Rubberhead
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- January 11, 2003
- Messages
- 315
- Reaction score
- 14
- City, State
- Fort Mill, SC
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2023 Timberline w/TechPak
I’ve spent nearly a year and 22,000 miles with my new 2014 Explorer. More importantly, I’ve spent an entire duck season with the new Ex. The honest review is that I am completely disappointed.
Background: I have owned a 1995 XLT and a 2003 XLT V8, and I still own a 2007 Eddie Bauer. I adored every one of these previous Explorers. The 2003 XLT was a reliable, rugged gem of a car. Because of this, I never considered replacing the 250,000 mile V8 with anything other than a new Explorer. In 20,000 mile hindsight, I would have researched alternatives to the new Explorer. This is the car I bought: http://www.inventory.ford.com/services/inventory/WindowSticker.pdf?vin=1FM5K8D86EGC19585
Engine: The brochure tells me the engine is more powerful than the 4.0L in my Eddie Bauer and the 4.6L in my sold XLT. That may be so but it doesn’t translate to on the ground take-off power. Worse, the learning transmission has learned to be sluggish when I try to take off from a stop. It didn’t do this new; it appears to be learned behavior. I really notice the lack of power most when I drive my wife’s 4.0L Eddie Bauer that provides a clean, even torque band from idle up to max RPM. I have owned three Hondas and the Gen 5 Explorer engine reminds me of the performance of a Honda motor.
Driving: I love the surefootedness of the new, 4WD Explorer. The Terrain Management system is a very refined solution to most people’s driving needs. Anyone getting a new Ex should seriously consider spending the extra $2k to get the AWD version. There is some torque steering effect that I noticed at first but not so much now – I’m getting used to it, I guess.
Gas Mileage: My V8 would get a legitimate 19-20 mpg in pure interstate driving at 75 MPH. The new Explorer can get 22 mpg but only when I keep it down to 55-60 MPH. On the Interstate at 70+ MPH I don’t think it’s much better than the 4.6L. In city type driving, the new Ex is getting around 15 when the V8 got 14mpg. So there is an improvement there. Yes, I know I went from a RWD to an AWD and that hurts fuel economy but I’m also down 2 cylinders and more than a liter of displacement. The fuel economy panels on the new Ex overestimate fuel economy by at least 1 mpg (assuming the odometer is accurate). The fuel tank is way too small. It should be 22-25 gallons not 18.6. The hill start assist is a very useful feature when pulling a boat up a ramp.
Towing: The second biggest disappointment was the towing. Not the towing capability but the process of towing with the new Explorer. First, I have to remove a panel to get to the receiver hitch. It’s a pain made necessary because the receiver is not built into a solid bar bridging the open gap in the rear bumper. The receiver is on a bracket attached from above leaving open the view to the spare tire well – this looks terrible hence the flimsy plastic cover. When connected, the hitch rattles where the same hitch in the V8 and Eddie Bauer is stable and quiet on most road conditions. The tow button only does part of its job. It should turn off the Reverse Sensing System (RSS) and change the DTE calculation to ‘towing’ too but it does neither. My other two Explorers with back-up alarms have a button that turns off the alert. The new Explorer either requires a series of clicks on the left controller to turn off the alert or to simply put the car in reverse endure the tone in my ears while I make several clicks on the left controller to turn off the RSS. Also missing is a compartment adequate to hold the hitch when it’s not being used. The 3rd and 4th generation Ex’s had this in the floor of the rear hatch area. I really felt that these compartments in the ’03 and ’07 were a nice and necessary safety feature to keep the metal hitch and locks from flying around the car in an accident.
