dont slow down
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- December 1, 2014
- Messages
- 177
- Reaction score
- 6
- City, State
- Elizabeth City NC
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2022 Explorer Limited
So the wife and I had a wedding to attend last weekend and we decided to carpool with another couple and rent a car to avoid putting 1900 miles on either of our cars. We were originally given a Nissan Rogue but were upgraded (long story) to a brand new 2016 Explorer. My wife and I own a 2013 XLT Ex and love it, so I knew I would love the 2016.
First off this 2016 was brand new, 112 mile on the odometer new. It was also an XLT and Charcoal grey so I was looking forward to seeing how it differed and compared to our 2013. There were some things I liked and disliked.
1. I originally wasn't a fan of the new headlight and fog light styling changes on the 2016, I'm still not sure if I love it but it did grow on me over the 5 days we had it.
2. I noticed the cruise control was MUCH smoother on the 16 vs the 13. When changing speeds you could hardly feel the change in the 16. Our 13 is pretty smooth and the bump in acceleration is minimal, but man the 16 was just seamless! I wonder if this is controlled by firmware that could be updated in our 13?
3. I really missed the Climate page on the right instrument cluster in the 16. I use it all the time in ours and I was disappointed to see it gone. Also on the Climate note I didn't really care for all the new buttons on the dash below the Sync screen. It seemed redundant when all that is on the Climate page of the Sync display.
4. The power rear liftgate was very nice and I knew when we bought our 13 that I would want it, but it wasn't in our budget. Having it on the 16 was pretty awesome.
5. It's really nice to see Ford went to the Sharkfin antenna on the roof. It looks so much cleaner. I want to do this mod to our 13 but the non factory ones have been on back order. I wonder if the Ford one is interchangeable between years?
6. The paddle shifters on the steering wheel in the 16.....not a fan of those. I bumped them many times. I'm sure if I owned it I would eventually get used to it but in the few days we drove it I didn't really care for them.
7. Push button start. This nearly stranded our group in the middle of nowhere! We had stopped at a vista point on the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway in NC to check out the view. When we went to leave the car would not start, a message on the left display showed "Steering assist fault detected. Service required". Needless to say that out of our group none of us had cell phone service either. No matter what we did it wouldn't start. We tried turning it off, locking the car, and wiggling the steering wheel and it still wouldn't start. With it being a brand new car and a rental we also could not find a manual for the car either (I later found it the day I returned the car in the spare tired compartment.) We finally flagged down a passerby and borrowed a phone to call the rental company. After finding out the tow truck would be there in over an hour another passerby suggested turning the wheel all the way. So I turned it all the way right, all the way left, and back to center. The car started right up! I was a little disappointed with that system. I'm sure having the manual at the time may have helped.
8. I did enjoy the leather seats but I'm glad ours does not have it. I also enjoyed the power seat back, our 13 is just power seats.
9. The front facing parking sensors were awesome! I wish ours had those, they would make my wife feel a little more confident when parking and making tight turns.
Overall it's still a very nice vehicle. I would still buy a new one if I was in the market for one but I'm still very satisfied with our 13, which I also changed all the lights to LED. Still can't believe Ford is not doing this. If only I could afford two Explorers.....
First off this 2016 was brand new, 112 mile on the odometer new. It was also an XLT and Charcoal grey so I was looking forward to seeing how it differed and compared to our 2013. There were some things I liked and disliked.
1. I originally wasn't a fan of the new headlight and fog light styling changes on the 2016, I'm still not sure if I love it but it did grow on me over the 5 days we had it.
2. I noticed the cruise control was MUCH smoother on the 16 vs the 13. When changing speeds you could hardly feel the change in the 16. Our 13 is pretty smooth and the bump in acceleration is minimal, but man the 16 was just seamless! I wonder if this is controlled by firmware that could be updated in our 13?
3. I really missed the Climate page on the right instrument cluster in the 16. I use it all the time in ours and I was disappointed to see it gone. Also on the Climate note I didn't really care for all the new buttons on the dash below the Sync screen. It seemed redundant when all that is on the Climate page of the Sync display.
4. The power rear liftgate was very nice and I knew when we bought our 13 that I would want it, but it wasn't in our budget. Having it on the 16 was pretty awesome.
5. It's really nice to see Ford went to the Sharkfin antenna on the roof. It looks so much cleaner. I want to do this mod to our 13 but the non factory ones have been on back order. I wonder if the Ford one is interchangeable between years?
6. The paddle shifters on the steering wheel in the 16.....not a fan of those. I bumped them many times. I'm sure if I owned it I would eventually get used to it but in the few days we drove it I didn't really care for them.
7. Push button start. This nearly stranded our group in the middle of nowhere! We had stopped at a vista point on the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway in NC to check out the view. When we went to leave the car would not start, a message on the left display showed "Steering assist fault detected. Service required". Needless to say that out of our group none of us had cell phone service either. No matter what we did it wouldn't start. We tried turning it off, locking the car, and wiggling the steering wheel and it still wouldn't start. With it being a brand new car and a rental we also could not find a manual for the car either (I later found it the day I returned the car in the spare tired compartment.) We finally flagged down a passerby and borrowed a phone to call the rental company. After finding out the tow truck would be there in over an hour another passerby suggested turning the wheel all the way. So I turned it all the way right, all the way left, and back to center. The car started right up! I was a little disappointed with that system. I'm sure having the manual at the time may have helped.
8. I did enjoy the leather seats but I'm glad ours does not have it. I also enjoyed the power seat back, our 13 is just power seats.
9. The front facing parking sensors were awesome! I wish ours had those, they would make my wife feel a little more confident when parking and making tight turns.
Overall it's still a very nice vehicle. I would still buy a new one if I was in the market for one but I'm still very satisfied with our 13, which I also changed all the lights to LED. Still can't believe Ford is not doing this. If only I could afford two Explorers.....