Ford explorer, 97-2001, any experiences???
Discussion
All this talk of american pickups had me looking at the ads again.
Being larger than the average man I have always liked big cars, and being a miser I have always liked cheap ones.
When I was looking for a car before the current vectra, I was looking at old range rovers, top spec omegas and ford explorers. I went with the Omega in the end due to the mileage they got. That isn;t really a issue any more as I don;t drive nearly as much as I did.
Now I see explorers going for around £1k ish, now apart from the 20mpg if you drives like miss daisy are there any other negatives to look out for ? I am hoping the mechanics is up there with other over engined unstressed yank trucks. Also I like to have a go a the mechanics myself, are they easy to work on ?
Being larger than the average man I have always liked big cars, and being a miser I have always liked cheap ones.
When I was looking for a car before the current vectra, I was looking at old range rovers, top spec omegas and ford explorers. I went with the Omega in the end due to the mileage they got. That isn;t really a issue any more as I don;t drive nearly as much as I did.
Now I see explorers going for around £1k ish, now apart from the 20mpg if you drives like miss daisy are there any other negatives to look out for ? I am hoping the mechanics is up there with other over engined unstressed yank trucks. Also I like to have a go a the mechanics myself, are they easy to work on ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_ti...
ETA: I'd have one just cos they were in Jurassic Park
ETA: I'd have one just cos they were in Jurassic Park
We had one in the family for years. During a period of around 130k, literally nothing went wrong with it apart from consumables. Was pretty quick for what it was, handling was awful but probably no worse than its competitors. My dad had much "better" cars before and since but hugely regrets selling the Explorer. It's currently on around 200k and still going strong: our friends use it as transport at their villa in Spain.
Even nowadays there are still loads of the 1997-2001 models around in the USA, which surely says something about their reliability. We also managed to get 25mpg on motorway trips, so they're not quite as uneconomical as you'd expect.
Even nowadays there are still loads of the 1997-2001 models around in the USA, which surely says something about their reliability. We also managed to get 25mpg on motorway trips, so they're not quite as uneconomical as you'd expect.
We (family) had a 99/T plate one in black from 2002 for 7 years.
Bought with 52k, traded in with 130,000+ miles on.
Mother adored it. Auto, 270 BHP iirc and a right noise. It was treated like a van, and endlessly practical.
Father loved it for towing twin axle 6.4m caravan, did it with ease.
I enjoyed driving it, handled far better than you'd expect.
Nothing broke on it ever, just got a whiny diff by the end and rattley timing chains.
Servicing was cheap/easy.
Parts had to be ordered in advance usually ... Local FMC dealer were completely useless with it, but Sheffield were good.
It would take an obscene amount of weight in it, to the point where you thought it'd never move... Like a transit tippers worth of rubble, or steel girders for house renovations.
Turn the key, suspension pumps up, away you went.
Mpg wise, my mum was heavy footed with it and saw 14-16mpg around town.
20-25mpg on a run, even with caravan.
Find a well loved, low miles LPG one & you're winning
Bought with 52k, traded in with 130,000+ miles on.
Mother adored it. Auto, 270 BHP iirc and a right noise. It was treated like a van, and endlessly practical.
Father loved it for towing twin axle 6.4m caravan, did it with ease.
I enjoyed driving it, handled far better than you'd expect.
Nothing broke on it ever, just got a whiny diff by the end and rattley timing chains.
Servicing was cheap/easy.
Parts had to be ordered in advance usually ... Local FMC dealer were completely useless with it, but Sheffield were good.
It would take an obscene amount of weight in it, to the point where you thought it'd never move... Like a transit tippers worth of rubble, or steel girders for house renovations.
Turn the key, suspension pumps up, away you went.
Mpg wise, my mum was heavy footed with it and saw 14-16mpg around town.
20-25mpg on a run, even with caravan.
Find a well loved, low miles LPG one & you're winning
we're on number 3 now..
first had Firestone tyres, both rears stripped at 100mph in the desert and we flew off the motorway. nearly killed us all, If anyone was in the boot it was crushed on landing and they would be a pancake. Running back to the motorway covered In blood to hail a car to take us to the nearest hospital 25 mins away wasn't fun.
however we all survived, and part of the settlement with Ford was another car
Second car was a red Eddie Bauer, the box went twice, and a lot of problems toward its end of life
now on a 2012 one, also red.
pic; ours a few years back.
first had Firestone tyres, both rears stripped at 100mph in the desert and we flew off the motorway. nearly killed us all, If anyone was in the boot it was crushed on landing and they would be a pancake. Running back to the motorway covered In blood to hail a car to take us to the nearest hospital 25 mins away wasn't fun.
however we all survived, and part of the settlement with Ford was another car
Second car was a red Eddie Bauer, the box went twice, and a lot of problems toward its end of life
now on a 2012 one, also red.
pic; ours a few years back.
Edited by z4chris99 on Thursday 23 August 00:11
DickHerpes said:
Wikipedia said:
it has been estimated that over 250 deaths and more than 3,000 serious injuries resulted from these failures
I'd heard of this but didn't realise just how serious it was and that so many deaths had occurred from it.tr7v8 said:
Timing chains are a big issue with these the front one is easy but the back one isn't. I was also concerned about the relatively low numbers that exist in the UK, this might have impacted spares. I ended up with a 2000 Grand Cherokee.
Are both the chains not at the front then?I thought they used a 4.0 litre OHC version of the Cologne V6?
finlo said:
tr7v8 said:
Timing chains are a big issue with these the front one is easy but the back one isn't. I was also concerned about the relatively low numbers that exist in the UK, this might have impacted spares. I ended up with a 2000 Grand Cherokee.
Are both the chains not at the front then?I thought they used a 4.0 litre OHC version of the Cologne V6?
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