Ask The Best And Brightest: Does The Outgoing Explorer Earn Its "Exploder" Nickname?

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

This week’s “Haggler” column in the Sunday New York Times was ripped from the pages of TTAC’s beloved Piston Slap series, with a Wendy Marek writing in to complain that

In July 2008, I made a huge mistake: I bought a Ford Explorer. It was a 2006 model with 40,000 miles, and it cost $17,000. At first I thought I got a great deal, but after a few weeks of driving, the radiator started leaking. Then the replacement radiator started leaking. Then the radiator that replaced the replacement started leaking. To date, six new radiators have been installed in this vehicle. Six.

After some research, The Haggler found that both carcomplaints.com and Consumer Reports showed a record of radiator problems in 2006 Explorers. Furthermore, Ford issued a TSB on 2006 Explorer radiators in 2009, which the automaker insists covers its liability. Since the Explorer in question is a used car, Ms Marek’s only real recourse would have been to file a breach of warranty claim, but the statue of limitations had already run out. Since so few protections exist for used-car buyers, one has to assume that the moral of the story is that buying used Explorers is a risky business… but is that the truth? Or is the outgoing Explorer a good value that’s getting a bum rap?

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Econobiker Econobiker on Aug 10, 2010

    In this Explorer case obviously it was either the radiator production run, the installation, or the mounting vibration isolation set up. How about a Dodge pickup truck catalytic converter replaced under warranty at 74,000 miles? Then the replacement converter fails before 135,000 or less than 75,000 miles later. Then 6 years later Dodge issues a recall on the faulty catalytic converters on vehicles with up to 150,000 miles. But then my pickup didn't qualify since its converter was already replaced - albeit with one from the obviously faulty production period. You lose, do not pass Go, no new converter. Consequence is that the environment suffers since I live in an non-emissions test state and never had the money to buy a third converter.

  • Morea Morea on Aug 10, 2010

    I think this entire issue can be abstracted. It is really the competence of the shop working on the car that we are discussing, not specfically issues with Fords (or any other maker). The shop did not read (or did not follow) the TSB. They did not do their homework to truly solve the problem. Which leads me to a pet peeve (and perhaps a topic TTAC should tackle), that is, paying ASE-certified mechanic shop rates but having the work done by inexperienced minimum-wage rookies. Don't get me wrong: a good mechanic is worth their weight in gold. Also, don't get me wrong: everyone needs a start in life, including being a minimum wage wrencher. What I object to is paying around $100/hour to the shop to have an inexperienced mechanic 'fix' my car. The typical fix is to replace parts until the problem goes away, all the while charging the customer for parts that didn't need replacing.

  • Silvy_nonsense Silvy_nonsense on Aug 11, 2010

    When the New York Times article begins by saying "It took a minimum of research to find that Ms. Marek has a lot of equally miserable company." it doesn't say much for Ms. Marek. I have a hard time feeling sorry for anyone who apparently did no research before buying a used car, especially when the problem is well documented and easy to discover. If you walk onto a used car lot and buy a car without first getting a pre-purchase inspection by an independent mechanic, don't pay for a carfax (or similar report) and don't hit the Internet forums that cover the vehicle in question, you deserve what you get when things go wrong. This isn't even necessarily an Explorer problem, but a -2006- Explorer problem as the article points out based on Consumer Reports data. Again, basic research and a cheap subscription to consumerreports.com would have pointed her to another model year if she really wanted an Explorer. This poor woman is living in a hell of her own creation.

  • Moparman426W Moparman426W on Sep 04, 2010

    My sisterinlaw's expedition spit out a spark plug about 4-5 years ago. I went to autozone and got a helicoil insert repair kit for about 10-12 bucks. It took me about 10 minutes to repair the threads and the truck still runs fine to this day.

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