Off roading capabilities. Believe it or not, I take this off road occasionally and it is great. Visibility is great except over right shoulder. Parking is a breeze compared to other SUVs, this thing turns on a dime!

Ride, reliability, fit and finish and ball joints (have blown 3 so far). Running boards are rusting already!

I impulse bought this car, my friends talked me into it because it was "cool" and I was in college. I hated it the first year I owned it. The ride is terrible (worse than most SUV's I have been in) and a LOT of rattles have developed. Have had a lot of minor things go wrong with it, but thankfully the only major has continually been the brake rotors, they rust like crazy! The car has grown on me though, and I actually like it more now, it is a very safe car only if you know how to handle it. Very tippy, so no fast cornering! but I was rear ended in it by a smaller car and there was next to no damage to the Explorer. Only buy this car if you are prepared for a rough ride. Excellent off roader though.

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Ford Taurus, Dodge Dakota, Toyota Highlander

Dependable. Powerful V8. Rides and looks great.

None yet.

Great product so far. Not had any problems and plan to buy another one soon. This one has 76.000 miles and rides like it has 75 miles on it. I have always owned Chevy's. Not any more. To many problems.

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Chevy Blazer

Good AC... it blows cold air constantly at my feet, no matter what the position for the selector on the dash is. I drive sometimes 3 hours without stopping and my feet, especially the right one is near frozen at the end of the drive. The dealer's response is that the AC is supposed to do that. But they can "fix" it for $400 plus that my company declined.

The transmission shifted really rough from new. At around 20 K it started missing 2nd. and would go from 1st. to 3rd. Ford charged my company $128 for reprogramming the tranny. I contested that it should have been a recall but they declined. I guess when a company has a fleet contract and has deep pockets, Ford will really take them for a ride.

My company has a fleet of 9 Explorers. All of them 2002 or newer. To cut the long story short we are exclusively buying Chevy trailblazers from this year onwards. Don't know if they are going to be any better but only time will tell. The explorers are nicknamed the exploders where I work for the reason that the back glass window self distructs on it's own. The gas sturts that support the window come off their hinges and go through the glass. Mine did not break but Ford dealer ( Team Ford in Alpharetta GA ) charged us $1500 for a new tailgate. Instead of just replacing the little metallic piece that holds the ball joint on the gas sturt they had to replace the whole tailgate section and said it was not covered under warranty. By the way this was the 5th. truck out of the 9 that did it. Mine had over 40K miles so was not under warranty.

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Personally I have used a 2000 Explorer that did not have as many problems or rough edges. I used it for a year without any problems. Nissan Pathfinder...( used it for 3 years ) Much better ride and r

Loads of features (6 disc CD, thermometer, compass, instrument cluster). Nimble on winding mountain roads, decent 4WD handling in bad weather.

Very unreliable. Poor ride comfort and poor fit and finish (doors,window rattle) Electronics are "spooky" - warning lights flicker, things "buzz" and there is no known cause.

I will never buy another Ford product after this. We bought our SUV in "mint" condition with 60k miles and every option on it. Paid $15500 plus $2000 for extended warranty. Thank god for the warranty, because everything has gone wrong with this truck and left us stranded on road trips three times! Transfer case blew - $2400, both oxygen sensors expired at the same time, motor mount broke, exhaust bracket broke, timing chain tensioner broke . . . that's for starters. Worse yet, after a very long year of unreliable use, we went to trade it back in only to learn it had depreciated to less than $10k, so we couldn't afford to get rid of it. The ride is very rough and it rattles and whistles on mildly bumpy, uneven roads. The 4.0l engine is powerful, but unrefined and intrusive when accelerating, passing or downshifting. Reminds me of 80's vintage carbureted motors. This truck is very capable driving to the end of the driveway to get the mail, but you take your chances going any farther than that. I have since bought a Chevy Silverado and wish I had all the money back I wasted on this Explorer.

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Chevy Blazer - it was older, with far fewer features and much better built than this Explorer. I wish I had it back.

Bold exterior, comfy interior, easy to clean cloth seats.

I replaced, an alternater, a thermostat, and a rear wiper arm in 30k miles. Wish it had the keyless remote entry.

I bought a 1999 Ford Explorer Sport, v6 SOHC 5-speed Manual trans USED with 35,200miles on it in 2001(must have been leased). It's the best vehicle i could have ever chosen. It does ride like a truck I admit its a bumpy ride, but it's safe to drive and ride in, it's able to handle 45mph winds and tornatos, I'm keeping it. It's comfy and has plenty of room inside. I tend to keep my back seats down(I move alot of things, bicycles, mattresses, plants, couches) plus car seats snap in easy.

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Bronco

4.0 V6 has good power and gas mileage. Looks good inside and out. Comfortable on trips. Quiet inside (except when hitting bumps.) Great radio. Basically maintainance free!

