**The Benefits of Buying a Ford Explorer**

If you want your car to last, it's essential to make it a habit every time you get in it to turn the start-stop option off. This simple trick can extend the life of your vehicle and save you money on gas. When they first made the Explorers in Mexico, there were seven recalls, which is not too bad considering the early models were designed in a rush. The later models have fewer problems, with only one L engine available instead of the hybrid and AINSON cycle engines.

**The Importance of Engine Maintenance**

For those who value durability and longevity, a 4-cylinder inline 2L engine is a great choice. This engine is simpler than its V6 counterparts, which can be prone to issues like exploding valves. In contrast, the 2L engine is more straightforward and requires less maintenance. Ford has made significant improvements in recent years, but it's still essential to take care of your engine. Changing the oil every 5,000 miles with full synthetic oil will help keep your engine running smoothly.

**The Ride Quality of the Explorer**

One of the most surprising aspects of the Explorer is its ride quality. The front-wheel drive system provides a smooth and comfortable ride, making it ideal for those who want to leave their trucks behind. This is in stark contrast to earlier Ford pickups, which were notorious for their rough ride. Even my wife loves riding in this vehicle, praising its comfort and ride quality. Whether you're cruising down the highway or navigating city streets, the Explorer will provide a pleasant driving experience.

**Comparison to Other Vehicles**

When it comes to comparing the Explorer to other vehicles on the market, it's clear that this truck stands out from the crowd. The price point is attractive, with the base model starting under $30,000. In contrast, other front-wheel drive pickup trucks can cost upwards of $40,000 or more. While some may argue that hybrids and AINSON cycle engines are worth the extra cost for better gas mileage, the Explorer's simplicity and reliability make it an excellent choice for those who want a no-frills truck.

**Real-World Experience**

As I've been driving the Explorer, I can attest to its comfortable ride quality and smooth handling. The turbocharged engine provides ample power, making it easy to merge onto highways or tackle steep inclines. The interior is roomy, with decent space for passengers and cargo. While some may miss the traditional pickup truck experience, this vehicle has won me over with its unique blend of comfort and capability.

