Like the title says, "Once it worked, I loved it".
I am now an S-U-V convert. I had never even driven a truck before I bought the Ford Explorer 4-door XLT. But having a baby made me realize how much more room I needed in my vehicle. The mid-size car just didn't cut it when it came to lugging all that baby stuff around. Plus my husband wanted me in a larger vehicle just in case I got into an accident.
So after doing a lot of research on sport ute's... I decided on the Explorer. I took it for a test drive and it was sold. Now comes the problem... Less than 24-hours after driving the car off the lot, it broke down! With less than 50 miles on it!
I was on a highway, when suddenly, I lost the air conditioning, the power steering and the engine began overheating. Luckily, I was close to my destination and didn't get stuck on the highway before the engine completely shutdown. After a prompt call to the dealership, which thought I was actually kidding when I told them I had broken down, they sent a tow truck and a rental car. (free of charge, of course)
Turns out, the vehicle has a serpentine belt that threads throughout the entire engine on a series of pulleys. The power steering pulley was not lined up correctly causing the serpentine belt to completely shred... causing the engine to overheat.
Well, that's the best way I can explain it, i'm not a mechanic.
I got the Explorer back the very next day and since then, it's been running perfectly. I'll chalk up the experience to an inconvenient fluke and hope there are no other problems. The dealer (World Ford in Kendall, Florida) was extremely helpful and apologetic. I certainly can't blame them. It was a problem from the factory. Despite the problem, I'd recommend this vehicle to anybody!




Amount Paid (US$): 24,500
Condition: New
Model Year: 2000
Model and Options: XLT 4-DOOR