62,000 miles in 16 months but not one problem with our Ford
Written: Feb 26 '00
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Pros: looks nice, handles well, accelerates quickly, roomy inside
Cons: 2dr is not practical
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| joli's Full Review: 2001 Ford Explorer Sport |
I know what you are thinking "62,000 miles in 16 months?!?!? are you sure you don't mean 16 years?!?!?". Am I right? Let me explain this. My husband is a police officer in a rural county where the police officers use their own vehicles as patrol cars and the county subsidizes them. They have a radio and a siren installed and there is a bar they can lock to the top of the vehicle with a single blue light on top of it. We bought the Ford Explorer Sport somewhere around October or November of 1998. He graduated the police academy in December and was sent to the an outer district for the first ... I forget, maybe 6 months. The police station was 62 miles from our house and the entire district is 90 miles wide - hence, the exorbitant miles. He was putting between 4,000 and 6,000 miles on the SUV every month (I knew I cringed when I say that, and hmmph, I just learned I even cringe when I write it). Luckily, now he is in a district where the station is only about 9 miles from our house - but he still puts way above average miles on the vehicle.
Anyway, we bought the Ford Explorer for a multitude of reasons. He wanted an SUV (bigger, safer, higher up, tougher-looking than a car), and we opted for 2 door, 2 wheel drive because we have no kids and I already have a four wheel drive. The vehicle we were replacing was a Ford F150 pickup that was 12 years old and still going very strong so we liked Ford already. And the last (most relevant) reason was we found a really great deal.
The vehicle had to be shipped to us from another island, and it came off the boat with 14 whole miles on it. This was the first brand-new vehicle I had ever had so I refused to drive it until it had about 10,000 miles on it (lucky for me that didn't take long). When we picked it up from the Harbor we inspected it in and out - It looked really nice, very sporty and tough looking - and then my husband drove it home.
He got a couple of nice seat covers for it and a dash cover and put some protection down on the carpet and so far it still looks great. Next he wants to tint the windows to combat sun damage to the interior (isn't that what we got the dash cover for?). He washes it and vacuums it at least once a week and so far I don't see any signs of wear. The cup holders are a little weird - there are three, and that is nice but the middle two are right next to each other and if you get two large (you know, the huge one) drinks at McDonalds the two cups touch and its hard to get one or the other out. The third cupholder is in the middle but on the floor, and it is shallower than the other two, so I always think whatever is in there is gonna spill. One other thing, if you have any friends or kids at all, get the 4 door. It was a real pain in the butt when my brother and his two friends came here and we went sight seeing in the two door. I had to get out every time they got in or out and my seat had to go all the way forward. One time we took a girlfriend of mine to a party and she had a semi-tight long dress on. In order to get in the back she had to pull that thing up around her waist - not very lady-like - Ha Ha Ha!!
The Explorer handles very nicely - I don't drive it real often but when I do I always notice the difference between it and my Dodge Ram 50. It is quieter, it handles bumps differently, it turns smoother, (it has blessed A/C), I can get up to 70mph in it and never even realize it for some reason, you can shift much later (like 40 in second vs my truck 15 max in second), and it really gets up and goes quickly (unless the blessed A/C is on). My husband is in it for literally 8 hours a day and he really likes the amount of room he has inside and how the seat feels - and if he has to chase a car he can keep up with everything except a motorcycle (of course Honda is considered a sports car here) and even though it is not a 4wd it is high enough off the ground that he can easily get into the dirt road subdivisions and not worry about getting stuck (which is an indignity the officers with the mustangs have all dealt with at least once, I assure you).
We have a really good mechanic who takes good care of the vehicle and it shows - all maintenance is done right on schedule and the only major thing we have had to do with the truck so far is scheduled maintenance on the brakes at 50,000 miles. Probably we will try to run this truck for 200,000 miles and then get a new one. It probably won't be paid off, but, oh well. My husband already is leaning toward the Expedition (only cuz it's bigger and tougher-looking) but I am going to try and steer him towards another Explorer.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 19,500?
Condition: New
Model Year: 1998
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Epinions.com ID:
joli
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Location: Keaau, HI
Reviews written: 126
Trusted by: 389 members
About Me:
That is my son Joseph in the picture.
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