2006 Explorer - two years later

I was going to buy a Ford truck, but decided on the Explorer instead. Found a Certified Pre-owned 2006 with 16,000 miles on it at the local dealer. In the past 10 months, I've put about 13,000 miles on it, and it's been in for warranty work 4 times now.

First was the windshield...looked like it had gone through a sandstorm. Not Ford's fault. Then the radiator gave out...apparently a bad seam from the factory. Then an O ring in the A/C unit gave out, and it leaked out all of the freon. Now they are repainting the rear liftgate because it's rusting. Apparently the factory forgot to install a gasket which has allowed water to get in and rust it from the inside out.

The dealership has been great about handling the repairs with no questions, however, I'm not so impressed with the quality. I grew up a "Ford Man" and even worked in a Ford dealership for a time. Don't think I'll buy another Ford at this point. The General Manager at the dealership tells me it's not abnormal, and that makes me even more nervous. Not sure what I'm going to do when my warranty is up at 36,000 miles. May have to buy an extended warranty or think about a new vehicle. Hate to think about that....spent too much $$ on this to get rid of it already. The traction control system scares me a little bit. When the front wheels begin to slip and it tries to engage 4x4, it sounds like the front end is going to tear apart if the wheels are turned to the left or right. A friend who had an older Explorer said his did that from day 1 to 150,000 miles. Apparently it's 'normal.'

As dumb as this sounds, outside of the problems, I really like the vehicle. It gets decent gas mileage on the highway (around 23-25) and in town is normal SUV mpg (14-16). The "chrome" grill and accessories do set it off. The ride is to be expected with an SUV, all-in-all it's pretty quiet.

Hopefully the bugs get worked out of it soon...preferably before the warranty expires. Currently working on negotiating with the dealer to share the cost of an "Extended Service Plan."