Ford Explorer: Another reason why Ford outsells the competition.
Pros:
Affordable. Roomy. Well-finished.
Cons:
Engine is a little under-powered.
The Bottom Line:
The Ford Explorer performed flawless. It never had a problem in the 4 years I owned it in which I put 90k miles on it.
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Author's Review
I bought my 2-door Explorer Sport in February 1996 after researching and test driving most of the vehicles in it's class. I can say the best vehicles I have owned. In the 4 years I owned it, I put on about 90,000 miles and never had a problem. The only maintenance done was a fluid change at 75k (trans, rear, front diff, etc.), oil changes at about 3500 miles and new tires at around 70k. Other than that, nothing needed replacing.
My wife bought a GMC Jimmy (2-door) loaded at the same time, so I will give a brief comparison...
The Jimmy was traded in a couple months before my Explorer, and it had almost 1/3 of the mileage. In the 3-3.5 years we owned it, it had been in the shop several times for a faulty alarm (which left us stranded once), also in the shop several times for a loose tire arm (these are junk, never get one), and lastly, with about 30k on the odometer, the water pump siezed and sheered the pulley right off stranding us hours from home (thank goodness for AAA).
In addition to the reliability of the Explorer over the Jimmy, I noticed that the interiors were also worlds apart. It seemed that Ford paid way more attention to the interior than GM. Ford covered everything in vinyl (less squeaks) as opposed to the all-plastic Jimmy dash. Also, the Explorer seats where way more comfortable than the flat, almost un-padded seats in the Jimmy.
My only complaint was the under-powered V-6 engine which wasn't too bad, just a little lacking in acceleration at highway speeds.
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