I had a 2013 base model, 2WD for 3 years and ~39K miles. It had a lot of weird issues so we got rid of it and moved into a minivan. We lived with many of the issues because the closest decent ford dealer, the one I got the vehicle at, was 40 miles away and had no loaner cars.
In those 39K miles these were the issues:
- Windshield wipers never worked on the highest setting. Never got this fixed as the second fastest speed was good enough.
- The washer fluid spray head connector inside the hood for the drivers side sprayer broke twice. Snapped off at the base where the soft hose connects to it.
- The LCD display between the spedo and tach would randomly stay on when all the doors were shut and locked.
- The rear passenger seat handle to tilt the seat to get into the 3rd row got so hard to pull that we stopped using it, kids used the drivers side instead.
- Exhaust header leak on rear bank causing ticking sound.
- Rear bumper was separating from the body. IE, a 1/8th to 1/4 inch gap was forming between the sides of the rear bumper and the body.
- This is a big one and the major reason we dumped it. These have a well documented design flaw, it's all over the explorer forums. Under heavy throttle, exhaust gasses enter the vehicle through the vents under the rear bumper and tailgate. It can literally make your eyes water. They have a TSB to seal up the back end with body sealer and foam etc but it doesn't work all the time. Mine wasn't too bad most of the time so we just lived with it until we dumped it. Wife and I knew to crack the windows if using a on ramp etc.
Looking beyond it's weird issues we really liked the driving dynamics and the interior held up very well to 3 years of kid hauling. The 3.5 and 6 speed trans is a great combo, power wherever you need it. I towed with it a few times, enclosed 5x8 trailer @ ~2500 Lbs, did great. I'd definitely give another one a shot if they fixed the exhaust gas issue.
In those 39K miles these were the issues:
- Windshield wipers never worked on the highest setting. Never got this fixed as the second fastest speed was good enough.
- The washer fluid spray head connector inside the hood for the drivers side sprayer broke twice. Snapped off at the base where the soft hose connects to it.
- The LCD display between the spedo and tach would randomly stay on when all the doors were shut and locked.
- The rear passenger seat handle to tilt the seat to get into the 3rd row got so hard to pull that we stopped using it, kids used the drivers side instead.
- Exhaust header leak on rear bank causing ticking sound.
- Rear bumper was separating from the body. IE, a 1/8th to 1/4 inch gap was forming between the sides of the rear bumper and the body.
- This is a big one and the major reason we dumped it. These have a well documented design flaw, it's all over the explorer forums. Under heavy throttle, exhaust gasses enter the vehicle through the vents under the rear bumper and tailgate. It can literally make your eyes water. They have a TSB to seal up the back end with body sealer and foam etc but it doesn't work all the time. Mine wasn't too bad most of the time so we just lived with it until we dumped it. Wife and I knew to crack the windows if using a on ramp etc.
Looking beyond it's weird issues we really liked the driving dynamics and the interior held up very well to 3 years of kid hauling. The 3.5 and 6 speed trans is a great combo, power wherever you need it. I towed with it a few times, enclosed 5x8 trailer @ ~2500 Lbs, did great. I'd definitely give another one a shot if they fixed the exhaust gas issue.
Last edited:
