Explorer as a family vehicle?

[Thelt]

How many of you use your Explorer as a family vehicle? I mean by that do you have multiple children and do you haul them in your Explorer often. I have two small children and part of the time I have two teenagers (stepsons). Being able to seat six comfortably enough to take a long trip is important to me. If it were not I would probably have a different SUV that was either cheaper on gas or more capable off road. I might even have a truck.

Anyway I was just wondering how important that aspect of the Explorer is to you guys. Since this is sort of an enthusiast forum I was just curious.

 

[carlover]

I use mine as a family vehicle with 3 kids. Mine is a 2nd gen with no 3rd row seat, but id imagine a 3rd gen with a 3rd row seat would be a good family hauler.

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

I had somewhat different motivation behind getting mine. #1 was the fact that it was a FFV, and was in my budget. #2 was having a 4-door vehicle that still had some towing capability and was good in winter. I'm single with no children, but I do use my Explorer as a people hauler at least once every other week. I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses and I use it regulary out in the door-to-door ministry. It comfortably seats 4 (or more...I have the third seat) and is practical for almost every purpose I want it for.

 

[trucku]

Just my wife, 4 year old and me, but I think its a great family vehicle. My daughters Safety seat fits nicely with lots of room in front of it. I think one of the most reasons for me is their are lots of SUV on the road and I rather be on the same playing field in case of an accident.

 

[Thelt]

I had a Nissan Xterra for several years and I really liked it but when we had kids I knew we needed a third row. I started off with a Durango but it turned out to be a lemon and gas hog. I have been much happier with the Explorer as a family hauler. It serves me well but if I did not need the ability to seat so many I would probably have something a bit smaller and more capable offroad like another Xterra or a Jeep Liberty.

 

[BWilliams]

My 3rd-gen will easily seat 4 adults comfortably with room for a lot of crap in the back (I keep my seat pretty far back, so sticking 3 in the back might have one very unhappy person behind me). If I had the 3rd-row, seating 6 wouldn't be a problem.

 

[TinwoodyII]

Family Vehicle--you bet

Yes, I use it as a family vehicle. For 22 years, I had small pickups (with jump seats), even with a 6' son, which we used as a second family vehicle. I finally saw the light, and got the X, with the 3rd row seat. Since having it, I've used 8 seats about 10 times (over two years), however, I use the rear air all the time (Central CA gets hot!). I usually only seat 3 people, but its great having comfortable seats all around. And, I can haul a 6' table inside.
Bill W

 

[EasyRhino]

Mine was purchased as a hybrid, family, hauling, and towing (although not much towing). I normally owned a pickup truck, but the Explorer can suffice for my needs, plus it hauls up to 7 people. It also has served as my/our long trip vehicle, very comfy for just the four of us.

As SUV owners go, I am probably pretty prototypical. We use it as a daily driver, family hauler, Home Depot and furniture store hauler, take the kids to and from college hauler, etc. Also put the kayaks and surfboards on top with the beach gear inside.

Works really well for us.

 

[WhiteLimited]

Mine is my daily driver...I also haul my friends regularly and I pick up my cousins (9-11) from school every day...Its the perfect truck!

 

[Essex4x4]

Mine too is a daily driver, bought it because i regularly go up to Mammoth Lakes in NoCal and it snows during the winter, and i hate tire chains.

 

[Thelt]

It does a great job with hauling a bunch of kids and with light duty towing. It is a comfortable vehicle too. I know some people try to put mods on them and have more off road ability but that seems to be against the grain of what it is designed to do.

 

[EasyRhino]

It does a great job with hauling a bunch of kids and with light duty towing. It is a comfortable vehicle too. I know some people try to put mods on them and have more off road ability but that seems to be against the grain of what it is designed to do.

Although it appears to be a capable off-road vehicle, I, too, would probably go with something different if I wanted to go deep into mud/snow. That said, I have passed a large state highway department truck going up Sandstone Mountain (6% grade?) on I-64 in WVA in heavy snow, him with his plow throwing snow and his tail throwing salt, and with a long line of non-capable cars (drivers?) bumper to bumper on his rear proceeding slowly up the hill. Not my idea of a good time, going uphill in a line (who knows what level of driving skill they have, or what they might pull), so I went past them at regular highway speed in tall snow with a full load. Never missed a beat. Also, we go to the beach and have never gotten stuck in deep sand (be sure to let air out of the tires, though).

