Not 100% happy with my new Explorer.

[goldenstar]

I am not happy with my new 2014 Explorer LTD. I am amazed at the difference in the fuel consumption promised by Ford in their brochure (27 mpg) and the actual consumption I am getting (12.8 mpg). The roads where I live are flat, I do not drive aggressively, so there is no excuse I can find for the poor performance. I tried towing my ultra-lightweight trailer for 110 miles and consumed 8.56 mpg which was far more than the motor-home I had previously owned. The car is completely gutless and is unable to engage sixth gear unless there is a howling tailwind; that is no exaggeration! I was promised that I had adaptive speed control in the vehicle. On the test drive through town I could not engage it of course, I guess that was my fault for not being thorough enough, learning all of the new features in this vehicle was quite distracting. I miss having a cargo cover; would trade the third row of seats for one any day. On the positive side the seats are comfortable and my wife likes the colour. DAMN, I wish I had bought a Jeep Cherokee and not traded in a wonderful 2010 Ford Escape on this piece of garbage!

 

[colintrax]

How many miles do you have? Gas mileage will suck until the engine breaks in and the car learns the shift points

 

[Limited02]

I'm guessing you have a 2.0 Ecoboost motor and FWD? I hope your mileage improves because I am getting 16-17 avg mpg out of my '02 4x4 V8 Explorer with 173,000 miles on the clock...

Try running it through a tank and manually calculating the mpg. Fill up until the pump stops, reset your trip and drive till empty. Fill up until the pump stops, then divide the mileage driven by the amount of gas you put in.

 

[Destyn2001]

Well I have owned many Explorers, currently a 2010 V8 STA... and I am not a fan at all of the new 2011+ Explorer. It is no longer a truck and instead a mushed together station wagon unibody. And suprisingly enough I am a sales manager at a Ford Dealer for many years. I hate to break it to you, but you opted for the 2.0 EcoBoost 4cyl Turbo by the sounds of it (you stated 27mpg) and that vehicle is not even rated for towing, and in my opinion is WAY underpowered for the weight of the vehicle, that combo was meant for people who travel a lot of miles on the highway, which is the only place it will excel in gas mileage (65mpg steady rpm), and my guess is that you are stomping on it around town to spool up the turbo to compensate for the lack of power, consuming even more fuel. The 3.5L base engine is rated for 25mpg however any new vehicle you get, not only Fords, will have a computer program that runs for 3500-5000 miles which will make your engine run rich with fuel. This is to learn the driver and to make sure the engine breaks in properly. You WILL see better fuel economy after that program runs its course, however if you wanted power and towing, you should have opted for the Sport model for pretty much the same price as the Limited EcoBoost w/ Adaptive Cruise package.

I would take a 2010 Limited Explorer w/ all the toys long before I went for the new 2011+ unibody family wagon. They should have made the Ford Explorer America Concept or even the Ford Everest Concept which ended up being a Euro production. Both could have led to a 3rd gen Sport Trac too...

 

[sloop]

sounds like you made a bad decision

 

[goldenstar]

I have the V6 AWD Limited version with about 2500 miles. I do expect that the fuel economy will improve a little when the engine wears in but am not holding my breath that it will come close to the advertised consumption. I was very happy with my 2010 V6 Escape, the gas mileage was right on the figures Ford advertised, it was a pleasure to drive and seemed to have a lot more pep than the present dog I have bought. I am also ticked off at Ford for withdrawing the adaptive speed control from the 2014 package, it was included in the 2013 302A equipment group. My lesson learned; never buy before doing a thorough comparison of what is on the market.

 

[goldenstar]

My thanks to everyone that has replied to my thread, it has been most instructive. I am booked in for a service at Ford this coming Tuesday and am going to bring up the poor performance issue with them. I will post something about it later next week.

 

[carlosg]

I had a 2011 ford explorer and I trade it for sport 2014 need more power..

 

[goldenstar]

Just back from my friendly Ford dealer - the coffee is really good but the advice about my fuel consumption problem sucks! I am now told to wait until I have between 10000 km and 15000 km before I should expect an improvement in the mileage; assured that all sorts of wonders await me just around the corner. I am starting a fuel log to keep track on my progress and will post to this thread every now and again.

 

[1Aauto]

Welcome :wavey:

 

[kenv]

Hmm, We just ordered a 2014 V6 4WD Explorer Limited & the one we took out for a test drive had plenty of get up & go. I hope ours has it also when it arrives.

 

[rman66]

I too am very unhappy about the mPG on my new 2014 Explorer Limited I picked couple of days ago. I am at 120miles now and it is displaying 13.3mpg on average. A far cry from the 17-24 I was expecting. I would not buy the Explorer if I had known the mpg was going to be this low. But I am happy with everything else, but still mpg is a showstopper for me

 

[Limited02]

I too am very unhappy about the mPG on my new 2014 Explorer Limited I picked couple of days ago. I am at 120miles now and it is displaying 13.3mpg on average. A far cry from the 17-24 I was expecting. I would not buy the Explorer if I had known the mpg was going to be this low. But I am happy with everything else, but still mpg is a showstopper for me

Have you reset the MPG display since you've owned it? Secondly, you need to manually calculate what you are getting. Reset the trip to zero after you fill up. Next time you fill up, divide the miles driven by how much gas you put in it.

 

[FordService]

Hi folks,

If you're concerned about the fuel efficiency of your vehicle, you can always make an appointment at your dealership so they can perform an inspection. Additionally, I recommend checking out these tips to improve your fuel economy: http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1097497476823&pagename=Owner%2FPage%2FArticleDetail&recid=1251387049618&parentheadlineimageid=1233677327701&parentrightrecid=1239636411265

Crystal

 

[rman66]

Hi folks,

If you're concerned about the fuel efficiency of your vehicle, you can always make an appointment at your dealership so they can perform an inspection. Additionally, I recommend checking out these tips to improve your fuel economy: http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1097497476823&pagename=Owner%2FPage%2FArticleDetail&recid=1251387049618&parentheadlineimageid=1233677327701&parentrightrecid=1239636411265

Crystal

Great tips.. I was an automotive engineer, so already aware and practice them all..

 

[rman66]

The average mpg on my Explorer finally touched 17 today.. a mix of city and highway driving.. I hope to hit the target of 20.. but given I live in an area that is very hilly, unlikely especially for city driving