Solid, thoughtfully designed SUV

About a month ago, I purchased a new 2003 Ford Explorer XLT Sport (4-door/not to be confused with the 2-door Sport). Major options I chose were leather, moonroof, and a 6-disc in-dash CD player with 7 speakers. A few other nice touches that came with it are the auto headlamps and auto-dimming rearview mirror. I didn't want the 3rd row seating and it was difficult to locate one that didn't have it, but my dealer came through and located one for me. (I'd rather spend the extra cash on leather instead of a 3rd row seat that's hardly ever going to be used.) The Sport package on the XLT upgrades the tires from 16" to 17" with different aluminum wheels, and includes side step boards, door handles that match the color of the vehicle, and platinum painted cladding and fender moldings. These cosmetic touches are minor but really do make the vehicle look a lot nicer. In fact, these features are also part of the much higher-priced Eddie Bauer package.

I like the exterior styling of the Explorer. It's simple yet tasteful, and not overly done with cheap looking plastic cladding or gimmicky stuff like that. It's not a Hummer and doesn't pretend to be one. One exterior feature worth mentioning is the rear hatch. Most SUV's have a rear window that flips up in addition to the whole hatch opening. Well the Explore has this feature as well, but the window plus a portion of the door flips up which makes it easier to put stuff in the back since you don't have to raise a bag of groceries for example, above your shoulders to load through the opening.

I am extremely pleased with the layout and quality of the materials of the interior. The quality of the leather is great, and the leather wrapped steering wheel feels solid. The gauges are nicely laid-out, again nothing fancy. There is a compass and temperature display with the digital odometer. The CD player is mounted high on the dash (which I like), above the A/C controls. There are 3 cup holders, an outlet to plug-in a cellphone, and a very deep floor console that stores a lot of stuff. The pockets in the doors are spacious and formed so a large water bottle can fit. Pretty cool. The audio system sounds awesome, and there are a lot of cool settings to change the output to suit different tastes and styles of music.

This SUV rides so nicely that I have to remind myself it's not a car. Of course, it doesn't ride as nice as a car, but it rides MUCH nicer than any SUV I've ever been in before. It doesn't have that pick-up truck feel that most SUVs have. When you hit a bump, you don't bounce up and down for another 100 yards. The 17" tires really grip, and the month long snow storm that just fell where I live put the 4WD to the test, and this baby passed with flying colors. At first I was a bit skeptical about the 210HP V6 having enough power for an SUV of this size, but that thing puts out enough torque to move it nicely and has a surprisingly nice growl to it. The size of the vehicle is nice, also. Not too big, not too small. Some friends have told me that they think the SUV is huge, but I remind them that it's about a foot shorter in length than a Ford Taurus and the same width, and they are always surprised.

In general, I am very pleased with my Explorer and think it was well-worth every penny. I can't think of any one thing that I can complain about. As I mentioned, the gas mileage isn't great but it's better than I anticipated it to be. I always find it ridiculous when SUV owners complain about gas mileage. If gas mileage is important to you, then don't buy an SUV! To me, it's like a biker complaining about the safety of their motorcycle. Anyway, before I get off on a rant....quality appears to be Job 1 at Ford again.

::::::::::::::::::::::::UPDATE:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
It is now May 2004, and I have had this vehicle for almost 16 months now. I have not had a single problem with this car. I've gone through about 1 and a half winters, and I don't know what I would have done without this Explorer. In addition, since purchasing this vehicle I have purchased a fixer-upper home and found this car's cargo capacity invaluable.

::::::::::::::::::::::::UPDATE:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
It is now November 2004, and I still have not had a single problem with this vehicle. I now have an 8-month old baby, and the cargo space and accessibility to the rear seat is great!