Used 2013 Ford Explorer SUV Consumer Reviews
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Bought mine new in 2012
Mike lapertosa, 04/15/2019
2013 Ford Explorer XLT 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 6A)
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
It has great storage space for the whole family! Especially if you have small children and like to go on road trips. That’s about the only plus I can give this car unfortunately. The pick up is poor getting on the highway is a struggle, and the Bluetooth (Sync) system as ford calls it works some of the time and other times won’t recognize my wireless devices. The front seats are extremely comfortable, however the rear seats are very uncomfortable for adult passengers. The “intelligent” 4 wheel drive system is severely lacking in snowy weather my old 96’ explorer with the manual 4 wheel drive was much better in inclement weather conditions.
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2013 Ford explorer xlt 4wd
Austin, 08/20/2021
2013 Ford Explorer XLT 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 6A)
4 of 6 people found this review helpful
I bought a 2013 Ford explorer xlt 4wd model pre owned with just a little over 80k miles on it 2 years ago. It worked wonderful the first 8-12 months I had it. After that continuous problems. The rack and pinion has went out 7 times already since beginning of 2021. Control model is burned up in it, now the back hatch is broke and won't seal properly. We sendt it off to the shop to get fixed and same part would go out few days later. I will never buy another FORD...
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Safe, but going elsewhere for next family vehicle.
Iodoxy, 09/11/2018
2013 Ford Explorer XLT 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 6A)
4 of 6 people found this review helpful
I bought our '13 Ford Explorer XLT AWD used (36k miles) (leather, panoramic sunroof, sensors, etc.) after my wife's 2008 Pathfinder was totaled by someone running a red light while she turned. Being we have a large family, tight budget, and only a two-week window of rental with our insurance, I had to move fast on getting a new (used) vehicle. So safety was #1 in my mind, given my wife had a minor concussion and my son a broken wrist from what could have been a much, much worse accident. (The Pathfinder saved them from much worse). The interior of the Ford wastes space. You literally cannot use the outboard armrests while driving as you have to lean about 15 degrees outward to do so. Why not widen the interior to make use of this space. My thought is that they do this to make it pass the side impact testing better, but my GC, and other 'safe' vehicles have normal reaches to the side doors(?), which is strange. The 2nd row middle seat is useless. Thankfully, our kids are thin and two under 10 years old, so not a huge issue, but things are tight on long trips. The third row is comfortable for adults (once you get back there). The Ford system for getting back there is not intuitive, and the kids usually crawl over the seat backs rather than activating the full mechanism. Behind third row cargo is best in class, with room to stash flat objects under the third row. The SYNC system is TERRIBLE. The infotainment in my 14 GC is flawless, bluetooth connects immediately and the USB connect iPod is seamless. In the Ford, you have to push hard on the screen (a distraction when driving), when Bluetoothed to the phone, it will randomly start only playing the first 20 seconds of each song one day, then back to normal the next. You have to manually tell it to shuffle the attached iPod by going into the menu (the Jeep has a huge button on screen that says SHUFFLE). Awful interface for climate (you'll just use the buttons) and worse for rear climate control. Just awful. The side menus on the speedometer are nice on the left (mpg, trip, etc.) but the ones on the right are useless. They just show you what is active, but to change anything you need to look at the center screen and struggle with menus. Awful. Now reliability. We replaced the front tie rods at 66k. Now the struts are blown in the front. Again, comparing to my GC with almost the same miles and year, the suspension is like new and rides much better than the Explorer (even though it is more of an off-road vehicle. To be fair to the Ford, that may well be it. We live in pothole country with rough country roads. The Ford is more biased towards being a car, and may not be as good at wear and tear on these surfaces, where the Jeep is built for it. The Ford creaks and groans at random times, and just doesn't have good fit and finish when compared to the other cars, SUVs and Jeeps we've had. Let's take the sunroof. (Please, I have to compare it to the other vehicle we own, so bear with me...) On the Jeep GC, it knows where the sunroof is at all times. If you want to open the roof while it is currently in vent mode, you simply hit open and it first retracts the vent, then opens the roof. On the Ford, you have three separate buttons (not well labelled or intuitively placed) that you must close the vent yourself, before trying to open the roof. Overall, I call the Explorer and AVERAGE vehicle. It accelerates average, has average build quality, and will keep you safe. It could be a great car if Ford makes better use of the interior space (the vehicle is fat for what it is), updates SYNC (Ford has done this), goes to a bigger V-6 (so you don't have to jump to the turbo for some more passing/towing power), and really work on the build quality. The Ford has taken us on several long family trips, and keeps us safe through the winters and the deep snows. I'd recommend it if you can get one at a bargain price that has a clean mechanical history.
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Looks great, but it ends there.
wasteofmoney, 10/07/2014
2013 Ford Explorer XLT 4dr SUV (3.5L 6cyl 6A)
6 of 10 people found this review helpful
My wife loved the looks of the new explorer so..she got a 2013. From day one I thought it a slug, noisy on the highway and just plain mediocre. AT 30,000 mi the paint started bubbling on the aluminum hood, I brought it to ford at 36000 so it would be covered by warranty.The dealer said it was obviously a defect but Ford wont cover it.They don't have to, read your warranty it is only covered if it perforates the body panel. Besides the leaking gas tank that was pouring out all over my garage my other complaints are mpg like a v8 with 4 cyl performance. Terrible slushbox tranny
rent first
nomorevan2, 05/11/2013
2013 Ford Explorer XLT 4dr SUV (3.5L 6cyl 6A)
10 of 18 people found this review helpful
I wish I had rented this car for a while before I purchased it. I was looking for a car that had capacity similar to a minivan without being one. For storage, it is better than most SUV's. On the down side, the visiblity from all perspectives is poor due to the design of the small windows. This is just dangerous. The hood of the car also sits high and is more difficult to see over compared to other, even larger, SUV's. And I don't what they were thinking when it came to the drink holders. They are few in # and quite nonfunctional, ie, no mug handles and too deep so you can't pick up your drink. The rear holders are at your feet. Yuk. They forgot comfort, convenience and even safety.