Overview & Reviews

For 2012, the Ford Explorer offers an optional turbocharged four-cylinder engine that promises six-cylinder performance with four-cylinder fuel economy.

• Available fuel-efficient turbocharged four-cylinder.
• Abundant high-tech features
• Excellent ride and handling balance
• Upscale cabin

• Feels bigger than it is behind the wheel
• MyFord Touch is slow to respond and can be difficult to use.
• Less third-row and cargo room than rivals

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 40.00

• 

  Great family vehicle! - 2012 Ford Explorer
  By Kendra - October 15 - 4:39 pm

  Bought my 2012 Ford Explorer as a Certified Pre Owned with 36k miles. Have had the vehicle 8 months now and still love it! Now that we are one of few families in our circle with a 7 passenger vehicle, we end up being "the bus" ... recently had 7 adults on board and even the two in the third row were comfortable and commented on how roomy it was for a third row seat. My 8 year old loves the third row and thinks it is great fun climbing in and out. Things I love: Power liftgate Power folding third row Heated and cooled front seats Great sound system Drives very smooth and quiet (except for windshield hissing/whistling - problem is solved by turning up the music!) Handles great Great rear view camera and backup sensors Looks great Great warranty since I bought Certified Pre-Owned Surprisingly good gas mileage for the size Things that bug me: -Had to have the shifting assembly replaced after getting "shift to park" messages when it was clearly in park. Covered under CPO warranty and I only paid $100, but irritating to have to pay anything for what is clearly a Ford defect, as many people have reported the same problem. -The blind spot takes some getting used to. I have gotten much more adept at using my mirrors because the blind spots on the sides are significant. I couldnt find a used model with BLIS which I gladly would have paid for, so this was a big downfall in the beginning -I hate MyFord Touch. It never works properly. Luckily, I already knew this was an issue from my research prior to purchasing the vehicle so I expected it. Works great for voice climate control and using the phone everything else is pretty much crap. I never use the navigation much easier to plug my iPhone in to the USB and use Google maps. -The dark blue color is very hard to keep clean almost as bad as black. Would have preferred white or silver but when youre buying used you have to take what you can find. Overall I love the vehicle and would buy another. This is the first SUV I have ever owned after years of driving Acura sedans. I actually had my heart set on an Acura MDX until I compared the Ford Explorer and realized I could get just as many features and luxury items for a much lower price. Bonus: its much cheaper to work on since its American made! I was always shocked at the repair costs on my Acuras because the parts were so much more expensive. I would recommend this vehicle to anyone looking for a reliable SUV with a luxury feel at an affordable cost!

• 

  Vehicle is great, MyFord Touch is terrible - 2012 Ford Explorer
  By g2a2k - April 21 - 4:05 pm

  Ford did a very good job in the design of the vehicle. It is great to drive. The part that is not great is the MyFord Touch. I have had problems from the beginning. The dealers have been nice, but have not been able to solve any of the problems I have face such as the navigation system never working and it often shutting down while driving causing me to have my vehicle in the shop at least once a month. For this reason, and all the problems I have had with the My Ford Touch, I would not recommend purchasing a Ford with it since they cant seem to solve the problems with it.

• 

  Homerun with Explorer - 2012 Ford Explorer
  By htown35 - March 6 - 9:53 am

  I brought my 2012 Explorer in December 2011. I have the XLT Model with Leather, 20 in Rims, Power Liftgate and Dual Power Seats. I love my new explorer. Only 2 problems.... Recall for Engine Cooling at 5K and had to replace the brakes under warranty at 7K. I currently have 10K miles on it. I get a lot of compliments on my explorer. I like the ride, styling and comfort. I do not have MyFord Touch so I dont have any of those issues. I think Ford did a good job overall. First new Ford!!

• 

  Explorer XLT - I love it - 2012 Ford Explorer
  By htown35 - February 26 - 12:08 pm

  I brought my 2012 Explorer XLT with leather interior, 20 in rims and power liftgate in Dec 2011. The only issues I had was replacing the brakes (covered under warr) at 8,000 miles and a recall for engine cooling. Currently I have 10,000 miles. I like driving my Explorer. It gets a lot of attention with its 20 in rims and dark exterior color. I have gotten 25 MPG on the highway and about 18 in the city. It always has enough power and all features work correctly... Its quiet and I feel very safe in it.

