Should I get the Explorer?

[themrvin]

Hi, I am in the market of a new vehicle. Looking for a used SUV (have dogs and go hiking and stuff) in the 20-30k range, so probably a 2013 or 2014.

I really like how the explorer looks compared with the competition (reminds me of the rugged outdoors like a jeep or range rover) but was worried its reliability. A lot of car magazines and jd power rated it a little lower but with no clear reasons as to why. Car complaints has some hood paint bubbling issues for a 2013 but thats about it. What are the common problems you guys experience? Do you guys regret buying the explorer and wished to have gone with something else?

A backup camera and leather seats are my basic requirements so definitely the limited model and above. Here are some I am looking at...

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-2014-Ford-Explorer-c23972#listing=151249505
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-2014-Ford-Explorer-c23972#listing=124123903

Let me know your thoughts! Looking to buy something hopefully by next week! It will be my daily driver as well. I know this is a ford forum so please try not to be too biased

Thanks!

 

[blwnsmoke]

The first thing you need to do is if looking at buying a used one is get an OASIS report from a Ford dealer on the VIN. This will give you everything that has been fixed under warranty or "can't duplicate" repair complaints.

The 3 biggest things to look for are 1) Water leaks - inspect roof seams and spare tire wheel well for rust. 2) Exhaust smell inside vehicle during hard accelerations and 3) paint bubbling that has been going on for 6+ Model years.

To note on the big 3.. we had the exhaust smell which the TSB fixed and have never had the problem again (others still have it even after the repair) and I still have the paint bubbling. However it is under the lip and it is just bubbles.. no paint peeling or flaking off. It's been like this for several years so nothing that I am addressing.

We bought ours in April of 2011 and went through the common growing pains that many "all new" designed vehicles go through. From the A-pillars to "shift to park" to Terrain management faults (Terrain management switch replaced), belt squealing, cooling fans replaced. I can probably say we've had about 15 issues give or take and most were because of design issues that were later addressed by Ford in future builds and then fixed on ours.

We have just turned over 100,000 miles and the only maintenance we have done are oil changes at every 10k or so (when system tells us to), will be putting our 3rd set of tires on before the snow flies (we get about 55k out of a set), and we did the brakes last year (rotors and pads).

Besides that, everything else has been under warranty (bought a 6yr/125k warranty) and we have always been given a rental when we drop off because I chose the 1st day rental option.

Would I buy again?? Yes I would.. never been left stranded and all repairs have been more of annoyances where I'd just wait till several have popped up and have them all addressed at the same time. However now that our kids are getting older, I may choose to go with a Edge Sport instead of a Explorer Sport/Platinum.

Despite the annoyances, my wife still loves her vehicle and doesn't want to get rid of it. So we will either get rid of it come April or I will extend my warranty by another 2 years and get rid of it when the redesign onto the new platform comes out.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[peterk9]

Hi, I am in the market of a new vehicle. Looking for a used SUV (have dogs and go hiking and stuff) in the 20-30k range, so probably a 2013 or 2014.

I really like how the explorer looks compared with the competition (reminds me of the rugged outdoors like a jeep or range rover) but was worried its reliability. A lot of car magazines and jd power rated it a little lower but with no clear reasons as to why. Car complaints has some hood paint bubbling issues for a 2013 but thats about it. What are the common problems you guys experience? Do you guys regret buying the explorer and wished to have gone with something else?

A backup camera and leather seats are my basic requirements so definitely the limited model and above. Here are some I am looking at...

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-2014-Ford-Explorer-c23972#listing=151249505
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-2014-Ford-Explorer-c23972#listing=124123903

Let me know your thoughts! Looking to buy something hopefully by next week! It will be my daily driver as well. I know this is a ford forum so please try not to be too biased

Thanks!

Welcome to the Forum.
I had a 2011 Limited and loved it. No issues to speak of. I plan to seriously look at getting a 2017 or '18 Platinum when my lease is up in April. Hood paint bubbles are not limited to the 2013 model year. My suggestion is to browse the existing threads in the 'Discussion' and 'IVT' sub forums. They have lots of info.

