Need advice on possible Explorer/F-150 Lease

[vulnox]

Need advice on possible Explorer/F-150 Lease *Updated, choice made*

Hi all,

My wife and I are considering either a 2012 (ordering it) Explorer or a 2011/2012 F-150 FX4 Ecoboost.

We currently have a Fusion and would be trading it in, looking to upgrade a bit because I am 6'4", and on long trips that Fusion gets to be uncomfortable for me. My wife is tall as well, so it would help both of us.

We are also in Kansas with all of our Family and that in Michigan, so we have had to rent trucks or pay crazy high delivery costs for some things.

Anyway, we went to a few dealers and finally found one offering a great trade in value, plus we have A-Plan. The numbers are working out as:

525/mo for 36 Month lease on an F-150 FX4 Crew Ecoboost with 15k miles, Navigation, damn near everything but that stupid tailgate step.

$535-550 for 36 Month lease on an Explorer XLT 4x4 with 202A, Navigation, Towing package, and thats about it.

We priced a Limited as well, but we are looking at $690-720 which seems insane on a lease. The interest on the leases right now is just too high on the Explorers while the F-150's are dirt cheap.

I LOVE the F-150 and the Ecoboost is a ton of fun, but I drove one for a couple nights and it can be a PITA to park and get out of some spaces, the going forward and backward and worrying about hitting stuff is not ideal.

The Explorer was smooth and a great ride and definitely my wife's favorite, but she is fine either way since she wants this to be my vehicle. I am just concerned about the F-150 being more trouble than its worth in day to day driving, and the gas mileage being lower than the Explorer and the unknown path future gas prices may take.

On the other hand, some of the options we both want are only on the Limited, I want the better stereo, she really wants second row bucket seats. I also think the remote start that can activate the cooled seats is pretty awesome (can the Explorer do that with a dealer installed remote start on an XLT? I know it can't do cooled seats, but auto adjusting the temperature to 72 or activating the seat warmers in winter would be nice).

Sorry for the novel, and thanks for any tips anyone has, especially if you still own, or came from, an F-150 Crew.

 

[GregV8]

Thats funny, I also had a Fusion, I'm also 6'4 and I also had issues on long trips.
And I also -although just briefly- explored the idea of the F150 ecoboost.
In the end I bought the Explorer because here in suburban New York cars don't get as much space as in other parts of the country.
Today, if I had to choose between those two again, I would go with the F150 - and would make sure it has front and back parking sensors and a backup camera (this can all be retrofitted as well).
One of the benefits of the F150 is the lack of myford touch - that's a huge deal!

 

[vulnox]

Thats funny, I also had a Fusion, I'm also 6'4 and I also had issues on long trips.
And I also -although just briefly- explored the idea of the F150 ecoboost.
In the end I bought the Explorer because here in suburban New York cars don't get as much space as in other parts of the country.
Today, if I had to choose between those two again, I would go with the F150 - and would make sure it has front and back parking sensors and a backup camera (this can all be retrofitted as well).
One of the benefits of the F150 is the lack of myford touch - that's a huge deal!

MFT really that bad? I am a huge tech geek and I love messing with MFT when I borrowed my parents Edge Sport and when I test drive the Explorer, but I do see a lot of threads on here about it.

Well damn, the F-150 I want would already have backup sensors and camera, and I see Ford sells a front sensor addon now.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... Still wondering about that gas mileage and that though. Trips to Michigan at 25+MPG would be quite a bit cheaper than trips at 19-21MPG.

 

[JDJones]

Welcome to the forum, and no MFT is "not that bad". There are 100s and 100s of us that have the MFT and it works very well. I have a friend that bought his F150 about 2 weeks before I got my EX, we compare notes daily. Ford builds a great truck and if you are looking for a truck, there is not much discussion.

If you are looking something that has good cargo room, versatile to carry 6 or 7 people comfortably when needed and something that doesn't drive like a big truck, then an explorer is a great option. The technology on the EX is much more cutting edge than the F-150 or any other truck; it is not perfect but the issue are 99% software and that will get better with updates.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[vulnox]

Welcome to the forum, and no MFT is "not that bad". There are 100s and 100s of us that have the MFT and it works very well. I have a friend that bought his F150 about 2 weeks before I got my EX, we compare notes daily. Ford builds a great truck and if you are looking for a truck, there is not much discussion.

