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Are Ford Explorers Junk?

28 messages,  Last post on Sep 23, 2012 at 6:17 PM

You are in the Ford Explorer Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Explorer, SUV

Messages Page 3 of 3

#21 of 28 Love my Explorer by tmk100

Sep 27, 2009 (8:23 pm)

I have a 2003 Explorer with a V8 and a third row seat. I bought it to replace a 1997 Toyota Camry, as we needed something with towing capacity and the ability to hold up to 4 kids in the back during carpools to school and after school activities. It is a great vehicle. We did have transmission problems, but only after about 110,000 miles, half of which were spent towing a large bass boat. The interior features were well thought out and I loved the split door feature on the tailgate. Very easy to pop the rear window and drop in a couple bags of groceries, baseball equipment, soccer equipment, etc. If you need to really haul something, the rear seat folded flat and the entire tailgate lifts. I would recommend running boards, else you end up hopping into the car. My family has had great experience with Ford trucks (dad's most recent F150 had over 250,000 miles) and will continue to buy them.
I think it is a mistake to think that you can avoid car problems by buying a particular make. And I disagree in particular with the broad assertion that foreign competitors provide much better quality. For example, we spent 25% more on a Camry than I would have spent on a better equipped Taurus. My husband leased a Taurus a year or two later and had absolutely no problems with it the entire time he had it (about 80,000 miles). Meanwhile, I was warned by Toyota of an "oil gelling" problem that may occur if I followed the recommended oil change schedule. And I had numerous other smaller problems that took me to the dealer, as well as poorly designed interior features (seat belt, cup holder and vanity mirror) that broke within a couple of years of light use.

#22 of 28 My 2006 Ford Explorer is Junk by davestr

Oct 21, 2009 (6:44 am)

This message is for those that may ask the question about whether Ford Explorers are junk. This is a company car and is taken in for service on a regular basis. Junk issues as follows:
42,000 Miles - radiator replacement
72,000 Miles - front wheel bearing replacement
86,000 Miles - radiator replacement
109,000 Miles - transmission replaced
133,000 Miles - radiator replacement - service informed me that Ford acknowledged problems and issued a corrective action bulletin with dealerships.
When I buy my next car Ford, GM and Chrysler will not be on the list of choices!!!

#23 of 28 ford explorers are not good by chloe14

Jan 21, 2012 (9:19 pm)

I could add to that class action suit as at 72,000 miles my transmission was replaced due to unpredictable, dangerous stalling while driving 75 miles per hour on a freeway, a ford dealer told me to replace the transmission as the transmissiom head had completely cracked?
I have since read on this blog of a similar problem that some one else had and they only replaced the V2V valve, now am wondering if I got taken by ford yet again, anyway I have also had to replace the ball joints in front at 72000 miles, so I would be interested in a suit

#24 of 28 Re: ford explorers are not good [chloe14] by jkaexpress

Feb 01, 2012 (1:14 am)

Replying to: chloe14 (Jan 21, 2012 9:19 pm)
I bought my 96 Explorer 4x4 in September of 2009 for a thousand bucks. I have put 160,000 miles on it in two years. I have had the usual wheel bearing issues with it (four in two years) but the tranny didn't start failing until this year. I think that's pretty good for 300,000 miles. The seats are a poor design, one of these days I might go to the junkyard and buy a seat from a newer one with a better design but who knows. I'll still run the crap out of my Explorer and it will keep me going.

#25 of 28 Re: My 2006 Ford Explorer is Junk [davestr] by csiwife

May 07, 2012 (8:22 am)

Replying to: davestr (Oct 21, 2009 6:44 am)
Ford replaced our 2006 Ford Explorer radiator 3 times as well! The last time was at 102,000 and even though my husband brought the vehicle in several thousand miles before that - they misdiagnosed the problem so we were stuck paying for the radiator and Ford would not honor the warranty. Now we are at 104,000 miles we are having tranny problems. The vehicle will be going into the mechanic tonight for repair. We always try to buy American products, but highly doubt that we would buy another Ford. We owned serveral Explorers prior to this one, and have always had problems.

