How long will it last? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

How long will it last?

Elfiero

Active Member
Joined
September 4, 2018
Messages
81
Reaction score
25
City, State
Golden valley, MN
Year, Model & Trim Level
2017 Limited
I am trying to figure out how long I can keep my ‘17 exploder before it’s time to send it down the road. I change oil(full synthetic), every 6 months(I don’t drive enough nowadays to do it by miles), and I change the “transfer case” fluid every fall( I added a drain plug and longer vent hose). I guess I am most worried about the massive amount of electronics, and Ford’s penchant for rust. I am up to 42k on the clock, and I hope I can make it another 8 years- lastly, with a window sticker of 51k, I’m hoping to avoid spending ALL of my retirement savings to replace this “SUV”.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





It might last those 8 years and then again it may cap out next week you never know.

This is where I decided after purchasing my 16 that I will never buy one outright again. With all the electronics on them all it takes is for one item to fail and you are out $5000 in a hurry.

So if you just lease you can have a new vehicle every 2 or 3 years will a full warranty with the payments being lower than what you could get on a 5 or 6 year payment plan.
 






Why does everyone worry so dang much? 7+ years and 145k miles and I only do the as directed maintenance. Haven't touched the PTU, differentials, or transmission yet. Heck it still has the original accessory drive belt.
 






Why does everyone worry so dang much? 7+ years and 145k miles and I only do the as directed maintenance. Haven't touched the PTU, differentials, or transmission yet. Heck it still has the original accessory drive belt.
At that mileage you should have serviced the transmission 2-3 times by now per Ford's recommendation. Also the diffs at least once.
 






At that mileage you should have serviced the transmission 2-3 times by now per Ford's recommendation. Also the diffs at least once.
And you would be wrong. Ford does not make any such recommendation. The owners manual specifically calls out the transmission at 150,000 miles in the maintenance schedule. The PTU and differentials are not mentioned at all.
 






I am trying to figure out how long I can keep my ‘17 exploder before it’s time to send it down the road. I change oil(full synthetic), every 6 months(I don’t drive enough nowadays to do it by miles), and I change the “transfer case” fluid every fall( I added a drain plug and longer vent hose). I guess I am most worried about the massive amount of electronics, and Ford’s penchant for rust. I am up to 42k on the clock, and I hope I can make it another 8 years- lastly, with a window sticker of 51k, I’m hoping to avoid spending ALL of my retirement savings to replace this “SUV”.

Would you mind sharing pictures and/or your method of installing the drain plug and vent hole please?
 






Would you mind sharing pictures and/or your method of installing the drain plug and vent hole please?
Next time I change oil(soon) I will take a few pics and post them
 






If you live in the rust belt and don't take care of it, it will be a rust bucket at 10 years.
 






If you take care of it, and keep up with maintenance, it will last as long as you want.
 






This is always a dangerous question based on climate, maintenance routine, etc.

In the NE, I say a lifespan of a car from new without extraordinary body care is about 7 years. Salt will kill it before the core mechanicals go, usually.

But then again, I also lost confidence in mine and parted with it this week and bought an entirely different brand.

Seems like you're taking very good care of your car, so it should last you longer than most.
 






I take care of mine, never towed anything, a few trips, always washed and waxed, never in snow or salted roads, maintained at factory spec's or better and only 3.5 years old with 32k miles. With almost $10k in repairs under various warranties and another required upgrades (like tires at 11k miles) and 41+ days in the shop to do all of them I'd say there are some real lucky folks on this board. Or, more likely, I got a real sorry build. It's going into the dealers shop next week for the next engineering failure repair. How long will mine last? Until my ESP warranty ends.
Rant ends...

Edit: Hey franchise, what did you get, I'm interested!
 












I am trying to figure out how long I can keep my ‘17 exploder before it’s time to send it down the road. I change oil(full synthetic), every 6 months(I don’t drive enough nowadays to do it by miles), and I change the “transfer case” fluid every fall( I added a drain plug and longer vent hose). I guess I am most worried about the massive amount of electronics, and Ford’s penchant for rust. I am up to 42k on the clock, and I hope I can make it another 8 years- lastly, with a window sticker of 51k, I’m hoping to avoid spending ALL of my retirement savings to replace this “SUV”.

Not sure what "penchant for rust" you're referring to, and it also bears mentioning that there are vehicles out there with far more "massive" amount of gizmos than these. Having lived in Brooklyn Park for 12 years and done all my flight training out of Crystal, I certainly understand our Minnesota mindset of "it could be worse, and if you wait long enough it will be", but I don't see any compelling reason to dump the Explorer unless you just plain don't like it, which is fair enough.
 






