Wife is thinking of upgrading from an Escape to an Explorer to gain a bit more space, but neither of us has ever owned one. Is the Explorer generally a good vehicle? Is it as reliable as my F150 or are these known for any particular problems that would make us sorry???

 

I have owned two....a 2000 that I sold running at 220,000 miles and now a 2014 that has 25,000 miles. Both start(ed) and run the same since purchased new. Amazing. A more pertinent question might be "Is this the type vehicle that fits our needs?"

 

our 13 sport is still perfect @ 75k hard miles

 

No. My 2016 just went back lemon law. Worst car I've ever owned. Ford never fixed a problem the whole time except the roof leak. It was in the garage for 34 days and I lost tons of work time dealing with it. I'm not alone either. Good luck.

 

They are generally good. my wife loves hers. we bought it about 2 months ago with 40k miles.

 

We've had a 99 a 03 and now a 16 platinum. Never had any trouble out of the 99. We still have the 03 limited V8 and have had to have the cheesy intake manifold replaced and a new gasket on the oil filter housing. Both of these repairs were made at well over 265,000 miles. The 16 has been flawless so far with 6400 miles ,but I make sure the wife always runs premium gas and flogs it real good at least once a week to keep the engine from coking up. Don't bother buying a vehicle with a turbo engine unless you know how to treat it and believe me when I say that doesn't involve driving like grandma. LoL.

 

Ordered my '14 Sport before they even had pricing for them. It has never been back to the dealer. Change the oil and filters, rotate the tires never had a problem.

 

Wife's '14 is our 3rd since 93. 30K on the clock now, only issue was a leaky PTO seal, which the dealer fixed without any drama. B-I-L currently has a 06 w/ 240k on the clock...no plans to drop it.
My bride has had a few different rides in between, but we keep going back to Explorers.
She loves it, our confidence is high, and we plan to keep this one for a long time.
Good friend of mine has a 15 Sport..loves it, no issues.

 

Sorry to hear that...
I know it seems like a voice out in the wilderness, but can sympathize as we were there with an expensive rv... sometimes the companies just don't 'hear' that small voice

good luck to you !

 

My Explorer was fairly reliable. The main driveline and engine were solid. No issues in the 50k miles that I drove. But other parts of the car were not so good. Mine spent a fair amount of time in the shop having other things fixed. Hood and rear door aligned, the main dash display replaced, front suspension tightened, etc. Part of the problem was the shop wasn't good a finding the core issue, they just keep replacing parts. Overall it was a good car, but it had some quirks.

 

My wife drives a 15 Explorer XLT with the 3.5 non turbo V6.
So far it has been a great vehicle for her. No issues to date.

We take our Superduty on most trips due to the extra space for the 2 dogs and gear, but have driven the Explorer on several trips and it has been comfortable.