Is it time to part with this '03 Explorer?

[NJExplorerFan]

Hey Guys,

I've come to a crucial point in the life of my 2003 Explorer XLT V8. I do love the thing and it has served me very well in the last 4 1/2 years. It has 126K miles and needs some pretty significant maintenance done, probably best before the winter comes. I need 2 new rear springs, new rear brakes, new hub/bearing assembly in the driver rear wheel and 4 new tires. I do have all the other common problems - rattling torque converter, howling rear differential, clicking rear e-brakes, door ajar issue (every so often). The transmission also sometimes take a while to get into gear and it's just slow with its shifting, and sometime bangs into gear. It just performs like it's getting tired and old. I believe it's the original transmission too and I'm worried it will go soon if I fix all the maintenance issues above. I'm told a few thousand dollar to get it all buttoned up with parts and labor. But I think it's only worth that in total value around my neck of the woods.

So where I'm going with this is if it's worth repairing all these items? With family planning right now and a potential infant on the way in the next year or so, my gut tells me it's not really safe. Is it time to put those maintenance expenses towards something new?

 

[Joe in NY]

With family expenses coming up I would invest in something better than one of fords worst cars ever... I would sell it and find something newer or just much more reliable.

Sorry to hear you only got 126K out of her.. I would be a bit upset if I only get 120K out of mine and all that happens. I would expect that around 150~200+k but I guess I have high expectations


Congrats on the future little one!

 

[zerodevil]

I had my transmission go at 145k miles, rebuilt the whole suspension, brake system, hubs, drive line, (CV joints, half shafts, CV impeller shaft). and im into this truck about 7 grand in the last two years alone. I would not recommend dumping lots of money into the truck, especially if it is already have lots of issues. Because the hits just keep coming with this platform.

There is an extremely high chance that the transmission is going to wear through the case around the servo pins. Its a design flaw that ford NEVER fixed. If you make it past 150K miles you should start counting your blessings.

Congrats on the little one! Becoming a father changed my life for the best man.

 

[NJExplorerFan]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Yeah, my gut tells me to move on. Whooaaaa, no little one yet. LOL... We're working on it. Just saying it would be in the future for long term planning with the truck. ha ha... but thanks anyway. Hopefully it will come soon

Am I way off by thinking it's worth $3-4K with all that needed maintenance?

 

[Tyleryac]

It depends on where in NJ you are. Here in Bergen Country, everything is more expensive.

 

[pet575]

$3-4K sounds high to me even with the work done. People who do any type of research on these trucks know about their issues and aren't willing to buy a 12 year old vehicle with 120k+ miles that they know they might be facing $2-3K in repairs on down the line.

Fix and sell is the same thing as sell and get away from it. Except you're throwing good money away to not get it back later.

 

[wifes2011xlt]

Have you got any repairs into yet? If not, the repairs might be a good investment, at least for the short term until you get a better idea on when kids are on the horizon. I would do tires at least. That way when you go to trade in or sell privately, it might present a little nicer to the dealership or private buyer. Oh and brakes too but I agree not to throw a ton of money into something that's worth $4k (ish).

 

[SyberTiger]

The cost of repairs is directly proportional to how much of the repairs you can do yourself. Do the repairs yourself and same a ton of money...hire out the repairs and spend a ton of money. I don't think I'd keep the vehicle if I had to pay someone to do the repairs although I understand that rebuilding the transmission isn't something that most weekend garage warriors do on their own especially without experience or the tools.

 

[pet575]

I think you'd be EXTREMELY lucky to get $3K for the vehicle. As was said, maybe the best approach is to DIY as much as you can and hold out hope on the transmission until you can either get yourself another vehicle or get this one sold. I wouldn't go spend $800-1,000 on tires and expect to be able to add all of that to the price to get you up to $4K.

