2004 Ford Explorer, everything breaks.

[jparrucci]

I bought a used 04 Explorer back in 07. I am nearing 100k and I can't believe the amount of issues I have had. Luckily I bought the extended warrenty for the first time ever, and boy have I needed it. I have replaced 7 wheel bearings. I have replaced/rebuilt both front and rear diffs, and the transmission. Now they are questioning the extendend warrenty because of different brand tires? Seriously? When replacing the rear diff in Oct, it took them FOUR weeks! This is at a FORD dealership no less. What is wrong with these people. Because I have a different brand tire? This is likely to be the last Amercian car I ever buy, as things like this have been on ongoing battle for many years with my previous Chevy and Chrysler vehicles, and now Ford is doing everything they can. My Mitsubishi Galant I bought as a beater car made it over 200K and I beat the [PoorWordUsage] out of it. Ok, now that I am done ranting, here is my question...I have never ever heard of cars NEEDING to have the same brand tires on front and back, and that is what is causing the problems. Now, I JUST put the different tires on the day I brought it in to the dealership. Has anyone heard anything like this in before?

[jeffreyd]

as long as they are the same size all the way around, i would not think that there would be an issue. if you have an odd size on one or the one axle, then they might question that the size is causing the issues. maybe airjet or one of the guys will chime in on dealership thoughts

[PierBridge]

I know we have some very satisfied Explorer die-hards in here.

But 7 of the top ten cars traded in on the Cash for clunkers program were Ford Explorers from various years. Yes a lot of that is due to the large number of Explorers sold.

My Mechanic of 35 years despises them.

My next New truck will probably be a Ford F-150 tho!

[PierBridge]

They send the Diff's out for repair thus the 4 weeks.

[jparrucci]

4 weeks is too long. What if it was 6 weeks, 4 months, 2 years? At some point they are not holding up their end of the bargin. I have not had these problems with the foreign cars I have owned. I was planning on trading this vehicle in this spring for another Ford, namely a Escape. I think it is safe to say Nissan, Toyota, or Honda will be getting my money. It is no wonder these people are bankrupt.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Different brands are not a problem. Different sizes and/or tire tread depth can be. Worn out tires on one axle and new tires on the other can cause issues as well as different size tires.

[fishinben351]

my moms 2001 explorer is nearing 200,000 miles my aunts 96 has over 300,000 my friends has 200,000 on it they all are still running strong with no problems what so ever! i think you got a bad one out of the bunch...

[fishing tech]

I am guessing it is not a ford warranty, probably an aftermarket one. If so they send out inspectors that can deny the claim. If it is an all wheel drive the tire circumfrence needs to be the same or you will have issues.

[Scott K]

I am guessing it is not a ford warranty, probably an aftermarket one. If so they send out inspectors that can deny the claim. If it is an all wheel drive the tire circumfrence needs to be the same or you will have issues.

Exactly, you would be surprised by the circumference difference between brands, although as long as the same brand was on the same axle, I dont see the issue. I have ran into the problems with abs codes, transfer cases with odd brands on different axles, but not axle problems.

I dont thinkit is Ford that is causing you problems, I think it is your warranty company investigating the problems. A ford dealer wont send the diffs in t o rebuild, they will do it there, and it shouldnt take them more then a half a day to do so, and parts are readily available. So I dont see it being the shops fault, more it being the warranty companies fault.

These model year Explorers had issues with rear diff noises, and some wheel bearings, but nothing that should have been a multiple repeat repair.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Seven wheel bearings seems like something isn't being done right. I wonder if the warranty company is forcing them to use cheaper aftermarket wheel bearings?

I had an a explorer last month that had three wheel bearings that where bad but that had over 100k on it. The rears where so bad the wheels where miles from falling off!!

[CaptainBly]

That's why they are going bankrupt, people like you buying foreign.

[deadeye]

I understand you trying to get into another manufacturer. Its kinda hard to get back into a car that treated you like a baby treats a diaper.

Sounds like you got the lemon out of the bunch to me. I have heard of some random stuff going wrong with them but not a plethora of problems like that.

Like others have said if the tire sizes were different then it could be a problem, but brand shouldn't be that big of a issue. Even with awd there has got to be some give with tire wear/size. You wouldn't be able to turn a corner if it was that touchy.

[jparrucci]

The vehicle is not an AWD, just 4WD. The tires on each axle do match each other, just different front to back. I have given Ford and the American companies plenty of chances. The warrenty was sold to me at the dealership fyi, although it is a 3rd party company. What had me so upset is that I still had to pay a big chunk out of my pocket even with the warrenty, and after the insane amount of time they had it last time, they didn't offer to help pick up a part of the tab or do anything for me.

[bak2MN]

Captain Bly, better them going broke than a hard working person with a lemon. I own two Nissan pickups and a Toyota car and proud of it.

