What do we know about Ford Explorers?

My wife is looking at one. 2015-2020 or so. 

I've heard they have water pump problems. How common is that? Are any years worse than others? 

What else? 

I apparently asked this question a year ago. 

So, any other issues with them beyond the water pump?

Could be a 3.5na, could be a 3.5t, could be a 2.0t

Son's wife has a 2024 (I think) black on black.  It's been back to the Stealership about 5 times for a leaky sunroof.  The thing is huge!  Two visits were over a week long; they still can't figure it out.  Park on an incline or decline and it rains, the front foot wells or the rear cargo area fills with water. 

Ian ran pipe cleaners, all kinds of stuff down the tubes, no blockage.  Wiped down the runners, no grit and sprayed silicone in.  Finally!  Looking down the internal rain gutter, say 1/2" wide by 1/4" deep, when it gets to any of the four corners, the stamping drops the height of the ditch by half.  On a hill the water gets a running start and hops over the wall.

He beefed up the corners with plastic shim and duct tape to confirm a theory and it worked.  Went back to the Tech he dealt with at Ford and explained it.  

Ford doesn't have a Suggestion Program where you get cash for suggestions that save the company money, too bad for the Tech.  Nice car overall, good mileage, towed an Audi wagon on a U-Haul trailer like it wasn't there.  Scares me, but it zips down freeways and parkways at 80+ mph quietly with ease.

YMMV

Dan

Haven't heard much about them. I imagine the issues would be similar to that of the other EB Fords.

In reply to 914Driver :

Have your son check the hatch hinge area. Common failure point on older explorers. 

Still really digging our 2023 ST. The only "issue" it's had is that my wife has broken the cupholder by bashing her giant water bottle down too hard.

I only know that sadly, people like to buy them in white and black and gray.

I hope they enjoy people driving way too slow around them.

Nothing to add but: FYI police package cars do not have roof rails. At least according to Jason Cammisa. 
 

I've found this to be true so far with a few exceptions but the exceptions are always ST models and are not police cars. Kind of a false positive situation. 
 

YMMV but good info to know

We have a 2017 Limited with the NA 3.5 V6 that we bought as a CPO / just off lease in October of 2020.   This is the 4th Explorer we've had since buying our first one in 1997, the first 3 were all V6 / body on frame where this version is unit body construction.

Of the 4 this one drives and rides more like a sedan than a truck, not surprising as it shared it's drivetrain and other components with the 2nd generation Taurus.  We've put about 20,000 miles on it, no issues so far.  Very quiet on the road, decent fuel economy for what it is (20-23 mpg on the highway) and adequate power with the NA engine.   Ours has the 3 row seating, 6 normal sized humans fit comfortably, 7 if someone doesn't mind being in the middle of the back. 

This generation isn't meant to be an an off roader, it uses an all wheel drive / front drive biased system.  There are different drive modes but no low range.  The Ford Sync in this generation is meh and a lot of the climate controls require using the touch screen which I'm not super fond of.  The Sony 9 speaker sound system is pretty good though.

I have a few things to say but can't because driving including sunroof drain fix.

Just returned a 2023 XLT with the 4 cylinder turbo engine.  Roomy for the 4 of us monsters-all 5' 10 and up-plus our luggage for a week and a half.  
I will say that the throttle tip in engineer needs a thorough beat down though.  

I have always liked the look of the ST.  I have wanted to test drive one for a while. Watching this thread. 

5th gen Explorer, made form 2011-2019 shared underpinnings with the Taurus, Flex, and Lincoln variants. It's transverse engine, FWD with AWD as an option.

Big change in 2020+ when they switched platforms and went to RWD base/AWD optional with longitudinal engines. Don't think much about the 2020+ applies to what OP is looking at.

GF has a 2022 that seems decent. She's had a recall for backup camera/screen issues, and according to some mail received yesterday rear dif mounting bolts can fail and cause some problems (Ford will take care of this for free if failure occurs). Hers is the limited trim, so it's got a bunch of bells and whistles/safety tech. It's a nice place to spend time, and seems to be an ok vehicle overall.

I'd lean towards a newer one with RWD and longitudinal engine/trans if it were me. Just feel better about the ability of the powertrain to handle the weight/torque compared to the earlier FWD based models.

I added down tubes, full exhaust and a tune to a 3.5TT, scoots pretty good now.   It added about 100 hp and tq, so over 450hp.  This was for the same guy with the 900hp GT500.

The water pump issue is real.

A friend of mine bought one and had to have the engine replaced not long out of warranty. The replacement engine (rebuild) also has issues. He's dumping it.

Ranger50 said:

I have a few things to say but can't because driving including sunroof drain fix.

Ok finally not driving and had some sleep after driving all night....

914driver- sunroof drains are a very common problem, so the dealer is lying. There are three main malfunctions: the drains are undersized and clogged. They need a wire to snake them. Secondly, they can get crimped somewhere along the line. Lastly, there is a problem with the drain tube being cut too short by like an inch. This places the tube right above a body seam leading to the interior leak. One of those will be the culprit.