#26 of 28 Re: Are Ford Explorers Junk? [writerhopeful] by wwest

May 09, 2012 (8:45 am)

Replying to: writerhopeful (Mar 10, 2007 9:58 am)
Yes, the current Xploder model is nothing more than JUNK.
 
Junk that Ford couldn't sell when it was labelled FreeStyle....
 
And then also didn't sell labeled as a Taurus X.....
 
Now they relabelled it yet again as an Xploder and the name just simply fits.
 
EB, Eddie Bauer (not EcoBoost) is simply a nice set of seat covers.
 
EB, EcoBoost is now dead in the water, Ford will undoubtedly soon be licensing Mazda's SkyActiv, or if Mazda is smart this time Ford will have to BUY Mazda.
 
The ony good news is that Ford is now using water cooling of the PTO in order to alleviate, possibly, the high failure rate of same. It looked to me as if the coolant was also being piped all the way back to the rear diff'l/clutch in order to cool it and alleviate another HOT spot.
 
Anyone know the truth on that last bit..?

#27 of 28 2004 Ford Explorer (JUNK) by lateshaky

Sep 22, 2012 (9:12 pm)

OMG!
Where do I begin? I purchased a 2004 Ford explorer in July 0f 2011, and traded in my 2001 Oldsmobile of 5 years. I also purchased the 12 month 12,000 mile warranty. Before driving it off the lot I had the dealer fix the ABS system because the light was on. There is a crack going down the back of the trunk but nothing else was wrong at the time so I left the crack alone.
In April of 2012 I took it to the dealership for a belt, check trans, shocks, ball joints, and a ticking in the heater when knob was turned to heat (not cool). The dealer was very rude for 1 and tried to charge me almost $800. for items not on the warranty. I told him to just fix what was on the warranty and also give it a oil change. He informed me that the trans was fine and charged me for looking at it because nothing was wrong so my so called warranty still came out to almost $400. out of pocket expenses. After getting the car back my heat went out and I was told by a mechanic Buddy that my breaks, rotters, emergency break pads and the back tires were shot. So I had him replaced them because this was also not covered on warranty.
Just last week my RPM started jumping with miles over 65.(no lights were on at the time)So I took it to 6 different places getting estimates on what could be wrong. All shops said the same thing. "Start with fuel filter, oil filters and oil change". I was told if that does not work then something else is wrong but with no lights on it was hard to tell. I did all of what I was told. The day after I paid for all this the service engine light came on. I took the car to Auto Zone to get it checked. (EGR Valve code)
The man at Auto Zone told me to take it off and clean it with spray and let it dry before replacing. I took it to a shop and had them do this. The same day I picked up the car my service engine light came on again, O/d light and the car was driving like I was hauling a bus and jumping. I took it back the next day and he replaced the EGR valve new since the same code was showing up. Later that day after getting it back the car started doing the same thing after driving for 5 miles this was Friday 9/21/12. *I have now turned to the internet and I am MADDER THAN I WAS BEFORE LOOKING ON THE NET!!! OMG!!! *****
I still owe a car note on this car, I am a student working a part-time job and a single parent. I have no ideas what to do next. I refuse to put a trans in it and refuse to pay for it if I can not drive it. I am so upset that I bought a FORD. I would rather have a old beat up Chevy any day then buy a brand new Fix Or Repair Daily/ Found On Roadside Dead = FORD!!!!
FORD!!! GET OFF YOUR A$$ AND HELP THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE YOU RICH!!!!!!!!!

#28 of 28 Re: Don't buy an explorer [ginamillar2000] by jka_express

Sep 23, 2012 (6:17 pm)

Replying to: ginamillar2000 (Nov 11, 2007 10:14 am)
The first mistake was buying a 2003-2007 Explorer. I'll bet you have a V6. The V6 during these years all have crappy transmissions. In 2008, they DID make some improvements and thus can give a longer warranty. These older transmissions typically go out at around 60,000 miles. Myself, I didn't buy one just because of this issue. I have a 1996 and it lasted until 300,000 miles before it had tranny problems.

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