2002 Ford Explorer Replaces 1987 Mazda B2000 Pickup

Author's Rating:

Pros: Smaller wheel base/turning radius

Cons: More prone to tip After 70,000 miles frequent trips to mechanic.

Handling And Control:

The Bottom Line: 
This vehicle handles well, it is pretty. Don't make sudden highspeed turns. Vehicle could overturn! I like setting the clock.

Author's Review
2002 Ford Explorer

See repaurs at end of review...

OK, hubby says it is time for a new car, since we had problems with two of our cars on the same day. Car shopping we go. We settled on a Ford Explorer. It had a feature or two we were looking for, such as enough room to lay down and sleep in the back, as the back 60/40 seats fold forward.. It also had lots of features I could have cared less about, such as power windows and door locks.

What I Like
We have driven a stick shift vehicle for the past 20 years or more. Since the Explorer is an automatic, my right hand and left foot are at a loss what to do, since they no longer have to help me shift. This has decent power for an automatic 6-cylinder 4 litre engine.

I like when I hit the automatic door unlock, the interior lights come on and stay on until I turn the key in the ignition. When I go about 3 mph, the doors automatically lock. I never realized how paranoid Americans have become with these features! We live in a very low crime neighborhood, but since I work the graveyard shift, I suppose these are nice safety features. I can also prevent any potential kids and the pups from rolling down the power windows and I can lock them in if I wish. I can hit “unlock” on the remote keychain once and it unlocks the driver’s door. If I hit “unlock” twice, all the doors unlock. There is a separate automatic lock for the back window which is heated and has it’s own wiper. As well, if you want a larger access to the back, the back door of the vehicle unlocks as well. There is a red “panic button” which will beep continuously if you hit the red button on the keychain. You can use this to locate your vehicle in a parking lot, or draw attention to yourself if you feel you’re in danger. It only has about a 50’ radius. I will be getting a remote car starter before the cold weather starts.

Our SUV has an am/fm/cd player. The sound is great! The clock is a joy to set. Hit and hold “clock”. Hit the top (seek/tune) toggle switch for the hour, back or forth, or the lower toggle switch to set the minutes. It couldn’t be simpler! (Remember to set your clocks back the last Sunday in October!) Our vehicle will hold 5 people comfortably. When hubby and I visit my son, who has a family of four, one of us adults will have to be in the back, behind the rear row of seats.

The turning radius is smaller with the Explorer, compared to our F150. I no longer have to perform mathematical formulas in my head, to find the correct angle to park in a standard parking stall. I can comfortably do a U-turn from the middle of a 4-lane highway.

We live on the edge of the city. I like the headlights of the Explorer. They seem brighter than either of our previous two vehicles, yet I think they are standard white lights. This comes in handy to try and see the deer before they jump out in front of us on the side streets.

We have several gauges on the dashboard. Oil, temperature, RPM and a couple more. There is also an anti theft device. A “theft” light blinks intermittently on the dash when our car isn’t running. Our ignition key is computerized. A copy costs $30 and will take several minutes to create.

What I Dislike
Having an automatic transmission, I find myself going faster without meaning to. There are several hills on the way to work. I find myself freewheeling down these and having to hit the brakes on a regular basis, just to stay within the speed limits. I anticipate higher costs for brakes and speeding tickets, which will increase our car insurance. With a stick shift, 2nd gear got me through the neighborhoods and 3rd gear kept me under 35 miles per hour. What am I going to do in the wintertime, when I find myself constantly tapping the brakes and thus sliding when going downhill?

Our manual transmission Ford F150 has a nasty habit of dying when we go from forward to backup mode. Yesterday I noticed the Explorer as well dying as I backed up, even though it is an automatic.

Grocery shopping. There is a fair amount of space between the tailgate and the rear passenger seat. I feel I need to tie the grocery bags shut so they don’t roll all over the back.

When we take the key out of the ignition, the radio continues to play until we open one of the doors.

There is a sign posted on our sun visor. It indicates our vehicle has a higher than average chance of rolling over. Our salesman told us if we find that our tires on one side of the vehicle are on lower pavement or off the side of the road, we need to slow down before we pull back on the road, “or bad things will happen.” The sign also indicates to avoid excessive speed.

