Should I get the Explorer? | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Should I get the Explorer?

My family and I just relocated to Seattle and finally decided to get rid of our 05 Toyota Corolla in favor of more space and AWD. We've got a 15' Civic and I'm 6'3" and looking forward to having the option for a bigger vehicle. We've got 2 kids and my wife will drive it a lot as well so we've been considering CX 9, Highlander and Santa Fe. I was targeting an XLT but have seen some decent deals on a couple used Limited Models (2016 with about 15k miles) and to be frank I think the Sorento and Santa Fe's look like minivans and I loved the SUV feel of the Explorer when I drove it. I am however concerned that I've seen some bad reviews and consistent complaining about issues with the Explorer in the first 50k miles on various sites like consumer report and others. Looking for others to weigh in here and share your thoughts.
 



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!
.





My family and I just relocated to Seattle and finally decided to get rid of our 05 Toyota Corolla in favor of more space and AWD. We've got a 15' Civic and I'm 6'3" and looking forward to having the option for a bigger vehicle. We've got 2 kids and my wife will drive it a lot as well so we've been considering CX 9, Highlander and Santa Fe. I was targeting an XLT but have seen some decent deals on a couple used Limited Models (2016 with about 15k miles) and to be frank I think the Sorento and Santa Fe's look like minivans and I loved the SUV feel of the Explorer when I drove it. I am however concerned that I've seen some bad reviews and consistent complaining about issues with the Explorer in the first 50k miles on various sites like consumer report and others. Looking for others to weigh in here and share your thoughts.
Welcome to the Forum.:wave:
Your thread has been merged with this one on a similar issue. The best thing to get acquaint with is the 'Search' feature at the upper right. This can be helpful in finding info on various topics discussed here. The other thing to keep in mind is that many people who post here did so initially because they were searching on the Internet for a specific issue so the Forum does tend to lean toward those Explorers with issues. There are many more owners who have had no problems with their vehicles so don't post about it. However, the forum and this thread should provide you with some of the items to be aware of. Good luck.

Peter
 






Welcome to the Forum.:wave:
Your thread has been merged with this one on a similar issue. The best thing to get acquaint with is the 'Search' feature at the upper right. This can be helpful in finding info on various topics discussed here. The other thing to keep in mind is that many people who post here did so initially because they were searching on the Internet for a specific issue so the Forum does tend to lean toward those Explorers with issues. There are many more owners who have had no problems with their vehicles so don't post about it. However, the forum and this thread should provide you with some of the items to be aware of. Good luck.

Peter
thanks peter! appreciate the guidance.
 






Visits to dealership during 3/36k warranty period for repairs:
2002 Jeep Liberty , First year model- 0
2007 Camry, First year model- 0
2009 Jeep Wrangler- 0
2010 Mazda CX-9-1 (busted tailgate strut, may had been our fault, kids put tape to hold decorations on, it broke next day)

2016 Ford Explorer XLT - 15-20, I lost count by now...need more for the navigation issue

Notes: The CX-9 had a problem with the transfer case at 70+k miles, it was fixed under extended warranty.

This is only my experience. Good luck.
My recommendation: buy a vehicle that is 1 year old with less that 16000 miles. Do not rush to buy it. It is nice to buy a new vehicle but usually you pay a premium for it. The Mazda was actually a leftover and we got a great deal, it was cheaper than used ones..
The Explorer is a nice ride, nice looks, very quiet ride. However mine has been a magnet (just realized it is Magnetic gray) for every issue they had. I hope the drivetrain was built better than the cooling fans..
Keep doing research, check NHTSA website for complaints, and make a decision.
 






Welcome to the Forum.:wave:
Your thread has been merged with this one on a similar issue. The best thing to get acquaint with is the 'Search' feature at the upper right. This can be helpful in finding info on various topics discussed here. The other thing to keep in mind is that many people who post here did so initially because they were searching on the Internet for a specific issue so the Forum does tend to lean toward those Explorers with issues. There are many more owners who have had no problems with their vehicles so don't post about it. However, the forum and this thread should provide you with some of the items to be aware of. Good luck.

