Kept My Explorer and Love it

[chimoman]

Hey,
Just want to tell everyone that I kept my explorer and it is one of the best vehicles I have ever owned. Coming up on one year in 2 weeks. Yes there were some minor issues. Knew that going in. They were all fixed and my dealer has been very accomodating. I test drove all the competition. So I'm not quite sure where people come on here and talk trash about leg room and size. Everyone that gets in it is amazed at how roomy the interior is. How beautiful the interior is and how cool it looks. A buddy of mine who would rather chop his nuts off then compliment a Ford even said he had to give it to Ford. He said it was one of the nicest vehicles he's ever seen. So...... don't listen to all the nay sayers out there. I swear to God some of them are GM dealers. Kudos to Ford for coming out with one of the best vehicles of 2011, and when MFT is upgraded ( Never had any trouble with mine by the way) Government Motors and Dodge are in trouble.

FANBOY.

 

[spitfisher]

That's a very good decision, there are lots of new wonderfully designed vehicles out there they all have hiccups associated design & electronics some much simplier than ours including MB, Lexus/Toyota Acura/Honda and the Hyundai group.....Having owned my XLT 301a for a few months, I am often stopped and asked what ford is that, when I answer "explorer" they can't believ it, If I have time I show them the interior and they're blown away.I had one older gentleman argue with me that it's a the new land rover. I drive for work (sales) and expect to put 35k a year, at 6 3" it has A very comfortable seating and leg room for longer trips. You made a very wise decision in keeping it.

 

[BobbyTony]

Just be careful with the touchscreen when it gets cold out! The stupid thing cracks easier than an iPad! And costs more to replace!

 

[Joe Dirt]

chinoman- did you consider a Yukon Denali?

 

[sport97]

Glad you like it! I need to go sit in one some time, I've only ever looked in the window.

chinoman- did you consider a Yukon Denali?

Lmao, thats too funny.

 

[chimoman]

chinoman- did you consider a Yukon Denali?

Why yes Mr. Dirt I did. For about half a milisecond. My wife wanted a Yukon, almost paid upwards of 90K for it here in Canada. We own a 4x4 Silverado and to be honest they are the same damn vehicle when sitting in the drivers seat. Bonnet is the same, engine is the same. Now the silverado is a a good truck and has over 278K kilometers on it. Wife's mind was all made up. She test drove all the vehicles we hit up, which was pretty much every SUV going. She's extremely fussy and she ended up picking the Explorer. Why, because of the smooth ride, good gas mileage and overall look of the vehicle. Not that I wasn't sitting next to her every step of the way saying,,,,, the Explorer is the best.... Explorer is the best.... Look honey it takes over a hundred and twenty dollars to fill up the Yukon and only 70 to fill up the Explorer and they get the same amount of Kilometers (around 625 as of right now on a full tank). In the end I am extremely pleased with our choice. I mean hers. She loves it. Ours is fully loaded and compared to a fully loaded Denali about 40K cheaper. We could have bought 2 explorers for the price of the fully loaded Deniali... not a typo I said Deniali. Chev makes good Silverado's..... engines anyway, the body is rusting out of it like a son of a *****. Rocker panels are shot and all the wheel wells are rusting out. Soon be time for a new pick up truck. Anyway, that's a different forum all together.

Thanks for asking Joe. Needed to get that off my chest. LOL.::

 

[chimoman]

Just be careful with the touchscreen when it gets cold out! The stupid thing cracks easier than an iPad! And costs more to replace!

Lived in Saskatoon for a bit. I know how cold it can get out there. Does it just crack in the cold or is it when you press on it. It's been down to -20 here in New Brunswick. I always start it up for about 15 to 25 minutes on really cold days. Let her warm up real good. That's after I take it out of the heated garage. I just hate the environment. Damn hippies. I've heard of the screen cracking before but wasn't sure if it was people pressing on a cold screen or just the cold cracking it. Cheers

Wouldn't that be covered under warranty. I went to the states and got the 7 year 100,000 mile full coverage. No worries for me when it comes to warranty work. :::::

 

[jrmexplorer]

This thread is awesome! Count me in on it. After almost 10k miles I still get excited to drive it.

I just don't understand why people start threads telling everyone why they dumped the Explorer, or chose some other car over the Explorer. To me those threads are kinda offensive. They are basically saying "The car you all are driving is a piece of *hit and here's why and I'm so much better than you!"

Honestly, a lot of people choose cars other than the Explorer every day, or trades in their Explorers every day - guess what?? NO ONE CARES! I didn't go to a Subaru forum to tell them why I think their Tribeca (which I traded in after less than a year) sucked. I figured that if they're happy with their car, why insult them?

 

[Rocketfan]

Honestly, a lot of people choose cars other than the Explorer every day, or trades in their Explorers every day - guess what?? NO ONE CARES! I didn't go to a Subaru forum to tell them why I think their Tribeca (which I traded in after less than a year) sucked. I figured that if they're happy with their car, why insult them?

Don't take it so personally. No one is insulting anyone by expressing frustration with problems they are having with a car they were originally very excited about (excited enough to spend $40k in some cases).

The forum is for all of us, happy and unhappy. I was very happy for about a month (and posted many very positive things) until my MFT started its downward spiral into the land of intermittent failure of some or all of its highly touted features. While other cars I have owned have had issues, I have never had such consistent issues with a nav system/ head unit as I have had with the Explorer and my experience (judging by the professional reviewers and posts here) is unfortunately not unique.

I am glad you are happy with your purchase. Except for MFT and a piece of trim that came loose in the third row seat the second time I used the power fold, I am happy too. I am just really tired of waiting for Ford to fix MFT. As stated in another post, I am willing to give Ford another chance, but based on past experience don't hold out much hope.

If Ford's next big update does not fix the problem and I abandon the Explorer and trade/ sell it, I won't be back to this board. The sad thing is that if this happens, I will never buy a Ford again (sad because I have always been a Ford guy and if the problems expressed on the board are directed at anyone, they are to Ford and not other form posters). I am not saying this to criticize anyone else's experience but just doing what this forum is designed to do: namely, give people a voice regarding this subject and let others having issues or considering the Explorer see other owners' experiences and viewpoints (both good and bad).

 

[Joe Dirt]

Randys1 is now discussing the following:

...in fairness to ford, i would have never bought one but the local dealer was a client...but always had gm or bmw in past, when i could afford bmw...so to buy a ford that i didnt want and then to complain about the inevitable lack of quality that i know exists is not fair of me, i just want it to work and then I will stop complaining like a little girl (sexist remark, apologies to the women here)

Any thoughts about the "inevitable lack of build quality" in your Explorer?

<prod prod>

:

This could be a great vent thread for those who read owners manuals and stuff like that...

 

[EX-SV]

Well done, one year of ownership and no costly trade-in.

 

[BobbyTony]

Lived in Saskatoon for a bit. I know how cold it can get out there. Does it just crack in the cold or is it when you press on it. It's been down to -20 here in New Brunswick. I always start it up for about 15 to 25 minutes on really cold days. Let her warm up real good. That's after I take it out of the heated garage. I just hate the environment. Damn hippies. I've heard of the screen cracking before but wasn't sure if it was people pressing on a cold screen or just the cold cracking it. Cheers

Wouldn't that be covered under warranty. I went to the states and got the 7 year 100,000 mile full coverage. No worries for me when it comes to warranty work. :::::

Unfortunately we don't know the cause, as we found it cracked. We also have full meal warranty, but it doesn't cover damage, so if Ford says it is because of neglect rather than poor material then they don't cover it.