4 weeks and 3400 miles later, review

[troyandcarol]

Hey Everyone

I have thoroughly enjoyed this site since I have found it so I figured I would give a little review for anyone else who enjoys reading them.

A little backstory about us, we are a early 30's couple with a 2 year old little girl with plans for more. We traded in a 2003 Mercury Mountaineer on the new Explorer. My wife fell in love with the Explorer after test driving it and that made the choice for us Our Ex is an early build. Bordeaux Red Limited with the polished rims and the tow package, and the 402a package. Only like the 9600 built.

THE GOOD

We both absolutely love the way the Ex drives!! Not even close to any other SUV we drove, not even close.
We drove the EX to Florida from Virginia and back for a week long vacation with 4 adults and 1 child. Overall it was comfortable for all of us, we had 1 adult in the back seat with a child and 1 adult in the 3rd row. I think the one in the third row might have been the most comfortableThe third row is amazing, spacious and comfortable.
MFT is great when operating correctlyNavigation was accurate for our whole trip. Sync has worked great so far.
Engine has been smooth with absolutely no issues, I love it.
All of the options in the limited have been awesome for us, the remote start, the power folding seats, the heated and cooled seats all have been great.
The interior!! I have absolutely nothing but great things to say about the interior of this vehicle from the driver and passenger seat, I am still in awe with the display in front of the driver. All of the different options you have in the speedometer display in unreal! Love it!! The seats are wonderful and all the materials are nothing short of awesome. Great job Ford!!

THE BAD

MFT is slower than it should be, it feels sluggish at times especially at vehicle start up. It also doesn't always find our phones, which is a pain sometimes.
Navigation voice control is 50/50 at best. It has been a headache at times, causing mild arguments between my wife and I on the trip
The USB downloading of my iphone music never happened over a 12 hour drive, very disappointing. I just used the bluetooth which worked perfectly thank god!!
The second row I have to say is the biggest disappointment of the new EX for both Me and my wife. There is a very little legroom when you have a child seat in the middle or on either side. My daughters feet are all over the back of the seats without her even trying and that was not the case in the Mountaineer. For adults it is fine unless someone has the seat all the way back. During the trip I had to leave the seat in my wife's seat position the entire time which was not uncomfortable but it was definitely not as comfortable as my own seat position as I am 6' and my wife is 5'6". As you can see in my photos there is no room for my little girl.
We also had to take the EX back to the dealership for the passenger door ambient lighting not working. Small hiccups but still on the bad side.

Surprises

Bluetooth has been awesome.
The EX is a beautiful vehicle all around!! Love it!!
The interior is absolutely unmatched!! The surfaces, the styles, the lighting, amazing job Ford!!

Conclusion

Thank you Ford. I truly believe we will love our EX for the next 7-10 years that we have it. Even with the bad, we love this vehicle. Hopefully we don't have any major issues and hopefully Ford can make MFT better than it is at this present time, otherwise keep up the good work.

Troy

 

[cg13]

havents een the DVDs yet is that an aftermarket or the stock DVD?

love the color! i went with black - and cant wait.

i had to order mine - so doing the wait game!! i still havent seen any of these on the road in real life. Kinda crazy, but i like having something thats lmited in production. Im sure in a year or so there will be a ton but its nice having something so rare.

 

[Holligl]

What is the hitch carrier make, model, and capacity?

 

[sm4astan]

We have two younger kids and two older. One still in an infant seat, soon to move to a normal car seat and one in booster.

Just curious, why wouldn't you put the child seat behind passenger so when you drive you can move back to comfortable distance? Is there any reason this wouldn't be an option? Car seats and second row are the only real concern I have that I wasn't able to fully investigate, though there is a good review on car seats fitting in the X here >>> http://www.motherproof.com/news-rants/story/2011-ford-explorer-car-seat-check

 

[gabella]

Thanks for the review! I'm anxiously awaiting my Ex in the same color combo. It's built, but not shipped yet. I can't wait to try it out.

Did you break in the engine before the road trip? I've got a road trip pending soon and I'm not entirely sure I will have time to drive 1,000 miles before we start. I've offered to go over to the plant and drive my Ex over to the dealer so I could get it more quickly, but Seni wasn't biting.

 

[Bill #5 Explorer]

Nice write up. If you are really planning to keep this truck for the next 7-10 years, I recommend you do an early oil change, and switch to full sythetic oil 5W20. I did my first oil change at the 1,000 mile mark (I always do this with my new vehicles).

 

[uniquename]

That is some miles! Looks like the "bad" list pales in compareison to the good, so that's nice news I have a question about below..