Peter

 

[Cusefan78]

i just bought a 13 about a month ago. i like it a lot, i came from an escape so the size difference was huge for me. i also own an f150 so yes I'm a ford guy so take this with a grain of salt cause I'm biased. i test drove pilots, 4 runners, and the chevy suv(can't remember the name). also looked at the colorado which i really liked but couldn't justify a smaller truck. for whatever reason the explorer i liked best out of the suvs. here are a few things i don't like and they are minor. first coming from an f150 and an escape i don't really like how spaced out things are when you sit in the seat(getting used to it (the 4runner was not comfortable at all), also i feel like a toddler looking out over the dash( driver seat i have raised up, the passenger seat is bad and everyone says something when they sit in it) (I'm almost 6' tall). for some reason i just didn't like not seeing the hood. in the passenger seat i feel even smaller. other then those two things i really like it. i drive a lot so I'm in the explorer all the time. have driven it a few times to my summer cottage which is 2 hours away and everyone is comfortable and there is never a shortage of room. pulled my 20' ski boat to the marina to get a new cover installed and it handled it great. was a little worried cause its a heavy boat but no problems.

 

[Forddealz]

Hi, I am in the market of a new vehicle. Looking for a used SUV (have dogs and go hiking and stuff) in the 20-30k range, so probably a 2013 or 2014.

I really like how the explorer looks compared with the competition (reminds me of the rugged outdoors like a jeep or range rover) but was worried its reliability. A lot of car magazines and jd power rated it a little lower but with no clear reasons as to why. Car complaints has some hood paint bubbling issues for a 2013 but thats about it. What are the common problems you guys experience? Do you guys regret buying the explorer and wished to have gone with something else?

A backup camera and leather seats are my basic requirements so definitely the limited model and above. Here are some I am looking at...

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-2014-Ford-Explorer-c23972#listing=151249505
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-2014-Ford-Explorer-c23972#listing=124123903

Let me know your thoughts! Looking to buy something hopefully by next week! It will be my daily driver as well. I know this is a ford forum so please try not to be too biased

Thanks!

If you are bringing your dogs in a car it all depends...It depends on what kind of dogs you have and where you want them to be placed at. My friend has 2 german Sheppards who jump on their X5 and there is some kind of a lower trunk release that they have that is designed go easy access to groceries and animals. I took a trip to upstate NY only once with my friend and his dogs and my back trunk Explorer sport 16 got all scratched up from their paws when jumping in. Going in for the oil change soon, hopefully Ford will replace the claw scratches. I should have lifted both dogs manually in the trunk as I am 6'5". Will see what Ford says at my 1st encounter with oil change.

 

[themrvin]

Thanks for the reply everyone! I am planning on test driving a limited and a sport this weekend along with a grand cherokee. Im still pretty torn between the the cherokee and the explorer. Main goal is to ride in comfort to/from work as a daily, and go camping/hiking with the girl and the pups on the weekends. Sounds like the explorer just suffers from minor problems and as long as those problems have been attended to from TSBs or recalls or whatever I should be fine. As long as major problems like transmission or anything is not common im ok. Ill let you know what I think! Also test driving an acura mdx but thats lower on my list.

I will most likely put a hammock type of liner for the dogs in the trunk area so not worried about scratches too much.

 

[Sixonemale]

We have just turned over 100,000 miles and the only maintenance we have done are oil changes at every 10k or so (when system tells us to), will be putting our 3rd set of tires on before the snow flies (we get about 55k out of a set), and we did the brakes last year (rotors and pads).

Besides that, everything else has been under warranty (bought a 6yr/125k warranty) and we have always been given a rental when we drop off because I chose the 1st day rental option.

Not sure how long you plan on keeping your Explorer, but if you are going keep it beyond your warranty of 125k miles, do you plan on changing your water pump proactively or will you wait until there is a problem?

 

[blwnsmoke]

Not sure how long you plan on keeping your Explorer, but if you are going keep it beyond your warranty of 125k miles, do you plan on changing your water pump proactively or will you wait until there is a problem?

If I keep it, I will extend the warranty another 24 months which will cover me to 8 years old and 149,000 miles. At that point we will get a new vehicle.

