FlexBaud
New Member
- Joined
- June 5, 2008
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Pensacola, FL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1993 XLT
I've been spending a few days on this site reading up on some interesting items and decided to join 
I recently got a 1993 Explorer XLT (I will try to post pictures later) which I am planning to use as a daily driver as I had to get rid of my Escape as I was recently laid off and had to cut costs (car payments)
The Good:
Price. I paid $900 for the Explorer. Free and clear title!
It Ran. I was able to drive it home after I paid for it.
Body. It's in decent shape other than a few dents. No Rust.
Sunroof
Power Locks work perfectly
Transmission seems to be OK
No Accidents (CarFax Verified)
All Dash works perfect (ODO, Speedo, Trip, etc)
The Bad:
200,000 miles on the ODO
Engine ran rough. Lots of random blue smoke (Fixed)
Engine need's a head job (bad valve gaskets)
Bad Muffier (Fixed)
Power Windows do not work (gears need replacement)
Worn Tires, Missing Wheel, No Spare (spare on car) (Almost Fixed)
AC does not work (Black Death)
Stereo was not connected and wires were a mess (Fixed)
Speakers are shot
Ignition needs replacement (it still works, just worn)
Shocks need replacing
Transmission Pan Leaking (Almost Fixed)
Inside of Explorer was a mess (Warn Seats, Bad Carpet, etc) (Fixed)
Lots of "small" things (Break Light Busted, Rear View Mirror, etc) (Almost Fixed)
The Story:
So I was in the market for a new car and spent some time around town at car lots. Most of the cars/SUV's I seen were in very bad shape and they wanted premium prices. Before I found this one, I was looking at another, same year, for $3000. It too wasn't even in the best of shape (power windows did not work, speedo was busted, burning smell from engine area (transmission smell)
I ran accross this gem on the way home after giving up at the dealerships. I decided to buy it after taking it for a short test drive. On the way home, we had a huge cloud of blue smoke behind us come out of nowhere and we noticed some smoke inside as well. When we arrived at the house, we started checking under the hood and noticed a lot of oil in places where it shouldn't. We checked the oil and it was full to the top of the dipstick!! We took it to a local shop and had the oil changed and the excape ran near perfect and we no longer had blue smoke. We then took it to a muffiler shop and had it replaced. Total Cost so far: $150. The car was now very driveable. It does smoke a tad bit when it's first started, but this is due to the valves need replacing (head job)
We then went to a junk yard to find a rim and other small parts (break lights, rear view mirror, etc) and we pretty much got everything we needed. While there, I found some excellent seats from a explorer that looked pretty much new, in fact, the entire explorer did. We took the seats to replace mine (which was horrible) and the carpet as well. While out, we picked up some Luca's Oil Treatment, and Transmission Treatment. We also picked up the kit for fixing the transmission. Also grabbed an Air Filter and PCV valve for good measure. We also had AC checked which is when we found out black death killed it.
At the current time, we are still working on installing/fixing these issues. However, the explorer is drivable and runs decent. I just have not been driving it because of the warn tires and lack of spare. Engine is fine and starts right up
Next Severance Check/Stimilus Check:
New Tires all around (important)
Tune up (Spark Plugs and Cables)
Power Windows Fixed
AC (hopefully anyway)
Conclusion: all in all, I don't think I did so bad. I will miss my 2003 Escape, however, with 85,000 miles on it and still 3.5 years of $400 a month payments (owed $12,500) I think the Explorer is a much better choice. It's costing a bit to fix it up, but I believe once it's fixed up, it'll last me a long time, at least a few years anyway. I'd like to see the ODO go to 300k, which I am confident it will if I stay on top of any repairs it might need in the future! I will say, I will not miss car payments and it's a bit of an exciting experience fixing up and customizing a car too
I recently got a 1993 Explorer XLT (I will try to post pictures later) which I am planning to use as a daily driver as I had to get rid of my Escape as I was recently laid off and had to cut costs (car payments)
The Good:
Price. I paid $900 for the Explorer. Free and clear title!
It Ran. I was able to drive it home after I paid for it.
Body. It's in decent shape other than a few dents. No Rust.