Overall, I enjoy driving this vehicle. I wonder how well the defroster will work in the winter. A lot of cars have problems when it dips below 0 degrees, keeping the side windows clear of fog and ice.

Update

I was driving the SUV today. I was going from one parking lot to another. When I had been driving about 10 seconds, I heard a beeping sound for about 5 seconds and saw the seatbelt light flashing. It did shut itself off. IRRITATING! The salesman later told me the beeping will happen for 6 seconds every 30 seconds. Can you live with that if you don't wear seatbelts? Are all newer cars that way?

July 10, 06 - 67K miles
We are hearing a tire type noise. Our tires need replacing anyway, so we buy new ones. The noise does not go away. Over the course of the next week, it comes and goes, but gets worse. It sounds like we are dragging a box under the vehicle, and we have lug nuts in our hubcaps. We dash into a Tires Plus shop, and find that the wheel bearing on the driver rear is defective. At that point it had about 1/2" of play and it is possible the wheel could have fallen off. Cost without the extended warranty plan through Ford: $450. Cost with the extended warranty plan through Ford: $53.50.

Feb 13, 2007
Electric window controls fail. Cost: $130

Feb 15, 2007
Parking brake falls apart. Cost: $130

Feb 16 2007
Rear end bearings start making horrible noise: Cost: $350-400.

FIX OR REPAIR DAILY?????

The following was on the internet ad for our vehicle. I'm not sure what came standard and what cost extra. I don't know about the auto on-off headlights. I still have to turn them on manually. I haven't tried leaving them on to see if they shut off. We found gas mileage is about 16 city and 22 highway.


· AIR CONDITIONING ·CRUISE CONTROL
· KEYLESS ENTRY SYSTEM ·POWER STEERING
· POWER BRAKES · BUCKET SEATS
· REAR BENCH SEAT · SPLIT FOLDING REAR SEAT
· VELOUR/CLOTH SEATS · POWER WINDOWS
· PRIVACY GLASS · POWER MIRRORS
· ALARM SYSTEM · LIGHTED ENTRY SYSTEM
· AUTOMATIC ON/OFF HEADLIGHTS ·DIGITAL CLOCK
· POWER DOOR LOCKS ·TILT STEERING WHEEL
· TRAILER HITCH · STEEL WHEELS
· CENTER CONSOLE · INTERMITTENT WIPERS
· LUGGAGE RACK · REAR WINDOW DEFROSTER
· REAR WINDOW WIPER · TACHOMETER
· FOUR WHEEL ANTI-LOCK BRAKES·TURNING CIRCLE: 36.7'
· PASSENGER AIRBAG · HEIGHT 71.9"
· LENGTH 189.5" · WIDTH 72.1"
· MAXIMUM SEATING: 5 ·46.6 CUBIC FEET LUGGAGE CAPACITY
· FRONT HEAD ROOM: 39.9" ·FRONT HIP ROOM: 55"
· FRONT LEG ROOM: 43.9" ·FRONT SHOULDER ROOM: 59.1"
· REAR HEAD ROOM: 38.9" ·REAR HIP ROOM: 54.3"
· REAR LEG ROOM: 37.2" ·REAR SHOULDER ROOM: 58.9"
· 88 CUBIC FEET MAXIMUM CARGO CAPACITY · 22.5 GALLON FUEL TANK
· WHEELBASE: 113.7" ·GROUND CLEARANCE: 8.5"
· BUILT IN UNITED STATES ·ANTI-LOCK BRAKES,DRIVERS SIDE AIRBAG,PASSENGERS SIDE AIRBAG,BODY SIDE MOLDING,LUGGAGE RACK,POWER STEERING,POWER BRAKES,POWER WINDOWS,POWER DOOR LOCKS,POWER SIDE MIRRORS,REAR WIPER,CRUISE CONTROL,INTERMITTENT WIPERS,AIR CONDITIONING,ANTI-THEFT SYSTEM,ALLOY WHEELS,BUCKET SEATS

http://www.ford.com/en/default.htm