Shopping around for a SUV, suggestions please?

[FooBar]

A Jeep is too unreliable to offroad? What? About 90% of the rigs I see 4wheeling are Jeeps. Mostly Wranglers. Mostly newer TJs and JKs. A few Cherokees: XJs, WJs and WKs. That remaining 10% is mostly Toyotas (Tacos and 80 series Land Cruisers) with a small sprinkling of Ford, Chevy, Land Rover fighting for the last 1%.

I've done over 50 unique trails and some individual trails multiple times. I've seen a grand total of 3 other Explorers. And only 1 of those wasn't already in the group I was in.

Again, you're talking about off-roading enthusiasts. I bet they spend a lot of time and money fixing their Jeeps, buying and installing after-market parts. It is an obsession

 

[JerryC]

There is talk that Ford may bring back the Bronco.

Peter

We've been waiting for that since 1997

Seriously, the wife has given the edict of "If Ford makes another Bronco we are buying one!". If they made a Braptor, I'd have to second mortgage the house to keep her happy. Practicality be damned...

I also saw today that there is talk of bringing back the Ranger in a midsize truck. We'd go for that too. We loved the F150 SCREW cab we had, but with parking spaces around here getting smaller it got be a pain to park it. I'd like to see a Ford midsize pickup with the 300HP v6 in it.

The lease on the Ex is up in about 2 years, I don't think Ford will have anything by then that will interest us.

 

[Rubberhead]

Right. I need a reliable family (2 young kids) SUV with off-road and snow capability. Jeeps are awesome off-road, but from what I hear, not so reliable mechanically.

My family and I have more than 800k miles on our Fords and, other than a dead battery (once) and a tire blow-out (once), none of us have ever been left on the side of the road or in a parking lot. My wife and both kids drive Fords.

 

[JerryC]

Right. I need a reliable family (2 young kids) SUV with off-road and snow capability. Jeeps are awesome off-road, but from what I hear, not so reliable mechanically.

From my reading the mechanical issues with Wranglers are not the "leave you stranded suddenly" type of things. If they were people would not overwhelmingly choose Wranglers for off-roading.

This last iteration of the JK seems to be pretty well sorted.

Now if are talking about the other Jeep lines, no argument there. Especially the two new lines of the Cherokee and Renegade. The new 9 speed auto trans seems to be giving them fits. For that reason I didn't recommend them.

The Grand Cherokee, the few people that I know that own them say what was said above, that they all have had major issues with every one they have owned and they love them. Doesn't make any sense to me...

On the Wrangler I know you can get a "lifetime" extended warranty from Jeep for about $2600.

And the Wranglers have really good resale value.

 

[2TimingTom]

Again, you're talking about off-roading enthusiasts. I bet they spend a lot of time and money fixing their Jeeps, buying and installing after-market parts. It is an obsession

Yes. But the roads around here is full of Jeeps that never leave the pavement.

That and Subarus. There's a ton of those around here too.

 

[scarpi]

Right. I need a reliable family (2 young kids) SUV with off-road and snow capability. Jeeps are awesome off-road, but from what I hear, not so reliable mechanically.

Jeep Wranglers are one of the best off road capable vehicles with the right options on them. Some of the models other than the Wrangler have serious reliability problems mostly due to the new nine speed (Cherokee) and eight speed (Grand Cherokee) transmissions in them. Based on my personal experience with my 2014 Cherokee 4x4, I would never buy a Jeep again unless it was a Wrangler. Old school and it works right. But it is not that comfortable of an on road vehicle compared to the Explorer. Everything is a compromise and you have to know what is the most important thing you are going to use that vehicle for.

 

[FooBar]

Jeep Wranglers are one of the best off road capable vehicles with the right options on them. Some of the models other than the Wrangler have serious reliability problems mostly due to the new nine speed (Cherokee) and eight speed (Grand Cherokee) transmissions in them.

That's an important distinction. I didnt know.

 

[tmg19103]

I would never buy a Jeep again unless it was a Wrangler. Old school and it works right. But it is not that comfortable of an on road vehicle compared to the Explorer. Everything is a compromise and you have to know what is the most important thing you are going to use that vehicle for.

My sister has a pretty new Wrangler Sahara as a 3rd fun car and she will never take it offroad. Got because she thinks it looks cool and the top goes down. She wanted a convertible and with three kids this was the best option. She loves it for local driving around the burbs, but complains about seat comfort for long drives - especially back seat. Says it is terrible for passengers on long dives. She does not mind it driving more like a truck for short trips, but again, on long trips it is noisy and the ride is not very smooth.

I am thinking of one though to replace my Escape down the road as my beach buggy that stays on a small island at my vacation house. Perfect for that.

 

[tmg19103]

I am not saying the explorer is a rock crawler or extreme off road machine. What I am saying is from my experience for trails around me in the desert, it does great. And that the Terrain Management system works. If the OP is looking for an all around above average suv that is good on and off the road the explorer one of the best for whats available today.

The Ford AWD system is quite good on sand. If it is just sand, no big concern about no skid plates as long as you know it is just sand.

Problem is ground clearance and how soft the sand is and if the terrain is uneven/hilly.

For sand the Ford AWD is not bad at all. My 2009 Escape with AWD (no TM) gets all over the toughest beaches on Nantucket. It is light. Has 16's that widen out nice when aired down, and has good ground clearance. I also ripped off the front plastic air dam on the Escape.

My Ex maintains the plastic air dam as it is not my beach buggy, but it can handle the tame to moderate beaches on Nantucket just fine. I have 18's, but I think it would be OK with 20's too.

However, for the really mucky and uneven beaches I won't chance the Ex. Those are for the Escape.

 

[peterk9]

The last 4 posts that had to do with off roading have been moved to that existing thread; http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=379958

Peter