Peter

As Peter pointed out, forums (even Toyota, Subaru, etc) will overwhelmingly be owners seeking answers/remedies about issues. Plus, since the Explorer is the top-selling midsize SUV, the number of complaints on this board is a really small percentage of owners. All makes have some kind of problem (e.g. Honda airbag) as vehicles have gotten more complicated.

While I have had no issues with our Toyota Highlander (1st gen) Subaru Outback and Honda Odyssey, we had several little problems with a Toyota Sienna (sliding doors, outside trim, windshield weather stripping, rear hatch door) and Mazda (heater block, brakes).

So far, our '15 Explorer has been trouble free (25K miles) and is the first domestic brand car that I've owned. I was looking at the Highlander and looked at Explorer as my friend replaced his Mercedes R-class with a 2011 Explorer - much happier and more reliable. My other friend, who is an engineer and former mechanic, has had to perform a lot of self-repairs on his BMW X-3 and Audi A6 (looking to replace the Audi).

Test drive the actual vehicle you will buy and inspect as closely as possible.
 






I bought my 2017 Explorer Sport back in August and haven't had any problems, in fact totally love it! I never thought I'd go back to Ford after a bad experience with a P.O.S. Escort ZX-2 way back in the year 2000. In between I had a BMW, Jeep, VW, a couple Hondas. The only one I had real troubles with was the BMW. Ford has come a really long way since my bad experience.

But I wanted something powerful that wasn't stupid expensive and I liked the looks of the new Explorer. I had my eyes on getting the all-new Audi Q7 but it was just too expensive. With all the money saved, I splurged on a 10 year extended bumper-to-bumper warranty, because I am also concerned with long term reliability.

I didn't like the style of the pre-2016s and wanted Sync3, so I had to go 2017.
 






I bought my 2017 Explorer Sport back in August and haven't had any problems, in fact totally love it! I never thought I'd go back to Ford after a bad experience with a P.O.S. Escort ZX-2 way back in the year 2000. In between I had a BMW, Jeep, VW, a couple Hondas. The only one I had real troubles with was the BMW. Ford has come a really long way since my bad experience.

But I wanted something powerful that wasn't stupid expensive and I liked the looks of the new Explorer. I had my eyes on getting the all-new Audi Q7 but it was just too expensive. With all the money saved, I splurged on a 10 year extended bumper-to-bumper warranty, because I am also concerned with long term reliability.

I didn't like the style of the pre-2016s and wanted Sync3, so I had to go 2017.

I've been pondering going with the 2017 because I want a certain look. what features stood out to you? just curious
 






I've been pondering going with the 2017 because I want a certain look. what features stood out to you? just curious
Sure, let's start with the bad and end with the good.

Bad:

The transmission isn't as refined as I'd like. Sometimes clunky, lurchy, and sometimes doesn't do what my foot is telling it to do. After driving it for 3 months, I can work around those issues, and tend to just leave it in Sport mode while city driving, because the throttle response is tighter and simpler to predict. ZF-8 would have been ideal with the correct programming. Also the AWD, stability, traction control is noticeably inferior to the Audi. But that said, it's totally fine unless you are driving aggressively involving curves.

If I could go back, I would have opted for the 2nd row bench upgrade. I would lose the 7th seat, but more flexibility with being able to move the 2nd row seats forwards or backwards. The bench doesn't move and neither do the 3rd row seats. So it's a good decision to think through before you buy.

Also Ford was little too canny with their fancy 3rd row folding, deploying seats. You get a lot of cargo space with 3 rows because of the bucket well, but if you need more cargo space and need to stow the 3rd row, you have to move EVERYTHING out of the bucket well before you can do it. And vice versa... so it's a pain to switch unless you keep your car completely empty all the time.

The roofrack with sunroof only has 45lb weight limit (100lbs without), which is ridiculous. Also the car is so big, even putting the tiniest of ski boxes on top will make the car too high to enter many underground parking lots. For example, my car is 5'11" and my work garage has a 6'8" clearance, leaving me with just 9" of roof clearance. No carbo box is that short, leaving me with just considering a open ski rack. I'm sure the car can handle a larger capacity on top, it's surely just a center of gravity issue.