Sunroof
Power Locks work perfectly
Transmission seems to be OK
No Accidents (CarFax Verified)
All Dash works perfect (ODO, Speedo, Trip, etc)
The Bad:
200,000 miles on the ODO
Engine ran rough. Lots of random blue smoke (Fixed)
Engine need's a head job (bad valve gaskets)
Bad Muffier (Fixed)
Power Windows do not work (gears need replacement)
Worn Tires, Missing Wheel, No Spare (spare on car) (Almost Fixed)
AC does not work (Black Death)
Stereo was not connected and wires were a mess (Fixed)
Speakers are shot
Ignition needs replacement (it still works, just worn)
Shocks need replacing
Transmission Pan Leaking (Almost Fixed)
Inside of Explorer was a mess (Warn Seats, Bad Carpet, etc) (Fixed)
Lots of "small" things (Break Light Busted, Rear View Mirror, etc) (Almost Fixed)
The Story:
So I was in the market for a new car and spent some time around town at car lots. Most of the cars/SUV's I seen were in very bad shape and they wanted premium prices. Before I found this one, I was looking at another, same year, for $3000. It too wasn't even in the best of shape (power windows did not work, speedo was busted, burning smell from engine area (transmission smell)
I ran accross this gem on the way home after giving up at the dealerships. I decided to buy it after taking it for a short test drive. On the way home, we had a huge cloud of blue smoke behind us come out of nowhere and we noticed some smoke inside as well. When we arrived at the house, we started checking under the hood and noticed a lot of oil in places where it shouldn't. We checked the oil and it was full to the top of the dipstick!! We took it to a local shop and had the oil changed and the excape ran near perfect and we no longer had blue smoke. We then took it to a muffiler shop and had it replaced. Total Cost so far: $150. The car was now very driveable. It does smoke a tad bit when it's first started, but this is due to the valves need replacing (head job)
We then went to a junk yard to find a rim and other small parts (break lights, rear view mirror, etc) and we pretty much got everything we needed. While there, I found some excellent seats from a explorer that looked pretty much new, in fact, the entire explorer did. We took the seats to replace mine (which was horrible) and the carpet as well. While out, we picked up some Luca's Oil Treatment, and Transmission Treatment. We also picked up the kit for fixing the transmission. Also grabbed an Air Filter and PCV valve for good measure. We also had AC checked which is when we found out black death killed it.
At the current time, we are still working on installing/fixing these issues. However, the explorer is drivable and runs decent. I just have not been driving it because of the warn tires and lack of spare. Engine is fine and starts right up
Next Severance Check/Stimilus Check:
New Tires all around (important)
Tune up (Spark Plugs and Cables)
Power Windows Fixed
AC (hopefully anyway)
Conclusion: all in all, I don't think I did so bad. I will miss my 2003 Escape, however, with 85,000 miles on it and still 3.5 years of $400 a month payments (owed $12,500) I think the Explorer is a much better choice. It's costing a bit to fix it up, but I believe once it's fixed up, it'll last me a long time, at least a few years anyway. I'd like to see the ODO go to 300k, which I am confident it will if I stay on top of any repairs it might need in the future! I will say, I will not miss car payments and it's a bit of an exciting experience fixing up and customizing a car too
i hate that you had to give up your escape ( i have a famlily member that has a burgandy one ) with the economy the way it is today i've just been lucky to hold on to my 2005 colorado. when i bought mine last november it did not run and had to replace all the fuel management systems on the truck ( $500 ) plus had the transmission rebuilt .but i know what what you mean in it being fun to fix a old truck ...been sometime since i had to do all that i have done to my explorer ( if you asked me years ago i would have said new is the only way to go ) but i have to be honest, i have really enjoyed fixing up the explorer.with bad shocks on the truck ...the first time i got it running and went down the road fora test i was really surprised in the way it drove ( nice soild feel to the truck ) unlike my newer 2005 colorado ( with new shocks lol) .mine still gota lot of issues that need to be addressed but all in all i'm happy with what i got .and after doing many oil changes and cleaning up / replaceing of parts i have gone from a 16-17 mpg truck to 23 mpg (with 196k on it ) ....so yeah i'm pretty happy.