Personally, I'm a 6th gen fan vs the 5th. The 3.0/3.3 is a big step in overall everything vs the 3.5. I rarely have heard of internal problems with the newer generations. The 10spd in either 60 or 80 flavor have issues but most have been fixed or have solutions available. The most of everyone's problems is ford cost cutting measures. The technology pack is woefully processor/memory deficient leading to many reprogramming sessions or hard resets needed. Single axle bolt is complete bullE36 M3. The official Ford fix is bullE36 M3 too. Only real fix is to utilize the missing bolt. At least in the ST's with 21" wheels, forget trying to buy new tires that aren't $400/each in the OE size with horrible options. Change the size to a wider and shorter version and way more options. The transmissions are chronically underfilled by at least a quart or more. Thanks dudes.

Beyond that, the ex's ST crossed 68k with 2 warranty claims, one for a peeling wheel and damaged air deflector, with nothing more than oil changes and one trans fluid spill and fill with a 10R80 filter. It runs 12.5's in the quarter on the OE Pirellis with a tune and upsized intercooler. We've easily put 50-60 passes on it since we've owned it since March of 23.

Id buy another if given the option.

Ranger50 said:

The 3.0/3.3 is a big step in overall everything vs the 3.5. I rarely have heard of internal problems with the newer generations.

As far as I can tell the NA Cyclones have generally been more reliable than the boosted-Cyclone 3.5, and the 3.0 is based on the (clean sheet) 2.7 'nano', which are unrelated (in a good way) to any other EcoBoost engines.

We bought a new Explorer (3.5L / FWD) in 2016 and currently have about 128K miles on it.

Its water pump failed at about 90K miles and the two indies we approached wouldn't touch it due to common part breakage issues so Ford got something like $1,200 for the work.

We've had chronic infotainment issues such as a frozen image from the backup camera and we gave up trying to resolve the problem after two visits to the dealership.

As compared to the 2005 Explorer we put 280K miles on, the newer one's front seats aren't as comfortable (seat pan is too short making you feel like you're going to fall forward and the head rest forces your head down too much) but the newer one is significantly quieter and smoother and averages about 22 MPG compared to 19 MPG (both with about 50/50 city/highway).

IMHO, the 2005 and the 2016 only have a name in common...the 2005 was cab on frame with a longitudinal engine and RWD (you know, a truck) and the 2016 is a car that looks like a truck.

Bottom line...the 2016 is more refined but the 2005 instilled more trust as everything was built solid.

I don't regret buying the 2016 and I wouldn't suggest passing on one but I'm not in love with it...it's very, very, very OK. 

Update:

My wife and daughters did a road trip from Southern California to Arizona and back in our 2016 Explorer two weeks ago and the AC system failed on their way back.

Our mechanic called us twenty minutes ago saying that we've got much bigger problems than the AC..."you're leaking coolant, the reservoir is dry, and your cooling system can't hold 30 PSI for even a few minutes".

My wife just got off the phone with Ford (first water pump replacement)..."the water pump replacement was done in July of 2020 so you're SOL in terms of a warranty claim" and the $1,200 I referenced above appears to be a survivor denial defense mechanism as we actually paid a little over $4,000 for the work.

The good news is that the replacement parts are easily sourced (our mechanic said that her first contact told her they have 72 pumps in stock ready to fix broken Explorer water pumps).

OK, I paid 36K out the door (all up with tax, license, registration, and destination charges) for that 2016 Explorer...to pay 8K more (22%) to keep it running past 123,000 miles is a huge, huge fail.

Sample size of one my a$$...72 replacement pumps are currently on the shelf at the first suppler called because everybody knows the pumps in these vehicles fail like crazy.

BTW, I've got an image of the new Mazda CX-70 on my monitor now in anticipation of the discussion Mrs. Reven' and I are about to have.

Please think kind "straight six - longitudinal mount - rear drive" thoughts as I close this deal.

GLWT

RacingComputers said:

GLWT

Hehehe, fair enough.

She did check out the Mazda CX-30, 50, & 70 but ultimately pulled the trigger on a Honda CR-V.

For her, space per dollar is more important than fun per dollar so I think she chose well.

She wanted a white TWD in EX trim level and agreed to the price but apparently something was incorrect with their inventory numbers and they bumped her up to a EX-L trim level (everything else was identical) for the same price.

We were sitting in our new car getting an overview of the features from the sales person when the engine started making a tapping sound (Yes Aircooled, I was ROFLMAO thinking about all of the Honda engines that have been blowing up in the Indy race series).

Next thing we knew, they were washing an AWD EX-L (everything else was identical) and honored the original price for the TWD EX.

The MSRP spread between the two is $4,150 ($32,350 Vs. $36,500) so we're very happy with the transaction.

Ops, I'm sorry to thread jack Toyman.

Honda gave us a $7,000 trade-in on our 3.5L, TWD, mid trim level 2016 Explorer sight unseen...it's very clean in an out but has 128,000 miles and I'm so, so done with the water pump issue.

Bottom line...I'm changing my recommendation to AVOID.

In reply to RX Reven' :

Indie wouldn't touch it?  Jeez, I've done those pumps in only four hours.  You don't need to drop the engine out in the Explorer chassis.  Pop off the intake, valve covers, timing cover, it's all right there.

In reply to RX Reven' :

We a looking at a XC90 tomorrow so don't worry about the threadjack.

In reply to Toyman! :

I'd rather have an Explorer...