Some people have 'sentimental value' for their Explorer because of all the time and money that have gone into it.
Whether or not it's worth it to invest your time and money into a vehicle when starting out depends on a lot of factors. Generally, if the vehicle suits your wants/needs, and there really isn't much else out there that could suit those wants/needs for even close to the same amount, it can be a good thing to invest in.
A first gen has its drawbacks, and can be a lot of work to bring back into top shape, but it can also be done pretty inexpensively depending on what you start out with and how resourceful you are as you go along.
I'd also say the first gen Explorer is a great vehicle to learn from by working on. Many of the mechanicals on it are very straightforward, and learning how to do something on the Explorer will teach you things that will apply to most other vehicles, giving you skills you can use the rest of your life. In this sense, buying the tools and the parts to work on it will also be an investment, allowing you to learn how to work on a vehicle, and hopefully letting you become more mechanically inclined as you go along.
Sometimes driving a vehicle that needs only the most basic of maintenance makes the most sense, when you don't have time to work on it and just getting oil and fluid and tire changes is all you'd rather do. If you can find something that suits your wants/needs, and can afford, that is in that kind of condition, it can be worth it, but vehicles have changed quite a bit over the years, and what you can buy these days is a lot different from a first gen or even later gen Explorers. Part of the reason people keep their Explorers and that people keep working on them and fixing them up is that there aren't really a whole lot of better options for the money. Explorers can usually be had rather inexpensively, parts are generally not that hard to get with a few specific exceptions, and if you can deal with the gas mileage, they offer good cargo capacity and load carrying ability, plus the additional benefits of being very off-road capable, and a great vehicle in severe weather conditions.
So if you've decided an Explorer is what you want, it's not a bad idea to spend time and money on it getting to be what you want or need in a vehicle. If there's another vehicle you're more excited about or that seems better suited to your wants/needs, you should probably go with that, since it can be a really bad idea to spend your time and money on a vehicle you're discouraged about putting time and money into. Just keep in mind that most vehicles are built up over the long term, and by spending a few hours every so often, you can have your dream vehicle built up over a period of years. There may be times when you'll need to devote a whole weekend, or hours a day for a few days in a row to some projects in order to get them done quickly enough to get the vehicle back on the road, but other things can just be done as you get the time, money, and parts, or when circumstances allow or you find just what you were looking for.
Whatever vehicle you choose, just be honest with yourself about how you feel about it and whether you really want to spend the time and money on it. If you really like a vehicle for one reason or another, and generally like the idea of owning it and working on it towards a particular goal, then it's usually worth it in the end, even if the final product winds up being different than what you originally planned on, both because you wind up with something that (hopefully) fits your wants and needs perfectly, and because of everything you learned along the way.
I have 262,000 on mine & still racking them up .
