Ford Explorer Reviews

The Explorer is fun to drive, but the seats lack some seat support. Power is good. Could be better. Trans is. Smooth. Ride is very comfortable and responsible to input. Value is a little better than average, the problem is resale is just average. That I find to be a problem with most SUV’s.

My husband and I have owned 2 Explorers. We eventually sold our first one with 300,000 miles on it to a relative who continues to drive it now. My husband drives over 54 miles each way each day to work. His Explorer has 256,000 plus miles on it. We plan to keep it until 300,000 or more. We have had no major issues with these vehicles. Other than routine maintenance, we have had perfect service from both Explorers. They ride exceptionally well on long trips. We DO keep all basic car care seriously. We always change our oil, check tires, breaks, batteries, etc... and replace as needed. The dependability is extra important for me as a woman. I work full time as an educator with a prosthetic leg that goes above my knee. That means getting stranded is extra stressful. We would absolutely recommend these vehicles. I drive a Ford Escape so I can attest the the dependability of these types of SUVs.

Drives well, but could be better. Sometimes the engine stalls in the middle of highway especially if you stop at the light. The Ford Explorer does not seem strong enough, or is not built to tow a heavy load behind it. However, the vehicle runs well.

Great vehicle. A touch pricy for the baseline version. Great power in the V6 or EcoBoost engines. A lot of options for you to choose from. Overall I think this vehicle is. Great option for myself and many others.

I have always been satisfied with my purchases. Never had a problem with returns. I would recommend this company to anyone who wants to purchase items from this store. Never had a problem with deliveries.

A very nice ride. Good handling and responsiveness. We have taken a few cross-country trips with two and four passengers and all were comfortable. Two great trips through the mountains and the fuel economy even got better. Crossing the plains; just set the cruise and enjoy the ride. The only concern is when changing lanes on the driver's side, you have to move and turn your head. The mirrors don't cover it all. The only thing I would change is the next one would be 4 wheel drive. I've gotten stuck twice on our dirt road and sketchy a few other times.

Ford Explorer Excellent vehicles. From European to Americans. I started racing (drag) cars when I was 18. I am familiars with mechanics and keeping a vehicle in good running conditions. In my late 40's I move from dragging to the sea. So I needed a vehicle strong enough to move my boat around and get it out of of the water in not so good ramps. In 1998 I got my first Explorer XLT, which is still in service, with my brother in Puerto Rico. Later I got another Explorer EB 2010 that is my main vehicle at present. In nine years of service the only problem I have experience is with the thermostat once. I do regular maintenance in all my vehicles. My wife drives a Ford Explorer 2016. We are pleased with our Ford's', reliable, and good millage. Thanks.

I purchased my 2013 Ford Explorer in 2015 with no issues or damage. In 2017 maybe I noticed paint chipping around my hood and no place else. Fast forward to 2019 and it's gotten worse. I have made several complaints to Ford Motor Corporate office and have case numbers for each. After all that still no resolution. Had I reviewed videos and read comments online about Ford paint problems I never would have purchased a Ford vehicle. I have had several vehicles but never one with a paint chipping issue and Ford refuses to resolve it. There is an actual YouTube video of one of the plants employee admitting to Ford receiving a bad batch of paint. I will never purchase another Ford vehicle again.

I purchased a pre-owned 2016 Ford Explorer Platinum with 38,000 miles. Within the first 2 months I started experiencing significant issues with the vehicle. The battery would not hold a charge, was being overcharged by possibly the alternator and/or voltage regulator. I took it in to be check for this issue as well as transmission issues. I was sent back home with the vehicle after it was checked being told that nothing was wrong. The battery exploded from being overcharged, just a few days later. Acid everywhere under the hood causing additional damage and could have caused a fire in my garage.

