Traded Explorer - Overall Disappointed

[Finch]

Okay i finally threw the towel in with my 2011 Explorer.. and bought a 2011 GMC Yukon Denali... mainly for more room.. In the beginning FORD claimed more room than the old Explorer, while this may be true it is still not that roomy.. i'm sorry but after driving the Yukon there isnt much comparison. I know the Yukon is full siized and for that it is larger, but it is only few inches longer and 1" wider.
Im a short guy, 5'4" and the car seat in the second row behind me has about 1" to spare before it touches my seat..
I think FORD came up short in many areas, Engine( pathetic), interior, while nice is still cheap looking compared to the jeep or even the Yukon.
The torque steer is ridiculous, and i will never buy a front wheel drive SUV again, useless.
I am a big tech guy and the sync system was a big selling feature for me, but while a good system it just does not live up to expectations.. Wireless internet access(never worked), slow and littered with bugs. hopefully you guys get a good update and it comes around but i find it laughable that in this day and age car companies cant get a decent sysytem to work.

Finally the engine, while the fuel econmy may be a selling feature, i have traded that for power, the 6.2l Denali gives me a smile again.. the little whiny V6 of the Ford was almost like fingernails down a chaukboard.. come on if you can afford a $50,000 limited you can afford the gas you put in it..

Sorry for the rant i just wanted to give my 2 cents, oh and one last thing.. GMC must out sell Ford by at least 10-1 in the full sized SUV category, so why does FORD conitune to sell an ancient Expediton??? i looked at it when i decied i needed more room and the ford offering are pathetic.. I love that ecoboost V6 and to see it so few vehicle that need it makes my head shake.. Come on Ford get with it!!

For what its worth, i think the FORD does have the best full size pickup right now with the engines they offer. So why does a pickup truck get 4 engines and the suv 2??

Enjoy your explores guys/gals its just not for me..

 

[ercole]

Everything about your rant is due to your own negligence. You must have taken the truck for a test drive, so you would have inspected and experienced first hand each item in your list: engine, interior materials, cabin size, torque steer, gas mileage, horsepower, engine choices. It clearly wasn't the vehicle for you but you still went ahead and purchased it? You do have a legitimate argument about the MFT. Thankfully, that is being addressed.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

At least ford didn't take the bail out money. Good luck with your Government Motors junk.

 

[1995E]

I for one think the Expedition would have been a better choice or at least the Cadillac Escalade if you wanted full sized room and luxury.

 

[jkintn]

GMC should have the Denali down pat by now...they've been selling the same model for 5 years now.

 

[JCat]

.
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I have been a member on various Ford, Chrysler, Honda, and Nissan forum web sites for quite a few years. Never have I seen so many problems and complaints about a new vehicle on a forum.
.
.

 

[nick75035]

Apples and oranges

 

[EX-SV]

Best of luck with new Yukon. That certainly was an expensive trade but hopefully the new rig will be more suitable for your needs.

 

[peterk9]

Okay i finally threw the towel in with my 2011 Explorer.. and bought a 2011 GMC Yukon Denali... mainly for more room.. I think FORD came up short in many areas, Engine( pathetic), interior, and i will never buy a front wheel drive SUV again, useless.
... the little whiny V6 of the Ford was almost like fingernails down a chaukboard.. come on if you can afford a $50,000 limited you can afford the gas you put in it..
Enjoy your explores guys/gals its just not for me..

I agree with ercole. You must have known what you were buying. I for one think the engine is a good one and really takes off when the passing gear kicks in. The interior has been given very good reviews, at least in those that I have seen and read. You also had the choice between FWD and 4WD or to be correct, AWD.
When I ordered mine, the Explorer wasn't even out physically. It is the first vehicle I've ever ordered/bought without being able to touch and drive and I'm not disappointed in the least.
That being said, good luck with your new truck Finch. I wish you the very best.

Peter

 

[maerlim]

Ok, we get it, you had your eyes closed when you bought the Explorer. Paying to upgrade to the Denali is pretty much proof of that. Obviously you're going to get things out of a $60k vehicle that you can't out of a $40k vehicle.

Couple obvious points here:

Regarding the seat, I'm 6'5", and after I move the driver seat to where I like it, I can then sit in the 2nd row behind that seat. I have no idea what you're talking about on leg room.

Regarding being able to afford the gas... I used to think that way until I got to where I could afford a $40k vehicle. After my trade-in and incentives, I'm only actually forking over $23.5k, which isn't all that much, and a few extra trips to the gas station does add up even at my salary level. And there's a big difference between the mileage between the Denali and the Explorer. I'm glad you have a smile when you gun it when the light goes green, but I'd rather smile at the pump. I can't really gun it in rush hour traffic anyway.

 

[Finch]

i do research my vehicles and from what i read i thought it would of had lots of roomm for us, it just didnt seem that way.. I ordered my explorer sight un seen like many people did, i did end up test driving a non limted model when it was abvailable to me..
i said all things considered it just didnt live up to my expectations, maybe it does for alot of you, not me..
i am happy with the switch but i dont knock the ford.. i know i am mostly to blame to taking a chance on a vehicle i didnt get to see first hand..

I even supported this site by paying my $$ how many of you did?? I may not have loved the explorer but i didnt hate it..

alot of hate on this site for people giving there opinions..

 

[XLT]

alot of hate on this site for people giving there opinions..