Seems like you could give a new solenoid pack a shot for $300 + fluid and filter costs (maybe $400 total) and fix the ebrake for less than $50 to get rid of a lot of the issues. You could also get the wheel bearing/hub assembly for roughly $125 to DIY. There is plenty of info on here for any DIY guy who has changed spark plugs, brake pads, or done any other repairs

You put $550-600 in it and that would leave you with the tire issue. To replace or not to replace? If you can sell it without replacing them then you might get your $3K and only put $550-600 in it to that point to get out of it.

If you kept it, I wouldn't bother with the rear end until it fails. I had my pinion ring replaced under the warranty at 50K miles and the noise was back WAY before I hit 100k. I'm at 252k and still haven't replaced it again. It howls but it hasn't failed and I tow two different boats with mine. Don't worry about the howl.

Door ajar thing also seems like a DIY that people have covered on here if you search for it.

I wouldn't be scared to death of anything you have going on other than if the tranny quits on you. Obviously that risk is going to be there for you until you either get rid of it or it gets rebuild.

 

[pet575]

I was in a similar situation a few years ago with mine. It was paid off and I had about 150k on it. I figured a new trans for around $2,500 was better than a car payment. Ended up getting another 100k and a few more years without having to spend it. But if I had to, I was willing at that time to spend the $2,500 to avoid spending $25,000+ to replace it with a newer version.

Maybe that helps you make your decision/plan?

 

[wifes2011xlt]

I noticed that my cars run a lot better when my loan debt on them reaches zero.

Personally, I'd rather spend a little to get more out of my vehicles. Like I said earlier, do the tires and brakes at the very least and see how long that lasts you. At the very least the cost of those repairs may only need to last a couple or so months (equivalent to car payments) for the investment to pay for itself. And tires and brakes would be one of the first things potential buyers will notice so personally that's why I would do those anyways.

 

[ExcursionMJ]

Lifetime warranty pads brake pads- $22.
Rear bearing/hub assembly - $135
Rear diff fluid change - $8 for friction modifier - $20 for full synthetic fluid
4 tires - $370 http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...Year=2003&autoModel=Explorer XLT&autoModClar=

I run those tires on my AWD Mountaineer. They look good, have good tread, ride nice, quiet, awesome wet traction, and they look like they'll do good in winter.

Transmission fluid change - Let's just say right around $100 for a shop to do it.

You can do the brakes, rear diff fluid change, and rear hub probably yourself. If not, I'm sure you could find a friend to help do these. They are pretty straight forward jobs, and tons of people have posted tutorials and pictures of how to do this stuff. The rear hub will have to be pressed in, which can be a little more difficult, but not bad. Tires you wouldn't spend more than $450 to get them put on and everything.

So for now you'd be looking at $750 roughly. Yes is it a lot to spend? Sure but then your brakes don't need to be changed for another 4 or 5 years and you'll get those replaced for free once they wear out because you got lifetime pads. Tires will last you another 5 years +. You won't have to worry about the rear hub for a good long while. Changing the tranny fluid and rear diff fluid should help them last longer. The differential may whine like crazy, but fluid change should help and the diff will still go for some years even while whining.

It's really up to you, but for $750 or round about there you'll have a pretty good running vehicle that should get you through at least two more years solidly, and you can begin saving up for a family and a new vehicle now. To me that is worth it because otherwise you'll just be spending, spending, spending on a new car. And unless you buy brand spanking new, you'll have repairs no matter the year of the car. Even people with 09s, 10s, and 11s come into the shop I work at for repairs. Obviously the amount of repairs and money for those repairs will be smaller, but every car has issues/needs repairs. Then you get into what kind of warranty you can get for a pre-owned car and all of that.

 

[MCH86GN]

I have a 2002 Explorer. No problems with the transmission yet and engine runs very quite. V8, I just bought a 2014 Cruze and for giggles I took the explorer in and ask about trade in. They offered me $1k, to "take it off my hands" even though the SOB runs fine. The only issue us I need to fix the door ajar switch.

106k miles on it.

