2004 Ford Explorer Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Its a very comfortable ride, And was very practical for what i needed. I had just purchased a home and did some small remodels here and there. Having a spacious suv made transporting materials and tools easy as could be! Ive had 0 mechanical issues with it. Unfortunately, Last years winter brought on some rust. So ideally its the first thing that should be fixed with this vehicle. If you knock that out, I believe this car will run and look great for many years to come!Sep 08, 2014

I got this car when it was 1 year old and paid $45 000 for it , and I must say that was the most regretful $45 000 dollars I ever spent. When I bought this truck it had about 21 000 miles on it, I fell in love with it for the first to years it sat up high , very powerful, and all though it was very bad on gas I walk to work so i didnt mind but i still put a lot of miles on my car going up to the cottage on weekends, but it was great for towing. then around 3 years into owning it, everything went wrong it started burning through ignition coils every couple of months, at this point it had about 100 000 miles on it, it started making terrible noises, and then about spring of 2008 it blew the transmission, and i had decided to replace it ($3800), a week after I replaced that the catalitic converter blew! ($600 - used part) by this time i was already looking for a new car, (at this point it had about 155 00 miles on it) and then a month after i blew the catalitic converter, the tranny blew again, luckily it was under warranty so i fixed the tranny and sold it for $1500, but it was just so much hastle, i do not reccomend this car to anyone, since then i bought a bran-new Mercedes ML 350 bluetec, on the road about $58 000 , its so cheap on diesel, so quiet inside, beautiful interior, and from what ive hear very reliableFeb 29, 2012

Performance- This SUV handles like most. its big, pretty top heavy, but its got a 4.0 liter engine and can reall ypick up speed if necesary. its handles quite nicely, and braking is even better. half way down on the brake should easily stop the car in about 1.5 seconds while doin 60-70 Build quality- since this is a used car that i have there are a couple of things that i would like to get fixed, mainly in the sterio, but for a used car with around 120k miles on it there aren't alot of glaring problems with it. alittle bit of squeaking here and there but for a used car this thing is still running strong. Appearance- I love the look of this car. interior was designed quite nicely, leather interior on the seats, alot of trunk space and fold away seats. can comfortably seat 7, but this car is quite expensive. the exterior of the car is quite modest. its a dark blue with gold skirts near the middle of the car. grill has the standard explorer grill, rims are just stock as well. the whole car looks awesome and im proud to show it off in the high school parking lot. haha cost of ownership- this thing drinks gas like grad student drinks booze. it is not good at all for gas mileage. if i had to guess id say it gets around 15 to 16 MPG and gas money is always taking out huge chunks of my paychecks. so far maintenance has been good. no major problems with it. this car is great but the gas mileage will come back to kill you in the end. Fun Factor- I think this car is fun to drive. its great to just cruise around town, just having a good time with your buddies in the back. i also like how the explorer is higher off the ground than most of the other cars. i love this car, but i could see how for other people not in my situation how it could be my of a burden than a blessing. Jun 07, 2010

This is my dad's vehicle. When I've driven it I have been more than satisfied with performance and comfort. Although without an 8 cylinder it does not have the giddy up that my Expedition has. It has one of the worst rollover ratings of any model, but it has never felt unstable on turns or ramps even when when going above the recommended speed for an off-ramp. Overall a great vehicle.Oct 05, 2009

At around 40K miles, it was time for a engine swap. Of course the local Ford delaer (Clarksville, TN) offered to "take it off of my hands." The looked up how much I owed through Ford credit and offered me that minus $5000! What a deal, and that was in trade for a new Ford. I opted to hang out on the sales floor and share my experience with any other potential buyers-until I was invited to leave! Until the break down, the truck ran great, pulled my little pop-up tralier like a champ! It is comfortable for road trips. I have the near-bottom of the line XLS model, yet is is still fitted out nicely. I have no complaints about the interiour, the ride, the apperance. I have had to have the windshield replaced four times-I think that is unusuall. I have a used 4.0L motor, and it runs great. Shame on Ford for not standing behind their drive trains!Jul 09, 2009

Not a bad vehicle, but nothing really spectacular either. It was comfortable and had a very nice Auto 4x4 system with AdvanceTrac stability control, but sometimes the electronic "nannies" are more nuisance than beneficial. Fuel mileage for a small-ish V6 was abyssmal, and running E85 made it even worse. It was a good performer for a heavy SUV with a little V6. I didn't like the "drive by wire" throttle though. It never felt responsive unless it was mashed to the floor. Appearance wise, it was very conservative...There's only so much you can do with flat sheet metal and call it styling. It was built to appeal to the masses, and that meant keeping it intentionally bland, in my opinion. I'd have kept it longer, but the transmission was giving me problems, so I abandoned ship while I still could without having to stick a major amount of money into it. The whole "filled for life" transmissions on new cars are a joke anyways. Give me back my dipstick! Jun 21, 2009

I love almost everything about my car. I live in Michigan and the winters are harsh, but that is no challenge for my Explorer. I have not had to replace anything other than brakes in the time i have had it, it get an oil change every 3K miles and not an issue. Now with the gas prices having dropped I put $25.00 in it a week and am good to go. I love to drive my car, it is comfortable, and cute! I have the side bars on it which I think enhance the functionality of it. I would definitely recommend Explorers to my friends and I have. Thanks to me my boyfriend is also looking for one. Jan 16, 2009

I love my car except it guzzles gas way too quickly Not too many miles to the gallon on my half. I love the way it sits up high and is safe. The only thing is that it easily flips. I love going mudding in it. The tires have good tread. For a big car that is not a sport, it has pretty good pick up and the breaks work amazingly. Unfortunately I had to get the wires cut and rewired because the alarm kept going off and wouldn't shut upSep 27, 2008

It's been a great family ride. It has very easily accessible "LATCH" system for child restraints. I really enjoy the rear-air feature, Towing capacity, storage abilities, 3rd row seat, child-safety features (ie. window locks, rear door child locks), and overall look of the truck. I would prefer a larger windshield. Sometimes I have to bend my head down a little to see the stop light at an intersection. It has great 4x4 handling, as well. I was recently left stranded on the side of I-95 in Florida when my Harmonic Balancer and Ignition Sensor went out. The FORD repair manual calls for the incorrect sized belt. It's very confusing for car-repair shops to repair your vehicle if the manufacturer's book is incorrect. I went thru 4 belts before we figured out the problem was Ford's recommendation of belt size... Jul 08, 2008