Hauling: The seating configuration is fine and the cargo capacity with the 3rd row active is way, way better than the previous Explorers. The ’03 and ’07 I owned both have the then optional 3rd row with rear A/C. For my use the configuration of the ’03 where the 3rd row was a solid bench and the second row was 40/20/40 was best. I could carry four adults, a good bit of cargo and boat paddles fit nicely in the laid down center section. The 3rd row bench kept dirt and small items from falling between the folded down seats of the 3rd row. The panel that slid up to the back of the second row really did a good job of approximating the usefulness of the cargo area of a 2-row Explorer – it was really difficult to tell that there was even a tucked 3rd row.\
I had a canoe rack on the ’03 and cross rail pads on the ’07. With this, I was able to carry a 14’ canoe and two 9’ kayaks on the two vehicles. Now, with the ’14, the canoe racks are interfered with by the absolute worst place to put the antenna – the center rear of the car’s roof between the cargo rails. The ’07 has a satellite antenna bump in the very front passenger side and the radio antenna on the hood in front of the passenger. Neither of these ever got in the way of hauling anything with the old Exs. I just don’t understand the engineering that would bother with roof rails (which I like and use) and a stickup antenna squarely in the way of using those roof rails for hauling a canoe or kayak. I just don’t get it. (yes, I know I can unscrew the antenna but I never had to before)
Lights: The headlights are the biggest disappointment. I drive a lot at night, usually in the very early hours. Natural human road traffic is at a minimum between 1am and 5am and wildlife has responded by being most active during this period. The headlights on the 2014 XLT are woefully inadequate especially on roads that are not arrow straight and perfectly level. I never noticed any problem with prior generation Explorers. The fog lights are basically meaningless as are the high beams. I know there are some aftermarket solutions but I thought headlights were a solved science and why should I have to pay to upgrade the headlights on a $40k vehicle anyway? To make matters worse, there is no ground level illumination to the immediate right or left. In urban driving, this might not be noticeable but try maneuvering in a completely dark boat ramp parking lot where an empty boat trailer just to the right or left of the car is invisible to the driver. I have had to get out with a flashlight and make sure I wasn’t going to hit someone parked trailer. It’s a minor nuisance but I’ve waited since my first Explorer for them to fix the cartoonish panel lights for high beams and fog lights. It just isn’t that these are really oversized but that their brightness is not affected by the adjustable panel brightness. In rural driving, I usually turn the panel lights down pretty low but the high beam and fog light indicators stay at a uniform brightness and counter the reason to drop the panel brightness in the first place.
Interior: I have BLIS and the second-row middle seat is near useless. I really like the idea of the outboard inflatable seatbelts and would take them even at the cost of an adult-sized middle seat but I shouldn’t have to. There’s unused width in the second row between the door and the seats. The front console is nice and I like the odd shaped, deep compartment in the plastic insert is perfect for reading glasses. The sound of the entertainment system is a letdown but the dual-bluetooth and dual-USB connections are convenient. It still seems odd that soft programming reflects the old button system. It seems like some rethinking might have made the MFT more efficient. Taking climate off of the right controller seems like a downgrade. The heated seats are way too hot in the bottom when the back is just right. Chevy has for years, had seats where the heated back could be turned on without the seat bottom. Comparatively, the heated seats in the Eddie Bauer are only a single intensity but it’s pleasantly perfect with most of the heat going to the lower back. Why are there two chimes when I hit the button to activate voice recognition? I am slowly learning to wait for the second chime but many times I start speaking after the first chime but the car doesn’t listen to until the second chime. Then it only gets the second half of what I said and usually chides me for saying something it didn’t understand.
Burning Smell: Yep, I got it; bad actually. How, after 3-years with this generation Explorer, is this still a problem? How could I have taken it to a Ford dealer for service and not have them immediately ask if I’ve had the problem and offer to fix it. I am completely embarrassed when my family is with me and I have to pass someone. I feel like I’m poisoning my wife and other passengers. Also, I have a scorched oil smell when I park the hot car in my garage. I’ve asked the dealer to look for an oil leak but they haven’t found any yet but I can’t help but believe it’s there, somewhere. I’ll continue to ask about the oil leak and I may reach out to a Ford person on this forum and get help with the burning smell during acceleration problem.
Vision: I know the pillars are designed for safety in a roll-over or other collision but there are several roads that I have driven for years where I, since getting the new Explorer, can’t see the direction of traffic without having to move around in the seat. Even then I still don’t get the full picture of oncoming traffic. I have to move my head like an owl to get a read on when it is safe to pull out. I’m long-waisted and just under 6’ but the rear-view mirror is too low and steals some of the view of the road in front of me. In a hilly environment, I catch myself leaning forward to see areas behind the rearview mirror.
I knew about the Mickey Mouse spare and small gas tank before I got the Explorer but they still bug me. I just took a trip to Oak Island, NC. We had a lot of people going so I drove the ’14 and my wife drover her 4.0L ’07. She had 190 miles left with her tank and I was down to 90 something. I pay for the little bit of additional fuel economy by having to stop more frequently. My time has value too.
