2011 Ford Explorer!

[FarmTruk]

...But i see that Marielle is viewing this thread right now, so maybe we'll get something out of her. Wishful thinking, i know.

... Every response has to be pretty well thought out since you are essentially speaking for an entire company, sometimes you just can't address or answer a specific question...

I'm guessing she's probably as clueless about specifics, if not more so, than the EF members.


I don't know if anyone else caught this or not...

...I’m with American Pop...

I googled "American Pop", and got this...

http://www.americanpopdigital.com/

So, she's apparently not a Ford rep, either as an engineer or marketer. Her company apparently has been contracted by Ford to build internet "buzz" via social media such as EF.


I'd wager she's got more answers about how to set up a FB or Twitter acct, than hard details on this new vehicle.

We are being marketed to. I feel so dirty.

 

[unclemeat]

Perhaps ther is some misundersaning here. I saw a explorer commercial yesterday. It showed the vehicle on a rocky fire road and blazing a trail through a snow drift. There were no trips to the soccer game with the team. No trip to the mall. Ford is marketing this travisty as a capable off road vehicle. It is not. Ford owns the explorer name. they do not own the offroader, outdoors indivudualist image of the explorer owner that we at this site imulate. It is that image that modivates people who would never own an explorer, but never take it offroad. With the image of a minivan or crossover in a already saturated market, the new explorer is doomed to fail.

I have a modified Gen I X and it does what I want it to. I am not looking for a vehicle to modify, if I was I would buy a heep. I am lookin for a vehicle that would accomidate my lifestyle, both work and play. I guess I am that one in a million, because my work vehicle has to go everywhere, and 30 grand is not much for a capable 4-wheel drive vehicle. One again I will say it Ford has turned its back on me and my type. But we are the ones who bought the Explorer and made its image, an image that Ford wants to explot.

 

[peterk9]

Ford is marketing this travisty as a capable off road vehicle. It is not. With the image of a minivan or crossover in a already saturated market, the new explorer is doomed to fail.
I guess I am that one in a million, because my work vehicle has to go everywhere, and 30 grand is not much for a capable 4-wheel drive vehicle. One again I will say it Ford has turned its back on me and my type. But we are the ones who bought the Explorer and made its image, an image that Ford wants to explot.

While I can only go by what I have read from the many reviews and test drive reviews, the Explorer still appears to be a capable off orad vehicle. I guess the big stumbling block may be what each reader interprets the meaning of 'capable' to be. It is definitely not a 'rock crawler'. As for this vehicle being "doomed to fail", I have not read that in any reviews to date. Ford surveys indicated only 17% take their Ex off road and an even smaller percentage do 'rock crawling'. Therefore, I assume that Ford feels it can replace those sales it may lose in that 17% bracket by appealing to new buyers, like myself, who are satisfied by what the new Explorer has to offer. Any time a change is made you are not going to please everyone. As a business, you have to target the majority if you want to be successful.

 

[willied]

The current ranger is offered with 4 doors, and the next global ranger is 4 door as well, but neither one is/will be offered in the US.

I'm guessing he meant a crew cab, but that's just my speculation.

 

[Mishtar]

Check ford Europe or Ford australia you can get the 4 door crew cab there. It is also a 3.0 High preassure common rail turbo diesel manual. Can you even buy manual ford trucks in North America?

http://www.ford.com.au/servlet/Satellite?c=DFYPage&cid=1248884915630&pagename=wrapper&site=FOA

 

[willied]

Check ford Europe or Ford australia you can get the 4 door crew cab there. It is also a 3.0 High preassure common rail turbo diesel manual. Can you even buy manual ford trucks in North America?

http://www.ford.com.au/servlet/Satellite?c=DFYPage&cid=1248884915630&pagename=wrapper&site=FOA

I read his post wrong...but you can get the crew cab Rangers in South America, too.

The Ranger offered a manual, but of course now it's being discontinued here. Otherwise, there are no manuals offered in Ford trucks here as far as I know.

 

[Mishtar]

That sucks I have never liked automatics. Manuals keep me awake lol

 

[celly]

I'm guessing she's probably as clueless about specifics, if not more so, than the EF members.


I don't know if anyone else caught this or not...






I googled "American Pop", and got this...

http://www.americanpopdigital.com/

So, she's apparently not a Ford rep, either as an engineer or marketer. Her company apparently has been contracted by Ford to build internet "buzz" via social media such as EF.


I'd wager she's got more answers about how to set up a FB or Twitter acct, than hard details on this new vehicle.

We are being marketed to. I feel so dirty.

LMAO! I sort of figured that out right from the start. Thanks for the confirmation as such.

 

[willied]

That sucks I have never liked automatics. Manuals keep me awake lol

Yeah, I believe it was the small customer demand for manuals and the fact that it costs them less to only make one transmission. Only the consumer can be blamed for such, though. If everyone wanted a manual, they would make them, but this is America.

 

[unclemeat]

While I can only go by what I have read from the many reviews and test drive reviews, the Explorer still appears to be a capable off orad vehicle. I guess the big stumbling block may be what each reader interprets the meaning of 'capable' to be. It is definitely not a 'rock crawler'. As for this vehicle being "doomed to fail", I have not read that in any reviews to date. Ford surveys indicated only 17% take their Ex off road and an even smaller percentage do 'rock crawling'. Therefore, I assume that Ford feels it can replace those sales it may lose in that 17% bracket by appealing to new buyers, like myself, who are satisfied by what the new Explorer has to offer. Any time a change is made you are not going to please everyone. As a business, you have to target the majority if you want to be successful.

