Considering Buying a 2003 Ford Explorer E.B, what to look for?

[SeanEXP]

I am considering purchasing a 2003 Ford Explorer E.B. With only 36,000 miles; I was pretty shock at the low mileage. Check the carfax and it only had one owner. It has 4.0L V-6cyl, flexible fuel, Automatic transmission and 4wd. The dealer wants close to $13,000. I am thinking I can get them down to at least $10,000 because I can pay that cash.

What are some things to look at closey on this model? I know transmissions tend to be a problem in Explorers but I like them alot. I had a 99 and before getting rid of it I had to change the transfer case and transmission and a few other things. I hear many people say that they had problems with the transmission.

I am consider purchasing Ford Extend Warranty for this if I do purchase it. One of these reasons would be the transmission failure that is known. The warranty can easily pay for itself if this does happen. Could I purchase the extended warranty right from the Ford dealership I am purchasing this vehicle from? I was reading on the Ford Warranty website that an inspection is done on used vehicle before being accepted. What is the process and is the price quote the dealer offer me for the Ford Extended Warranty negotiable?

Any advice and help would be great. Thank you everyone for your help in advance. I really appreicate it.

 

[zerodevil]

WOW, 13K for an 03? i say no go if they wont go to at least 12. trans failure in these rigs usualy happens between 90 and 130 thousand miles, more towards the latter. so id say with as few miles as are on the rig your extended warantee may well expire before the trans goes... id say if you have the coin to go ahead and pick her up, and 03 with low miles is a rare find!

 

[SeanEXP]

Thank you ZeroDevil. I know it is very rare to find one with low miles such as this one; this is the reason why I like it so much. Thanks once again

One of the reasons I thought that the trans will fail early is becasue I was reading comments on carcomplaints website about this model and I seen some that wasn't that high on mileage and had transmission failure.

The 99 XLT I recently had failed at around the 90-100k mark; the OD light will starting flashing than it would go into neutral...that was a pain to pull over, shut it off and start it back up. Don't want to do that again.

 

[sport97]

If i'm not mistaken i believe the 02 model(1st year for the 3rd generation explorer) had more trans issues than 03+, so maybe those reviews were of 2002 models. The 2003-2005 years are better than the 2002s. If you can get them down, go for it.

 

[zerodevil]

correct, for the most part the 02's were considered lemons. 03+ are great vehicles. my 03 has just passed 118K and im still on the origional trans... and i have the v8...

 

[SeanEXP]

I was probably lookin under the wrong year. I will do my best to work them down on the price, I really don't want to pay 13K. low miles and one owner...checked the carfax.

Thanks Zerodevil & sport97