Again, I never considered anything else when I replaced my last Explorer but Ford used up their ‘freebee’ on the 5th Generation Explorer and will have to re-earn any future repeat business of mine.
Background: I have owned a 1995 XLT and a 2003 XLT V8, and I still own a 2007 Eddie Bauer. I adored every one of these previous Explorers. The 2003 XLT was a reliable, rugged gem of a car. Because of this, I never considered replacing the 250,000 mile V8 with anything other than a new Explorer. In 20,000 mile hindsight, I would have researched alternatives to the new Explorer. This is the car I bought: http://www.inventory.ford.com/services/inventory/WindowSticker.pdf?vin=1FM5K8D86EGC19585
Engine: The brochure tells me the engine is more powerful than the 4.0L in my Eddie Bauer and the 4.6L in my sold XLT. That may be so but it doesn’t translate to on the ground take-off power. Worse, the learning transmission has learned to be sluggish when I try to take off from a stop. It didn’t do this new; it appears to be learned behavior. I really notice the lack of power most when I drive my wife’s 4.0L Eddie Bauer that provides a clean, even torque band from idle up to max RPM. I have owned three Hondas and the Gen 5 Explorer engine reminds me of the performance of a Honda motor.
Driving: I love the surefootedness of the new, 4WD Explorer. The Terrain Management system is a very refined solution to most people’s driving needs. Anyone getting a new Ex should seriously consider spending the extra $2k to get the AWD version. There is some torque steering effect that I noticed at first but not so much now – I’m getting used to it, I guess.
Gas Mileage: My V8 would get a legitimate 19-20 mpg in pure interstate driving at 75 MPH. The new Explorer can get 22 mpg but only when I keep it down to 55-60 MPH. On the Interstate at 70+ MPH I don’t think it’s much better than the 4.6L. In city type driving, the new Ex is getting around 15 when the V8 got 14mpg. So there is an improvement there. Yes, I know I went from a RWD to an AWD and that hurts fuel economy but I’m also down 2 cylinders and more than a liter of displacement. The fuel economy panels on the new Ex overestimate fuel economy by at least 1 mpg (assuming the odometer is accurate). The fuel tank is way too small. It should be 22-25 gallons not 18.6. The hill start assist is a very useful feature when pulling a boat up a ramp.
Towing: The second biggest disappointment was the towing. Not the towing capability but the process of towing with the new Explorer. First, I have to remove a panel to get to the receiver hitch. It’s a pain made necessary because the receiver is not built into a solid bar bridging the open gap in the rear bumper. The receiver is on a bracket attached from above leaving open the view to the spare tire well – this looks terrible hence the flimsy plastic cover. When connected, the hitch rattles where the same hitch in the V8 and Eddie Bauer is stable and quiet on most road conditions. The tow button only does part of its job. It should turn off the Reverse Sensing System (RSS) and change the DTE calculation to ‘towing’ too but it does neither. My other two Explorers with back-up alarms have a button that turns off the alert. The new Explorer either requires a series of clicks on the left controller to turn off the alert or to simply put the car in reverse endure the tone in my ears while I make several clicks on the left controller to turn off the RSS. Also missing is a compartment adequate to hold the hitch when it’s not being used. The 3rd and 4th generation Ex’s had this in the floor of the rear hatch area. I really felt that these compartments in the ’03 and ’07 were a nice and necessary safety feature to keep the metal hitch and locks from flying around the car in an accident.
Hauling: The seating configuration is fine and the cargo capacity with the 3rd row active is way, way better than the previous Explorers. The ’03 and ’07 I owned both have the then optional 3rd row with rear A/C. For my use the configuration of the ’03 where the 3rd row was a solid bench and the second row was 40/20/40 was best. I could carry four adults, a good bit of cargo and boat paddles fit nicely in the laid down center section. The 3rd row bench kept dirt and small items from falling between the folded down seats of the 3rd row. The panel that slid up to the back of the second row really did a good job of approximating the usefulness of the cargo area of a 2-row Explorer – it was really difficult to tell that there was even a tucked 3rd row.\
I had a canoe rack on the ’03 and cross rail pads on the ’07. With this, I was able to carry a 14’ canoe and two 9’ kayaks on the two vehicles. Now, with the ’14, the canoe racks are interfered with by the absolute worst place to put the antenna – the center rear of the car’s roof between the cargo rails. The ’07 has a satellite antenna bump in the very front passenger side and the radio antenna on the hood in front of the passenger. Neither of these ever got in the way of hauling anything with the old Exs. I just don’t understand the engineering that would bother with roof rails (which I like and use) and a stickup antenna squarely in the way of using those roof rails for hauling a canoe or kayak. I just don’t get it. (yes, I know I can unscrew the antenna but I never had to before)
Lights: The headlights are the biggest disappointment. I drive a lot at night, usually in the very early hours. Natural human road traffic is at a minimum between 1am and 5am and wildlife has responded by being most active during this period. The headlights on the 2014 XLT are woefully inadequate especially on roads that are not arrow straight and perfectly level. I never noticed any problem with prior generation Explorers. The fog lights are basically meaningless as are the high beams. I know there are some aftermarket solutions but I thought headlights were a solved science and why should I have to pay to upgrade the headlights on a $40k vehicle anyway? To make matters worse, there is no ground level illumination to the immediate right or left. In urban driving, this might not be noticeable but try maneuvering in a completely dark boat ramp parking lot where an empty boat trailer just to the right or left of the car is invisible to the driver. I have had to get out with a flashlight and make sure I wasn’t going to hit someone parked trailer. It’s a minor nuisance but I’ve waited since my first Explorer for them to fix the cartoonish panel lights for high beams and fog lights. It just isn’t that these are really oversized but that their brightness is not affected by the adjustable panel brightness. In rural driving, I usually turn the panel lights down pretty low but the high beam and fog light indicators stay at a uniform brightness and counter the reason to drop the panel brightness in the first place.
Interior: I have BLIS and the second-row middle seat is near useless. I really like the idea of the outboard inflatable seatbelts and would take them even at the cost of an adult-sized middle seat but I shouldn’t have to. There’s unused width in the second row between the door and the seats. The front console is nice and I like the odd shaped, deep compartment in the plastic insert is perfect for reading glasses. The sound of the entertainment system is a letdown but the dual-bluetooth and dual-USB connections are convenient. It still seems odd that soft programming reflects the old button system. It seems like some rethinking might have made the MFT more efficient. Taking climate off of the right controller seems like a downgrade. The heated seats are way too hot in the bottom when the back is just right. Chevy has for years, had seats where the heated back could be turned on without the seat bottom. Comparatively, the heated seats in the Eddie Bauer are only a single intensity but it’s pleasantly perfect with most of the heat going to the lower back. Why are there two chimes when I hit the button to activate voice recognition? I am slowly learning to wait for the second chime but many times I start speaking after the first chime but the car doesn’t listen to until the second chime. Then it only gets the second half of what I said and usually chides me for saying something it didn’t understand.
Burning Smell: Yep, I got it; bad actually. How, after 3-years with this generation Explorer, is this still a problem? How could I have taken it to a Ford dealer for service and not have them immediately ask if I’ve had the problem and offer to fix it. I am completely embarrassed when my family is with me and I have to pass someone. I feel like I’m poisoning my wife and other passengers. Also, I have a scorched oil smell when I park the hot car in my garage. I’ve asked the dealer to look for an oil leak but they haven’t found any yet but I can’t help but believe it’s there, somewhere. I’ll continue to ask about the oil leak and I may reach out to a Ford person on this forum and get help with the burning smell during acceleration problem.
Vision: I know the pillars are designed for safety in a roll-over or other collision but there are several roads that I have driven for years where I, since getting the new Explorer, can’t see the direction of traffic without having to move around in the seat. Even then I still don’t get the full picture of oncoming traffic. I have to move my head like an owl to get a read on when it is safe to pull out. I’m long-waisted and just under 6’ but the rear-view mirror is too low and steals some of the view of the road in front of me. In a hilly environment, I catch myself leaning forward to see areas behind the rearview mirror.
I knew about the Mickey Mouse spare and small gas tank before I got the Explorer but they still bug me. I just took a trip to Oak Island, NC. We had a lot of people going so I drove the ’14 and my wife drover her 4.0L ’07. She had 190 miles left with her tank and I was down to 90 something. I pay for the little bit of additional fuel economy by having to stop more frequently. My time has value too.
Again, I never considered anything else when I replaced my last Explorer but Ford used up their ‘freebee’ on the 5th Generation Explorer and will have to re-earn any future repeat business of mine.
