bobthedog

I have a 2000 Explorer, 4 litre V6. It is pretty thirsty but is stable enough I think. I have had it 2 years now and have had no significant issues with it. One front hub seized up, but I got another in CT for $200 and swapped it in a couple of hours. They are sealed so you can't just replace the bearings, but that makes it a bolt on operation and was simple enough. I did bend the prongs on the ABS sensor which I have yet to repair.
The water pump weeps, but it is plastic and is a witch to get at so it will continue to weep a while yet, and the battery died this winter so we had to replace that.
The car has been fine. People say these things about Ford because they can't come up with sayings for Toyotas...

G77

I wanted an Explorer, but couldn't find one I liked ( was looking for a 7 seat config), so ended up getting a Ford Freestyle AWD instead. It has been ok, though has had some of the problems other owners have reported with it being one of the first ones produced. It has since been renamed Taurus X. The economy is significantly better than a similar age Explorer, so I'm happy about that and I think the 7 seats are more useable than in the Explorer, which also fold into a flat loading space when not required.

If you're concerned about requiring AWD/4WD, I wouldn't get too hung up on it, since the amount of snow we get here barely makes it worthwhile....

Also, the Ford dealers in Windsor are shonky - I use Lally Southpoint Ford in Leamington who I bought the car from, they have been pretty good so far...

lins and Stef McLachlan

Thanks for that. We bank with TD, so will ask them to quote too
lol
Stef

lins and Stef McLachlan

Hi Gav
Lins is one of those guys, that if he does not like the look of a car...it does not get past first base....lol..... No I am aware of the snow LaSalle gets and that is not the reason. I want a car with a higher driving position and 7 seats.....hence the questions about the Exploroer...Lins seems to like the look of it. We hired a Dodge Nitro on one visit ...well it was upgraded to a Dodge Nitro when they did not have the one we ordered...I though it was nice enough from a drive and comfort viewpoint. He hated the shape of it...likened it to driving a Box.
Only 3 weeks on Tuesday until we fly....god the butterflies are really kicking in and Liam is constantly saying he does not want to go!!! Stress is unbelievable!
Hope all is well with you
lol
Stef

lins and Stef McLachlan

Hi
Whats Shonky???? Me not heard that one before
lol
Stef

lins and Stef McLachlan

Thanks for this info
lol
Stef

G77

Really hard to find a 7 seat explorer - as I said, that's what I wanted, but couldn't find one, so had to compromise on the Freestyle, which is a bit lower down than an explorer, but has the 7 seats.

I only had a hire car for 2 weeks, so had to get something sorted...

Dunno if you've seen this site - http://www.stricklandautosales.com/ They have some good deals and the guy seems pretty genuine, I rang up to enquire if a particular car was still available and he told me right over the phone that it was but it had previously had an accident. Can't argue with that, normally they'd wait until you got down there and asked to see the Car Fax (or whatever it's called here, I forget if it's the same) before revealing that...

Shonky - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shonky

In short, I wouldn't trust either of the Windsor Ford dealers as far as you can throw them....

dbd33

During my era of being contractually obliged to provide "an SUV type vehicle with leather seats not more than three years old", I leased an Explorer (with the exploding tyres, they didn't) and umpteen Escapes. Nothing went wrong with any of them. The four wheel drive went unused, I can't recall ever using four wheel drive on a road and hardly ever need it when driving across snowy fields.

G77

Is the 4WD still switchable on the newer Explorer's? I don't recall seeing any controls for it when I was looking at them.... I suspect it's probably auto-magic these days like on my Freestyle?

Piff Poff

OH is a Ford mechanic, I just asked him `Someone on here is looking at a 2003 Explorer XLT, is there anything she needs to know` He asked how many miles, How much and is it 4x4 as an XLT might not be. He couldn`t think of anything off hand to look out for though.

lins and Stef McLachlan

Hi
Thanks for this, we don't have a specific one in our sights, but it would be around a 2003 XLT 7 seater....that appears to be the direction we are heading in. We want an AWD or 4WD around 100000km or thereabouts. Thanks for asking him.
lol
Stef

dbd33

That I don't know, no Fords at the moment. It's switchable in the 4x4 I now use.

blue monday

Stoopid me

I just realised the thread clearly states Explorer not escape so most of my post was irrelevant.!

Aviator

Still a Ford though. I have one Ford, never buy another, everything that goes wrong is just out of warranty. The tranny went at 120,000km and cost me just shy of $4k. My other vehicles have not cost me a quarter as much as the Ford.

lins and Stef McLachlan

No worries
lol
Stef