Ping Steve Firth. Ford Explorer info.

[David Paste]

Hello,

A friend is considering one of these - is there anything in particular to look out for?

Thanks,

David Paste.

[David Paste]

Ah yes, of course! I forgot about that site. I will have a shufti.

Well, that just sounds like a way to save money on Alton Towers tickets.

I don't think that would be a problem - 271 out of what must have been many thousands, whilst sucking a lot of ball for those that got it, isn't much of a gamble, really, and I am sure that my friend would be getting the tyres changed anyway.

Thanks for the reply.

[SteveH]

You're asking the wrong question.

What you should ask is 'is there anything in particular that I don't need to look out for'.

For some reason, Steve loves his, but the rest of the world seem to have realised they're shonky heaps of badly built s**te.

[Huge]

Why would you want to waste half an hour reading lies?

[js.b1]

Do you want a 4x4 that is a 4x4, or something more car like?

The Jeep Cherokee used to have a good rap for car-like road holding, the Kia Sportage for half decent suspension, and if you liked to practice welding then the UK 4x4 offer a lifetime of practice. If you just want a 4x4 re bulk carrying and all weather and Audi Quattro is still hard to beat. Audi hourly rates are high and some models lack reliability.

A true 4x4 has taxation against it, and increasingly so, hence the possibility of getting a good bargain.

Check carefully reliability of automatic gearboxes re Ford, although Audi have been known to create some (very) expensive driveway ornaments re gearbox failures. Find a good web forum and trawl through it (it will take you a whole weekend to go through the maintenance forum). If you do not, you may find out what it costs to replace (say) injectors, dual mass flywheels, short lived gearbox and so on. Typical repair bills on cars have tripled since the 1998 era - what used to be a =A3250 bill can very easily be =A3750-1250 by routine.

Basically, if total cost of ownership says it is a lemon, walk. That CAN mean you buy a =A330,000 car as a =A34,500 dog at 4yrs old because it needs an =A31,850 part every 4yrs which makes the consumer & auction crowd baulk. It CAN mean you avoid something which blows its automatic gearbox and will keep doing at =A32700 so because the problem is in the original casting so will repeatedly recur. The easy credit era meant people rolled over cars every 3yrs, but are now keeping them or buying them at 3yrs only to find the turbo diesel needs hugely expensive injectors or can run its bearings from coked oil ports or has a short lived gearbox. It masked a car industry pressured by ill-thought green legislation into rushing products to market where teething was paid for by the consumer - at a very high price.

[Doctor Drivel]

Yes, it is a Ford so should be avoided at all costs. Only idots and Chavs drive them.

[Doctor Drivel]

You are a man of wisdom indeed!

[Doctor Drivel]

Wow!. He must be a Chav or Pickey.

[Mrcheerful]

why would anyone bother when its truth is so easily confirmed?

[Doctor Drivel]

Yes, look out for a Ford Explorer and avoid it.

[Halmyre]

You might consider why its nickname is the Ford Exploder.(Or was, if you're reading this and you're a lawyer working for Ford).

-- Halmyre

[Scott M]

But those problems are surely ancient history now? This was surely only news in the 90s (assuming it's not another Pinto cost/benefit analysis on Ford's part!)

Scott

[Duncan Wood]

& if you're running tyres old enough for that to be relevant on any vehicle then they'll be as unsafe on the motorway.

[Man at B&Q]

Why would anyone take any notice of you? Unless you can provide proof that HJ review pages are lies. They seem spot-on for my car.

MBQ

[Mike Tomlinson]

In article , Mrcheerful writes

reminiscent of the fuel tank on the Pinto.

[Jules Richardson]

I had a 4x4 one on hire in '08 which was surprisingly capable[1] when it came to doing what a 4x4 needs to do - other than that though it was all- round average; not bad but not particularly good, either.

[1] huge snow-storm rolled in early evening in Seattle, and it was one of only a small handful of vehicles which made it up the mountain pass to Snoqualmie that evening; I picked my way around plenty of other 4x4s which had become stuck and where the occupants had resigned themselves to being there for the night.

cheers

Jules

[Mrcheerful]

I think that only happened in a crash, Exploders do it while driving along on your own.

[Huge]

Are you going to post much more, only I need to decide if it's worth killfiling you?

[Steve Firth]

Christ on a bike but you do talk some old s**te.

[David Paste]

He wants a petrol (will be LPG'd) 4x4 to replace a diesel 110.

He had one of these in a previous life. A Grand Cherokee is also being considered.