I bought this car at 22,500 miles. I drove this vehicle very hard, took it to the mountains, in intense weather and flooding. Any other car would have failed. This is such a easy SUV to drive. Such a comfortable ride (I am a professional driver I drive new cars for a living). Most SUV's are not so smooth. For a v6 4.0L more than adequate power. I had this car for almost 13 years and it has been a blessing. Poor gas mileage but honestly not a concern. My transmission went out at 130,000 miles. The person that "fixed it "(Shane Johnson and Todd, transmission experts in Houston Texas dairy ashford) made the transmission even worse and I was forced to sell my favorite possession. It was a huge blow I planned on keeping this for a hunting/fishing vehicle. i plan on purchasing a 2018 bronco or f150 soon. Overall very safe SUV, easy to drive, piss poor transmission, great engine, AMAZING ride. I wish the worst for Shane/Todd for making the transmission even worse. So thankful for this ford.
It is very stable on the road and it feels very safe to drive. However, they are lot of problems comes with that model such as the rear lift gate got stuck, transmission problem, the center lock motors problem, the paint peel from the hood and AC stopped working around 110K miles. It cost a fortune to repair these problems. Besides the battery cable got contaminated and almost burnt and requires replacement. All the aforementioned problems are general problems for this model's owners. I completely advise not to buy a used one unless you are rich enough to afford the repairs.
2005 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer 4WD 4dr SUV (4.0L 6cyl 5A)
Review
My explorer is great. It now has 190k miles and no issues. I keep it meticulously maintained with scheduled maintenance and oil changes. I hope it keeps it up for my 12 yr old in 4 years.