Ride is rather jarring when driving over road imperfections. (But, it does have the air-ride suspension)

This SUV has been wonderful. Bought it for my wife in 1999 and it's tied for #1 on my list of maintainance free vehicles I've owned! (The other was a 91' 5.0 Mustang I had for 4 years) This SUV has been great for our family. It is fairly quiet, roomy, comfortable on trips and is great in bad weather. The only gripe is that it rides like a truck. It's quiet and there are no rattles and squeaks but you feel every bump and highway crack. Stereo is excellent for a stock application. Everything is right where you need it!

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1996 Ford Bronco Eddie Bauer (good truck)

Awesome power and acceleration for an SUV, good fit and finish, solid feel to all controls, very nice interior designed to be relatively user-friendly.

Choppy ride, poor access to rear seat, styling that is sort of "out there".

This was the Explorer Sport model, which is a 2-door. It had the 4.0 liter V-6, and in this shorter, lighter version of the Explorer it actually was faster than the 4-door V-8 models. It was not too far behind my 5.0 Mustang in power and acceleration. The gas mileage was awful (17mpg average). Access to the rear seat was a bit limited, and the ride was a little choppy due to the short wheelbase. It is an excellent car for couples with no children, singles, or maybe as a second vehicle. The overall quality of the car was very good, and we encountered no problems during the 2 years we owned it. It was recently traded in on a 2003 GMC Envoy due mainly to a desire for a smoother ride.

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1998 Explorer Sport (rough idle, "check engine" light came on a lot 2003 GMC Envoy (too new for proper assessment yet)

Interior easy to maintain, few repairs needed, nice safe ride.

Minor transmission problems with mine.

I have loved my Explorer so much but have had a few minor problems with the check engine light coming on and needing a few repairs when the idle became very low. I know nothing about cars or trucks, but needed a car that was safe. I bought this with 23,000 miles and am up to almost 80,000. This model drives like a truck (no complaints), but have decided to trade it in for a new 2003 in January when I get my other car paid off. I test drove a 2003 and the ride is considerably smoother. I love the interiors of these cars, still looks great after riding with 2 dogs and three teenage boys. I practically live in this car. Next time will upgrade to a better sound system. Have put a total of $1,000 into car for repairs and maintenance. Oh, and the front license plates always fall off. I have seen a number of Exploreres with the tag hanging. Cheaply done for an overall well made car. Really, really love my Explorer.

Space and 4X4 winter traction.

Poorly designed front suspension and embarrasing overall design quality.

Toyota need not worry! This is the first American vehicle I have bought since 1981 (figured I would give the "home boys" a chance), and it will be the last American vehicle I will ever buy. Keep in mind when you are reading below that there is 60,000 miles on this SUV. So what went wrong? I have been through 5 recalls, 3 Fuel Pumps, 1 transmission, 1 complete set of Upper Ball Joints, 1 complete set of Lower Ball Joints, 1 set of inner and outer tie rods and 1 radio. To clarify things, I HAVE NEVER DRIVEN THIS VEHICLE OFF-ROAD. The front suspension on these vehicles are poorly designed! The car also leaks oil. Other Explorer owners of the same vintage also appear to have the same problems as well. On the plus side, the car does have plenty of room and was excellent in the snow this year. The dealer has been excellent as well. Numerous calls and complaints to Ford went unanswered or were unsympathetic. They have lost a customer for life and poisoned someone (who was trying to come back) against American cars. I have primarily driven Japanese vehicles. I got spoiled by the reliability and lack of maintenance these vehicles require. My other vehicle was a Toyota with 125,000 miles and no problems. I traded that vehicle for a 2003 4Runner. To say that the 4 Runner and the Explorer are in the same class would be an insult to Toyota. THe 4Runner is head and shoulders above the Explorer in every detail. My advice, pay the extra $$$ and buy a Toyota or Honda. Shame on you Ford! I wanted to like this SUV!

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Toyota 4Runner.

Great style on the inside. Good pick up at lower speeds. Quiet in terms of wind noise. I feel very safe it it. Very roomy. Headlamps are great at night.

Front grill should be paited along with the side door panels on the outside. They are currently plastic, and it looks rather cheap. Rear shocks bounce a lot over bumps causing a fishtail type feeling in the rear. Poor pick up at speeds over 70 km/h, especially if trying to merge on an expressway, or trying to pass.

I purchased this Explorer Sport XLT brand new. So far, I have had no issues with this car yet. It has pretty good pick up for a 4.0L 203 HP V6 Engine...however, at 70km/h, trying to pass someone is a bit of a chore. It does guzzle the gas though. I get about 440Km/65L tank. It's got a quiet ride, and takes the bumps fairly nicely, except for the rear...where it bounces so much that the car actually shifts left and right slightly. It's fully loaded with leather and a 6 pack cd changer built it. Very comfortable seats. Only pitfall is the leather rubs against the center console producing an annoying vibration type noise. As well, seating is limited to 4 people. I am very pleased with this vehicle thus far, and pray for nothing to go wrong with it.