If you were to buy now, would you still buy what you bought? 6th Gen (2020+)

[Sgt1411]

Great feedback everyone and keep it coming, these real feedback posts are really valuable. Sadly humans are MUCH more likely to complain vs praise and as long as you know it forums can be helpful when sifting thru the posts.
Anyone know if you can add a skidplate to the 3.0T? I did find an aftermarket but curious if Ford offered one and maybe I have missed it in their parts catalog.

Confirmed the OEM Timberline skid plates WILL NOT bolt on to other 6th Gen Explorer models. The Timberline has different front frame anchor brackets for the OEM skid plate that the other models do not have. You would have to find a 3rd party aftermarket skid plate.

 

[Diven Baker]

will add lokithor jump starter and more in to my black friday list.

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

Confirmed the OEM Timberline skid plates WILL NOT bolt on to other 6th Gen Explorer models. The Timberline has different front frame anchor brackets for the OEM skid plate that the other models do not have. You would have to find a 3rd party aftermarket skid plate.

Thank you - i thought that may be the case give the 2.3T vs the 3.0T, thanks for the research!

 

[VCFP153]

I definitely would buy mine again, however both my situation and my particular Explorer are somewhat different than most.

 

[Jost]

So sorry to hear this horror story.
Fix
Or
Repair
Daily indeed.
All I can say is I'm on my 5th or 6th Explorer and other than the usual wear and tear and pricy repairs over the years I've gotten close to 200,000 miles of usage from each of them.
I currently have a 2010 and my son a 2014.
I would strongly consider another Explorer in the future. It just does everything that I need in a vehicle.
Sorry for your experience !

FirstOnRaceDay

 

[Jost]

Yes, the 2.3 liter turbo 4 is legit and returns great gas mileage with good power. A twin turbo v6 at 400 hp is de-tuned a little bit on the Explorer. It could make more HP than that and they are fast. However, in its class the 2.3 liter is more than adequate for the RWD Explorer.

Great with 4WD also. Thats what mine has and very happy with the 2.3

 

[cantornikolaos]

"If you were to buy now, would you still buy what you bought?"​

Yeah. Well, yes, and no.

I bought a 2000 Explorer 5.0 AWD in NH that was surprisingly clean (very little visible rust), and low mileage, for its age. It has no frame damage. the leather is in nice shape for its age, with no tears. If I had that to do again, I would have kept the 2WD 2004 Exlorer and repaired the 4.6. Working on this thing has been hell because of the rust. All the bolts are different sized because the rust has eaten at them. It has been WAAAAAAAAAAY more work doing what should be simple repairs. It runs and drives good and is mechanically solid, but it has been a pain in the butt to work on. A lot more so than an Explorer should be. It will make a good hunting truck, or winter vehicle, but without AC, you can either build a new AC in there, or suffer in the summer.

I bought another 2000 5.0 AWD Explorer in SC this summer, and I would totally buy it again! It only thing I would do different is buy an older one if I could. I still really want a 1994 Eddie Bauer or Limited Explorer. The Explorer from NH actually drives slightly better, but this one is a lot easier to work on. One thing I insist on buying vehicles that I can work on myself, with basic tools. I think that should be a legal requirement. I hate FWD and wish it was illegal. There are maybe 1-2 FWD vehicles I would consider buying, and that is if nothing else was available. My bigget complaintabout the Explorer is the "quick connect" fuel and AC lines. I passionately hate those things! They should be illegal! Whoever invented them should be sent to a gulag, maybe a prison-mine. Those stupid quick disconnect tools NEVER work. Why couldn't those just be threaded connections?!!?

I want to live where it's nice and cool, but I'd rather buy my cars in the south!

 

[Sgt1411]

I think the original question was would you buy your 6th Generation Explorer again?.....vs the current segment competition. Not would you buy any model year Explorer again.

 

[1depd]

I would not buy the same vehicle. I would still buy an Explorer. When we were looking for a replacement I had it narrowed down to two options. The one we bought and a second one that had the same options plus a bench second row and tow packages. After having two trucks with tow packages we realized we don't tow much, so I opted for the slightly cheaper one without the tow package. I have a chronic disease that has gotten worse and use a mobility scooter. They don't make an "interior" lift for the Explorer, so I need the tow hitch to attach the lift. Other than that I am pleased with the car.