Gas guzzler, but it's a 7 seater. I also do a lot of stop and go city commuting. Also depending on trim, it's not going to matter much -- your fuel economy is going to be lackluster. It easily eats twice as much gas as my Honda Civic did for the same driving conditions.



Good:

I really like the Land Rover-esque exterior look. Definitely looks and feels like a proper SUV, with angles instead of curves. At first I looked at the Platinum trim because the exterior with the chrome accents looked amazing, but the interior was inferior to me. I didn't like the wood grain, nor the pleated leather seats. So going to the Sport trim gave me the nice red accent stitching and brushed aluminum. So on a purely aesthetics basis, I preferred the Sport in the end but there were certainly some tradeoffs, such as losing the chrome.

The 3.5L EcoBoost engine note is really nice, even nicer than the V6's of Audi, and I am a real Audi fan boy. This engine truly kicks ass. Quick powerful and fast when you want it to be. It almost feels wrong in a car this big, which makes it feel very right.

The Sync-3 System is quite nice and mature. Apparently way faster and more usable than the prior system. Boot times, nav calculations super fast, pinch zoom, UI responsiveness is as good as can be expected. Easy controls on the steering wheel and voice command recognition is quite good.

Explorer has a lot of interior connectivity -- USB and even physical power plugs for keeping the whole family charged on road trips, very nice. Even a plug in the back for say an icebox or a boombox. Lots of space to store things.

I consider the adaptive cruise control with collision assist braking an essential option. It'll save your sanity or save your ass -- or both. Cruise control is finally useful again. I can set follow distance and target speed and all I have to do is stay in my lane. It does a very good job of handling the rest for me. Just have to watch for edge cases like motorcycles straddling lanes as the sensors might not see him, and not recommended for windy mountain pass highways. Not practical for city driving, as it automatically disengages at low speeds.

I love the overall design of collision detection system. Unlike other cars, it won't automatically slam on the brakes when a freak mylar balloon flies in front of you causing the guy behind you to rear-end you. Instead, it just brightly flashes red dots onto your windshield so it's visually in your face, while it mutes any other audio while beeping at you loudly. It definitely gets your attention in all the right ways. If you are slow to react, it will calculate how much time you have before you collide and may pre-charge your brakes so if you do touch the brakes lightly, it'll apply the appropriate minimum force which could be maximum force. I get false positives from people in front of me turning left, and occasionally when taking an exit, but it's all good.

The stereo is fine. Mine only has the 380W version, not the 500W version, which is standard now -- something in Canada about a production date after July 21st or something, and has been an option in the US ones for a long time now. It's plenty loud enough for me. Loud for me is 50% volume. I don't have problems with audio rattles or cracking. But music source matters. Sirius XM has laughably bad streaming quality. Terrible bandwidth, worse than normal radio. Having my iPhone connected via cable or wifi is excellent, and streaming through Spotify is very good quality for me.

Interior room is excellent. I'm 6'2" and have no problems.

Also very glad to get the sun roof -- really opens up the otherwise dark interior. Closing the sunroof blinds makes it feel like nighttime inside.

It's a very comfortable car to drive in cities or on highways -- quiet, smooth, powerful, comfortable. High ride height is nice and tons of flexibility for people and/or cargo moving.

The cameras for backing up (and going forwards) are nice enough, but really would have preferred the surround camera systems that are in the Audis. This can be a difficult car to park. Also the camera washers are brilliant. I just have to use it basically everytime I back up. But it does a good job of cleaning the lense so I can see. The guided curved lines work very well.

Also came with remote starter built into the fobs, which I didn't even know about until I read the instruction manual. It has amazing range and works well. It's just nice that it's part of the native fob and not a dedicated key fob. Wish it would automatically engage the heated mirrors, but apparently I can't control that or figure it out. When getting in the car to start it for real, I thought it was turning off, but it was just started and quiet because of the fans going back to normal. While I compare a lot to Audi, this feature isn't even available as an option. You can get it 3rd party though... nice bonus point for Ford!

Folding, heated mirrors are nice, and touchless locks, auto headlights, etc... take it all for granted already.