Well... I guess it is "alright", although it doesn't do anything particularly well. While it is most definitely a pavement queen, it isn't too bad in snow. As far as gizmos, I have one with every single option that can be had on a Limited- Which vehicles out there have more gizmos than this? Why did I buy it? My F150 was just too big and too hard to get in and out of! Is there anything out there that is easy to get in and out of that doesn't have all the traction and braking nannies, but still has all the creature comforts?
 






Well... I guess it is "alright", although it doesn't do anything particularly well. While it is most definitely a pavement queen, it isn't too bad in snow. .......
I'm guessing you haven't seen some of the Explorer 'off road' videos. While not a "rock crawler" it is capable of some light to medium off-road performance.

Peter
 






I'm guessing you haven't seen some of the Explorer 'off road' videos. While not a "rock crawler" it is capable of some light to medium off-road performance.

Peter
Like this ->

or this trail in 'Vancouver BC Canada" ->

or this one that really shows how the Explorer shines off the pavement ->

My fusion is just as capable an off-roader as my explorer.

As far as longevity, if you want to see how the 5g explorers are holding up in your area, just go browse your local classifieds for some used 2011s and go have a look at them to see how much rust they have and how well they've held up.

I've had no real problems keeping cars on the road in MI for up to 20 years and we salt the ever loving **** out of our roads. Sure there is going to be some rust, but it's not like the vehicle just disintegrates after 7 yrs. If anything, the last few vehicles I've had from the mid 2000's that I had for 7 plus yrs, looked pretty darn good for not being washed regularly and not garaged. I've even had a few vehicles for >15 yrs that typically only had minimal rust around the wheel wells and/or rockers. Usually not too bad all things considered.
 






I take care of mine, never towed anything, a few trips, always washed and waxed, never in snow or salted roads, maintained at factory spec's or better and only 3.5 years old with 32k miles. With almost $10k in repairs under various warranties and another required upgrades (like tires at 11k miles) and 41+ days in the shop to do all of them I'd say there are some real lucky folks on this board. Or, more likely, I got a real sorry build. It's going into the dealers shop next week for the next engineering failure repair. How long will mine last? Until my ESP warranty ends.
Rant ends...

Edit: Hey franchise, what did you get, I'm interested!

haha I am with you ExPlat. I bought my 16 Sport with the intention of driving it until it dies. Now 3 years and 64k miles into it, I feel like it could have a significant failure at any moment. I've had numerous trips to the dealer for small issues, but its the transmission failure and leaking PTU that really bother me. I do all regular maintenance and take great care of my vehicles, but it seems like every 6-12 months something else goes wrong with this truck. Truck has had 4 trips to the dealer for repairs and well over a month spent at the dealer. Transmission failure was 28 days.

Don't even have to wait for rust to hit the truck, just check the front edge of your hood! I have yet to see an Explorer without the paint bubbles along the edge of the hood. Mine is 3 years old and has paint pealing off the hood in multiple places. Ford refused to fix it under warranty because I have 63k miles. Paint shouldn't be pealing off of a 3 year old truck!

I plan to keep the truck as long as its running, but it has become the joke among my friends and family that my truck is always in the shop for something.
 






haha I am with you ExPlat. I bought my 16 Sport with the intention of driving it until it dies. Now 3 years and 64k miles into it, I feel like it could have a significant failure at any moment. I've had numerous trips to the dealer for small issues, but its the transmission failure and leaking PTU that really bother me. I do all regular maintenance and take great care of my vehicles, but it seems like every 6-12 months something else goes wrong with this truck. Truck has had 4 trips to the dealer for repairs and well over a month spent at the dealer. Transmission failure was 28 days.

Don't even have to wait for rust to hit the truck, just check the front edge of your hood! I have yet to see an Explorer without the paint bubbles along the edge of the hood. Mine is 3 years old and has paint pealing off the hood in multiple places. Ford refused to fix it under warranty because I have 63k miles. Paint shouldn't be pealing off of a 3 year old truck!

I plan to keep the truck as long as its running, but it has become the joke among my friends and family that my truck is always in the shop for something.

Just fyi, the paint peeling issue is covered 5yrs/unlimited miles.
 






I feel very confident in our 2017 Explorer, if we get 5-7yrs out of it, then I will be more than happy. She has been issue free for the most part. The tires are my only gripe.

As with any car/truck, how you care for it will determine how long it will last.

We currently have 20k miles.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





I feel very confident in our 2017 Explorer, if we get 5-7yrs out of it, then I will be more than happy. She has been issue free for the most part. The tires are my only gripe.

As with any car/truck, how you care for it will determine how long it will last.

We currently have 20k miles.

I find it slightly amusing that the higher the trim level, the crappier the tires.
 






Back
Top