• 

  Navigation is unusable - 2012 Ford Explorer
  By explorerdriver - September 18 - 10:19 pm

  I have used different navigation systems for years, but the voice-activated navigation in this vehicle is so frustrating to use that it is unusable. Nothing about it seems to work - it does not recognize what you are saying, even when you enunciate carefully. It does not allow a passenger to manually enter information, so you must always use voice activation. Could not get it to recognize numbered routes. Would not "hear" my address which is a one digit address - kept repeating its prompt. Prompts are not helpful. There are so many bugs that I think I will need to purchase a portable Garmin unit to use in the car insead of the expensive navigation. Do not waste money on purchasing this

• 

  First Ford - not very happy :( - 2012 Ford Explorer
  By newfordowner - September 6 - 1:40 pm

  So...I leased this vehicle because I fell in love with the body style! Well...it was 2012 demo left over - but still beautiful! So after the first month - the computer froze up - went blank...I thought for sure I did something - they said it had a virus - ok - and now month 3 months later - the transmission feels like it is slipping - so today - it is back at the dealer for that and the computer again - it froze up and went black screen again. I am not really happy with my first Ford experience so far. Also - the gas mileage has been horrible! My last vehicle a Toyota Highlander (6 cylinder) was awesome - I got at least 22-25 mpg. I am only getting 16.3 mpg - and that is highway too.

• 

  Explorer 2012 FWD good for the city but not for the snow - 2012 Ford Explorer
  By dryan865 - May 20 - 5:43 pm

  We are a Ford family and have owned at least one Ford car as long as we have been married. We purchased the 2012 Ford Explorer FWD 3.5L V6 Limited in March and have driven it on one long road trip (5K driven). We like the features and quality of the vehicle. However, in the snow it was very disappointing. We were misled when we purchased the vehicle by the dealership. (We were told chains were an option) After I got stuck in the snow and returned to purchase chains from the dealership, I was informed by the parts dept that Ford does not support any model of snow chains for the car. We are living in the Pacific NW currently and would not dare take a road trip in the winter with it.

• 

  2012 Limited...nice - 2012 Ford Explorer
  By erock901 - April 3 - 12:02 pm

  Coming from a 2003 Acura MDX, this new Explorer handles and performs much better as expected. It does feel a little heavy in the corners but body roll is well controled under normal driving. The 2nd row seating isnt as wide as the MDX. The 3rd row is much more comfortable than the MDX. Acceleration feels a little slower than expected but not bad. MyTouch/Sync is ok. I expected a lot better/more advanced functionallity since I have basically the same features in my 6yr old Lexus. Overall, Im happy with the Explorer because of its handling and saftey features. And it satisfied my desire to buy domestic.

• 

  Wheel Well Linners Poorly Designed - 2012 Ford Explorer
  By ned12 - March 13 - 2:11 pm

  Recently purchased 2012 Ford Explorer XLT. Have been very disappointed when driving it through mud, slush or snow. All the road debris (snow, slush, etc.) flows through the wheel well liners because of manufactured holes and inadequate linner size (too small). The door tracks and inside rails are a dirty mess after driving though any road debris. Ford says this is the way they designed and offer no fix. Dealer suggested we buy/install mud flaps. They have had other complaints about this condition.

• 

  They lied - 2012 Ford Explorer
  By tsarver - February 15 - 11:28 pm

  After reading of the sync and mytouch problems I asked several times before I bought my explorer if the problems were fixed. I was assured that these problems were updated and would not be a problem with my vehicle. Four days after I bought it, a hour from home in a snow storm of course the system freezes. Called sync support and was told I need to stop the car and pull a fuse to reset it, nice. They said there are still problems and a update is months away. I have had the vehicle a week now and it has done this twice now. The dealer lied to make the sale knowing there are still problems. When I had the repair history ran it showed there was sync issues with this vehicle before I bought it.