Explorer or Trailblazer?

[JohnJ]

I'm somewhat of a Chevy fan myself, but I really can't stand the TrailBlazer. The squishy disconnected ride and "where are you brakes" feel that people like so much makes the thing intolerable to me. Every time I drive one of these mushpuddles I find myself doing 10 to 15 MPH under the speed limit because I'm afraid the thing is going just ooze off the road.

In your situation I'd keep the Explorer and sell the TrailBlazer, then use the extra money to buy a 77 or 78 Continental or Mark. The Lincoln should have about the same smoothness as a TrailBlazer but with a decent controllable feel and much nicer seats to it with slightly worse fuel economy but about 3 metric tons more style and much lower maintenance costs.

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

As if GM didn't have enough problems with new useless innnovations, their electric power steering is just an exercise in stupid. What was wrong with hydraulic assisted rack and pinion steering that had worked for decades? I drove an '05 Equinox a while back and that thing had the road manners of a wet noodle. There is absolutely no "on center" feeling to the steering, and I felt myself constantly having to correct it to keep it going in a straight line. You feel like you're pointing it rather than driving it...It almost completely disconnects you from what the front tires are doing.

The Saturn Ion has electric steering too, and that feels a bit bizarre, though not as pronounced as the Equinox/Torrent/et al.

We have a new motto at the dealership too..."Never trust a GM gas gauge". Practically every GM vehicle '97 to current has an inaccurate fuel gauge when it's below rougly 1/4 tank. I can't count how many times I thought a GM car had enough fuel for a decent road test, only to have a not-too-happy customer call me and tell me it ran out of fuel on the side of the road somewhere. The replacement senders are unbelieveably expensive too...Priced one for a 2000 Blazer 2-door, and it was (my cost) almost $600! That seems to be the philosophy with GM replacement parts too...The more failure prone something is, the more expensive the replacement parts are.

 

[regina falangy]

As if GM didn't have enough problems with new useless innnovations, their electric power steering is just an exercise in stupid. What was wrong with hydraulic assisted rack and pinion steering that had worked for decades? I drove an '05 Equinox a while back and that thing had the road manners of a wet noodle. There is absolutely no "on center" feeling to the steering, and I felt myself constantly having to correct it to keep it going in a straight line. You feel like you're pointing it rather than driving it...It almost completely disconnects you from what the front tires are doing.

The Saturn Ion has electric steering too, and that feels a bit bizarre, though not as pronounced as the Equinox/Torrent/et al.

We have a new motto at the dealership too..."Never trust a GM gas gauge". Practically every GM vehicle '97 to current has an inaccurate fuel gauge when it's below rougly 1/4 tank. I can't count how many times I thought a GM car had enough fuel for a decent road test, only to have a not-too-happy customer call me and tell me it ran out of fuel on the side of the road somewhere. The replacement senders are unbelieveably expensive too...Priced one for a 2000 Blazer 2-door, and it was (my cost) almost $600! That seems to be the philosophy with GM replacement parts too...The more failure prone something is, the more expensive the replacement parts are.

How do you sell used GM products to unsuspecting customers and still sleep at night? I assume you steer all your customers clear of anything with a GM badge on the hood!

 

[shadowless127]

How do you sell used GM products to unsuspecting customers and still sleep at night? I assume you steer all your customers clear of anything with a GM badge on the hood!

i'm assuming he does. But sometimes people insist on buying what they want

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

The majority of my customers pretty much know what they want when they get there. I will however be honest if someone asks me about how reliable a certain vehicle is. It actually helps me sell vehicles, and still leaves me with a clear conscience. I'll come right out and say that I'm not going to be like the majority of salespeople that just try to tell you what you want to hear and "blow a little sunshine up your butt". There are some vehicles I just won't sell. Volkswagens with automatic trannies come to mind.
The biggest problem is that when someone buys a car and it has a problem, the first person to hear them venting is the salesperson. Of course it had nothing to do with the vehicle manufacturer, the replacement part, an oversight on the person inspecting it, etc...It's always the salesman that's the A-hole that always knew every problem that the car had before it left, but never told the customer because he wanted to make a sale. If a fuel pump fails six months after the car is sold, it's the salesman's fault, right? Isn't that the way it works?

Sorry if that sounded a little harsh, but that was a little area for me to vent.

 

[ummduh]

We had a similar situation when we bought our Explorer.

In all honesty, we had the TB ready to go, ready to go pick up, untill we got our insurance quote back. It was nuts.

We ended up backing out of it due to that reason, and started looking at Explorers.. The insurance was well less than half on an Ex than it was on a TB.

And that is really the reason why we have an Ex instead. I actually am a Ford guy, but I personally liked the TB better(the outside, The ex's interior is leaps and bounds better!).. I dunno where they hid those 275HP though, there seemed to be 100 missing.

