Should I Buy An Explorer? Are They Good SUV's? Lotta Q's. Reliablilty

[3LiterRanger]

Hey guys, Im new to this forum.

Im in the market for a new car. Not by choice unfortunataly, Insurance is killing me @ 600/month for my Crx because of some tickets so I need to buy a new daily driver to put under my mothers name.

I live in Canada, Im 20 years old working as an apprentice at a machine shop. Dont make to much money but I have about 7k saved up. Explorers seems to go for around 15k canadian here, maybe cheaper if I can find one on ebay.

Im looking for a reliable, comforatable daily driver, that I can count one for one. I dont mind doing maintenance as I can swap my cars motor in about 2 hours but Ive been searching on the site for a few hours and see that some generations have tranny problems and such but I cant pinpoint what year and model have what problems or even what year comes with what motor.

Im going to keep mods simple for now, 20-22" black rims with a polished lip and HOPEFULLY lower it. But I havent read any information on that yet, so if anyone could help me on what type of model is best for that Id appreciate it. I seen some info on torsion bar flips and such but dont know if that works with all models

The cars basically just to calm me down, wont have 400hp like my car and my girlfriend will probably appreciate the luxury.

How are these cars on insurance?
Gas mileage?
Reliablilty?

Those are my biggest concerns and what I should be looking for if/when I buy a 3rd gen. Im also interested in 2nd gens and will probably make a post there to.

Thanks guys

 

[FROADER]

Problem trannys are A4LD in the first gen 91-94
Torsion flip is only 2nd gen 95-01 (03 sport)

mpg for 4.0L I see about 14-20 on this site.
reliability depends on the maintenance of the vehicle.
Insurance depends on 4x4, v8 option (i'm guessing)

Good luck!

Welcome to the site.

 

[3LiterRanger]

So how do you lower the rears on the 3rd gens? Any other problems?

 

[FROADER]

3rd Gen is coils all around. Ground Force has springs for the front and rear of the 3rd gen. I don't know much about the 3rd gen and it's problems.

 

[blitzk]

I just installed Ground Force springs on my 3rd gen... It looks so much better vs stock with my 22's. To the normal eye, it doesn't look "lowered", exactly what I wanted. If you want it a little lower and more level go with the Belltech springs.

My 04 XLT has ~35k miles and has been good to me so far!

 

[bigapple]

well i actually did a custom lift with my suspension.. put in bigger springs.. but yea torsion bars would have made this much easier although this gen explorer isnt fortunate enough to have them..

as far as mileage goes, i get around 15-18 depending on the situation... this is with teh 4.0 V6 though.. im sure the 4.6 V8 guzzles a little more

some downsides.... on all ford vehicles, no matter which ones, ur gunna have to clean ur rims every week or so due to all the damn brake dust... another downside is the ****tiness of the wheel bearings with the hub assembly... i had one go out in the rear and i could tell something was up cuz it was very loud... when i had one go out in the front, it was probably as scary as it sounds.. on the interstate with the wheel wobbling.. had to pull over immediately... make sure u watch for the ABS alert cuz i should have paid attention to how much pressure was on the brakes from that missing bearing

overall i dont mind it and its easy to get wires thru the firewall on the passenger side if u feel like mounting any lights on the front.... rides pretty good and is fairly roomy

 

[IAmTodd]

As far as reliability, the gen3s are much better, and much better built. But they are still a Ford product. So they do fall short of the quality that the big Asian companies excel in. Look around, test drive different models. Its going to be what you like best.

 

[asimp]

I have a 3rd gen. Mine is an 04 limited with the 4.6 V8. The only problem I have had with mine is the ABS sensors. But this is a typical problem with the explorers. Good luck, and be patient