General question: Explorer, a great car or a great problem?

[italianbigsky]

Already said I bought a 1996 Explorer but haven't driven yet.
But I've read a lot in this forum, seen pictures, tutorials, how to do, suggestions and comments. It's interesting, just like I was buying a brand new car. A great way to spend time waiting for my Explorer.

Anyway, I've seen that there are pages and pages, and again pages talking about problems. All kind of problems! I don't think there's a single part of the car you experts haven't mentioned here yet! It's umbelieveble... and useful of course.
Forum members are doing a great job endeed. But... the first look at the forum could give this suggestion: this Explorer has a lot of problems! Tons and tons of webpages talk about problems!

What do you think? All those pages are the sign of great experience and dedition of forum members?
Or those problems are due to the age of the cars?
Or maybe the most part of forum members use those cars to do things that "normal" drivers donì't even think are possible to do (extreme off-roads and so on)?
Or simply Ford Explorer is = problems and things to fix?

In Italy I'm used to many small size cars that seems toys and have a lot of problems too. But you won't find a forum like this here... and the problems come from regular use of those cars... they simply are toys, and bad quality too.
What you think about Explorer?

 

[jremington59]

A lot of us own explorers that are 10 to 15 years old. I don't care what kind of vehicle it is. At 15 years old you're going to be reparing and replacing parts on these vehicles.

What you should be seeing is there are no other forums like this for those other vehicles because they aren't drivable at 15 years old.

 

[Joe Dirt]

...and let's face it- most people don't sign on to these types of forums to talk about trouble free-vehicles.

We may go months between a $10 sensor replacement. My 1995 had 230k+ miles on it when sold, and I put about $700 into it in the 3 years I owned it, and that was tires, shocks, a radiator and some sensors.

 

[Cjpooch]

The best part of my Explorer is this forum. If I have a question on how to replace a wiper blade, or swap an engine, there's someone here that has done it, and is willing to help. I think you already did the hardest part by just finding the forum.

 

[BrianDye]

MOST people who have found this forum, found it because they had an issue they needed help with.

I LOVE my explorer, and ive used this site for help doing hubs, trans fluid, belt, all kinds of stuff.

 

[Paraphoe]

As a general rule, in my humble opinion, the Explorer is a well above average vehicle in terms of quality. If you have accesss to consumer reports, they will give you very positive ratings for the vehicle. That being said, you're not buying new, so it's hit or miss. The truck you buy may have been treated GREAT by the previous owner, or may have been treated like crap and will have many issues. There's also a certain amount of luck involved in the equation as well.

Overall, I'd say buying an Explorer vs similar year and style vehicles is a great choice. But keep in mind that as an older model, there will be some problems to attack.

Welcome aboard, we wish you luck, and we're always here to help.

 

[my98nnj]

...and let's face it- most people don't sign on to these types of forums to talk about trouble free-vehicles.
.

^^^ This ^^^

My 98 has been trouble free for the last 30K miles.

 

[alohamonte]

when i bought my 98' three years ago I came for this forum to learn about a leaking do-hicky that turned out to be a heater control valve. I got an immediate, accurate answer, fixed the issue myself, saved a bunch of time and money, and was hooked.

Its a fine truck. This site has answers to many of the issues you'll experience which makes you learn more about the vehicle, do the work yourself, and appreciate the truck that much.

 

[BubbaFL]

Owning two Explorers has taught me more than I ever wanted to know about ball joints, tie rod ends, leaf springs, power window motors, how to troubleshoot problems using an OBDII computer interface.

I can also thank my Explorers for giving me a great working knowledge of things that should never be made out of plastic (intake manifolds, thermostat housings, timing components).

 

[safn1949]

I have 2 of them,one is 11 years old and the other 17 years old.Honestly I have had to replace very little on them,but I have done a lot on the 94 just because I can.

 

[eazyasone23]

its been a good truck for me, much better than my chevy blazer ever was. I still have the blazer its just not in running condition. So overall the Explorer has been way better in each and every way

 

[italianbigsky]

Thank you for your answers.
I know I'm buying an old car, used, and unknown and that it won't be perfect. On the other hand, I sold my 2005 mazda3 with some 130k on, and I know that the one who bought it just made the deal of his life.
But I wanted an Explorer and here I am. Glad to have found this forum, somehow proud of people who still loves their cars.
I won't be able to do all the things you do, but I'm sure that some advices and helps will be useful to me too. And I'll try to add my 2 cents when I can.
When friends and people will tell me that I'm mad to buy such an old and "strange" car, I'll know what to answer!

 

[O.Madsen]

Hey there.

Im living in spain, had an X, but now a happy Ranger owner.

And yeah, this forum is great. I have used it a lot myself. As people say, its an old truck. You WILL have issues. Hopefully minor ones u can fix yourself. This is particularly important when you´re here in Europe like me. Finding parts, getting help is a funny thing. If you go to Ford, they cant even read out errorcodes on an american vehicle. Meaning: little help there (actually none. I find them useless).