 

[BigJuan]

Absolutely NOT. Ours is an early model. Picked it up Nov. 1st 2019 and it has been a complete headache almost from day one. With a screen that go black or does respond, Seat controls that don't work half the time, seat heater that you can't turn off, Mirrors that continue to click when the fold out, rattles in the moonroof, clunks in the suspension, Auto Hold faults, loose interior trim, cracked manifold, leaking oil, transmission issues where it won't go in gear, hunts up and down for gears on flat roads, Start / stop that often won't restart unless you put it back in park and hit the start button. The list goes on.

This is by far the worst car we have owed. We hate driving it so much that it only has 10K miles on it in two years. We refuse to drive it anywhere further than a couple of miles from home as it's been on a tow truck 4 times. So yes, it has been back to the dealer several times for these issues.

Our 2018 with 108K on it is a nicer driving and more reliable car in every way. There will never be another Explorer in this house.

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

wow that is really not good, sorry you got such a bad one.

 

[blwnsmoke]

Absolutely NOT. Ours is an early model. Picked it up Nov. 1st 2019 and it has been a complete headache almost from day one. With a screen that go black or does respond, Seat controls that don't work half the time, seat heater that you can't turn off, Mirrors that continue to click when the fold out, rattles in the moonroof, clunks in the suspension, Auto Hold faults, loose interior trim, cracked manifold, leaking oil, transmission issues where it won't go in gear, hunts up and down for gears on flat roads, Start / stop that often won't restart unless you put it back in park and hit the start button. The list goes on.

This is by far the worst car we have owed. We hate driving it so much that it only has 10K miles on it in two years. We refuse to drive it anywhere further than a couple of miles from home as it's been on a tow truck 4 times. So yes, it has been back to the dealer several times for these issues.

Our 2018 with 108K on it is a nicer driving and more reliable car in every way. There will never be another Explorer in this house.

Sell it

 

[Jost]

While I absolutely see the merit of this thread I am going to share a summary one of my cars, since we hear so much negative on Fords and the Explorer. So...
I bought a new car, after a few thousand miles it had to be towed back to the dealership because it would not start. I was only told" electical" and that the actual problem was beyond the knowlege level of a consumer ( yeah right... I was working on cars before the service advisor who fed me that line was born). Ok, so summarize, coil packs would randomly fail, to the point I had to keep spares in the trunk if we we're to go anyplace. By 30K miles, 2 cats blew out. O2 sensors also at different times then the cats. 45K the power steering pump failed. Alternator at 50K. 60K cats went again but the coil packs seemed to be reliable now. By 70K I was going through a quart of oil every 500 miles. Oh, Power steering pump was binding again. There was a good assortment of other little problems that I won't even get into.
Some of you probably figured out what kind of car this was due to the coil pack and other electrical problems but for those who have not, it was an Audi. Not a cheap car! At that point I went back to my Fords and have been doing so since.
Lots of negatives are stated here but that happens on these forums, people rant. As others have stated there are hundreds of thousands of these cars out there..get what you like, get drives right for you and hope for the best. Any car can be a lemmon and any car can be great. I think more important, read the reviews of the service dept. at the dealership you are most likely going to bring the car to if there is a problem. Many of the problems here are routine and should of been fixed right the first time. Good luck with whatever you do!

 

[merlin0152]

If it's not too late I think that you should use the "Lemon Law" and force Ford to buy it back. Contact your State Attorney General.

I looked into that briefly. I believe they are controlled state to state but likely similar. Unfortunately, what I found was that the stringency to act on the law makes it really difficult. If I rember correctly, it has to be filed within the first year and other criteria like the amount of time the vehicle is out of your possession due to repairs. The time was something ridiculous like a cumulative 3 months total. We may have approached that but probably not to that extent. I think a manufacturer should be liable on something this expensive even going into year two; definitely would have met a criteria of 3 months over two years. It’s just a piece of junk. I believe this one in particular was manufactured at the Chicago facility….???? It’s possible there were just issues there. More likely an overall QC issue though considering the number of sub tier suppliers that are involved.