The USB downloading of my iphone music never happened over a 12 hour drive, very disappointing. I just used the bluetooth which worked perfectly thank god!!

Did you mean you thought it would copy the files to the MFT system and didn't, or it did not index the iphone so you could play via voice commands when connected with USB?

 

[JustB_Rad]

That is some miles! Looks like the "bad" list pales in compareison to the good, so that's nice news I have a question about below..




Did you mean you thought it would copy the files to the MFT system and didn't, or it did not index the iphone so you could play via voice commands when connected with USB?

I can't get Sync to recognize my Ipod at all....

 

[uniquename]

I can't get Sync to recognize my Ipod at all....

What ipod is it? Some older firmware needs to be updated.

 

[FordService]

Thanks for the review! I'm anxiously awaiting my Ex in the same color combo. It's built, but not shipped yet. I can't wait to try it out.

Did you break in the engine before the road trip? I've got a road trip pending soon and I'm not entirely sure I will have time to drive 1,000 miles before we start. I've offered to go over to the plant and drive my Ex over to the dealer so I could get it more quickly, but Seni wasn't biting.

Gabella,

I would have said yes, however, some technical legalities get in the way! You know how it goes!

Seni

 

[JustB_Rad]

What ipod is it? Some older firmware needs to be updated.

It's the Ipod Video...it's about 5 or 6 years old.

 

[uniquename]

It's the Ipod Video...it's about 5 or 6 years old.

Get it to the latest firmware update, I bet it will work.

I have an old ipod video around somewhere, I will mess with it later if you have issues (later meaning when I get my explorer).

 

[gabella]

Gabella,

I would have said yes, however, some technical legalities get in the way! You know how it goes!

Seni

Hey Seni - can't blame a girl for asking! Thanks again for tracking my order. I really appreciate your help. But, I have to say, knowing it's built and waiting to be shipped is the hardest part so far.

 

[gabella]

Nice write up. If you are really planning to keep this truck for the next 7-10 years, I recommend you do an early oil change, and switch to full sythetic oil 5W20. I did my first oil change at the 1,000 mile mark (I always do this with my new vehicles).

Bill,

Can I ask what the early oil change and switching oils does to the car to make it better to keep 7-10 years? I'm planning on keeping mine at least that long as well. Thanks much!

 

[Rick]

Bill,

Can I ask what the early oil change and switching oils does to the car to make it better to keep 7-10 years? I'm planning on keeping mine at least that long as well. Thanks much!

Changing the oil early flushes out any contaminants which may have been left over from the machining process, and the initial break in of the rings, cylinder walls, etc. Sure you have a filter, but doing an early oil/filter change gets the contaminants out of the system completely.

 

[RSNovi]

I am also a fan of an early oil change as well. I thought i read on here that the recommended oil for the Explorer was synthetic. Or is it a blend like they have used in the past?

 

[JustB_Rad]

Get it to the latest firmware update, I bet it will work.

I have an old ipod video around somewhere, I will mess with it later if you have issues (later meaning when I get my explorer).

Thanks for the tip...I'll try it tonight if I have time Gotta see when my accessories come in too...might have to put the Ipod on hold

 

[Bill #5 Explorer]

Bill,

Can I ask what the early oil change and switching oils does to the car to make it better to keep 7-10 years? I'm planning on keeping mine at least that long as well. Thanks much!

Plan and simple, synthetic oils are superior to conventional oils and blends.

As for the early oil change (1,000 mile mark), I am a firm believer that this helps to "flush" out, at an early opportunity (as opposed to waiting 5,000 or 10,000 miles), anything left over in the engine during the casting and building phase. Mainly metal shavings. Admittedly so, modern manufacturing is pretty good now, and this may have been more 'necessary' years ago, but I still like doing it. It's pretty cheap insurance.

I also feel confident stating the above, because I send out my oil samples to Blackstone Labs for used oil analysis (UOA's), and you can actually see & document the changes in trace wear metals. I do UOA's on my Porsches, not the Explorer, but the same logic applies. The only difference is an oil change for the Explorer is about $75. For the Porsches, it's over $250! They hold up to 10 quarts too.

None of my vehicles burn oil, and perform to a very high degree. The above, are some of the reasons why, I believe.

 

[Gandalf]

Do you know if the synthetic oil affects the oil changing sensing system on the Ex at all?

 

[Bill #5 Explorer]

Do you know if the synthetic oil affects the oil changing sensing system on the Ex at all?

It does not differentiate oil types.