Add to that I have two sons at 6' and 6'6" (plus I am 6'3"), and we tend to carry a lot of stuff when we traveled together. Lastly, we can all four pickup three family members or friends at the airport coming to visit, and still have room for their luggage in the back. And this week I picked up several 50-75 cubic foot loads on the way home from work on three consecutive days.
My wife uses it to haul groups of 6 kids around as part of her civic activities. With the rear AC unit, all are comfortable.

The only complaint, and this is small, is that, unlike a full sized pickup truck, I cannot just throw full sheets of plywood in the bed. But I do use it to get plywood home anyway.

I will probably keep this one until the cows come home.

 

[Glen4X4]

One of the reasons I went to a 4 door was to have more room when the siblings need a ride and to have more room to haul stuff.

 

[abomb]

My wife and I have some rental properties that I manage part-time. Following the demise of my full-size van, I bought the Mountaineer to use as a work truck and winter truck. Overall it's worked out great. It's enclosed, so all my tools and materials stay dry. It's AWD, so I never really have a problem getting around in the snow. Gas mileage is decent... I was getting 9.5MPG with the van so the 15-16 on the Mountaineer is a huge improvement. Whenever I need to haul some big stuff I throw a trailer on the back (think 50 sheets of 4x8 sheetrock). If I could do it again though I'd probably buy a used expedition, the Mountaineer bottoms out in the back whenever I load it up and a little extra space would be nice. I know this is a little unorthodox use of a Mountaineer, but it seems to work for me.

The most I've ever towed with the Mountaineer is a 2000lb car trailer with a 3300lb car on it... 5300lb total. It was a little hairy... but everything made it back in one piece.

 

[Mustang4mikey]

All I can say is that I own two of them. One for me and one for my Wife! we have two kids and constantly take long trips and go camping. Off-road capabilities certainly fit our need. We baught the explorer first and then i wanted a car of my own to travel for my job. Im a big mustang fan and almost baught a stang, but after further conversations with my wife it was decided that i get a 4x4 vehicle, Explorer! But as usual, me being me, I wanted to have a cooler truck than my wife, so i got a mountaineer.
OVERALL THESE ARE THE BEST VEHICLES I'VE OWNED TO DATE!!!!
Dependable, very comfy, easy to work on and did i meantion DEPENDABLE?!

 

[tonkatruck]

I have a couple of them in my driveway and have used them for every conceivable task and function. From normal grocery getter to flogging through 3’ of snow to piled sky high full of people and stuff, It works for us. I've got 190k on the 93eb 4x4 and 100k on the 02 (also a 4x4). I love them.

 

[Thelt]

My wife has a Dodge Caravan that will also seat seven and has room for all the kids and stuff. The van is a 2005 that we bought new and had only 51k on it. The Explorer is a 2002 with 121k on it but the funny thing is when all go somewhere together we almost always take the Explorer. It is just that much better to drive than the van. My wife would take it and give up the van in a heartbeat. If I could I would give her the Explorer and trade her van in on a pickup or something for me but being that it is a Dodge and we bought it new it is only worth about a third of what we owe on it.

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

The primary use of my '02 is just to get me to and from school, and to ride around town with some friends. Here in Texas, if we are lucky we will see snow for just a few hours in the air once a year, so i just have the 2x4. A couple weeks ago I did haul about 2,000 pounds of saud grass in the trunk with the seats folded down flat. Handled great with such a load in the trunk.

 

[shadowless127]

I got my Mounty primarily for safety and stability in the winter and to be a people hauler. Came in handy yesterday as we packed 4 adults and my 13yr old stepdaughter and her friend in it very comfortably.

 

[stanger_missle]

Before the wife and I had kids, we both had Mustangs. I had a 99 Cobra vert and she had an 04 V6 coupe. Her son came to live with us 2 years ago. We then had a son together. Mustangs are nice cars, but really suck for family vehicles. Couldn't fit my son's car seat in the back and sit in the front at the same time and both were terrible in the snow. We had thrown around the idea of getting a van, but I convinced her we needed a V8 4X4 Explorer : We got lucky when a local Ford dealer gave us an awesome deal on an '04 XLT 4X4. They even paid off both our 'Stangs. We couldn't be happier with it! We don't have the 3rd row, but I have looked into buying one from a junkyard. Now we have a 3 month old daughter and we really need the 3rd row LOL. The previous owners put a Magnaflow catback on it and it has the towing package (3.73s baby!) and its pretty quick. We plan on keeping it for a long time