 

[wifes2011xlt]

I have a 2002 Explorer. No problems with the transmission yet and engine runs very quite. V8, I just bought a 2014 Cruze and for giggles I took the explorer in and ask about trade in. They offered me $1k, to "take it off my hands" even though the SOB runs fine. The only issue us I need to fix the door ajar switch.

106k miles on it.

Did they do any sort of inspection? Did you clean it up at all?

 

[MCH86GN]

Did they do any sort of inspection? Did you clean it up at all?

My wife spent 3 hours vacuuming it and ran it through a car wash. There is no rusting and the vehicle looks good. Of course they did an inspection. They told my wife the engine was knocking. When the engine is running, you can barely hear it, the engine that is. There is no knocking. The only thing I can figure is they checked the diagnostic codes and it showed a misfire on cylinder 5. Somehow the connector to the COP got disconnected. Of course if a cylinder isn't firing, it will the throw the engine of balance and that is when noticed that something was wrong. I checked and seen that the connector wasn't plugged in. Probably because I had changed the spark plugs in the spring and didn't make sure it was clipped on. Plugged it in and the engine runs so smooth. In the vehicle at a stop light, you can barely hear the engine running.

 

[faco]

We have close to 170K miles on the explorer and I have thought about the same question : When the time comes when big items go bad, should we buy another used/new one or fix this one?

If you look at the vehicle as an "investment" only (I do not want to spend 4K because it is worth 3K) then you will always be buying new/newer, which does not guarantee freedom from mechanical phantoms.

I have decided that when the time comes, I will budget 10K (hopefully not at the same time lol) to drop a new engine and tranny, and get another 200K miles since I feel anything else mechanical I can tackle - with the knowledge here, and the car is mint otherwise and a pleasure to drive.

The option become more difficult when you do not have the ability/time to fix stuff yourself - that is where the saving are.

 

[NJExplorerFan]

I wish I had the tools and time to fix this stuff on my own but I always end up paying someone else. That's where the bulk of the cost comes in.

 

[extra-medium]

I have put probably close to $1,500 in new parts in my Mountaineer over the last few months. I could have put that money as a down payment towards something else, but with being so close to paying it off, and it being a good running truck, I can't justify getting rid of it. Pick up the parts off of rockauto.com and if you have a buddy who works for a shop, check if he could do the repairs off the clock. There comes a time when you just pass on the repairs and get a new car, but the stuff you listed is all basic things that could be fixed over time and you could still get many more miles out of it.
I say fix things one by one and keep running it.

 

[partsman48210]

Everyone here has some great points. It really depends on what you need personally.

I personally enjoy doing my own work for the cost savings and knowing what's been done and that it's been done right. We have a sport Trac that we've owned since New and we know we will never sell it. It hasn't cost us much until recently but the best thing is we know the things that have been replaced, what needs replaced and what might need replaced in the future. In my opinion this is a great reason for keeping a vehicle long term.

If you decide you want to by a newer used vehicle, I would suggest something still under warranty or not far out of warranty. This way you can "assume" it has been taken care of.

My wife and I tried not to have a payment for a long time but last year we decided I would drive the older vehicles and she would lease. I like the idea of her and my kids having the security of a new and more reliable vehicle. Me, I'm a survivalist. I'll make anything work.

 

[lincolnshibuya]

The explorer is not worth keeping if you are not doing the repairs yourself especially at this mileage where it starts to break down. The value of trading it in or selling it personally is also not that much to sink more money.

Within the last month I spent almost $600 for new front shocks, rack and pinion, alignment, IAC and 6 new COPs DIY. The fixes alone could cost $2000+ in a shop and higher from a dealership. I am hoping there will be no more issues in the next 10-20k.

When my AC died 2 years ago, the shop quoted me $2000. DIY is around $600 but that includes the tools (ac manifold gauge and vacuum pump, $450 for parts alone)

I could say the same thing with my other vehicles with "Ford" in it.