 

[Iceracer]

You have probably looked at many of the posts on this forum so you should have an idea of what the common problems of this vehicle are. I have experienced many of them on my 2013 XLT and in the last week have two more. Splitting arm rest on the drivers side and now problems with the heating/ac system. I would not recommend that anyone purchase this vehicle.
Someone will probably say that "every car has its problems" but that simply isn't true. I've had many that never had to go back to the dealer. Not so for this one.
For the record I'm a Ford guy. Bought a new Fusion this week for a sales rep in our business. His old Fusion was a 2012 and had 250,000 Km's. Never, ever went back to the dealer. Maintenance, brakes and tires only.

 

[blwnsmoke]

You have probably looked at many of the posts on this forum so you should have an idea of what the common problems of this vehicle are. I have experienced many of them on my 2013 XLT and in the last week have two more. Splitting arm rest on the drivers side and now problems with the heating/ac system. I would not recommend that anyone purchase this vehicle.
Someone will probably say that "every car has its problems" but that simply isn't true. I've had many that never had to go back to the dealer. Not so for this one.
For the record I'm a Ford guy. Bought a new Fusion this week for a sales rep in our business. His old Fusion was a 2012 and had 250,000 Km's. Never, ever went back to the dealer. Maintenance, brakes and tires only.

It isn't that every car has it's problems.. it's every make/model has its problems. With 250,000 Explorers a year being sold, you will get some that do go back for issues but there are many many of them that are problem free.

I had a duramax.. guess what, it went back for issues. I had a Lexus IS300, yup, it went back for issues.. had an audi a4.. went back for a ton of issues, hyundai.. yup it went back as well. Every brand will have issues.. there isn't a single one out there that has made 100% of the vehicles going down the assembly line without issues.

 

[Forddealz]

You have probably looked at many of the posts on this forum so you should have an idea of what the common problems of this vehicle are. I have experienced many of them on my 2013 XLT and in the last week have two more. Splitting arm rest on the drivers side and now problems with the heating/ac system. I would not recommend that anyone purchase this vehicle.
Someone will probably say that "every car has its problems" but that simply isn't true. I've had many that never had to go back to the dealer. Not so for this one.
For the record I'm a Ford guy. Bought a new Fusion this week for a sales rep in our business. His old Fusion was a 2012 and had 250,000 Km's. Never, ever went back to the dealer. Maintenance, brakes and tires only.

Yes, Ford is just like any other car and depending on a year / model, different issues may come up. The biggest concern for me is the customer service. I am on Lexus, BMW and a few other forums and one of the reason that they will not buy Ford is because of a horrible customer service. It has improved the last few years but its far from Lexus or BMW customer service. A few years back before my XP XLT, I had an Edge sport with re-occurring sun roof issues with it not closing completely. Edge was in the shop for 1 week, while I a dirty Mazda 3 which smelled bad. They held my Edge Sport for a week and when it was ready a week later, I asked them how did they fix it, they replied "we just sprayed it with oil", the problem kept coming back 3x in a 2 year lease and i just wound up not opening sunroof.

This Friday I called at 4PM to bring in my truck for the 1st oil change. I went on my local Fords website, called service department that was provided and set up an appointment for 5PM. I got there and the service manager told me that the latest appointment is at 4:30pm and all the techs are gone. As I was walking out I called the same number, Ford customer service "schedule a service" on my local Fords website (open till 6pm), It appears that the person that scheduled my appointment was not Ford on site and told me to go back in and that there is an appointment for just an "oil change" available for 5:15pm. I walked back in, gave my phone to the service manager and told him and their customer service to "better get this straight as it took me 15 miles, driving in traffic for 50 minutes just to get here". Service manager spoke with customer service, said something about workers union contracts"...said that you can only drop off the car and pick it up tomorrow, no rentals are available, just for the oil change.
Came in today and he said he will get me out in no time, I was there from 12-2pm for an oil change and he gave a 5 bucks discount, said that the "works package" only covers 5 litters of oil and will give me a free litter only this time since XP sport requires 6 liters.
I asked about disabling my horn sound while exiting the vehicle. They replied "its suppose to be that way", "there might be something that would disable it". They had no clue.

