Overview & Reviews

The 2016 Ford Explorer gets revised exterior styling, a new engine option, updated safety features and a new top-end trim level.

• Abundant high-tech features
• Upscale cabin
• Expected improvement in fuel economy from new turbo engine.

• Less cargo room than many rivals
• Third row only seats two passengers.
• Current model feels big behind the wheel

User Reviews:

Showing 51 through 60 of 97.00

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  FORD refuses to stand by their own vehicle - 2016 Ford Explorer
  By Nicole - February 28 - 12:20 pm

  My husband and I bought a brand new 2016 Ford Explorer (which was in the showroom). This cost upwards towards $50,000. Less then two months later my roof started leaking and my center console had a puddle of water in it, electeonics were soaked, seats soaked and floor wet. Took it to the dealership and they claimed it was a pinched drain in the roof and the problem was fixed. Less then one week later I went to get in my car and it was soaking wet again. Took it back to the dealership and they stated they poured water from a hose on the car for "two hours". They took the headliner off and found the other drain pipe was NEVER installed from the factory. So now they poured water on the car for two hours while there was no drain pipe installed. Called the Ford manager of Ford (not the dealership) - his name is James - and he claims there is nothing they can do other then pay ONE lousy car payment and extend our warranty for 5 years ... this is funny because the warranty does not cover mold and mildew. I am highly allergic to mold and my 2.5 year old son is too. This allergy triggers my asthma. James did not seem to care and reall didnt seem to want to help in any way. We are now in contact with our lawyer. I will NEVER but a Ford product again and cannot believe the vehicle passed the factory inspection - how many more of these are out there? Now since it was a FACTORY defect, it somehow is now OUR headache. I will tell everyone I know to never buy a Ford.

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  Wifes SUV - 2016 Ford Explorer
  By Gabriel Gonzalez - September 24 - 2:19 pm

  Power and ride comfort are pretty awesome. We hadnt brought a new car in 10 years so we are very impressed with the technology in this Explorer. I it drive on the weekends are really like it. Only downside is fuel economy, not terrible but not as good as I had hoped. If you can afford it, go for one with ecoboost.

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  Needs serious redesign of seats and interior space - 2016 Ford Explorer
  By Dan - September 20 - 7:02 pm

  I had a chance to drive 2016 Ford Explorer XLT 4WD for 9 days as a rental vehicle. Throughout the years I have owned, rented and test-driven almost all vehicle makes and models of cars from economy passenger cars to luxury sports sedans, SUVs and even pickup trucks. Unfortunately Im going to cross Ford Explorer off my shopping list and I cannot recommend it as a potential family vehicle even though I liked the previous Explorer I test-drove back in 2011-12. It seems there are two vehicles within the Explorer. On one hand you have a vehicle with a very nice drivetrain: a capable relatively apt and powerful engine (this is just a sub 300 HP V6 mind you in a heavy vehicle); an intelligent 6 speeds transmission; and a very comfortably tuned suspension. We drove on freeways, mountain highways, uphills, downhills and engine and the tranmission coupled with Sports mode and steering-wheel mounted shifters enabled you to accomplish all the feats without much problem. On the steeper hills though, regular Drive mode would behave more intelligently when going downhil, holding on the lesser gear and helping you brake with the engine. On the uphills, regular Drive mode would however tend to constantly upshift even when you would manually downshift. Once in the Sports mode, these problems would go away and the car would behave accordingly. However there is the other part of Explorer and that other part unfornuately makes the Explorer not so much attractive. The faults I will list out are not new, but as have been already been pointed out by others in the reviews here. Seat design/driver comfort 1) Terrible front seats with narrow hard bottoms, hard and high bottom bolsters. 2) Poor legroom area for the driver in width 3) The above 2 is accentuated with absolutely terribly designed foot rest area. The foot rest is very narrow, has a weird angle and also there is no space to rest your foot outward or stretch your foot outward. (And I was coming from just driving a Corolla and Camry). Many people here pointed out that these issues might be experienced partly because of the driver height. But Im a pretty short guy and Ive experienced all these issues to a such degree that after about 30 mins of renting the car, I was complaining non-stop and had to tell my wife that I could not bear to drive it any longer. Even after I switched to the passenger front seat, the 1st issue was still bothering me there as well. I was ready to ditch the car and the only thing that stopped me was that I couldnt reach the rental agency and we were already far away from the pickup location. My wife however was not bothered as much. This leads me to believe that this is not as much of the height issue as the female vs male issue. Females naturally dont mind seating with their legs close together whereas we males prefer to open our legs as wide as possible. Only after putting some bath towels, we luckily had, in the center of seat and thus leveling the surface I was able to somehow mitigate issue 1. Child seat OK, so you would think that given how large the Explorer is and its target audience it would do really well in child car seat accomodation department. I was really hoping that I could install my convertible seat in the most safe position possible - center seat facing rear. But I could not. I couldnt use the center position even for the front facing installation. 4) There is not that much space in the 2nd row seats as you would think, even with the short drivers and passengers 5) The mechanism for folding the seats in the center seat is so large and obstrusive that it conflicts with seat installation, both front and rear. 6) The same mechanism makes it hard to use latch installation even on the side seats especially in the rear installation. Minor things Now these things by themselves maybe minor but when coupled with the things above just add to the less the desirable portrait of the vehicle. 7) Car very loudly honks when you exit with the key and engine turned on and there is no way to turn the feature off. This proved extremely annoying and aggravating as you are trying to warm up the vehicle and its interior and need to exit in and out of the car. 8) Multimedia and instrument screen controls are needlessly complicated. It took me awhile to literally figure out how to do even the simplest things such as browing the folder structure on the MP3 CD or to reset the trip odometer. There were absolutely no hints or labels on the controls to suggest that they would accomplish this or that feature. 9) Locking the car. Till the last day I could not figure out exactly how to easily lock the car by using touch feature. Sometimes I would have to touch it twice, sometimes I would have to hold my hand there for a couple seconds, sometimes it would refuse to lock altogether no matter what I did and I would have to use the remote. 10) Only one charge port upfront ???!!

