ukmac

Hi, I am currently deciding on whether to buy my first Ford Explorer. A long time American car enthusiast ( I live in the UK ), I have owned a number of American cars over the years. In fact my first was a 1956 Ford Fairlane. I currently own a 2.3 ecoboost Mustang and a 2001 Corvette C5. I have owned the Corvette for nearly 12 years, it is totally unmarked and very carefully cared for. The Mustang is a 2015 in yellow. Both are obviously left hand drive...although it is possible to get the Mustang in right hand drive now in the UK.....but most enthusiasts such as myself much prefer left hand drive.

The Ford Explorer is not available in the UK, so the only ones available are ones that have been imported, and even then only in very small numbers. I have the chance to buy a brand new 2017 ( I would imagine 2016 built ) XLT 3.6 FWD. I have viewed the car once and it looks lovely but am still a little undecided. Coincidentally I am currently in the States on holiday and managed to rent an Explorer so am using our holiday as a means to give the Explorer an extended test drive.

However, after reading on the Eplorer forum the number of issues the Explorer has had with the throttle body, I am concerned as to whether I should buy or not. The Explorer will have a 12 month warranty, but will not be covered by a Ford warranty as it is not being sold by Ford direct.

I have been in a similar position before. I really wanted a Dodge Challenger but read about the rust issues that model has. Infact, after reading about those issues decided against the Challenger for that reason. I understand that for the most you only hear about faults on forums (rarely the good points), but am obviously still very concerned. What I need to find out is what your opinions are of the percentage of Explorers that have had this ETB fault.

All feedback appreciated.

FAUEE

My family has had a Lincoln mkx for several years now, it has the same power train as the explorer. It's at 170k miles or more and still runs like new.

That said, of reliability is your concern, try to find the previous body on frame Explorer with a 4.6, it has a very similar power train to the f150 and is known to last many hundreds of thousands of miles. Plus, it has a v8, so it's better.

TD-Machines

I bought a 2015 Explorer base the only options 4WD and tow package, this is the first new Ford I ever bought. I have about 11K miles on it and not one problem with it. I'm very happy with my decision.

dugsgms74

We have well over 100(split about 50/50 between Explorers and Police Utilitys all with N/A V6 engines and mostly AWDs) in our fleet and they have been very reliable. Zero major engine/trans problems that I can recall and truthfully not really any problems to speak of in general. We did have quite a few with the throttle body problems but after replacing the throttle bodies as per the Ford recall we have yet to have one problem reoccur. The only other things that we have had problems with were bad door latches(door ajar message with the door closed), leaky trans output shaft seals, a couple of bad PTUs(what Ford calls the transfer case in the AWD versions) and lately a few where the vinyl/foam covering on the door panels peels off. The drivers in our fleet are pretty rough on vehicles and since they they have held up well in these condition I would have no problems recommending one.

Rooster OG

I traded my 2013 Explorer Limited with 40k miles on it last year. The car was great, I never had any issues and only had oil changes done to it. It was a solid car. I'd buy another if I was in the market for that kind of vehicle again.

carsangelop

Watch out for the bubbling paint on the leading edge of the hood

Gary '09 C6

OP, f y i, that would be a 2010 model or older...

C7-Beast

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Yes, 2011+ Explorer's have this problem I've had it repaired twice. Other than that, loved my 2012. Sold it last year with 90k miles.