This is my typical dealings with Ford Customer service and Ford Service dept. Not sure if this dealership / service is on a list of franchise Fords or just a private owner dealership. Then they called me to ask why I submitted a negative review on the customers survey. But what can I do? I just replied and commented on the service that a 50K car / customer received. How do they even dare to give me a 4 year old dirty Mazda 3 as a replacement vehicle? Why cant I get a similar sized truck.

 

[peterk9]

It seems your issue is with the dealer, not Ford. Dealerships are indepenently owned. Unfortuntely they can have quite an effect on Ford itself. As for me, the dealer's service department has been outstanding. I can schedule an appointment online or by phone and the appointment is always confirmed and a reminder is received a day or two before the date. After the service has been performed, someone from the dealership will followup by phone a few days later to see if there were any issues and if I was satisfied with the service. At times Ford or someone acting on their behalf will send me an online survey to fill out. Can't recall the last time I had a bad experience with any dealership I've dealt with. The dealersip I deal with is about 20 miles away while there is also Ford dealership 2.5 miles down the road. The reason, better reputation.

Peter

 

[RandyH2]

Do your research...
The suggestion to get the OASIS Report is critical. If the vehicle has unresolved issues, skip it. If not, give it further scrutiny.
Things I would check:
1) ANY vibration, anything at all, is a deal-breaker. If it is still vibrating after driving ~3 miles on a 60+ degree day, it is not just the tires. Don't let them tell it the tires just need to be balanced, as that may help some but in the end it is not the problem. Find a smooth stretch of road and really pay attention to any vibration in the steering wheel, in the seat, felt with your hand on the door, etc. Ideally have someone ride in the back too.
2) Bubbling paint on the hood. Another issue I would walk away from. You are spending a lot of money on a car. Other than scratches, etc. the paint should not be coming off at any point in the first 15 years. Period.
3) Wheels- check the finish/clear coat. If it is messed up even a little bit it will soon be worse. Not a deal-breaker, but know they will get ugly, fast.
4) Missing paint on the bottoms of the doors. Bad design means the door edge rubs against the body and wears away the paint. Potential corrosion issue?
5) Hard shifting of the transmission. This one is hard to reproduce. Mine typically does it when accelerating from 30 mph on up to about 40. The hard shifts are more frequent and the last one was quite a bit worse than the previous. If you feel it, keep looking.

There may be a LOT of vehicles out there without any of these problems. There may be a LOT of vehicles out there with some or all of these problems but they are driven by people who never notice, care, or both.

Best of luck.

 

[AFKNinja]

Honestly if you are trying to save some money get an XLT over a Limited trim. My XLT has full leather seating, heated front seats, backup camera, dual moonroofs, 9 speaker "Premium" audio, remote start, and probably some other stuff. I also like that with the XLT the 3rd row is manually folded flat, so no worries about a power mechanism breaking or the button being pressed accidentally by the dog or whatever else. Take a look at what the XLT can offer, it may not be a bad choice. If I could go back however, I definitely would've gotten the sport. The base 3.5 isn't bad, but it's not really quick unless you put your foot into it, and gas mileage is a little below average even for a vehicle this big. This motor does come with reliability though, as the 3.5 has been around for a while and pretty much doesn't have any issues expect for the stupid water pump.

 

[kmarnes]

I went through a similar process. Basically 7-seater Japanese SUVs focus on good road manners, but have weaker engines that prioritize good fuel economy. While American cars go for performance over economy. I used to own a 2006 Jeep Commander which was indeed a 7-seater. But Jeep doesn't make 7 seaters anymore, so your biggest car is the Grand Cherokee which seats 5. It's 8 inches shorter and 2 inches skinnier, and has about 3/4th the cargo capacity of the Explorer. I also considered the Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90. I absolutely loved the Audi, but couldn't justify the +50% cost over the Sport, while the XC90 is a pretty piece of junk.