Im not trying to scare u or anything. Just want u to know that its not always easy. But, EBAY IS YOUR FRIEND.. Go there to look for parts n stuff. I have a lot of places i normally buy - even some that normally dont ship out of US. But some will anyways, just because theyre nice people.

And congrats on the X.. You´ll love it.. And people driving cinquecento´s will be afraid of u.. ; )

Cheers!

Ole

 

[italianbigsky]

Finding parts, getting help is a funny thing. If you go to Ford, they cant even read out errorcodes on an american vehicle. Meaning: little help there (actually none. I find them useless).

I know what you mean. Actually, I bought Mazda3 from a Ford official dealer, as they are ij the same group. When I went there last time to ask for the price to fix transmission, I told to the guy about the willing to buy an old explorer. He looked at me and said: "You're mad. Don't even think to come here for assistance. Try to find someone in Switzerland (I live near the Swiss border).

That doesn't scare me anyway. I hope the car is in good shape, and I bet all those minor issues will be even smaller thinking it's an old car and a car that I like and I hardly wanted. Sometimes new cars have minor issues too, and you can't stand them. And putting hands on the car, or buying things on my own, are old fashioned.

Thank for the advice mate, it's nice to know someone in Europe who really can understand what I mean. I'm waiting for the car, post pictures and drive it of course.
And hope that regular driving without any hard off-road in the beginning, will help me to understand how good this car is. Then, time is the answer.
Gracias!

 

[voodoofire1]

Well to be brutally honest,I've had well over 500 cars and trucks in my 35 years of driving and professionaly turning wrenches, and I have never had to put so much into a vehicle just to keep it going, I bought my 92 a bit over 4 years ago, and at this point i've put in over $4000 in parts, doing all the work myself except for the tranny rebuild.....but I haven't had to get into the engine.... yet......, we bought a 99 awd v-8 a few weeks ago and I just bought a 98 sport last weekend that needs a new roof/windshield/timing chain, but I plan to fix it with a little help from my daughter who will be getting it for her first car when she gets her license in a year and a half,...explorers are like people, some are good ,some are bad, and that is directly proportional based on how **** you are about keeping up your vehicle and in fixing it's little,or sometimes big, quirks..............

 

[Baddecision93]

I've been a Ford guy my whole life. I keep buying them over and over. I love them.

That being said, I keep fixing them over and over.

I came to this forum for advice on problems I had. It's been an invaluable tool & has given me the confidence to tackle projects I've always wanted to but never thought I could.

All used cars have problems. Ford seems to have its share just like everyone else. My experience with Ford, and my Explorer, is that you get nickel and dimed. I've never (knock on wood) had a catastrophic failure but more than once I've went outside to a vehicle that wouldn't start and needed to spend $100 and a Saturday getting it going.

That being said I'd still never have it any other way. I'd much rather spend $150/month on repairs than be tethered to a $150/month car payment, you know?

 

[italianbigsky]

I'd much rather spend $150/month on repairs than be tethered to a $150/month car payment, you know?

I bet 90% of people I talked to, would say the opposite.
I always said to myself, if I regularly have to spend some $ on a car, that money would have been a car payment for a brand new car, and in case of major problems, guarantee would have done the rest.

Getting old changed my mind

 

[voodoofire1]

I'd have to agree with that, seems do it yourself'ers are a dying breed, killed off one by one by time restraints and technology, but to those such as myself, doing it ourselves is in our blood, we know intimately how our vehicle ticks, and trust no one but ourselves to make it better, I've made that trade many, many times in my life, always preffering to build it myself, but as I get older, my time gets shorter and technology gets harder to understand, I too have begun to re-think my position, but I'll never give up my hot rods or working on them....ever!......can't get much simpler than a carb and points, and sometimes we all need that simple break........

 

[dklimek]

Do this:

Go to your local pick a part, and look at every explorer you see. Alot of people don't realize it, but these things (v8 or v6) will last as long or outlast a jeep. I went to a you pull yard recently and EVERY explorer had somewhere between 190k miles, all the way up to 256k!! As mentioned these forums are here for stupid little problems, go to any jeep/honda/mazda, etc specific site and you will see the same thing. Threads and threads of the same known issues.

 

[Baddecision93]

I bet 90% of people I talked to, would say the opposite.
I always said to myself, if I regularly have to spend some $ on a car, that money would have been a car payment for a brand new car, and in case of major problems, guarantee would have done the rest.

Getting old changed my mind

I agree, to an extent. What I've found in my position (because we did have a car with a payment for my wife) was I couldn't quite afford new or even certified used. So we just ended up with a car payment and things to fix on top of that .
Sad fact of life seems to be that once a car is out of the extended warranty period it's just a matter of time. So that's where I say the true value is to find a vehicle with plentiful parts and an abundant resource of knowledge (ahem, explorerforum.com) and just consign yourself to the inevitability of repairs, but do so feeling confident that you have the resources you need to make those just a little easier to swallow.