In praise of the XLT

[Rubberhead]

I’m a value buyer for everything but this painful trait (or obsession) hits a fevered pitch when I’m buying a new car. For the last three iterations I have bought myself a Ford Explorer XLT. When my wife wanted a Honda Pilot I got her an Eddie Bauer Explorer. When I bought my daughter a car for her graduation present I got her a Limited Escape (that’s got more bells and whistle than I thought possible on such a small SUV). But, I’m trying to maintain rough-and-tumble man’s man persona so I just can’t be seen driving a ‘luxury’ car coated with gadgets and badges.

Push-button start? Please. I duck hunt 3 months out of the year and end up soaked all too often. I don’t think the e-key could survive the places I go. Air conditioned seats? I wouldn’t want my hiking buddies to even know that was possible. Help parallel parking? I don’t think I’ve parallel parked since I took the driver’s test in 1979 (in a 1972 Delta 88 Oldsmobile). Besides, if I’m not going to work, I’m usually pulling a boat trailer anyway. Heated steering wheel? I live in the coastal south – my steering wheel is usually too hot to touch - can they help with that one?. I like the looks of the EXPLORER badge on the front of the Sport but can only imagine how hard it would be to clean the bugs out of the ‘P’ and ‘R’s after driving down a country highway at twilight. I’m old and listen to talk radio almost exclusively; HD and subwoofers just don’t interest me. A cargo net? Half of my ‘cargo’ was already caught, picked-up or landed in a net before it gets to the car anyway so it’s way past needing another net. It seems to me that all the options of the Limited or Sport would make me subject to caring for my vehicle rather than having the vehicle working for me.

I really like having the additional knob to adjust the fan speed without having to ask permission of my steering wheel or trying to hit some softkey while bouncing down a country road. The offsetting gray grille looks good to me too. The foundry gray grille on the base model looks even better. Body-colored grilles make a car look, in my opinion, anemic.

The truth is that I’d love every single option Ford offers on my Explorer, and can afford it, but I’m just too OC to enjoy them if I ever bought them. Thank you Ford for keeping the XLT in the sweet spot of the Explorer line-up just don’t tell my duck hunting buddies that I insisted on getting the heated seats.

 

[peterk9]

I don't disagree with much of what you stated. In the 3 years I had my 2011 Ltd, I used the park assist once just to see what it was like. Very little parallel parking required around here. What I did like is the push button start and keyless entry. You always have the option of locking the fob in the vehicle and it will deactivate. I also like the contrasting grille.

Peter

 

[kirstenb]

I completely agree and love our XLT. Has features I want without those I don't. A neighbor had a Volvo with leather seats years ago. I complimented her on them, and she said she'd never get another car with them (too hot in the summer here). So the leather seats, and other features in the more expensive Explorers aren't what I'm looking for. I do like the dual climate control, and back up camera that came with our car. I almost bought the basic Explorer, but the seats seemed plasticky to me (like Nana's plastic couch covers, lol!!!). I agree that the XLT seems to hit the sweet spot for us too.

 

[tmg19103]

Totally respect what the base and the standard XLT offer. If you don't need it/use it, might as well save the money.

That being said, my XLT (see sig below) is pretty loaded. Only thing I wish I had was memory seats. The power folding rear seats and rear hatch are too slow for me, so no prob not having them. I do like how the power second row flips up fast. Wouldn't mind that, but even though I have an XLT, I do like some gadgets, leather, etc. for a city/suburban vehicle.

My Escape is a standard XLT. Cloth, nothing special. That's my beach/fishing rig so I get the OP on not wanting something so nice you are afraid to get it dirty.

 

[alexk]

The XLT does the job for me too! Has just the right amount of features that I was looking for..give me my sunroof and leather seats and I'm a happy camper!! Although I wish I would have gotten nav (I've gotten lost more times than I care to admit), and the a/c seats are nice too but I don't need them.
It's funny, I was so tempted to trade my explorer for a grand cherokee overland summit today, a car with all the bells and whistles but when I saw my explorer sitting in the parking lot I just couldn't do it. I've become strangely attached to this car..I have no clue what I'm going to do when my lease is up...

 

[182RG]

XLT + MFT, Nav, Leather, and Moonroof. Did not want the Limited specifically to avoid the low profile 20" wheels, and the perforated leather seats. Only missed feature is BLIS. The rest were unnecessary gimmicks (Autopark, etc.)

 

[Odrapnew]

I don't disagree with much of what you stated. In the 3 years I had my 2011 Ltd, I used the park assist once just to see what it was like. Very little parallel parking required around here. What I did like is the push button start and keyless entry. You always have the option of locking the fob in the vehicle and it will deactivate. I also like the contrasting grille.

Peter

Good point there. That would be a nice feature for a duck hunter(such as the OP). You can lock the key inside(hidding of course) and not have to worry about losing the key in the middle of a field.

 

[peterk9]

Not a fan of the low profiles either. On my Limited I would have preferred an option for 17" or 18" wheels. Best features used most often were the keyless entry/push button start and Active Cruise Control.

Peter

 

[Halwg]

I have an 2014 XLT with limited options. It's a very nice car, but the one thing I don't like about it are the 18" wheels. If the base model would offer 17" alloy wheels instead of steel wheels with hubcaps, that would be a better option for me as a work vehicle.

Now I see the 2015 Base has the alloy 18" wheels, so with that being the case, I'd opt for the XLT anyway.