Jeeps are going to be a little more nimble depending on engine and have a smooth 8-speed transmission compared to Ford's 6-speed. But this is where Jeep falls apart. Bad reliability, fast depreciation, and they've lost the mojo that makes them Jeeps -- you know, sturdy bumpers, actual metal, stuff like that. The Grand Cherokee is more comparable to the Ford Edge. But the Edge is a big 5 seater with extended cargo capacity. I never thought I would ever buy a Ford again after a bad experience back in the year 2000 ish, but Ford has truly come a long way.

If you can swing it, try to budget for a used Explorer Sport. Really great cars, and you won't run into the carbon deposit / throttle body issues because of Ecoboost, and you'll get a satisfying engine too. Though, not sure if leather seats and dogs mix very well.

 

[Iceracer]

It isn't that every car has it's problems.. it's every make/model has its problems. With 250,000 Explorers a year being sold, you will get some that do go back for issues but there are many many of them that are problem free.

I had a duramax.. guess what, it went back for issues. I had a Lexus IS300, yup, it went back for issues.. had an audi a4.. went back for a ton of issues, hyundai.. yup it went back as well. Every brand will have issues.. there isn't a single one out there that has made 100% of the vehicles going down the assembly line without issues.

So if someone were to ask you if you would recommend buying an A4, same year and model as yours, what would you say? You have had a lot of bad luck with your cars! BTW the issue with my AC/Heat was a blend door motor. This is a very common problem with this vehicle. Cost for repair $421 Cdn.

 

[RandyH2]

Audi is developing/has a pretty bad reputation for reliability, at least among the car people I know. I would consider leasing a new one but would not buy a used one without knowing the history of the vehicle.

 

[kmarnes]

Audi is developing/has a pretty bad reputation for reliability, at least among the car people I know. I would consider leasing a new one but would not buy a used one without knowing the history of the vehicle.

Actually Audis are amazingly good right now and almost bought one -- I chose Ford to save $30k Audi was 3rd best reliability of any car brand last year after Toyota & Lexus. However at the time, they also had one of the oldest model line-ups and are aggressively refreshing all their models with the super awesome Virtual ****pit and new technologies, engines, aesthetics, etc. But complaints for new models have been low and in my opinion, Audi is the best car brand right now. I followed Audi very closely for the past year researching several of their cars intending on buying one.

Then I got ambushed by the Ford Employee pricing + Costco deal and came home with the Explorer Sport, while also avoided paying BC's stupid luxury tax by getting a car under $55k before taxes. Audi was just too expensive and people are paying near MSRP with high interest rates in Canada. I love their performance with strong fuel economy, superior transmissions, and best tech on the market. But for me, it was either the Explorer Sport for $60k OTD vs $90k OTD for an equivalently spec'd Audi Q7. Nothing else came close for me.

Note: All prices in Canadian dollars.

 

[blwnsmoke]

So if someone were to ask you if you would recommend buying an A4, same year and model as yours, what would you say? You have had a lot of bad luck with your cars! BTW the issue with my AC/Heat was a blend door motor. This is a very common problem with this vehicle. Cost for repair $421 Cdn.

I would say run away. Audi/VW are notorious for electrical gremlins. I see people complain on here about dealers not being able to duplicate an issue.... try bringing an audi/vw in for service with electrical issues that will only happen when it isn't there.

My lesson learned... never buy a 1st year remodel (2002 A4, 2011 Explorer). Always wait for the manufacturer to work the kinks out.

 

[blwnsmoke]

Audi is developing/has a pretty bad reputation for reliability, at least among the car people I know. I would consider leasing a new one but would not buy a used one without knowing the history of the vehicle.

Completely agree. leasing is fine.. owning when you are out of warranty.. omg, painful.

Hell, I remember having to get an alignment done and no one could do it but Audi because they had to adjust the subframe when doing a full alignment.

Even my brother in laws 15 Passat has issues.. remote start randomly doesn't work, memory seats randomly don't work.. when putting the car in reverse, the sideview mirrors don't always point to the ground.

I had to constantly reset/reprogram the auto up on my power windows because it would lose its memory and when it went all he way up, the pinch protection would activate and roll back down an inch. Just stupid stupid electrical crap.

But boy did that car handle and drive well. I absolutely loves driving it.