Most of the older Ford Explorers people are praising today were built in 1991 to 2001. Ford was able to retain a very-high customer loyalty after 2001 model year because of excellent reliability and durability from 4.0L V6 OHV and 5.0L V8 OHV engines. Then people found out their new 2002-2005 Explorers were big lemons with tons of problems on transmission and SOHC-related engine issues, so they moved on to Toyota or Honda next. Then Explorer sales number collapsed and hasn't recovered since. We are sad to hear this, but this is real news.I have also said in the past that many Explorer owners have owned older generation Explorers and quite a few are used to owning their vehicles into high mileage at a reasonable maintenance cost.
People that didn't buy 2002-2005 model years took a chance on Ford, bought 2011-2014, but only to find out the new Explorers don't last as long as the old ones from the 90s (water pump design & leaking carbon monoxide recall issues). The first and second-generation Explorer (1991-2001) with OHV engines were the most-reliable and best Ford could ever built to people, and I know Ford likes to say sorry for you all today. Ford can't improve reliability anymore, because they are anxious to move on to quad-turbo engines next.
Hint: Chevrolet Tahoe are all OHV, this is the only new vehicle you can buy that imitates like 1991-2001 Ford Explorer. Boxy-shape styling too.