I've had a Ford Explorer Platinum for just over two months now, and had hit the 1000 mile mark on my previous vehicle. That's right, previous. The moment I took this SUV off the lot I started having transmission issues, a very loud and present knocking came from the floor of the vehicle. I immediately brought this up to the dealership, one week later I was back on the lot, with a loaner ST for 48 hours. The dealerships official position? No issues with the vehicle. After lengthy exchanges with them and numerous visits to their location to have the vehicle evaluated as the knocking persisted, became more frequent, and became significantly more noticeable, they relented and put me in a new vehicle. I test drove six Explorers that day, in the Limited trim, ST trim, and Platinum trim. One limited and one ST also exhibited the knocking noise in the floor under the driver's side seat. Fortunately, they had a Platinum identical to mine without any of the obvious issues. So for now, I'm out of the woods.
The other issue that will persist across all trim levels and every vehicle is a whistling from the passenger side mirror. Its insane. I have no idea how a vehicle could be designed to exhibit that piercing whistling sound. My Ford dealership contacted Ford directly and their official position is that this is "normal" for the vehicle. Every model I drove, loaner and test drive, exhibited some degree of this whistling, some more severe than others. I basically never have my windows down, very lame.
Also, the gas mileage is nowhere near advertised. Sure, I'm in a Twin Turbo V6, and sure I live in a city. But I did not expect to get 13 MPG after a 1000 miles, 75/25 split on city/highway drive.
All that being said, I REALLY love everything else about this vehicle. It handles like a sports car in SUV form, a huge improvement over my 2017 XLT. The cabin is pleasant to look at, quiet, has excellent features and tech (although some tech is annoyingly glitchy), and is generally very comfortable and fun vehicle to drive. I love how it looks and how it handles the road, there also wasn't an offering from any competitors that I think are better than this vehicle, even with all of its issues I've listed out.
So for the next three years, I'll have a 2020 Explorer, after that... who's to say.
All of that being said,
Fuel Type: Gasoline
Exterior Color: Star White
City MPG: 20
Interior Color: Sandstone
Highway MPG: 27
Stock: F000221
Drivetrain: 4WD
Transmission: 10-Speed Automatic
Engine: 2.3L I4 16V GDI DOHC Turbo
VIN: 1FMSK8FH9LGB02337
Mileage: 4
Call: (410) 690-4184