Shortly after obtaining my new 2019 Ford Explorer sport I noticed that when using the horn in a traffic alert to another driver, that the horn was so low and no volume that the other vehicle could not hear it. I investigated it when I got home and found the horn positioned just behind the grill and easily seen. I found one horn, a bracket for two horns and a space for two. I brought the Explorer into first oil change and told service Ford forgot to install the other horn. Mahwah NJ Ford was amazed at the discovery who contacted Ford. Ford told them they could not do anything, it's the way it is. The dealer gave me a phone number at Ford to try to correct, I set up a file to the service which got back to me about two days later saying they would not do anything. I reported this to NHTSA.

This is a great vehicle in almost every way except for the water pump design. Just know that most water pumps fail after 100,000 miles. Our Porsche Cayenne water pump failed at about 140,000 miles and cost $1300 to replace including labor. Recently our Ford Explorer water pump failed at $135,000 miles and cost $2,672 to replace! Twice the cost on the Porsche! Why, because it is in the engine behind the timing chain requiring removing the engine and replacing the water pump and timing chain. Ford, how could you be this stupid!

The tailgate foot lift system is not just a simple "put your foot under the rear of the vehicle" - #1 - you have to have the key fob in your pocket (how many women have pockets for a key fob?) and even then I have to try several times to hit the right spot. It is much easier to just use the key fob to open the tailgate. I have purchased Lincoln/Ford products for years in order to have the keyless entry system so that I do not carry the keys since I am in & out of my car often so do not carry a purse or have pockets for keys. In this Ford Explorer, you cannot leave the keys in the car since that will not allow you to lock the car. So then what is the purpose of the keyless entry? Big inconvenience. I wish that I had never purchased this vehicle.

I had a 2016 Ford Explorer. On 3/21/19 I was involved in a small accident and it immediately caught fire and my airbag was smoking. I sat for a minute in shock and thankfully my daughter and I escaped safely. My Explorer was fully engulfed in flames and totally burned up. I lost a lot in my vehicle that was not covered by insurance. It was a terrifying experience. I did really like my explorer until then but safety is my #1 priority. I have called Ford multiple times and they will not investigate. There were no recalls on my vehicle. I would not recommend getting one! I want to prevent this from happening to others.

Bought my car a year ago, certified pre-owned. Covered under powertrain warranty up to 100,000 miles. It has been nothing but trouble. Explorer has been in the garage multiple times. It was in the shop in October for 3 weeks- mechanic told me he thought it needed a new engine, but Ford wouldn't replace it (keep in mind this is a Ford certified garage). March- took it to the garage again because it was making noises- they couldn't find anything wrong with it. A week later it breaks down while I'm 4 hours from my home.

Faulty transmission and airbags. I have a 2016 Ford Explorer that I've had nothing but problems with. I just took it in for a faulty transmission. Wrench sign came on saying it was the power train. 71k miles, 11k over the warranty for a power train issue. I should not be having these kinds of issues with a car that is less than 4 years old and has less than 75k miles on it. Ford, get it together. We want to buy American made cars but not if this is going to happen. $5,500 fix on a 3 year old car is ridiculous!!!

Bought a brand new Explorer from local Dealer in 2012, only to have the paint start popping off hood less than 5 years and 55k miles later, due to (faulty application when originally painted by Ford) quoted to me by Service Manager at dealership. I just was wanting this touched up and fixed. They gave me the runaround for over a month. Very Disappointed at Ford for not standing behind their American made car and taking care of a customer who spent a lot of money with them...

I have a 2016 Ford Explorer. I bought this vehicle new. It was a lease. After 30 months the steering rack completely locks up. I was over on the miles by a few thousand. Ford refused to fix at their cost so I had to pay. I did some research and found this is common on a lot of Fords. Should be recalled but Ford refused to cover or repair their faulty part that was junk from day one. If you buy a vehicle with power asst electronic steering think before you buy. It may cost you 1900$ like it did me. Ford won’t stand behind their junk parts. I will never by a Ford.

