A Ford man forever, but had a chance to get a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited free (it was inherited). It was destined to be my soon-to-be-driving daughter's. It's very nice, V8, AWD, leather...loaded, but after 9 months I've decided to quit spending money fixing the friggin' thing. Plus we're lucky to get 13MPG...in all, very disappointing.
Now I have a line on a one owner 2000 EB edition Explorer. 117,000mi, V6, new tires, shocks... it's just as nice as the Jeep. They're asking $4000 (TX car = no rust), I know the seller.
I know nothing about them. Anything I need to be aware of?
Thanks.

 

4.0 SOHC motors are time bombs. The cam chain tensioners are failure prone. This one may have had the front one serviced under warranty, but with those miles, they are always a question mark. Some go at 50k, some well over 100k. Does it rattle for a few seconds when started?

5 speed automatics have some issues, mostly a flare between 1 and 2 and/or 2 and 3. Does it shift ok, down shift ok etc?

Does it idle smoothly? Intakes have o-rings that go bad.

T-stat housings are hateful plastic. Check for leaks.

There are about 5 miles of "heater hose" on these. Check for leaks.

Is this 4x4? If so, it is automatic and adds to security.

If 4x2, warn your kid that hanging the tail out like a sprint car in an Exploder is like playing Russian roulette.

Ball joints, bearings other normal wear stuff, not very expensive, but take a look.

We had a '98 4x4 that gave it up when hit by a drunk. Hit it in the RF wheel, and broke the ball joint. The hood and fender were still perfectly lined up despite the fender being bashed as well.

I replaced it with a '99 stripper 4x2. Wish I had waited a bit, as loaded EB and XLTs are to be had for about the same money. () But it's a clean 4.0 OHV vehicle and it's doing the job just fine.

$4k for a nice one seems high, but that's about what I found everywhere I looked.

 

LOL. Considering her father's past, that's great advice. Actually though, this(jeep) is the first AWD vehicle other than a Porsche I've driven, and it's very hard to hang anything out. The downside to that is you can press the go pedal (wet, dry, or other) and go like the dickens with this 4.7...till the head gaskets go.

Thank you very much for the excellent response. If anyone has any more to add, please do.

 

WE have a 1996 with 175K miles and a 2002 with 160K miles. Both are 4 x 4 and both were "retired" to the kids and inlaws as "spares" in the last year. Wife now has a 2010 EDGE. Explorer with 4 x 4 is sure nice in the winter. Both are pushing 19-20 mpg in the summer.

 

Get an Escape for your kids 2005 or newer!

 

Escapes are not a bad alternative. We looked at some later models which were a lot more money. '08 and up has the side air bags iirc.

My SIL has an '05 which we have used, but it has been wrecked a couple times and has unrepaired body damage and a bad paint job on the hood. I'll let my BIL take that one when she croaks. (lung cancer with brain tumors, but I digress......)

 

An Escape? Had not considered. Then I checked them out on line and whoa, they don't come cheap, especially this one! ---> Cars for Sale: 2010 Ford Escape 2WD XLT in Columbus, TX 78934: Sport Utility Details - 363227288 - AutoTrader.com

 

Must have been hand painted by George Zimmerman or something like that....

 

I fixed it....

Escapes (05 and newer) are a little more than I am willing to spend. $1.3MM is out of the question!

 

An EXP with 117K miles should be easliy good for another 60K... especially in Texas with no salt roads and cold weather.

 

I would add, the best car for is kid is firstly, one they can afford. If they don't have to work to buy it and pay it off, they will not treat it with respect. Secondly, they have to be able to afford to actually own it, as in you want something that is cheap on fuel, tires, repairs, and insurance. Something that handles well in emergency situations is a good idea to, as in something that isn't top heavy and rollover prone, and something that is a little light on power isn't a bad idea either.

So in my opinion, an Explorer is not a good first car. I think a Ford Focus wagon or hatchback is a good first car. Or you can aim int he middle, a Camry or Taurus is a good first car. Even a Ford Ranger is a better first car. Sorry, I am Ford biased, there are lots of other choices out there that are not Fords, and I don't know your full situations. But still, in my opinion, SUVs are not good first cars, maybe some of the really small light ones are all right, like the Geo Tracker, Honda CRV, or Toyota Rav4.

 

I would definitely look into the 4.0 SOHC timing chain. I have heard too many horror stories of peoples' engines going bad.

For a first car, I would suggest finding something safe and cheap. I would look for something that runs and drives nicely and is structurally good. Don't bother buying anything pretty. It will get scratches and dings soon enough.

 

The answer to your question in my case is yes. In my case, I bought a beater for $1100 so that my kid could learn how to drive something with a manual transmission. Also, it will be used to get over the passes in the winter. It won't be driven more than 8-10K miles/year, so gas mileage isn't so important. It's taking more work than anticipated to fix some issues, but if it only lasts me two years, I'm OK with that. My goal is to get something that costs about $1000/yr or less based on the purchase price plus the cost of fixing major issues.