A lot of guys on here are die hard ford and explorer fans and might view your post as trolling to some extent. Personally i am not a fan of the newer vehicles including the explorer since it keeps evolving more and more into a grocery getter. Best of luck though on your trade in.

 

[94Eddie]

i do research my vehicles

You didn't this time.

I even supported this site by paying my $$ how many of you did?? I may not have loved the explorer but i didnt hate it.. alot of hate on this site for people giving there opinions..

You come to a site devoted mostly to Explorers and then complain about that vehicle for being what it plainly is to see. IMO, what you should be complaining about is YOU not doing your research properly and choosing the WRONG vehicle for your tastes and needs. It looks to me like there is nothing much wrong with the Explorer based on your post that you shouldn't have recognized in a test drive and inspection BEFORE you bought it. I know I won't be buying a 5th generation Explorer because it has ceased being the type of vehicle I want to own. I figured this out without even having to take a test drive.

Whether or not you paid money to this web site is irrelevant and it sure didn't buy you anything from me.

 

[bluelion]

if i wouldn't be so upside on the explorer, i would trade it in also. all these lil quirks are getting annoying and shouldnt be present so early on into ownership. did a quick search on carmax, and there's already 2 pages of 2011-2012 explorers for sale. *sigh*

 

[VinceL]

if i wouldn't be so upside on the explorer, i would trade it in also. all these lil quirks are getting annoying and shouldnt be present so early on into ownership. did a quick search on carmax, and there's already 2 pages of 2011-2012 explorers for sale. *sigh*

Your post intrigued me, so I did some searching:

2011-2012 cars any distance from Houston there were:

26 Explorers
141 Grand Cherokees
8 Durangos
32 Pilots
30 Highlanders
49 Traverses

Of course, this comparison isn't complete without sales numbers to compare also, but I thought it interesting nonetheless.

 

[sport97]

Good luck on the new Yukon, they are pretty nice. I don't care much for the new explorer mainly because it doesn't fit my needs but they are nice, and good looking inside and out. I can see wanting a full size v8 SUV over one though. GM does make a solid car mechanically, we currently have a few in our family over a 160k (minus our old pontiac which grenaded an engine at 55k) My only issue with GM (besides taking bailout $$) is the interior quality is(or was) quite poor and rattly on our models, granted they are 10-12 years old now but its cheap and trashy compared to my explorer.

Regardless, good luck. Not sure why there are all the haters. I know I would hesitant to buy a GM because of the bailout money, but it is american, then again I think its a toyota or honda that is the most American made car not a Ford, GM or Chrysler. The detroit 3 get a lot of parts from mexico and canada.

 

[2001VT]

if i wouldn't be so upside on the explorer, i would trade it in also. all these lil quirks are getting annoying and shouldnt be present so early on into ownership. did a quick search on carmax, and there's already 2 pages of 2011-2012 explorers for sale. *sigh*

bluelion,

Most / All of the items you say are problems with your Explorer all have TSBs / etc. and your dealer can resolve them. I just picked up my 2012 Ex Limited and so far I'm not experiencing any of the issues you mentioned (except the mis-aligned passenger door / dash). I absolutely love my Ex Limited and for the price-to-feature ratio, you can't beat it.

Now sure, if you want to jump to the Denali price range, that's a whole new fleet of vehicles; Denali, X5, Range Rover, etc., so to have posters even compare the two is like comparing my previous Jetta to my wife's 3 series BMW.

Now, I'll admit, I was in the camp of looking at the Denali / Escalade / Ranger Rover but my wife didn't want to spend the money. We got a great deal on our Ex Limited (everything but the Entertainment package) for $43.5K; nothing else on the market offers the 3rd row + the features for the price.

Take the time to contact Cory (on this site) and your dealer to get your "issues" fixed. I understand the frustration of buying a new vehicle and have the various issues you mentioned, but you knew you were buying a redesigned vehicle and with that comes some growing pains. It's not an excuse, but definitely something I knew going into this purchase.

 

[peterk9]

bluelion,

Most / All of the items you say are problems with your Explorer all have TSBs / etc. and your dealer can resolve them. I just picked up my 2012 Ex Limited and so far I'm not experiencing any of the issues you mentioned (except the mis-aligned passenger door / dash). I absolutely love my Ex Limited and for the price-to-feature ratio, you can't beat it.

+1
I've had my Limited since March and the only problem I have is the streaky windows but not as bad as it was and the odd minor MFT glitch. I'm still on the original V2.4 and won't bother changing until the new update is available in Q1.

Peter

 

[chimoman]

Dude,
You are a riot. I'm happy you went with a Yukon. Hope you enjoy putting the gas in it. All I got from your post is that you are not happy with Ford. Most of comments were based on ****. So blah blah blah blah. Full of crap ramblings from an unhappy customer. Have a nice day.

 

[FordService]

...i said all things considered it just didnt live up to my expectations, maybe it does for alot of you, not me..
i am happy with the switch but i dont knock the ford...

I’m sorry to hear it wasn’t for you, Finch; I hope you enjoy your new ride.

if i wouldn't be so upside on the explorer, i would trade it in also. all these lil quirks are getting annoying and shouldnt be present so early on into ownership...

I want to see that your concerns are resolved. I have your Explorer’s info from previous messages so drop me a line via PM, and I’ll be happy to arrange a call from the Customer Service Manager in your area.

...Take the time to contact Cory (on this site) and your dealer to get your "issues" fixed...

Thanks a bunch for the shout-out, 2001VT.

Cory