Without a low range, FWD and independent suspension, it is absoutley not a capable offroader. I own a 05 explorer, the independent suspension is the kiss of death for offroading. It does have a transfer case and rear wheel drive. But compared to even a stock Gen II, it just does not have the mechanical stones for anything but gravel parking lots and the occasional snowstorm.

As stated previously, I am sure it is an awesome car, but IMO it is simply not worthy of the explorer nameplate.

 

[tmike]

Without a low range, FWD and independent suspension, it is absoutley not a capable offroader. I own a 05 explorer, the independent suspension is the kiss of death for offroading. It does have a transfer case and rear wheel drive. But compared to even a stock Gen II, it just does not have the mechanical stones for anything but gravel parking lots and the occasional snowstorm.

As stated previously, I am sure it is an awesome car, but IMO it is simply not worthy of the explorer nameplate.

Just wondering WHERE in VA is there a NEED for LOW RANGE! I lived there from '99 to '08 (NAVY) and HAVE NEVER seen anything that required low range or a 'rock crawler'. You see, I'm from Colorado and that is where LOW Range is USED, but very seldom!

 

[FarmTruk]

The current ranger is offered with 4 doors, and the next global ranger is 4 door as well, but neither one is/will be offered in the US.

I'm guessing he meant a crew cab, but that's just my speculation.

Check ford Europe or Ford australia you can get the 4 door crew cab there. It is also a 3.0 High preassure common rail turbo diesel manual. Can you even buy manual ford trucks in North America?

http://www.ford.com.au/servlet/Satellite?c=DFYPage&cid=1248884915630&pagename=wrapper&site=FOA

I read his post wrong...but you can get the crew cab Rangers in South America, too.

The Ranger offered a manual, but of course now it's being discontinued here. Otherwise, there are no manuals offered in Ford trucks here as far as I know.

Thank you all. This is a great board.



I just googled world 4dr crew cab ranger and this came up.

I was not aware of this model until you fine folks mentioned it. This is the truck Ford should have based the new Explorer on.

not this...

granted, the New Taurus seems to be a really good car, as I'm sure this 2011 Explorer is/will be.

But I have no desire to even test drive a '11 X, yet am thinking of ways I could own a global Ranger Crew Cab. Do I have to move to Aus, Ford? Marielle?

Just wondering WHERE in VA is there a NEED for LOW RANGE! I lived there from '99 to '08 (NAVY) and HAVE NEVER seen anything that required low range or a 'rock crawler'. You see, I'm Colorado and that is where LOW Range is USED, but very seldom!

Living in NC, I've often appreciated the 2L and 4L capability offered on my Toyota HiLux. Always wished my X had same. Just found out with a hub swap I could have it. A 5sp or even 6sp manual would be appreaciated by a minority which includes me.


IMHO, it's not about Max Capacity. It's about about the security and effortlessness of having a reserve when in moderate conditions, such as offered by a truck-based SUV.

 

[willied]

I forgot to mention this, but one of the dealers here (the one with the Explorer I drove) said that they weren't getting any more Explorers for at least a few weeks because of a door handle problem. Not sure if that's true or not, but anyway...

 

[peterk9]

Thank you all. This is a great board.



IMHO, it's not about Max Capacity. It's about about the security and effortlessness of having a reserve when in moderate conditions, such as offered by a truck-based SUV.

If it is moderate conditions you are concerned about then the new Explorer should have no problems with those. Most reviews and those of test drives state that it still quite capable for many off road conditions. Keep in mind that you don't have skid plates though so one does have to watch their step and use common sense.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Until you buy the skid plates available for the PPV spec Ex's...

 

[corkey]

k, my 2 cents,

how many of you actually plan on buying a New Explorer??

How many of you would buy a New Explorer ??

easy to point and laugh from the other side of the fence,,
i say give it a chance,, it looks nice, rides nice,
so what if it is not a rock crawler from the factory ,
are any of your Explorers factory rock crawlers ??
or factory mud boggers ??
or factory lowered street trucks ??

ponit is , almost all of the people in this thread have some kind of modification done to there Explorer.,
Maybe there will be a way to do that to the new one,
look at how we helped a couple of people develop the lift for the 3rd gen

we are the aftermarket for Explorers now, the companies are not going to help us out,
we have to help make our own lift kits and modifications ,


reason being, it just costs too much, and people that are actually going to buy a new Explorer for lifting or heavy off roading will have the cake to get custom everything built for them anyways,
is that one of you ??

give the thing a chance, it may impress you after all, ,

just my thoughts,

 

[Joe Dirt]

Corkey gets 5 Chocodiles for that reply!

 

[corkey]

thanks Joe,,

 

[peterk9]

k, my 2 cents,

how many of you actually plan on buying a New Explorer??

How many of you would buy a New Explorer ??

give the thing a chance, it may impress you after all, ,

just my thoughts,

Good post corkey. I agree 100%. I just wonder how many of those who have posted negative comments about the new Explorer's lack of certain abilities have even seen it in person much less sat in it or driven it. I don't think too much credibility should be given to assumptions and supposition. I ordered mine because I'm hoping it will be a good dependable vehicle that will get me through some of the harsh weather we get at times around here and perhaps some more challenging situations should they ever present themselves. After 10 years of driving Highlanders, I'll be trading in my Toyota ball cap for a good Ford cap, if I can find one.

 

[corkey]

Peter , i am originally from Eastern Ontario, and i think that the New Explorer will be awesome down there as both a semi city driver and highway sort of backroad driver,,
maybe even a few farmers fields out west of Kanata would even be fun ,,
i hope you like it and enjoy it,,