Love my 2022 ST but why are so many publication reviews trashing the Explorer?

lovetoskivt · Sep 16, 2022

I am a loyal Ford customer and I may have blinders on I must admit... love the looks of the ST and the performance of having 400 horses... looking at other competitive models, I still favor the Explorer.. I know that no auto mfg is perfect and was wondering if any of the ST forum audiences have opinions regarding the negative reviews from different pubs.... Car & Driver, Motortrend etc..

Sincerely,
Kevin

Cruising68 · Sep 16, 2022

I swore I would never buy another Ford after our Winstar 20 years ago. This was my first Ford since then. I LOVE mine and think it was a great choice coming from full sized trucks. I have had minimal issues, only some trim pieces. As far as the fit and finish, I think it is pretty good. The interior is a little cheap but I can get over that.

Bottom line, as a Ford hater for a long time I really like my Explorer and disagree with most of the reviews.

Cdubya · Sep 16, 2022

Would you still be buying an Explorer if there were no ST version? IMHO, the bad press is well deserved. The ST version is still great but look at what Ford has butchered off the MY2020 version.

EBjunkie · Sep 16, 2022

I bought this vehicle because of the ST version. I was a 25+ year GMC / Chevy guy. I went to the dealer to price out a loaded GMC pickup and about lost my mind when I saw low mileage fully loaded trucks topping $70K. I saw a 2020 Copper ST going in for detailing and asked if I could get a test drive. I bought it the moment we hit the freeway on ramp and I had to navigate a dual trailer semi and a bunch of slow movers in the passing lane. A couple weeks later a friend had a 2020 Explorer XLT and I asked if I could take it for a spin. Night and Day difference to me. If I had driven that XLT, I would have never asked to test drive my ST and would probably still be looking for a new truck.

TMac · Sep 16, 2022

I'd have to second that opinion @EBjunkie. This is my first Ford and I bought it only because due to kids, I needed to move away from a sports car to something with more room. At the same time, I didn't want to give up a lot in the way of performance (acceleration, braking, MPG). After looking at nearly all the available "performance" SUVs, a test drive in the ST seemed like the best bang for the buck. No, it didn't have the best interior, but in terms of what I was looking for, it checked all the boxes.

As far as problems; knock on wood, I haven't had a single problem with my 2020 in two and a half years.

lovetoskivt · Sep 17, 2022

Cdubya said:

Would you still be buying an Explorer if there were no ST version? IMHO, the bad press is well deserved. The ST version is still great but look at what Ford has butchered off the MY2020 version.

lovetoskivt · Sep 17, 2022

Likely no, selected the ST for the room and mostly the performance as my wife and I do a lot of highway driving and we have grandkids so car seats need to fit

thanks for your reply!

Cruising68 · Sep 17, 2022

Cdubya said:

No i would not have bought a Ford were it not for the Explorer St. It just checked too many boxes for me wanting to downsize from full sized trucks and suvs.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Buck Nutz · Sep 17, 2022

Downsized for the reason of not wanting to spend 70K on a loaded F150

legacy404 · Sep 17, 2022

The ST has a great chassis and powertrain. It gets some knocks for the interior quality, but for a car thats most families' AND a police workhorse, its bound to get beat up anyway and at least the pieces are easy to find and replace when you need them. The interior i find is quite intuitive, functional and comfortable enough (esp with massage seats). If you spend all your time in the car running your fingers over the dash and trim pieces, then sure, go for an X5/Q7/cayenne etc. Reminds me of the old saying as with American cars, you pay for the engine and chassis, and the interior comes for free!

MikeHTally · Sep 18, 2022

My Limited had so many problems in a short time, I traded it on the ST. It has its issues too, unfortunately. It took over a week to get an object sensor replaced. I just discovered this morning that when they put the rear bumper cover back on, they left out two screws that hold the lower valance on. The rear camera is blue-screening more and more. Guess it's back to the shop for that and two proper screws in the valance.

Rant over. I do love the car's power and versatility, but all the nit-picky things that take too long to fix are wearing me down.

V3nom3nom · Sep 18, 2022

This is my second Ford vehicle and I would maybe have purchased the Explorer even in other trims for reliability of the ecoboost platform. Interior isn’t what you are paying for on this trim level, it’s the performance and boy does it no disappoint.

CareerFiremanGuy · Sep 18, 2022

For reliable performance test results, C&D has been my go to automotive publication for decades (personally verified by myself at the track).

But their personal picks are just that, personal, and have not always been my favorites. No problem, they're not paying for my vehicle. I am.

As my "Explorer ST vs the Comparison" thread shows, nothing beats it for price/size/performance/mpg.

ARC · Sep 18, 2022

I can see why the reviews are bad after dealing with Ford fitment and quality on some parts.
Took mine in for condensation in the fog lamp and for it being slightly loose. After 2 hours in service they stated not covered due to weather wear and tear. (17k on the odometer)
A week later while washing the car I see a small crack in the headlamp driver side, once again go back to Ford and told "not covered" and the headlight assembly is about 1500.00!!
I told the service manager so what do you cover?? Unreal.....

leomio · Oct 3, 2022

From the outside looking in, I wouldn't consider an Explorer if it weren't for the ST trim. The fit & finish are not good, but you can excuse it for the power that it offers ... this isn't the case for other trims. My biggest issue is the transmission issues and programming. I just watched another review on the Timberline Explorer by SavageGeese on YouTube and it seems their transmission programming is still all over the place. I guess Ford has no intention on updating/rectifying this issue. This is the biggest blemish on the car IMO.

Chaseg08 · Oct 3, 2022

Buck Nutz said:

Same here. Couldn't justify spending that much on a new truck. The ST will fill the void until I can find a used truck that I want for a reasonable price. I do love my ST though.

UNBROKEN · Oct 3, 2022

There were a lot of negative reviews because it was one of the worst new car debuts in Fords history. The Chicago plant couldn’t build a Lego set…much less a car. Tons of them were shipped elsewhere to be fixed before they even went to the dealers. 2020 A and B builds had more issues than they knew what to do with. They had them largely under control by the C builds but at first it seems like you were lucky to even get all the way home with one.

V3nom3nom · Oct 3, 2022

^^how can I know what build I have? Does the VIN have the “a,b, or c” designation?

CareerFiremanGuy · Oct 3, 2022

leomio said:

Ditto.

That guy comes across as snobby. I personally wouldn't rely on anything he says.

leomio · Oct 4, 2022

CareerFiremanGuy said:

Like anyone, he certainly has his biases. He's definitely a Toyota & Honda fanboy, and he admits it. Jack (the Asian guy) is big into German and GM cars.

That being said, I've test driven and driven a friend's ST numerous times and I absolutely adore the way the car drives. But, the transmission shifting/programming has been very hit and miss. Sometimes it shifts buttery smooth. Other times it will bang into a gear randomly. A few times I've been driving normally and the vehicle just wouldn't upshift, then all of a sudden it will abruptly shift disrupting the whole cabin.

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Love my 2022 ST but why are so many publication reviews trashing the Explorer?

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