Last but not least, because the police interceptor is so popular, my "smoked quartz" aka "almost black" car looks like a cop car so people frequently get out of my lane, which is a nice perk. Smoked Quartz looks amazing in person but looks terrible on the configurator and it's a new color for 2017.



Bang for the Buck Deal:
What made me pull the trigger overall was in Canada there were luxury tax issues to consider and I was able to get just below that $55k pre-tax threshold with the Sport, plus there were some great deals with Employee Pricing & Costco deal -- saved over $6000 off MSRP. Out the door after taxes/fees was a little under $60k CAD, while an equivalent spec Audi Q7 was going to cost me $90k CAD. I was also able to secure 1.9% financing over 4 years at the same time as the discount. Financing cars is generally more expensive with less options in Canada compared to the US. If I got the Audi, my finance rate would have been 3.9%.

I also purchased an extended 10 year, 120,000 km bumper-to-bumper warranty for an extra $2900 for total piece of mind.

No regrets, no problems. Loving driving this car every day!
 






Sure, let's start with the bad and end with the good.

Bad:

The transmission isn't as refined as I'd like. Sometimes clunky, lurchy, and sometimes doesn't do what my foot is telling it to do. After driving it for 3 months, I can work around those issues, and tend to just leave it in Sport mode while city driving, because the throttle response is tighter and simpler to predict. ZF-8 would have been ideal with the correct programming. Also the AWD, stability, traction control is noticeably inferior to the Audi. But that said, it's totally fine unless you are driving aggressively involving curves.

If I could go back, I would have opted for the 2nd row bench upgrade. I would lose the 7th seat, but more flexibility with being able to move the 2nd row seats forwards or backwards. The bench doesn't move and neither do the 3rd row seats. So it's a good decision to think through before you buy.

Also Ford was little too canny with their fancy 3rd row folding, deploying seats. You get a lot of cargo space with 3 rows because of the bucket well, but if you need more cargo space and need to stow the 3rd row, you have to move EVERYTHING out of the bucket well before you can do it. And vice versa... so it's a pain to switch unless you keep your car completely empty all the time.

The roofrack with sunroof only has 45lb weight limit (100lbs without), which is ridiculous. Also the car is so big, even putting the tiniest of ski boxes on top will make the car too high to enter many underground parking lots. For example, my car is 5'11" and my work garage has a 6'8" clearance, leaving me with just 9" of roof clearance. No carbo box is that short, leaving me with just considering a open ski rack. I'm sure the car can handle a larger capacity on top, it's surely just a center of gravity issue.

Gas guzzler, but it's a 7 seater. I also do a lot of stop and go city commuting. Also depending on trim, it's not going to matter much -- your fuel economy is going to be lackluster. It easily eats twice as much gas as my Honda Civic did for the same driving conditions.



Good:

I really like the Land Rover-esque exterior look. Definitely looks and feels like a proper SUV, with angles instead of curves. At first I looked at the Platinum trim because the exterior with the chrome accents looked amazing, but the interior was inferior to me. I didn't like the wood grain, nor the pleated leather seats. So going to the Sport trim gave me the nice red accent stitching and brushed aluminum. So on a purely aesthetics basis, I preferred the Sport in the end but there were certainly some tradeoffs, such as losing the chrome.

The 3.5L EcoBoost engine note is really nice, even nicer than the V6's of Audi, and I am a real Audi fan boy. This engine truly kicks ass. Quick powerful and fast when you want it to be. It almost feels wrong in a car this big, which makes it feel very right.

The Sync-3 System is quite nice and mature. Apparently way faster and more usable than the prior system. Boot times, nav calculations super fast, pinch zoom, UI responsiveness is as good as can be expected. Easy controls on the steering wheel and voice command recognition is quite good.

Explorer has a lot of interior connectivity -- USB and even physical power plugs for keeping the whole family charged on road trips, very nice. Even a plug in the back for say an icebox or a boombox. Lots of space to store things.

