so that is what i got kinda doesn't really look the same any more:rolleyes:

My dad let me have it finally after he bought an 06 Tacoma last year around October. It's comfortable and I like working on it. And I keep giving suggestions to him for what I want to do to it and he keeps saying, "Ryan it's probably going to be broken down in 5 years." She's only got 78 thousand miles on it and we've had it for 10!! haha I've seen people on here doing 300 thousand and still going strong.

I'm still deciding if I want to lift it or not. My dad might give me the Tacoma later on in life so that would be awesome to lift as well. But I do need something with good gas mileage!

My parents were going to buy a new 2005 Toyota 4-Runner so they asked if I wanted the 96 Explorer XLT they had. Garaged 99% of it's life. Transfer case replaced at one point since it went out, even though my Dad only used 4x4 during the winter if needed. Interior in like new condition. Had 68,000 miles on it.

So, they picked up a dealer salesman driven 2005 Limited with 9,000 miles for $5000 off. I picked up the Explorer for nothing. My parents refused any money for it :D

Only had 2k and if I had to I could live in it. :(

Just fell in love with the 3rd Gen. I bought it the first couple months the 3rd gen came out. I had to have it.

bought mine cause the wife was preggo and a convertible wasn't exactly kid friendly. Beat the hell out of it for 5yrs and then decided to lift it since it'd lived that long :)

Honestly? I needed a brand new 4wd and Chrysler wouldn't finance me :D.

9 years hindsight shows it was a pretty good decision :thumbsup:

My father in law got tired of paying for gas and spare parts. It stood in the barn for two years before he gave it to me... :D He drives a Volvo S80 D5 now... :thumbsup:

bought mine cause the wife was preggo and a convertible wasn't exactly kid friendly. Beat the hell out of it for 5yrs and then decided to lift it since it'd lived that long :)


Aahhh..verts and sports cars are ok with kids. My wife drove Firebird when my daughter was born and she fit in just fine :) She's 9 now and fits nicely into the back of both of our Mustangs.

Mom bought the truck brand spakin' new in February of 1993 for about 18,500 smackers, as we needed a truck to replace the "highway slug", a slow as molasses 1983 Oldsmobile, and we needed a vehicle that could head off-road in the huge horse pasture and carry the horses to the vetinarian from the stable. She put around 215,000 on it before I started driving at 19.

The deal was, if I could learn to drive stick, that would eventually become my primary driver, and here it has for over 5 years, hauling large amounts of stuff, going off-road for work and pleasure on occasion, as well as learning to do my own maintenance and diagnostics when things rarely go wrong.

I had the option of buying mine, and I never really gave it much thought. I originally disliked the ride when I drove my truck (learned how to drive in a car) and had my heart pretty much set on buying a Maxima. Then I was given a very good price, and I started to consider it. I searched online for Explorer modification sites because whatever vehicle I got, I wanted to mod the crap out of it.

I stumbled upon this site, fell in love with Rick, Ray Lobato, and Section's trucks, and made the decision to buy it almost instantly. I never had any clue what you could do with an Explorer until I saw those trucks. I was pumped. The rest is history. :D

So thanks, guys. If it weren't for this site and all of you, I might be driving a riced out Maxima right now. :eek:

Always liked Explorers. My dad's friend had one new in the very early early '90s... Optioned out EB and all that, and it was pretty cool to sit in. I was a child and thats all I remember was nice shiny new truck. :)

Flash forward to 2005, my graduating year of HS, my friend and I drove around and made movies for classes in his parents '97 XLT. Silly stuff, running over snowbanks... It was fun. Then he rolled it in 2006. I was kind of sad, cause I liked the truck, we had some fun times in it, and was sad to see it go. Made me want my own Ex, half out of nostalgia (if that makes sense).

A little after that, I went and helped him and his friend clean up his '92, and I thought, this thing is in nice shape. I wonder why he beats the crap out of it. Well in late 2006, my friend called me and asked if I was interested in his friends truck cause he was going to scrap it. So remembering the condition it was in (mint interior, decent body, new engine, etc.) I said sure how much does he want. He said like $200, but he'd find out for sure. So he called me back and said he's aggravated and just wants to get it out of his sight, so $100. I said I'm in.

Drove the thing home with a fuel leak. I had a mind to part it out, but it was in such nice shape, I decided to fix it. Drove it for 6 months, fixing minor things, now it's sitting with fuel pump problems till I find some cash, but I'm still glad I saved it.

So all in all, my reason is, long time Explorer fan, and I bought my '92 XLT to save a nice truck from the jaws of death. :D Hope you guys don't mind the long story.