OK, So What Do You DISLIKE About The 5th Gen?

[wazdog]

^ The explorer is my first ford so I was just surprised the auto headlights don't turn on in an instant like my cheaper toyota corolla or camry does. I suppose the Japanese are better at electronics?

 

[peterk9]

^ The explorer is my first ford so I was just surprised the auto headlights don't turn on in an instant like my cheaper toyota corolla or camry does. I suppose the Japanese are better at electronics?

Mine come on right away when I start it at night or in the garage. The delay is only when you go from light to dark.

Peter

 

[Odrapnew]

^ The explorer is my first ford so I was just surprised the auto headlights don't turn on in an instant like my cheaper toyota corolla or camry does. I suppose the Japanese are better at electronics?

It's not the quality of electronics, is the delay time built into the software. Like other's have said, you don't want the lights coming on with every shaded area or "wide" bridge you go under. My wife's CX9 has a delay as well.

Another reason you may not want them to come on right away is if you have HID headlights. Ignition of the HID light bulb "kills" is much faster than just leaving it on.

There is a setting somewhere that you can change the delay time. I think 5 seconds is the shortest time though(someone correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[63MM]

The fact that mine hasn't been delivered yet.

 

[JDraper]

Thanks for the link. I've already informed my ford dealer about it. It's been taking them months to get approval.

Do you also experience the slow reaction of the auto headlamps? Ford tells me it's just the way it is with explorers which is quite a let down if you ask me. The tunnels are not well lit where I live so when it's day time and I enter a tunnel, everything goes dark. By the time the headlamps turn on, I'm almost out of the tunnel. Lol

I have my headlights on all the time when I'm driving..that fixes the problem. It also makes you much more visible to other drivers.

 

[grrtrainman]

I agree with “peterk9” - the auto lamps come on when starting in the garage. But, for that reason, I usually make sure that the knob is not in the “auto” position when starting. 'Don't want to make life hard for those $$$ HIDs (!)
-
Now for my rants:
1.) I still wish we could have the dual pan roof in the “tilt” position with the sun shade NOT fully open, maybe only open an inch or two. I used to be able to do that when the shades were manually operated. It was great for just a little ventilation w/o the AC on.

2.) Off topic: how come , on forums, we sometimes don’t see “view first unread” ??? I know, it’s probably something stupid I'm doing wrong !!!

 

[vital]

Am I the only one who goes nuts with fog light/interior light switch??

It's done opposite of what logic would tell you: interior lights are on top and fog lights are all the way on the bottom.
So by logic (mine at least) if you have an area that consists of 2 switches - one for fogs and other for interior than shouldn't the switch that operates FOG light be on the bottom while switch that operates interior lights on top?? It just makes damn sense to me. Every time I want to turn my fogs on/off I automatically go for the lower button....which of course does something else lol. Actually gonna look into re-wiring it, it'll be easier then learning to go against logic.

Besides that there's:
2. can't shut off interior lights when doors are open
3. slow moving auto rear hatch
4. cubby holes and cup holders

 

[peterk9]

Am I the only one who goes nuts with fog light/interior light switch??

It's done opposite of what logic would tell you: interior lights are on top and fog lights are all the way on the bottom.
So by logic (mine at least) if you have an area that consists of 2 switches - one for fogs and other for interior than shouldn't the switch that operates FOG light be on the bottom while switch that operates interior lights on top?? It just makes damn sense to me. Every time I want to turn my fogs on/off I automatically go for the lower button....which of course does something else lol. Actually gonna look into re-wiring it, it'll be easier then learning to go against logic.

Besides that there's:
2. can't shut off interior lights when doors are open
3. slow moving auto rear hatch
4. cubby holes and cup holders

I agree that it would make sense to have the interior light switch on top and fogs on the bottom. I think I've used the fogs perhaps twice in the 3 years I've had the Explorer.
Being unable to turn OFF the interior lights is absolutely a very poor setup.

Peter

Peter

 

[Quicksilver]

First trip 'to the snow' with the kids. Yes, living in SoCal you actually have to seek out snow so we went to Big Bear Mountain this weekend. Might be the first time I've gotten Quicksilver dirty inside with sand/mud/gravel from kids boots. So here's my issue.

The Floormats trap nothing Every bit of sand and gravel is simply next to the matts in the depression surrounding the matts that seem to have been made 1/2" too small? Yes, I know about weathertech matts thanks...

 

[tmg19103]

First trip 'to the snow' with the kids. Yes, living in SoCal you actually have to seek out snow so we went to Big Bear Mountain this weekend. Might be the first time I've gotten Quicksilver dirty inside with sand/mud/gravel from kids boots. So here's my issue.

The Floormats trap nothing Every bit of sand and gravel is simply next to the matts in the depression surrounding the matts that seem to have been made 1/2" too small? Yes, I know about weathertech matts thanks...

The driver floormat in particular is tiny and does not cover enough space - and that is the one that gets the most use. Also wish there was a third row floormat, unless mine is missing them since I bought used.

I bought nice aftermarket floormats for my Saab with the logo on them. They also really take up space so dirt and such stays on the flootmat only and you can just take them out and shake them off without much dirt on the carpets.

 

[corpflyboy]

i have my headlights on all the time when i'm driving..that fixes the problem. It also makes you much more visible to other drivers.

+1

 

[RedDen]

my two cents:
It is not dislikes, but what it should rather have!

1. mirrors autofolding feature should work automatically once you turn off ignition and open the door.
2. Gas tank should be 90l like others SUVs of same class.
3. you should be able opening you car using rear door's handles as well, not just front.
4. 1 touch up/down for rear windows.
5. two pieces hatch like a previous gen Escape.
6. driver's floor mat seems to be orphaned, it doesn't do anything related to protecting your vehicle from dirt.
7. Global open/close windows using keyfob.