I consider the adaptive cruise control with collision assist braking an essential option. It'll save your sanity or save your ass -- or both. Cruise control is finally useful again. I can set follow distance and target speed and all I have to do is stay in my lane. It does a very good job of handling the rest for me. Just have to watch for edge cases like motorcycles straddling lanes as the sensors might not see him, and not recommended for windy mountain pass highways. Not practical for city driving, as it automatically disengages at low speeds.

I love the overall design of collision detection system. Unlike other cars, it won't automatically slam on the brakes when a freak mylar balloon flies in front of you causing the guy behind you to rear-end you. Instead, it just brightly flashes red dots onto your windshield so it's visually in your face, while it mutes any other audio while beeping at you loudly. It definitely gets your attention in all the right ways. If you are slow to react, it will calculate how much time you have before you collide and may pre-charge your brakes so if you do touch the brakes lightly, it'll apply the appropriate minimum force which could be maximum force. I get false positives from people in front of me turning left, and occasionally when taking an exit, but it's all good.

The stereo is fine. Mine only has the 380W version, not the 500W version, which is standard now -- something in Canada about a production date after July 21st or something, and has been an option in the US ones for a long time now. It's plenty loud enough for me. Loud for me is 50% volume. I don't have problems with audio rattles or cracking. But music source matters. Sirius XM has laughably bad streaming quality. Terrible bandwidth, worse than normal radio. Having my iPhone connected via cable or wifi is excellent, and streaming through Spotify is very good quality for me.

Interior room is excellent. I'm 6'2" and have no problems.

Also very glad to get the sun roof -- really opens up the otherwise dark interior. Closing the sunroof blinds makes it feel like nighttime inside.

It's a very comfortable car to drive in cities or on highways -- quiet, smooth, powerful, comfortable. High ride height is nice and tons of flexibility for people and/or cargo moving.

The cameras for backing up (and going forwards) are nice enough, but really would have preferred the surround camera systems that are in the Audis. This can be a difficult car to park. Also the camera washers are brilliant. I just have to use it basically everytime I back up. But it does a good job of cleaning the lense so I can see. The guided curved lines work very well.

Also came with remote starter built into the fobs, which I didn't even know about until I read the instruction manual. It has amazing range and works well. It's just nice that it's part of the native fob and not a dedicated key fob. Wish it would automatically engage the heated mirrors, but apparently I can't control that or figure it out. When getting in the car to start it for real, I thought it was turning off, but it was just started and quiet because of the fans going back to normal. While I compare a lot to Audi, this feature isn't even available as an option. You can get it 3rd party though... nice bonus point for Ford!

Folding, heated mirrors are nice, and touchless locks, auto headlights, etc... take it all for granted already.

Last but not least, because the police interceptor is so popular, my "smoked quartz" aka "almost black" car looks like a cop car so people frequently get out of my lane, which is a nice perk. Smoked Quartz looks amazing in person but looks terrible on the configurator and it's a new color for 2017.



Bang for the Buck Deal:
What made me pull the trigger overall was in Canada there were luxury tax issues to consider and I was able to get just below that $55k pre-tax threshold with the Sport, plus there were some great deals with Employee Pricing & Costco deal -- saved over $6000 off MSRP. Out the door after taxes/fees was a little under $60k CAD, while an equivalent spec Audi Q7 was going to cost me $90k CAD. I was also able to secure 1.9% financing over 4 years at the same time as the discount. Financing cars is generally more expensive with less options in Canada compared to the US. If I got the Audi, my finance rate would have been 3.9%.

I also purchased an extended 10 year, 120,000 km bumper-to-bumper warranty for an extra $2900 for total piece of mind.

No regrets, no problems. Loving driving this car every day!

Thanks for the detailed reply! I wanted to actually go for the blacked out look. My wife will be driving this vehicle mostly but I'm 6'3'' so room is important and what's been stalling me on the other options (cx-9, santa fe, etc. ) is that I'm not a fan of the minivan-ish look. I wanted something that looks more like an SUV for my preferences so thanks for the detailed info. I was curious as to how the smoked quartz looked in person as well.
 






If you're interested in the blacked out look, but don't want to spring for the Sport there's another option: the XLT w/sport appearance package. Technically it's not 'blacked out' as the trim, wheels and grill are magnetic metallic versus black, but I can assure it turns heads. And you still get the 'Explorer' badging on the hood like on the Sport. Ours has nearly every option available on the XLT (minus 2nd row center console) and we really like the two tone leather seats (black leather outside, grey suede inside.)