A freind of mine had a exploder and had alot of trouble with it and had less miles then what this one has.

[CJH]

You definitely got a bad one. That being said, all brands have bad ones now and again. (I had a Toyota that was a POS) I also had a 98 Explorer that was pretty much trouble free up until 150k when I traded in for something else.

Sorry for your troubles, sounds like a complete pain in the arse.

If you look at Ford's current quality ratings, you will see they are right up there with Toyota and Honda, and above the other foreign cars. Unfortunately you got a lemon, and some of the older Ford's weren't great.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I'd have no problem owning a FORD right now. Except a Truck with the 5.4 and anything with the new Eco-Tech engine. Other than that ford has made leaps and bounds in quality. Maybe one of the reasons they didn't ask for a bailout

Quote:

That's why they are going bankrupt, people like you buying foreign.

No there going bankrupt because people are tires of dropping a $1000 into there vehicle every 40 to 80k! If a company can't resolve longtime known and chronic issues than there is a problem. It doesn't take long for consumers to figure out that there are wide spread issues that have not been resolved for literally several years. When and if they ever finally resolve an issue there is something else that comes along to take its place! Demand quality and you will get it, keep buying mediocre and they will continue to build it!

[Black_Bay]

I wouldn't through Ford under the bus over this, remember this was a used vehicle and you have no idea what the previous owner did or didn't do to it. The first thing I would do is never go to that particular dealership ever again. the second is to get rid of that vehicle asap before it costs you more money.

BTW Airjer why would you stay away from a Ford with the 5.4? Is it the spark plug issue? Just wondering.

[Scott K]

The vehicle is not an AWD, just 4WD. The tires on each axle do match each other, just different front to back. I have given Ford and the American companies plenty of chances. The warrenty was sold to me at the dealership fyi, although it is a 3rd party company. What had me so upset is that I still had to pay a big chunk out of my pocket even with the warrenty, and after the insane amount of time they had it last time, they didn't offer to help pick up a part of the tab or do anything for me.

The warranty has no strings attatched to Ford, just the dealers choice on who they will make the largest buck from when they sold it to you. As for what you paid in out of pocket, that should have been in the contract when you bought it, deductables are adjustable, the higher the deductable, the cheaper the contract.

After market warranties are a huge money maker for a salesmen, they do get a nice spiff for selling one on a used vehicle.

As Airjer said, Fords customer satisfaction is top notch right now, top 2-3. Fords have came along ways since 04, so I would get a new Ford before any other vehicle made today. I dont know how many miles are on the Explorer, but it is 6 years old, and it is a 4x4 sport utility, lots of moving parts to wear out.

[Scott K]

Jer, have you seen or heard of issues on the 2010-2011 F150's? Or even the Eco Boost? I havent had seen any issues yet with them. Just a reprogram issue, rather minor if you ask me.

[deadeye]

No there going bankrupt because people are tires of dropping a $1000 into there vehicle every 40 to 80k! If a company can't resolve longtime known and chronic issues than there is a problem. It doesn't take long for consumers to figure out that there are wide spread issues that have not been resolved for literally several years. When and if they ever finally resolve an issue there is something else that comes along to take its place! Demand quality and you will get it, keep buying mediocre and they will continue to build it!

That about sums it up right there.

I am glad that Ford is doing well now. They did their homework and were more proactive than others in getting things right again. Combine that with the willingness to diversify their quality products and they are the winners. They make good trucks AND cars.

Im pretty sure that all the "American" car companies are taking steps up in quality the past few years. Its just tough for a lot of people to drop a large sum of money on something that has burned them in the past.

[JohnMickish]

Was there a Carfax report run on this vehicle before purchase? You could have (and probably did) get somebody elses problem.

I had a Ford Explorer once, bigger pile I ever had. I only got 198,000 miles out of it before I traded it in.

[luckey]

Why were so many Explorer's traded in during the cash for clunkers program? It's simple, they were still running unlike others that were in the junk yard years ago. Just kidding. I traded in my 1994 Explorer in the program. Not because it was a clunker, but it was just time.

[CJH]

They did sell a boat load of them for quite a while. They were "the" truck to have for quite some time.

[fishinben351]

hey airjer the 5.4l is an awesome engine! why dont you like them. i love my engine!

[Jeremy airjer W]

The last one I test drove ( 3 valve 5.4) Did not impress me with its power.

I heard from a ford tech out in bismarck that I talk with every couple of months that they has redesigned the spark plugs with threads all the way down on the newest model year.

The ecotech will be using direct fuel injection. As far I know its the first normal gas production engine to have this. I have a feeling the engineers didn't think something through and with fuel pressures at 2,500 PSI something is just waiting to go wrong. Then again I could be totally surprised!