First Car Question

ExplorerGuy98

Is a 1998 Explorer 4 DR XLT 4wd a good first car, i can get it for under 1k from a family member. I CAN afford a decent corolla but would prefer to save the money. Is it safe enough? Insurenace isnt going to he expensive. I dont care mich a bout fuel because of a shorter commute.

stickguy

If it’s clean and runs ok, get it. For that price it’s a bargain. Could get pricey to repair if something major goes, but routine stuff is pretty cheap and DIY friendly. Just be prepared to dump and run if something expensive, like the transfer case or Transmission, fails.

qbrozen

Which engine? The 4.6 is bulletproof. How many miles?
Just check for any serious rust. But, as said above, under $1k is silly cheap. Just don’t put much into repairs on it.

oldfarmer50

Any vehicle that runs is worth $1k. You don’t say how many miles but if it’s got less than 150k miles you could probably expect to get a few more years out of it. Your biggest problem would probably be nickel and dime stuff like shocks, bushings, switchgear, maybe an AC condenser. I’d change all fluids and keep an eye out for leaks.

graphicguy

Yeah....mileage is key. If the family member bought it new, ask them about the service regiment. $1,000 is a bargain. But, if you get it and find out it needs a new radiator and/or major suspension work and/or and engine rebuild, that purchase price is going to look minuscule in comparison.

benjaminh

ExplorerGuy98 said:

Is a 1998 Explorer 4 DR XLT 4wd a good first car, i can get it for under 1k from a family member. I CAN afford a decent corolla but would prefer to save the money. Is it safe enough? Insurenace isnt going to he expensive. I dont care mich a bout fuel because of a shorter commute.

I'd get the Corolla.

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2019/1998-ford-explorer-rollover.shtml#:~:text=February 17, 2019 — A 1998,the SUV rolled over twice.&text=The jury awarded Smith more,$100 million in punitive damages.

oldfarmer50

benjaminh said:

ExplorerGuy98 said:

Is a 1998 Explorer 4 DR XLT 4wd a good first car, i can get it for under 1k from a family member. I CAN afford a decent corolla but would prefer to save the money. Is it safe enough? Insurenace isnt going to he expensive. I dont care mich a bout fuel because of a shorter commute.

I'd get the Corolla.

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2019/1998-ford-explorer-rollover.shtml#:~:text=February 17, 2019 — A 1998,the SUV rolled over twice.&text=The jury awarded Smith more,$100 million in punitive damages.

Wasn’t part of that blamed on Firestone?

stickguy

I don't recall who decided it, or exactly why, but Ford recommended overly low inflation pressures which was a big part of the problem.

benjaminh

It was a combination of things that made the first generation of Explorer less than ideal—bad tires, poor suspension, poor stability, and a weak roof. Starting in 2002 with the all-new design it was much safer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Explorer#Rollover_and_Firestone_Tire_controversy

"240 deaths and 3,000 catastrophic injuries resulted from the combination of early generation Explorers and Firestone tires.[17] The tire tread separated and the vehicle had an unusually high rate of rollover crash as a result. Both companies' reputations were tarnished.[79] This event led to a disruption in the 90-year-old Ford/Firestone partnership.

Rollover risk is inherently higher in truck-based vehicles, like the Explorer, than in ordinary passenger cars, as modification for bulky 4-wheel-drive hardware requires increases in height to avoid compromising ground clearance (raising the center of gravity), while a short wheelbase further reduces stability.[17] The previous Bronco II had already been cited by Consumer Reports for rollover tendencies in turns.[17]....

Explorer rollover rates, at the time of the controversy, were higher than any of its competitors. While Firestone turned out millions of sub-standard and potentially defective tires, and was the initial cause of loss of control on many Ford Explorer Firestone tire tread separation rollovers, the blame shifted towards Ford for a defectively designed and unstable vehicle .[81]"

oldfarmer50

benjaminh said:

It was a combination of things that made the first generation of Explorer less than ideal—bad tires, poor suspension, poor stability, and a weak roof. Starting in 2002 with the all-new design it was much safer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Explorer#Rollover_and_Firestone_Tire_controversy

"240 deaths and 3,000 catastrophic injuries resulted from the combination of early generation Explorers and Firestone tires.[17] The tire tread separated and the vehicle had an unusually high rate of rollover crash as a result. Both companies' reputations were tarnished.[79] This event led to a disruption in the 90-year-old Ford/Firestone partnership.

Rollover risk is inherently higher in truck-based vehicles, like the Explorer, than in ordinary passenger cars, as modification for bulky 4-wheel-drive hardware requires increases in height to avoid compromising ground clearance (raising the center of gravity), while a short wheelbase further reduces stability.[17] The previous Bronco II had already been cited by Consumer Reports for rollover tendencies in turns.[17]....

Explorer rollover rates, at the time of the controversy, were higher than any of its competitors. While Firestone turned out millions of sub-standard and potentially defective tires, and was the initial cause of loss of control on many Ford Explorer Firestone tire tread separation rollovers, the blame shifted towards Ford for a defectively designed and unstable vehicle .[81]"

For a thousand buck deal I wouldn’t care if it had the stability of a unicycle.