In 1995 I met my husband. In 1996 we had twins. In 1998 we bought...a minivan. Ack, what were we thinking!!! But before I go on and on about the dehumanizing effects of driving around in that giant green 7-passenger egg, let me just say how relieved we all were when we finally got RID OF IT and, in 2001, bought ourselves a 1997 Ford Explorer XL.

I'd been enamored with the Explorer since I'd worked (briefly) for Ford in the mid-90's. During that time I had driven a couple of Explorers and really loved 'em. Unfortunately, price was a major issue - plus after we had the twins everyone convinced me we needed the dreaded minivan (for more on that see my separate review). The Explorer is just a COOL vehicle, especially up here in the Pacific Northwest where everybody and their neighbor owns an SUV. Yes, the road is practically littered with Explorers - but maybe I'm just not the stand-out-in-the-crowd type.

Now for the specifics. I personally *love* that the Explorer has less space than the minivan. From 7 seats to 5 - I thought it would be a sacrifice but it hasn't been. There is plenty of room for our family and one extra passenger. We rarely used all 7 seats in the minivan. And speaking of space, that minivan seemed to just attract junk. Well, the Explorer does too (maybe it's not the car, but the kids who attract junk) but it attracts a lot LESS junk and is a breeze to clean out.

The seating itself is comfortable, roomy enough for our larger-than-normal derrieres and for both kids to spread out a little in the back seat. In the front seat, there is a nice console between the driver and passenger - including space for CD's, cassettes, 2 drinks, and a little slot just perfectly sized for our cel-phone. There is also a larger-than average glove compartment and "makeup mirrors" on both the driver and passenger visors. In the back seat, there are seat pockets in front of each child - a big bonus. I'd LOVE to see Ford (and for that matter, every other manufacturer who hasn't already done so) integrate cup holders into the back seats. It's a nice feature, and it's one thing I do miss about the minivan.

The rear cargo area of the Explorer is roomy and functional. It holds a LOT of stuff (we do lots of camping) and is at waist height so it's easy to load/unload without too much bending and reaching. Also easy to vaccum. 1/3 of the back seat also folds down flat, so that you can fit in longer things. We hauled lumber last week and still fit both of us and the two kids in the car.

There are a couple of features on this vehicle that really stand out. First is the rear glass can be opened separately from the rear door. That way, if you just want to stick some groceries in you don't have to open up the whole door. Another wonderful feature is that the whole car can be locked/unlocked via a well-placed switch inside the back door. So while I'm loading the groceries, I can unlock the doors for the kids without having to fumble for my keys.

Our Explorer also includes a towing package, making it capable of towing up to 3,500 pounds (about the size of a small travel trailer or boat), a nice cassette stereo system, and roof rack. The vehicle is sturdy (survived a rear-end collision this winter that caused $2,500 in damage to the other vehicle and left our car with not even a scratch), roomy, and safe. We also have had the opportunity to use the 4WD a couple of times and it worked flawlessly. It's shift-on-the-fly so there is no need to get out of the car to lock the hubs or anything annoying like that. Our repair bills (knock on wood) have been negligible - we keep the oil changed and keep up on the schedule maintenance, and (I know I'm jinxing myself here) she runs like a gem.

The only major drawbacks to the Explorer are the excessive road noise (sometimes that's nice, though, as it tends to lull the kids to sleep) and the poor gas mileage. We fill up about once a week, and that's with average daily around-town driving. A freeway trip to Seattle (180 miles round trip) costs us about $10-12 in gas. Expect about 280 miles per tank-full on the highway and about 200 in-town. I guess that's just what we expect when you buy an SUV, though - we have to trade *something* for all that space!
Amount Paid (US$): 12,999.00
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1997
Model and Options: XL, Automatic, Towing Pkg