Owners' Reviews

Transmission had to be replaced at 13,500 under extended warranty and constant battles with 2 dealers and Ford, but finally admitted that tranny was faulty. Not so lucky next time....at 60,550 engine seized after timing chain broke and just after it passed 60,000 mile warranty. $7200 to replace engine. New engine runs better than original, but after reading other owners comments on V6, sounds like design problems. If buying a Ford, get an entended warranty!!

Overall, I am most disappointed in the dealer. Ford themselves did not care that the vehicle has had problems from day one. And the dealer was more interested in blaming the problems on my driving habits. My pervious car had 428,000 original miles on it when I sold it. Bad driving habits? Doubtful! Pulls slightly to the right no matter the road surface from day one - dealer says I hit something, excessive front tire wear normal. Fresh air blend door frozen from day one - I never rode as passenger so I never felt the direct blast of cold air, was never able to keep the car really warm in winter - out of warranty when realized - tough luck. Heater blend door failed, stuck in cold position - happens to far too many explorers - no recall - tough luck. I complained of intermittent passenger window hesitations, they said nothing wrong, now none of the windows work - tough luck. A spot-weld on leading edge of the hood failed allowing corrosion under the paint, peeling spreading as corrosion spreads - it isn't a rust though so it's not covered. Next vehicle likely will not be a Ford - tough luck.

I purchased my 2004 AWD V8 Eddie Bauer Explorer from a Ford dealership in Dec of 2006 with 35,240 miles on the odometer and while it has had minor issues, my real problems have not been with the Explorer, but with dealerships lying to me about TSB's. I've been to 4 different dealers with the same concerns and all 4 of them lied to me. I found my proof online for each concern and all were TSB's before I even bought the vehicle. One dealer even charged me a nearly $200.00 diagnostic fee(costing them any further business) after resetting my ABS light and telling me it needed a $370 throttle body(which is merely a piece of aluminum for engine air intake) because there is a TSB for that. There was no problem with the TB. I've had literally hundreds of these in my hands and I'm well aware of their function. If it isn't cracked, it isn't broken, although an attached sensor may be. It's still on the vehicle and still works as it did from the start, nearly 2yrs later. The engine runs like a good dream, having ample power and torque as well as being completely reliable. It has over 107,000 miles on it now and has never needed an engine repair of any sort.

Tranny, differentials and A/C system are problems on this vehicle.