 

[Carbon23]

Thank you - i thought that may be the case give the 2.3T vs the 3.0T, thanks for the research!

I went through the same research and ended up installing PIU skid plates on my Limited with 2.3. Although PIU skids are made for the 3.0, all the mounting points were the same on the 2.3. Just had to tap the rear tranny mount holes as they were blanks. Only "issue" is the 2.3 oil filter is on the bottom of the engine so the front plate has to be removed during an oil/filter change. Link to the skids.

 

[DoraAExplorer]

Lots of folks complaining in this thread are for older generation Explorers, the 6th gen is the best most advanced Explorer to date.

Ford will stand behind them for the periods of warranty.

 

[peterk9]

Lots of folks complaining in this thread are for older generation Explorers, the 6th gen is the best most advanced Explorer to date.

Ford will stand behind them for the periods of warranty.

It seems the thread title has been edited, by the OP I'm guessing, to 6th Gen (2020+)

Peter

 

[ExplorerS8NH8N]

"If you were to buy now, would you still buy what you bought?"​

Yeah. Well, yes, and no.

I bought a 2000 Explorer 5.0 AWD in NH that was surprisingly clean (very little visible rust), and low mileage, for its age. It has no frame damage. the leather is in nice shape for its age, with no tears. If I had that to do again, I would have kept the 2WD 2004 Exlorer and repaired the 4.6. Working on this thing has been hell because of the rust. All the bolts are different sized because the rust has eaten at them. It has been WAAAAAAAAAAY more work doing what should be simple repairs. It runs and drives good and is mechanically solid, but it has been a pain in the butt to work on. A lot more so than an Explorer should be. It will make a good hunting truck, or winter vehicle, but without AC, you can either build a new AC in there, or suffer in the summer.

I bought another 2000 5.0 AWD Explorer in SC this summer, and I would totally buy it again! It only thing I would do different is buy an older one if I could. I still really want a 1994 Eddie Bauer or Limited Explorer. The Explorer from NH actually drives slightly better, but this one is a lot easier to work on. One thing I insist on buying vehicles that I can work on myself, with basic tools. I think that should be a legal requirement. I hate FWD and wish it was illegal. There are maybe 1-2 FWD vehicles I would consider buying, and that is if nothing else was available. My bigget complaintabout the Explorer is the "quick connect" fuel and AC lines. I passionately hate those things! They should be illegal! Whoever invented them should be sent to a gulag, maybe a prison-mine. Those stupid quick disconnect tools NEVER work. Why couldn't those just be threaded connections?!!?

I want to live where it's nice and cool, but I'd rather buy my cars in the south!

I have a 2007 Eddie Bauer Explorer 4.0 and I absolutely love it. 14 yrs old and repairs are minimal at best (brakes, rear end leak, sway bars) and I have had it for 9 of those 14 yrs. I found a good one with super low miles, then took pristine care of it. It was my full time vehicle until just last year. My daughter has a 2008 Eddie Bauer 4.0. same issues due to salt on the roads, things rust out. Jealous though because the 2008 Eddie Bauer came with Bluetooth!

 

[merlin0152]

Not sure why you are comparing a 5th gen with the 6th gen. They are completely different vehicles and platforms. This is about the 6th gen Explorers.

You’re right. I’m sure Ford completely fixed all the QC problems from 5th gen to 6th. I’m sure those owners have nothing to worry about even though the same facility with the same technicians and same suppliers are likely used across the board. Best of luck with that. Everyone is entitled to do their own research and invest their money with Ford if they see fit. Not this consumer.

 

[DoraAExplorer]

You’re right. I’m sure Ford completely fixed all the QC problems from 5th gen to 6th. I’m sure those owners have nothing to worry about even though the same facility with the same technicians and same suppliers are likely used across the board. Best of luck with that. Everyone is entitled to do their own research and invest their money with Ford if they see fit. Not this consumer.

The 6th gen is a completely different design, platform, and vehicle sharing little to no parts with the older models besides engines. They went from a fwd format to rwd based. For the most part it is a ground up redesign, comparing a 5th gen to a 6th gen would be like comparing a totally different vehicle redesign that shares its name only.