 

[ghoster]

We had a similar situation when we bought our Explorer.

In all honesty, we had the TB ready to go, ready to go pick up, untill we got our insurance quote back. It was nuts.

We ended up backing out of it due to that reason, and started looking at Explorers.. The insurance was well less than half on an Ex than it was on a TB.

And that is really the reason why we have an Ex instead. I actually am a Ford guy, but I personally liked the TB better(the outside, The ex's interior is leaps and bounds better!).. I dunno where they hid those 275HP though, there seemed to be 100 missing.

HAHA..yea i loved my TB miss it like hell
one more yr and i'm selling the ex to get me a tbss
i had a ss clone so i need a tb again. Yea gas is high but..ehh w.e i rather drive a truck that when i need the power i now i will have it. Not a truck that i step on the gas and have to wait 2 sec before the truck moves..

 

[ZBlackBeast]

This might be dead. But EX>TB.. My gf's mother had one and they HATE it. Its garbage. GARBAGE.. IMHO GM has really gone down hill FAST in the last 10 years.. or more even.. I would never buy a TB.. I owned a blazer and that thing was garbage too.. I paid more to fix it than i did to buy it. My mom totaled my ex last year adn man did it hold up strong.. Id go with the ex.!!

 

[gulper]

sell the ford

 

[briwayjones]

This thing couldn't pull a pregnant mouse off an anthill!

Best quote I've seen in a while.

 

[gspfunk]

Since y'all brought this thread back, I guess I'll post my 2 cents b/c my situation has changed a little. We still have the Ex, but it doesn't see much road time anymore. We found a smokin deal on an 07 TB SS, and haven't looked back since.

You die-hard Blue Oval guys will still say "I don't give a crap!!" [one of my buddies does], but I frickin love this thing. Best part is we paid less for it than we did my wife's Explorer [it was 2 years old--2003]. The TBSS was 1.5 years old, 13,400 miles on it, loaded out except for nav, and we got it for $19,988. Oh, yeah...and did I mention it has the Vette motor in it? 390hp/400tq is fun as hell w/ AWD.

I can understand the base TB's not pulling their weight, literally, but I LOVE this thing. The Explorer seems really underpowered now...wish we'd gotten the V8

 

[410Fortune]

SS LOL

Seriously, Nice SUV! thanks for sharing!! there are GREAT deals to be had right now, they will do anything to sell anything

At least your warranty is safe with Obama! another LOL

 

[Explorer_Science]

One thing that made me buy a second X over many brands I looked at when shopping was this forume. I tried to find other sites when researching and nothing compaired to this. I know if I ever had a problem with my X I know I can get an answer and in most cases a step by step repair procedure that usually has pics.

Can you get that kind of support with the trailblazer?

Umm i happen to own a Trailblazer as well and let me tell you so far i've had all the answers to anything i need to know about it from Trailvoy.com! That is one of the better forums online for any car maker. I've heard the same about here and let me tell you with the problems i've had on my explorer over my TB i think i'm gonna need much of the info on this forum! I like all American car makers but i've just happened to have much better luck with my Trailblazer and it's the same year as my Explorer. Only major problem with the TB was a Fuel pump and that went at 197,000 miles in it and now it has 211,000 miles on it and runs like new! My Explorer has the V6 and feels sluggish anymore with only 170,000 and 2 tranny rebuilds none done to the Trailblazer yet knock on wood! Stupid timing chain loosened up on my Explorer also boy was that a nightmare! I have read on ward's 10 best engines that GM had the Inline 6 on the motor dino and it went well over 350,000 miles and the only reason they didn't find out how much more it would go was because they had to take it off so they could test another motor! Although i do love all American car makers, i feel more confident in the Trailblazer but that's just from my own experience. I have wrecked both and let me tell you the Trailblazer takes wrecks very well only had a dent and a broken windshield. That wreck was on ice too right into a tree sideways ouch. I wrecked my Ex into a fence and busted the windshield and a few dents and scratches Stupid ass Deer! So i can't say to much bad about either one as far as wrecks go. But i feel about equally safe in either one. I will say though the Trailblazer does have far better brakes in those situations. Sorry for the ramble just a bit frustrated with my Blue Oval! Driving the Trailblazer and driving the Explorer is like night and day! Trailblazer has a firm brake pedal feel and the Ex does not! Also i have heard of many people walking away from rollovers and T-bones in Trailblazers and Envoys on Trailvoy.com. So therefore i recommend it as far as safety goes not to mention i have wrecked in my TB as i already told you. I will tell you also that i do maintenance like clockwork to both of my vehicles and this is how the Oval repays me. As for the TB being underpowered that is so not true. Sure off the line it sucks if you have 3.42s in the rearend but if you have 3.73s or 4.10s then you have it made! It has a hellva mid and high range! In fact i'd be willing to race someone that has an Ex with the same miles as my Tb if there are any and see who wins! I can almost guarantee you the Tb will. I just can't believe everything is original on my Tb but common replace items and the Fuel pump! Only things done to my Tb is ball joints, sway bar end links and Fuel pump and regular maint. The oil, trans, coolant, ect, ect. You get the point ok ok sorry enough ranting!