This is the second time to bring our Ford Explorer platinum edition in for repair. It has only 20,000 miles on it. The first time was due to it not starting sometimes. We had the battery check and the place we were at checked the error codes. There were a few. One was the voltage regulator failed. I dont recall the rest. We took it to Ford and they told us there was corrosion in the battery and everything was fine. They did not do anything to the voltage regulator. There was a recall due to carbon monoxide leaking into the cabin.

We own a 2016 Ford Explorer Sport and it has 60K miles on it. We have liked the car until recently we had a rubbing sound coming from wheel. We took it into dealer to find out that it had a front wheel bearing worn out and just for added information, the other one was bad also so we replaced both at at cost of $1100. A month later, similar situation with rear and same result. Now we are out $2000+ dollars for wheel bearings on a car not even 3 years old and less than 70K miles.

2011 Ford Explorer. 170,000 miles. Transmission issue, approx $2,000.00. 2 wiring harnesses, over $700.00 each. Multiple issues with Sync system. Small leak near back end, in for repairs twice, still leaks. 4 AC compressors, $500-$800 each repair. Obviously a problem. Ford would do nothing. Will never own another Ford. Overseas competition is not the problem! Bad product with no management accountability. Too bad for the Ford workers and Service operations.

I have always owned a Ford but this 2018 Explorer has serious issues and Ford Motor has stopped communicating with me. Battlefield Ford in MANASSAS, DE wouldn't return my calls from day one. I was driving it home with less than 70 miles on the vehicle and they wouldn't address my issues. Beach for in Virginia Beach, VA had my vehicle for 1.5 weeks and never did the repair because FORD TECHNICAL decided not to even though they offered the repairs as a possible solution. So here is my laundry list for the 2018 Explorer: The tires on 2015-2018 Explorers have been on a recall from Hankook. Crash alert goes off even when nobody is in front of you. Front sensors don't always work. Bliss didn't work with a vehicle on my rear quarter panel, Volume will go to max volume on its own.

I am writing this review in order to give a little update about our 2017 Ford Explorer that we purchased new from Larry H Miller Ford Provo Utah on December 18th 2017. Ford has declared it a Lemon. Today they made us an offer. Which is 41% less than what we have invested into it. The offer reflects an over $3800 loss to us. That is absolutely ridiculous. 12 months, 9300 miles. How can Ford possibly think I would accept that. I could have rented a car for less. They refuse to change the offer and tell me that I have 3 days or the offer/claim will be closed. The car has been in the shop over 6 weeks in total, with 24 pages of warranty work. It continues to have problems. The dealership replaced the roof racks again and they are coming off already. Now I think the sixth time. I will never recommend a Ford product to anyone!

A newly purchased 2016 Explorer XLT. At 29,000 miles, the transmission quit shifting while driving on a busy road. I was towed and the transmission was rebuilt at Baierl Ford. The car now shifts very rough, clunks between 2nd and third and between 5th and 6th and often on the same downshift. The mechanic drove with me a short distance and heard the bad shift on the downshift saying it was normal... I drove a newer model and it wasn't rough. I could not duplicate the other bad shifts on such a short ride. Mechanic stated that, it's ok... I have two more years on the powertrain warranty...does me a lot of good along the road or after the warranty. Baierl Ford seems to be concerned, but I want a fix, not concern. I am a truck driver and a private pilot, so I am very aware of unusual noises. I wish Baierl would treat me like I know a little something about mechanics.

My 2015 explorer limited ed., as well as others in the area have a leak on the body in the rear top corners causing water to go into the spare tire compartment. Our spare tire compartment was just replaced due to having holes rusted through. It was covered under warranty but we are responsible for paying for part the leak repair, which is poor quality and not wear and tear.

My wife’s $55k Ford Explorer Platinum with 1100 miles suddenly died while driving it. It was 10:30 on a cold rainy night just outside of Paterson NJ, an area plagued with gang and drug violence. We called roadside assistance and were told within 90 minutes a tow truck would be there. My young son was in the car so we asked that in such a heavily populated area would they please send someone sooner. At 90 minutes we called again - we were assured it would’ve only 10 more minutes. At the 2.5 mark we called an Uber and abandoned the SUV. So 1 am in a bad area.