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  Not worth the money - 4 Cyclinder / AWD / XLT - 2016 Ford Explorer
  By Disappointed in Michigan - July 24 - 12:43 am

  Edmunds didnt allow me to select a "4 cylinder" version as the only "drop downs" were for the V6. This vehicle is not worth the money. The advertised fuel economy on the sticker says 18 city and 26 highway for the 4 cylinder and AWD. Im lucky to get 15.5 combined. The acceleration is tepid and the transmission keeps looking for the right gear to be in. Its not confidence inspiring. Fords advertising with the "unstoppable" and "fight song" are even more of a joke when you consider how poorly designed this vehicle is. The interior leaves a lot to be desired. With a $43,000 MSRP, this is getting dangerously close to other vehicles that are way more luxurious and not based on an old Volvo platform. The plastic trim used in the interior feels cheap. There doesnt appear to be any foam or soft touch paint on any of the plastics. It feels like this vehicle was designed as cheaply as possible. Getting in and out of the third row is an exercise in acrobatics and dont put Grandma in the back if you want to see her come out alive again. You have to climb over the second row seats to get back there. Visibility on this vehicle is terrible too and the seats are really uncomfortable. The test drive I took was not extensive enough obviously. Save yourself some money and dont get this vehicle. Aside from the exterior styling, this is a complete disappointment. My first and last Ford SUV. Ill go back to the other brands I used to drive before this. Im glad this is only a 2 year lease.

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  Explorer continues to be #1 with my wife and me. - 2016 Ford Explorer
  By Tom - July 19 - 4:50 pm

  This is our 4th Explorer with our 1st being bought the 1st year they came out. We continue to have great experience with the Explorer and look forward to the new one being just as reliable as the previous ones.

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  Ohhh - 2016 Ford Explorer
  By Al - May 12 - 10:10 am

  Great vehicle so far...my only problem are the seats...what was ford thinking ...if youre buying this suv consider that youll be upgrading the seats some how

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  4,207 Miles in 14 Days. - 2016 Ford Explorer
  By Jacob Tennessen - February 10 - 9:58 pm

  I rented a 2016 XLT for a long road trip and enjoyed. Overall I would give the vehicle 4 stars for attractive redesign and decent road manners. The vehicle had alot of nice features for the price of that model. It was all wheel drive and averaged only 21 mpg, but with a heavy foot (avg 85mph on interstate). It held the road well at high interstate speeds. The six speed auto behaved well outside of the almost always wanting to downshift at the slightest hill. The best word to describe the feel of this SUV is "pudgy". It is thick...dash, pillars and body. It drives similarly...not fat like a truck based SUV but you can still feel the weight in its performance. I found myself looking for more power on occasion, but the V6 is a decent mover when pedal is mashed. Nitpicking small things annoyed me like the design of the steering wheel. You cant hold the bottom of the wheel and the buttons for the functions were numerous and difficult to discern by feel...you have to look down to find right button...not good. The cloth interior (Black) was actually pretty nice. Durable and easy to keep clean. I didnt miss the leather and sunroof, but I did miss the auto climate control and auto rear view mirror. I hated having to constantly adjust. The third row lays flat nicely and the depth of luggage area increases when seats are pulled up which comes in handy, but still, as with most midsized suv third rows, its pretty tight in the back for people and luggage when the seats are up and not easy to climb back to the back seat for an adult. Overall though I would rent again. If for no other reason than decent space and comfort.

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  Fix faulty THORTTLE BODY before purchase! - 2016 Ford Explorer
  By Lumpy Trooper - December 18 - 7:58 pm

  Purchased this vehicle 3 days ago and the throttle body when out on us as we were getting onto the freeway. We could have be in a serious car accident. FORD is knowingly selling people these cars playing Russian Rullete with you familys safety and lives. The part has been on back order for months and the internet is lighting up on this issue with these cars yet FORD has failed to issue a recall even now. At the dealership they begged me to keep my car because giving me a new one would lose the dealership so much money. Like I give a damn about their profit after they knowingly sold me a vehicle that puts me and my family at risk. Do your research on customer complaints about the SUV and ask that the part be replaced before purchase if you really are shallow like me and still want the car for its sexy body. Or get smart and buy a Toyota.

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  Throttle body issue - 2016 Ford Explorer
  By Jth - November 8 - 10:18 am

  Do not buy this car unless they agree to change the Throttle body before you leave the lot. My 2016 shut down on me while I was making a turn into a busy highway. Thus could have been bad. Shame on you Ford for not issuing a recall. Now my rear AC is acting up. Strike 2. I have only made 3 car payments! I am disappointed.

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  The scariest experience of anyones life - 2016 Ford Explorer
  By Very dissappointed - October 28 - 5:14 am

  Please stay away from this SUV. 3,760 miles on the car. Going 57 mph and the car completely shut down on a busy highway. Could not go forward, backwards or get out of the way of any cars. This needs to be addressed and stopped now before anyone gets killed. How can Ford continue to sell their vehicles with this serious problem? I heard it happens in the Fusions, F150s. How can this be?