If you are looking something that has good cargo room, versatile to carry 6 or 7 people comfortably when needed and something that doesn't drive like a big truck, then an explorer is a great option. The technology on the EX is much more cutting edge than the F-150 or any other truck; it is not perfect but the issue are 99% software and that will get better with updates.

Good luck with your decision!

Thank's for the reply, and good to hear. It seemed software related, but have not heard of a timetable of the next update so that was a bit of a hold back for me. I don't believe we NEED an F-150, thats a lot of vehicle, my ideal vehicle was a 2010 Ford Sport Trac Adrenalin, but Ford had to stop making that before we could get one.

Anyway, I might have to take one for the night. We drove an F-150 for the night, best to get some time with an Explorer for the night.

Thanks again and love the replies so far, really appreciate your help! Also if anyone replies that has a Limited, and doesn't mind sharing what their Lease/Purchase per month cost is, I still wish we could get a limited and am wondering if it is reasonable to hope for a cheaper payment on it if I wait for incentives.

 

[GregV8]

Don't get me wrong, the new EX is an awesome vehicle, and I've mentioned this before, I chose it over the X5 because i think it is better. So that says a lot. I don't like the MFT because, like you, I'm also a tech geek so my expectations are high. I work on Apple based projects and in comparison I think the MFT is like a wannabe kid who "just doesn't get it".
But it seems like you're really in love with the F-150, and the EX is just your "sensible" option. To that I say get what you really WANT.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

MFT really that bad? I am a huge tech geek and I love messing with MFT when I borrowed my parents Edge Sport and when I test drive the Explorer, but I do see a lot of threads on here about it.

Don't want this to become another MFT thread, but it's not as bad for the majority of users as it might seem from reading the forum. There are some who have had nothing but headaches and their stories are here for all to read, but I'd wager that most experiences are like mine...MFT can be quirky and fussy at times but for the most part works reasonably well. Having had it for a few weeks now I'd hate to move to a vehicle without something similar.

I don't know anything about the F150 so I'll offer no advice between the two vehicles beyond suggesting that you shouldn't let MFT fears affect your decision.

 

[vulnox]

Well, after more talking about it, my wife told me she doesn't think she would want an F-150 yet, especially if she was driving it, so we went into just Explorer search mode. She said I could still get it, but I thought if we were having something two years its not fair to force one of us to like something, especially since I already like the Explorer. Went back to the awesome dealer we were working with, and drove around the lot and saw Kona Blue Edge Limited, AWD, every single option was on this Edge, the HID headlights and adaptive cruise control, etc. We thought that because of the super low rates on it and the rebates that it might be a good compromise since Explorers were coming up so expensive.

We did get it down to a good price, but not really good enough for me. So I had brought along an Explorer XLT print out that a dealer near us supposedly had, he looked it up and although that one didn't come up, two similar ones did. He ran the numbers and the Explorer came out to be the PERFECT price. Cheaper than the Edge by almost $50 a month. A big impact was Ford lowered the rates this month by quite a bit from when we were looking last month.

The Edge had far more toys, but they were mostly things I didn't care about, and I love toys. Only the HID headlights were big for me.

So we are getting a:
2011 Black XLT 4x4 with black interior
202A, Navigation, Tow, and I think one or two other things. My decision was largely made because I wanted more comfort, but my knee was constantly resting on this hard plastic ridge piece of the center console of the Edge and I thought that would get annoying. No such problem in the Explorer.

We are still waiting to make sure the dealer can get it, its an Explorer a Dealer had ordered and should be coming in this week, so as long as they don't have plans for it already we should be able to secure it Monday. If that one fails, there is a silver one with almost the same equipment at another dealer. So something should work.

I still really wanted a limited for the sound system (I am not really sure how good the XLT's upgraded sound is, I hope its decent) and the cooled seats and built in remote start, but for the amount of added cost it seems like a waste of money.

 

[GregV8]

Congratulations and hope the deal will work out as planned!