I purchased a 2006 Ford Eddie Bauer Explorer in 2017 along with a Ford protect PremiumCARE 4 year extended service plan at Hempstead Ford dealership in Hempstead, NY. The car's "coil harness connector, coil pack and plugs became corroded backfeeding to the coil". The car was in Centereach, NY and could not be driven to Hempstead. It was towed to Ford of Smithtown who told me that this was not covered under my PremiumCARE extended plan because the parts were corroded and quoted me a price of $1024.62, plus the cost of the spark plugs, plus tax to make the repair. This quote included the labor and since the electrical components would already be removed I would just have to pay for the spark plugs.

I bought my 2016 Ford Explorer Sport brand new off the lot. I got it fully loaded with all the options at the low price of 52K. To say I am disappointed in this car is a complete understatement. It had problems from day 1. First, the cowling on the right passenger panel had to be replaced. Then the plastic molding from the passenger floorboard came apart. THEN, my trunk wouldn't close because it was HITTING the right rear light and took chips out of my paint because it was misaligned out of the factory (GREAT JOB!!). This was ALL before 30,000 miles.

I purchased a used Ford Explore and within the year the doors stopped locking and unlocking properly. My vehicle was not under warranty and I cannot afford to fix the issue with it being almost $2000. At first I just figured this was just some bad luck but after researching I discovered Ford has had door issues since the 80’s. The main reason I am writing this review is because I was recently at a stop light and a man came up to my vehicle and opened the back door to get in. I had my 5 year old in the backseat. Thankful I was a good distance from the car in front of me so I hit the gas knocking the man to the ground. I then was able to put the car in park and reach back a lock the door before he could get up. So Ford I want to know how this is not a safety concern? This man could have killed us.

I own a 2015 Ford Explorer and was told my back up camera needs to be replaced (Cost $100 just to run diagnostics). I have reached out to Ford online twice and sent a message through Facebook trying to understand how a 2015 vehicle would need a new back up camera (you only use this camera when backing up so it is not used very often). This is clearly a defect with the manufacturer. It will be $600 to replace and I was offered nothing but a runaround when trying to understand how this could have happened. This is my 4th Explorer since I turned 16 and after this whole experience this will be my last. My entire family are dedicated Ford owners but this has become a huge disappointment. I am not afraid of what else is going to go wrong when something as simple (and expensive) as a backup camera has already broken.

I am so thankful for the "extra" features on our 2016 Ford Explorer. I admit I had a jaundiced view of all the "extras" but not now. We were able to avoid a potentially fatal 2 car collision on Utah Highway 215 yesterday. A reckless driver illegally passed us and spun out of control in front of us; careening off of cement dividers and diversion cones. Thanks to God and the emergency braking system and the superior handling of this car... steering, brakes, stabilizing... all of it; we did not become part of a highway statistic. Good job on this car design!

I purchased a 2017 Ford Explorer Sport from Brewster Ford in Brewster, NY back in July, 2016. I paid $50k for the vehicle. A few months ago, it developed an oil leak. I brought it to Brewster Ford for repair. Over the last 2 months, I've brought it into Brewster Ford 4 times and they've attempted repairs 3 of those 4 times and with each repair, they've assured me that the leak was fixed. During the 4th visit, Brewster Ford had the vehicle for over 2 weeks and when I picked it up, they said it was "bone dry." They said they had coordinated their efforts with the Ford engineering team, they took the engine apart and promised that they had fixed the leak.