 

[Glen4X4]

Maybe you found this site and not one for tbs is because fords are pieces of ****.

Dude there is no need for that on the forum. All vehicles have their problems.

 

[Explorer_Science]

Dude there is no need for that on the forum. All vehicles have their problems.

To right you are buddy! My Ex has more than it's fair share of them too lol. I'm looking at getting another Trailblazer it's been so good for me and with over 200,000 miles and still running good as new and i truely do mean that, i'd buy another one in a heartbeat. Don't know what everyone is fussing about Chevy's not being reliable but all of mine have been for me so. Regular maint. is all it takes to make em last. Right now i have a 1985 Chevy c-10 with the 350 HO in it and that thing still has get up and go with over 350,000 miles on it and doesn't burn but maybe a quarter quart of oil between oil changes.

 

[Glen4X4]

Well the 02's are known for problems. The 1st and 2nd gen ex's are pretty reliable if you've seen the site there are several high mileage 4.0 OHV's. I'm not putting chevy down, my girl has a 99 malibu and it hasn't had many issues and its now got around 167k but I am just saying all vehicles eventually have their problems and some people just seem to get a vehicle that for some reason has continuous problems.

 

[Explorer_Science]

Well the 02's are known for problems. The 1st and 2nd gen ex's are pretty reliable if you've seen the site there are several high mileage 4.0 OHV's. I'm not putting chevy down, my girl has a 99 malibu and it hasn't had many issues and its now got around 167k but I am just saying all vehicles eventually have their problems and some people just seem to get a vehicle that for some reason has continuous problems.

You have that right lol mines a damn lemon if i ever saw one. But at least it's made in the USA right lol. Later man off to work and i'm driving the Trailblazer cause the Ex is down for the count and in the garage. So far the Tb has been really reliable so i haven't a bad thing to say about it.

 

[X6StringerX]

I'm only 23-years-old, but I've owned 17 different vehicles, 7 of which were GM products, since I was 16-years-old. I wouldn't say I was a die-hard Chevrolet fan, but I was brought up by parents that owned many of them and my older brother absolutely loves them. I was lead to believe that they were the best vehicles on the road, despite the constant problems my entire family always seemed to be having with them. I just thought that frequent problems were to be expected from any make if Chevrolets suffered from them. I ended up stumbling into an incredible deal on a '97 Explorer and despite a few times where I got great deals on other makes that I sold for massive profits within a couple months' time, I've basically stuck with Ford ever since. In fact, I've now owned four different Explorers, my current one being an '01 5.0 AWD. I've grown tired of buying, selling, and trading vehicles so much, so at this point, I can't imagine that I'll ever own another vehicle made by GM. The quality of a Ford is light years ahead of GM. You can take that one to the bank... it won't bounce.

 

[yeah61794]

I've got nothing on 17 vehicles, but my parents bought an envoy, same thing as trailblazer, and its absolute garbage. Feels like your driving a box, and if you think the ex's feel like that, drive a trailblazer, envoy, etc. Speedo, fuel tank sender, 3 serpintine belts, only to find out the alternator bearings going out, all before 75,000 miles on this envoy. And, all the interior led lights that seem to light up EVERYTHING, are going out one at a time. My GF has a blazer, absolute POS. Leaks water drivers door because bushings were out ever since she got it and it makes the door sag. HVAC system doesnt go out the right vents at all, never has defrost, hard as hell to start, abs doesnt work, parking break doesnt latch, and a few other minor problems. All this before 80,000 miles. Sorry, but I don't like GM too much after just these two experiences. Maybe just bad luck, but thats my vent on GM.

 

[Burnout]

Talk about reviving a thread! To the original poster, it's good to see you went with an SS. As you saw a lot of people say, if you did have the option for an SS, it was a good buy. And looks like you got a nice deal on it too!

I never was a Ford fan before my X, but I definitely am now. I'm thinking, if I ever get another SUV I'd most likely stay with them. I read plenty of SUV reviews before deciding on what to get, and while basically all SUVs have serious problems compared to cars, the X had the least I read about (and that's including the Japanese brands). Considering the amount of Fords out there, I'd say that's good. My girlfriend wants a Flex, so it looks like there might be a Ford SUV family growing. Haha.

If I ever had to get a car again, I'd probably go with GM, though. Buick, specifically. My first car was a '99 Century and I've never ridden in as comfortable a ride in any way as that. My mom's Taurus is extremely stiff and not what I'd want for long drives.