Otherwise it is just an Excellent vehicle!!!

 

[peterk9]

Comments on above

If they introduce the auto fold mirrors there should be an option to disable the operation as well. In 3 years of having my 2011 Limited, I only used that fold option twice.
Larger gas tank=more weight=lower mpg.
Don't really see a need for points 3 & 4.
Separate opening glass area would be a great idea.
Provided OEM floor mats is why so many are using the Weathertech and Husky liners. The Husky liners were the first item I ordered for my new vehicle (Explorer & Lincoln)
Global open/close windows is nice to have. Have it on my MKT.

I suggest that if you want to make these suggestion to Ford that you see the link in the 'Stickies' area;
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=401892

Peter

 

[tmg19103]

If they introduce the auto fold mirrors there should be an option to disable the operation as well. In 3 years of having my 2011 Limited, I only used that fold option twice.
Larger gas tank=more weight=lower mpg.
Don't really see a need for points 3 & 4.
Separate opening glass area would be a great idea.
Provided OEM floor mats is why so many are using the Weathertech and Husky liners. The Husky liners were the first item I ordered for my new vehicle (Explorer & Lincoln)
Global open/close windows is nice to have. Have it on my MKT.

I suggest that if you want to make these suggestion to Ford that you see the link in the 'Stickies' area;
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=401892

Peter

Agreed. You should have the option on auto fold mirrors to do it all the time or when you wish. My concern with things like this is them breaking down from constant use. Not a big deal if you lease for three years, always under warranty, and will turn the car in. If you plan to hold the car for 8-10 years like me, I don't want them folding every time where they can break from wear/use. I also find I don't need to fold the mirrors for most parking situations for me.

 

[Odrapnew]

my two cents:
It is not dislikes, but what it should rather have!

1. mirrors autofolding feature should work automatically once you turn off ignition and open the door.
2. Gas tank should be 90l like others SUVs of same class.
3. you should be able opening you car using rear door's handles as well, not just front.
4. 1 touch up/down for rear windows.
5. two pieces hatch like a previous gen Escape.
6. driver's floor mat seems to be orphaned, it doesn't do anything related to protecting your vehicle from dirt.
7. Global open/close windows using keyfob.


Otherwise it is just an Excellent vehicle!!!

1. Not sure of the benefit, but like Peter said, as long as you can disable it.
2. Agree
3. On the fence. Since I have a 2 yr old and a newborn, it would make it slighly easier to just grab the rear handle to load the kids.
4. yes please
5. I could see this being useful.
6. agree
7. Sort of agree. I had it in my Mazda and it was nice to roll down the windows on those really hot days before you get to the car, but they are only open for less than a minute to get to the car. One issue some people have complained about is accidentally rolling the windows down when walking away from the car only to have it rain out when you didn't know the windows were open.

I'll add a dislike. The Sirius traffic. I get in my Ex after work and plug in my house just for S's and G's to see how long the drive is during traffic. I have 2 different routes I could take that are within a couple minutes of each other without traffic. With traffic, they can vary by 15-20 minutes(or more) at times(with not traffic drive time of 30 minutes, this is significant). What I don't get is why it doesn't direct me to the fastest route even though it's an extra mile of driving(less than 5%). I've played with settings and no change.

Also, it doesn't display the current travel time until I get into heavy traffic and my speed goes way down, then it recalculates. Last week it said 30 minutes drive time and once I got into stop and go traffic, it recalculated(twice) and overall took 50 minutes(which matched Google maps estimate). I probably could have been home 20 minute sooner if I took the alternate route. I've gotten into a habit of checking traffic before I leave work so I know which way I should be taking home.

 

[RedDen]

I should have mentioned that autofolding mirrors feature has to have on/off in vehicle settings. Totally agree here.
Having global open/close is only would be use for me to close my "forgotten to close windows" after I excited a vehicle, otherwise I have to get back push button and close them, hate that!

Cannot debate Sirius features since it doesn't work in Canada, another shame on Ford here! make it work in Canada too!

 

[RedDen]

I suggest that if you want to make these suggestion to Ford that you see the link in the 'Stickies' area;
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=401892

Peter[/QUOTE]


Peter,
We are in situation here, when big brother listens to you, but does NOT hear you!

How many people and for how long blaming Ford for not making "add navigation after" option available and look where we are now!

 

[RedDen]

Larger gas tank=more weight=lower mpg.

Peter

Well, lets do some math. Vehicle weight is around 2100kg, gasoline density varies from 0.71 to 0.77 kg/m3 with premium being the lightest. Ex runs on regular, lets assume 0.77.
With 90l tank we only get 20l more so it is 20*0.77 equals 15.4kg!

Ok, the tank itself is bigger and heavier, but tanks are now made of composite materials, so it wont be much. lets say another 10-15kg.

25-30 extra kg is NOTHING for such a vehicle! but it is lot for people not stopping every so often!
Moreover Ford is capable of tuning 3.5l engine and giving at least 20-30HP more than it is now.

 

[peterk9]

The weight of the tank/contents itself is only one piece in the overall puzzle to reduce vehicle weight. That is likely also one reason that you are driving around with an aluminum hood. Throw all these small weight reductions together and you will find that it probably adds up to a significant number. Also by adding more HP to the engine, you might also reduce the MPG the vehicle can attain.
There are other members that also brought this up when this 'new' Explorer came out 3+ years ago, so you are not alone in your wish for a larger tank. My MKT has the same capacity tank as well.

Peter

 

[sumzxr7]

...that it leaks water...after 4 fixes...