Purchased this SUV (2014 Ford Explorer Sport) used with only 33,000 miles. Last month with approximately 43,000 miles on the car now, the AC unit stopped blowing cold air. A local Ford dealer advised it just needed a charge and did so for $160. A month later the issue surfaced again. The same dealer then advised it required an AC auxiliary line replacement. Parts and labor were $1,882 for a total of over $2,000 spent on this one issue. We love the size and performance of the car, but this expense coupled with poor gas mileage, a small gas tank, poor manufacturer consumer help, etc., I would not recommend this vehicle to those currently in the market for a new/used car.

I enjoy the 4 x 4 as it's winter and snowy, and I do not like getting stuck or being stranded in the snow. I can run errands and get back and forth easily regardless of weather, plus there is a back seat so I can take more passengers. Also, the previous owners installed a good stereo system with Bluetooth. I like the 4 wheel drive, and previous experience with this model, the last one was a few years older, and the stereo in the current one is better. I also like the safety features, as I have a grand baby that requires a car seat... But I wish it has better gas mileage and more cup holders, plus I need to get the fog lights to work as they didn't when I purchased the car. Also the back door lock needs a new pull, and there is a rip in the leather seat casing that needs to be sewn. Nevertheless, good experience with this vehicle overall.

I love my Ford Explorer Sport Trac! I get the use of a truck and the comfort of a SUV in one vehicle. The heated seats are an added comfort especially with my back issue. It has a sunroof, so that is an added bonus especially in the summer. I am disabled so the comfort of the ride is extremely important to me. I like the gas mileage and how much I could fit into the bed. I would like to see a more stylish cockpit though. I would also like to see power seats throughout and not just on the driver's side. I noticed that car companies have started eliminating spare tires. I don't like that. I like having a spare on hand.

The Ford Explorer has been very dependable. It has four wheel drive which helps tremendously in the winter when there is lots of snow. It has a very roomy interior, along with a roomy back. It drives smooth and has minimal maintenance. However, the doors auto lock and there is a problem with the auto lock where they fail to unlock. It's very much a hassle when it's the driver side door. It takes what seems like forever to get the door open. I would like to be able to disable it.

Need an SUV with the Michigan weathers so that me and my family don't get stuck in the ditch or in a snowbank and if someone is stuck we also have the option of pulling them out. 4 wheel drive is something that is necessary where we live if you don't then you're in for a long winter storm and while all our friends are stranded we can get out. Great vehicle in the snow and easy to get around unlike any of our other vehicles. If we have to take one of the kids to the doctors we know we can jump in the Ford Explorer and head to dr and not worry.

I've owned this 2000 Ford Explorer Sport for six years now and I just this year gave it a tune up. I've replaced the solenoid, the starter, an intake gasket, and had front end work done on it!! I've put about 100,000 miles on it. It runs great!! I bought this car thinking that it was a four wheel drive. I thought all Explorers were four wheel drive. Evidently it's a two wheel drive, but I'm still satisfied with the vehicle. I plan on keeping it maintained for as long as possible.

It is quite spacious and has a very powerful motor. It also has 4 wheel drive capabilities that I, personally use often. It is great for camping and hiking trips, and for every-day running around. It has a 3rd row of seats that fold down in the rear, as well as air conditioning and heater vents for the back seats that have their own temperature controls in the front. But Ford could make it easier to lay down the seats/put up third row. Also it could be a lot more efficient on fuel consumption. But overall, I have had a very good experience with my Ford Explorer.

My car model has actually been very reliable and useful. It gets me from point a to point b. It is also very roomy, so I'm able to get my kids in and out of the car with ease. The features that I like the most and influenced me the most to buy this model is all the space it has. Also, there is plenty of trunk space. However, one thing I wished my vehicle had is installed DVD players so the kids could relax while mommy drives.

Needed a cheap car to get back and forth to work and something that would get us through the snow and run good. And I bought a used 2000 year SUV Ford Explorer. It's white in color and has a radio, leather interior and all weather tires. It was well taken care of and has no rips, tears or scratches. It's too rough of a ride but it does what it's supposed to. It's a vehicle that runs and I'm thankful for it.