Thinking about buying a 2014 explorer xlt...

[vos]

Hi just looking to get some insight on my buying decision, been looking at the explorers for a while there awesome suv's. Looking at currently trading in my 2011 edge on a bigger vehicle to accomodate my growing family welcomed baby #3 this past July and with 3 kids the edge is getting a little tight for space. We have test driven 2 explorer xlt's and a F150 FX4 crewcab. Now i'm stuck for which one we should go with. We're also trading in our 2nd car as well with the edge so this next vehicle purchase is going to be our family car. Now with that being said i've looked at the mileage ratings for both and was kinda surprised there's not that much of a difference between the two. I was sure I wanted an explorer because of the extra seating and the nice goodies like the power liftgate and heated front seats something i've grown to love because of my edge. But we test drove the truck and wow I was kinda blown away we had a 2004 FX4 before but sold it as our needs were changing at the time. We also plan on buying a pop up camper trailer next summer so we can start taking our boys camping. So the towing package will be a must I know the explorer can handle it but know there will be no issues with the trucks towing capabilities if in the future I decide to get a bigger camper a few years down the road. With current incentives when we priced them out at the dealer there's only a $2200 difference in price with the explorer being the cheaper one. What is going to be a better fit for 3 kids and a large dog and for everyday city driving? my gut is telling me to go with the explorer because it is cheaper and will be easier for city maneuverablity but everyone esle that i've spoken to about it thinks I should go with the F150 and the more I think about it i'm just getting more indecisive . Thanks in advance for your input .

 

[morbid81]

That is a tough decision. While the explorer is a awesome vehicle and more of a family oriented car I don't know how they are with towing, you stated you may purchase a larger camper in the future, may wanna look into towing capacity on the explorer. Trucks are built for towing and if properly maintained are workhorses. Just remember keep those differentials fluid's change on a regular basis if you are gonna do a lot of towing. Yes the explorer would be for around town driving they now have independent rear suspension unlike their predecessors from the 2nd gen. I would go with the truck if your doing a lot of towing. If not go with the explorer, I would recommend the v8. They recently brought back the 5.0 motor which is what is in my 2nd gen explorer and its still going strong after 15yrs. I have read other users up around 5-600mark on their original 5.0. Don't get the 6 cyclinder with ecoboost its just a wanna be 5.0 v8. In my opinion if your not going to get a bigger camper and just need a family vehicle for light towing go with the explorer, but if getting a bigger camper i would go with the truck. I am not a fan of ford trucks, I do love explorers though. I will probably be bashed for saying this I would look at a sierra or silverado with the 5.3 or 6.0 motor if I was truck shopping myself. But thats my personal opinion I've always been a GM man. But cant bash my explorer she's old and tired but still gets where I need to go.

 

[VTR1]

We just bought a 2014 Explorer for my wife and I own a F150 FX4 supercab. Although the supercab is smaller than the crewcab if I had to choose one vehicle for the family it would be the Explorer for sure. I can't comment on the towing in the Explorer though.

The truck is great for going places as a family (2 kids) but little things like shopping or bringing a mother in-law, kids friends etc. are not going to cut it with the truck. Sure you have a huge truck bed, the problem is it isn't ideal for holding or storing anything that needs to stay secure or dry. So I recommend the Explorer for the added seating you will appreciate. One thing to consider is with any children that need a car seat it will be a pain to fold up the 2nd row seat every time you want to use the 3rd row. So captain chairs would make more sense IMO.

One more thing, we love our Explorer. We compared it to the Traverse and Acadia, for the money the Explorer just came out ahead and looks better too..

 

[whatsgoingon]

That is a tough decision. While the explorer is a awesome vehicle and more of a family oriented car I don't know how they are with towing, you stated you may purchase a larger camper in the future, may wanna look into towing capacity on the explorer. Trucks are built for towing and if properly maintained are workhorses. Just remember keep those differentials fluid's change on a regular basis if you are gonna do a lot of towing. Yes the explorer would be for around town driving they now have independent rear suspension unlike their predecessors from the 2nd gen. I would go with the truck if your doing a lot of towing. If not go with the explorer, I would recommend the v8. They recently brought back the 5.0 motor which is what is in my 2nd gen explorer and its still going strong after 15yrs. I have read other users up around 5-600mark on their original 5.0. Don't get the 6 cyclinder with ecoboost its just a wanna be 5.0 v8. In my opinion if your not going to get a bigger camper and just need a family vehicle for light towing go with the explorer, but if getting a bigger camper i would go with the truck. I am not a fan of ford trucks, I do love explorers though. I will probably be bashed for saying this I would look at a sierra or silverado with the 5.3 or 6.0 motor if I was truck shopping myself. But thats my personal opinion I've always been a GM man. But cant bash my explorer she's old and tired but still gets where I need to go.

Nicely stated...We have 3 kids and we now own 2014 v6 ford explorer and 2012 outback...the explorer is the family car because of the 3 benches...GREAT feature (we traded our 2005 honda odyssey ) nothing beats the odyssey for room - the explorer is very roomy, also i would NEVER tow anything with any of my cars ... unless i have a car made for towing - the power of the v6 is nice but i dont know how it would react fully loaded and towing a load....