Give it back after 3 years or keep it?

[Surge!]

Hello,
We are debating as a family what to do after our 3 year lease on our Explorer Sport 2018 is up. Car cost 58K (Canada) and it is going to be 30.5K to buy it back. If we buy it back we would pay cash. We expect to have 55,000 kilometers (34K miles) when the lease is up. Does it make sense to keep it? How expensive is it to maintain after 3 years? No trouble with it so far, is the fancy stuff like Turbo, electric stuff, etc prone to breaking?
Thanks

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum.
If you plan to keep it long term, I would definitely suggest buying an ESP for it. Canada ESP plans now discounted The water pump is inside the engine and if it fails it could take the engine with it. Water pump failure leads to dead engine This isn't meant to scare you off since there are many members who have put 100K + miles on their Explorers without that issue. Just want to make you aware. You may also want to look at getting the PTU oil changed. How to: - PTU Oil Change (Tons of Pics) 2016 Explorer Sport The Manual says it shouldn't require changing but members have been changing it at 30K mile. It only holds 700ml. See page 499 of the Owner's Manual ( 1st print) or page 507 of the 4th print edition. Have you checked the front lip of the hood? Hood Paint bubble issue only
It may be a good idea just to browse this Discussion thread for other issues that members have encountered. The aforementioned are just the ones that come to mind at the moment.
BTW, the Aviator I have now is my 8th consecutive lease. My next one will also more than likely be a lease. Are planning on watching the Canadien' game at 4pm?

Peter

 

[Surge!]

Welcome to the Forum.
If you plan to keep it long term, I would definitely suggest buying an ESP for it. Canada ESP plans now discounted The water pump is inside the engine and if it fails it could take the engine with it. Water pump failure leads to dead engine This isn't meant to scare you off since there are many members who have put 100K + miles on their Explorers without that issue. Just want to make you aware. You may also want to look at getting the PTU oil changed. How to: - PTU Oil Change (Tons of Pics) 2016 Explorer Sport The Manual says it shouldn't require changing but members have been changing it at 30K mile. It only holds 700ml. See page 499 of the Owner's Manual ( 1st print) or page 507 of the 4th print edition. Have you checked the front lip of the hood? Hood Paint bubble issue only
It may be a good idea just to browse this Discussion thread for other issues that members have encountered. The aforementioned are just the ones that come to mind at the moment.
BTW, the Aviator I have now is my 8th consecutive lease. My next one will also more than likely be a lease. Are planning on watching the Canadien' game at 4pm?

Peter

Hi Peter, thanks!
Hood has bubbles in the front, dealership took pictures to send to Ford, we asked them to replace it, not just repair it if possible.
I'll take a look at the PTU oil change and water pump issue... Q: When the water pump fail, doesn't it trigger the 'check engine' light?
We might decide to get rid of it just before the 5 year warranty runs out to avoid any big issue, I guess it will still be worth around 20K then (?)
Next one might be a RAV4 Prime...
Will you get another Aviator for your next lease?
No way to watch Canadiens, basic cable, might try online

 

[peterk9]

I don't believe there was a check engine light for those that had the failure. It's been a while since I've read the thread. Very happy with the Aviator but the lease end is still just over 3 years away. Due to my low mileage, the dealer is always anxious to get mine back. Still had 1 year left on my 2017 Platinum when we made the deal. Had it 3 years and 11,900 kms. The Rav looks good.

Peter

 

[94Eddie]

Our 2015 Edge with 80k miles is at the dealer now being checked out for a bad water pump. It has the same 3.5L V6 engine as the Explorers. The coolant level is dropping with no signs of leaking anywhere. There is a weep hole where coolant can run out if the pump is dying slowly. It looks to me like there is coolant coming out of there to some extent. Keep in mind that the pumps can go out catastrophically without warning and dump all your coolant into the crankcase. Most times this will trash the engine and it will have to be replaced. Luckily ours was caught before coolant ended up in the oil.

My advice is if you keep it then make sure to have a warranty. I hope ours gets the pump replaced now under warranty and we will have the chains and guides replaced while it is apart. With this being done at 80k miles we will keep it once the warranty expires since it minimizes a pump/timing chain/guide failure for the next 100k miles. If this had not happened under warranty then we would have gotten rid of it before the expired.

 

[94Eddie]

One other thing I forgot to mention is that the the turbos on yours adds a lot of issues to the list of what can go wrong as the miles rack up. The chance of turbo failure goes up dramatically when mileage goes above 100k. Turbo repairs are usually very expensive. I think the 2018 V6 models have dual port injection to help keep carbon buildup down on the intake valves and combustion chambers. This buildup has caused a lot of issues on the older sport models and these problems aren't easy to mitigate. For me personally, I wouldn't own the Sport model without a good warranty. There are just too many expensive repairs inherent with it for me to risk having to pay for out of pocket.

 

[Surge!]

One other thing I forgot to mention is that the the turbos on yours adds a lot of issues to the list of what can go wrong as the miles rack up. The chance of turbo failure goes up dramatically when mileage goes above 100k. Turbo repairs are usually very expensive. I think the 2018 V6 models have dual port injection to help keep carbon buildup down on the intake valves and combustion chambers. This buildup has caused a lot of issues on the older sport models and these problems aren't easy to mitigate. For me personally, I wouldn't own the Sport model without a good warranty. There are just too many expensive repairs inherent with it for me to risk having to pay for out of pocket.

Thanks for mentioning it. Yeah we are pretty much in agreement: we will buy it at the end of the 3 year term, keep it for another almost 2 years and sell it a month before the 5 year warranty ends. Kids will be a bit older and less need for space, so a plug in hybrid a la rav4 will make sense in 2023.

 

[CajunHO]

Get rid of it and get a new rear wheel drive based Explorer. Not a turbo if you plan on keeping for a long time.

 

[BrynBailey]

I purchased my 5th gen right off the lease with around 30ish on it I believe.
I would strongly suggest a warranty extension. Mine had seat belt issues, rear hatch, 3rd row seat motor, PTU replacement, blower motor, a wheel bearing and at 84k the water pump which was the last straw for me when it got traded for my 6 gen. Not trying to scare you but the warranty paid for its self over several times.

 

[Michael Lopour]

I purchased my 5th gen right off the lease with around 30ish on it I believe.
I would strongly suggest a warranty extension. Mine had seat belt issues, rear hatch, 3rd row seat motor, PTU replacement, blower motor, a wheel bearing and at 84k the water pump which was the last straw for me when it got traded for my 6 gen. Not trying to scare you but the warranty paid for its self over several times.

When you look at the potential issues that likely won't appear inside the warranty period and the relatively low cost of an online Ford warranty it's basically a no brainer if you can't fix any issues yourself. Makes owning one of these way less stressful I think.

 

[gtyates]

No question on this one. Buy it and enjoy your $0 car payment.