It has BLIS, front and rear parking assist, etc. Doesn't have adaptive cruise control or lane keep or of course the twin turbo. Of course the MSRP was just under $46,000 on ours.

Not trying to sway your decision one way or the other, just showing you that there are other options for a 'blacked out' from the factory look without buying the sport (although I really want that TT, haha.)
MrBelvedere.jpg
 






If you're interested in the blacked out look, but don't want to spring for the Sport there's another option: the XLT w/sport appearance package. Technically it's not 'blacked out' as the trim, wheels and grill are magnetic metallic versus black, but I can assure it turns heads. And you still get the 'Explorer' badging on the hood like on the Sport. Ours has nearly every option available on the XLT (minus 2nd row center console) and we really like the two tone leather seats (black leather outside, grew suede inside.)

It has BLIS, front and rear parking assist, etc. Doesn't have adaptive cruise control or lane keep or of course the twin turbo. Of course the MSRP was just under $46,000 on ours.

Not trying to sway your decision one way or the other, just showing you that there are other options for a 'blacked out' from the factory look without buying the sport (although I really want that TT, haha.)
View attachment 94327

Oh man I LOVE that look. Thanks for attaching the pic! I was just going to mention that I was targeting the XLT because it's more budget friendly. In the back of my mind I'm still trying to justify the SPORT though but that price tag is heftier for me than I wanted.
 






Ditto what kmarnes & supr squirrel said. I've got the same trim as supr squirrel, and it's my 3rd Explorer, if you count Sport Trac. Although the Sport Trac was more truck-like in certain ways other than the obvious back half. I was a bit hesitant at first about moving into unibody construction, but I haven't been disappointed so far. The appearance package with shadow black is really good looking in person, trust me. My wife calls it the batmobile ;)
 






Here's a couple pics of mine. First with stock wheels, second with winters on. Smoked Quartz!

-img_0846_f012de0d2956041522e42f3d9a146f89e83e69c5.jpg

9QNpyJ.jpg
 






NIce. the smoked quartz looks good! Having just relocated here are winter tires really necessary here?
 






We do a lot of skiing in the winter season, so for us yes.
 






Sure, let's start with the bad and end with the good.


If I could go back, I would have opted for the 2nd row bench upgrade. I would lose the 7th seat, but more flexibility with being able to move the 2nd row seats forwards or backwards. The bench doesn't move and neither do the 3rd row seats. So it's a good decision to think through before you buy.
Is that what you meant to say? 2nd row bench upgrade?? I thought 2nd row buckets were the upgrade.:) I guess it's all in the way you read it.;)

Peter
 






Yep, meant to say bucket instead of bench there.
 






If you're interested in the blacked out look, but don't want to spring for the Sport there's another option: the XLT w/sport appearance package. Technically it's not 'blacked out' as the trim, wheels and grill are magnetic metallic versus black, but I can assure it turns heads. And you still get the 'Explorer' badging on the hood like on the Sport. Ours has nearly every option available on the XLT (minus 2nd row center console) and we really like the two tone leather seats (black leather outside, grey suede inside.)

It has BLIS, front and rear parking assist, etc. Doesn't have adaptive cruise control or lane keep or of course the twin turbo. Of course the MSRP was just under $46,000 on ours.

Not trying to sway your decision one way or the other, just showing you that there are other options for a 'blacked out' from the factory look without buying the sport (although I really want that TT, haha.)
View attachment 94327

Any interior pics? How much extra did it cost to get the second row bucket seats? I found a 2016 black pre-owned limited one here with 15k miles for under 35 but I'm still weighing springing for the 17
 






View attachment 94327[/QUOTE]

Any interior pics of your second row? How much extra did it cost to get the second row bucket seats? We have forward facing car seat but my son LOVEs to sit in very back so I feel like the bench seating would be great. I found a 2016 black pre-owned limited one here with 15k miles for under 35 but I'm still weighing springing for the 17
 



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!
.











Back
Top