**Conclusion**

If you're in the market for a small pickup truck that's easy to maintain and fun to drive, the Explorer is an excellent choice. With its simple 4-cylinder inline 2L engine, smooth ride quality, and affordable price point, it's hard to go wrong with this vehicle. Remember to take care of your engine by changing the oil regularly and lubricating the turbocharger, and you'll be enjoying years of trouble-free driving.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: engraev up your engines all right here we have 2022 Maverick we're going to go through it tell you what's good what's bad what you might want to pick and I do have to say it is a far cry for my Maverick if you check out this picture you'll see me when I was in shape going to the University Illinois standing in front of my Ford Maverick that was a car they've gone to trucks for this is a pretty revolutionary vehicle of course originally they were going to sell these things for said under 20 grand he paid 29 for this but it's loaded it's got the optional engine he has the 2 L regular engine he didn't get the hybrid my advice I would go with the regular engine because hybrids as they age they can cost a fortune and if these things do hold true like regular Fords F-150s Rangers and they go 10 15 20 years you really don't want to have a 20-year-old hybrid it's going to cost you a fortune this doesn't have the expensive Hybrid battery it doesn't have all that technology what it does have has a 2 L ecoboost engine it's a 4 cylinder inline you can see it's got gasoline direct injection on it and it's got a turbocharger on it but this is pretty tried technology now 2022 he paid extra for this it's an option if you get the standard one it comes with a 2.5 L Atkinson engine which is a more complex engine and from my experience nobody knows how to work on them and if you blow a head gasket it cost a fortune where on these they're just plain old engines and any mechanic that knows how to work on them can work on these things that's pretty much what people want a Ford for a Ford that they can get fixed when they need to wherever and not have to worry about gesh nobody knows how to work on these things at cost a fortune you're better with the simpler system the nonhybrid system now it's not like this is a gas hog he's getting about 25 M a gallon driving it around town and understand one thing this is radical for Ford because this is a front-wheel drive pickup truck it is not rear wheeel drive like an F-150 front wheeel drives are inherently more efficient and since the engine and the transmission is in the front and so are the drive Wheels you can generally get away without having to buy snow tires in the winter you live in some really wacko Place Alaska or Northern Minnesota You' probably want to put sow tires on the front but the front is pulling it's much more efficient to pull a vehicle than it is to push a vehicle you know the old pickup trucks those back wheels would spin like mad slide all over because what's in the back there's no weight in this case all the weight the engine and the transmission is on the drive wheels and a solder who owns this says it's one of the best driving Vehicles they ever got I've driven them we're going to take this one for a ride in a few minutes but they do handle much better being front-wheel drive and since it's not a fullframe truck this what wasn't meant to tow tons and to carry eight tons of stuff it's meant for a regular little drive and pickup the unibody construction of course weighs less there's no frame so it has a tendency of handling better it rides more like a car than like a truck because of that design now these Tacomas like my son's old Tacoma hey they can run forever but they ride like trucks they Don't Ride all that well it's got a full frame on it I mean this Ford Maverick is pretty much a car truck it's more drivable of course because of its size it's a relatively short bed but it's still got a nice bed on it you can still fit a lot of stuff in there tell look on the back now it can tell 4,000 lb and you can put 1,500 lb in the back so it can do work you know it's not an F150 for hauling monster size things but for a little truck it does generally what it was designed for I like the gray color but unfortunately there's nothing you can do about where they make them because these are all made in Mexico as we look around they're not really telling you that believe me they're all put together in Mexico they get to be kind of stinky you got to decipher the VIN to figure out exactly but all of these are made in Mexico kind of sleazy though that they don't say it just says Ford Motor Company it doesn't tell you they should have to say on the sticker if you ask me that kind of reminds me of my Triumph motorcycle right the English motorcycle well I bought one it's a late model one right and they got British flags on everything and then I'm like hm I wonder where this was made doesn't say anything it just says Triumph Great Britain well when you decipher the VIN it turns out it was made in Thailand actually though the ti do better work than the British do so it works out better it's never had any problems right it's a modern one it's not an old-fashioned one but they should at least say where they're made you know not try to pretend these are all made in Mexico they make a lot of cars down in Mexico for for because the Labor's cheaper just realize a lot of the parts come from the United States and in the case of this Maverick these particular 2 L in haven't had any real problems unlike some of the Broncos where they made the V6 engines wrong and they were eating valves and they have to replace them on cars that have, 1500 15,000 miles not that many miles now they got to replace them under warranty but can you imagine if you would bought one and the engine went out that fast these 2 L ones that's why I advise people to get the 2 L the 2 L ones are regular engines they're not ainson cycle engines it's not a hybrid setup if you get the standard one it's an ainson cycle High bread dreamly complex things that a lot of guys do not know how to work on this is the one if you're going to be somewhere keep it for years we want guys around you can fix the things they can fix these a lot easier than they can fix the hybrids and the Atkinson engines I've had so many people with ainson engines of various manufacturers Toyota makes them too when they break nobody will fix them or the dealer will say things like well it needs a head gasket and that's going to be $5,000 well $5,000 000 for head gas is kind of ridiculous cuz the head gasket is less than 100 bucks you're better with paying extra for this 2 L turbo engine then you are buying the ainson hybrid one which is the standard one which costs less compact in the front but hey the back seat actually has quite a bit of room you got a tack temperature gauge fuel gauge and spedometer you got all kinds of controls on your steering wheel now it doesn't have a sunroof I hate those things anyway I find them annoying I size glove box controls easy to access all the controls have pictures on them so it's easy to tell you want head you want feet it's right there safety features Ford calls and co-pilot 360 you're ready to hit somebody automatically breaks there's all kinds of Technology involved in these things sure it is a compact truck on a lower line but it's kind of surprising the stuff that it has for the price that you get like I said he bought the fancier one here and he paid like $29,000 for it originally they were supposed to sell them for 20 but that's the basic one this isn't the basic one this is the fancier one in that price range you're still well below the average car in the United States these days is pushing 50 G's so for 29 we'll see what you get when we take it for a ride now the owner doesn't care about the electric shifting neither do I or the electric parking brake I don't go for that crap either but I mean that's just how things are these days everything's computerized the standard Wheels but they look nice these engines are a little bit noisy that's cuz they're GDI a lot of times they make a little bit more noise than the normal vehicle does you don't hear it in the vehicle but you certainly hear it down here so takeing for a spin I do like the look it's got a nice headlight setup on it it's got a nice backup camera I got to say we need it here we got the cement lions people are knocking them over all the time now you ride around it's a nice compact truck it's got nice height to it it's not outrageously high but got a nice height to it but like I said in a regular pickup truck I'd be worryed about sliding all over the place in the rain this thing handles quite well when you got front-wheel drive and this unibody construction lighter weight it really handles more like a car than a truck and that's all down to the front-wheel drive really and for a pickup truck hey it's pretty quiet I always worried about Mexican quality when they put them together but really in this thing I don't hear any rattles yet we get going to our little drag strip here you can see it's a sport there so here we are at our little drag strip and there's nobody behind us so we can stop and Ready Set Go it's spinning us tires hey I'm impressed that's another reason I tell people you'd probably like the 2 L better cuz it's actually got quite a bit better acceleration it's more fun to drive and like I said just driving around town he's still getting 25 M a gallon and for a truck that's good gas mileage now you might wonder why the wheels were spinning well we put it in sport mode and turn off the traction control so it's more fun to drive you want to have fun if you're into safety leave it on you lose a little bit of acceleration but this isn't like the Shelby Cobra that I had years ago that was total insanity when you put it in Drag Strip mode which you're only supposed to do on a drag strip and not in the city but of course everybody does for a little truck okay it's got plenty of pass and zip look at that no problem at all now he does agree with me he doesn't like to start stop function you can turn it off if you want every time that you come to a stop I don't particularly like that technology because when you start your car 90 something per of the wear occurs during startup you really want to keep starting and stopping your car starting and stopping your car they can BS all they want about say we put stronger rods in it and stronger this that baloney the batteries wear out faster the starters wear out faster so really if you want your car to last just make it a habit every time you get in it turn the start stop option off just push it so it doesn't come on you got to do it every time you start the car but really your car will thank you for it it'll last longer and yeah the tiny bit of gas that you save hey you know how much money an engine costs thousands and thousands of gallons of gasoline that's what it cost now I roll the window down get a little air in it's not too noisy and like I say this thing really handles quite well I got to say it's interesting not shaking at all it is a smooth running vehicle now when they first made them in Mexico they were in a real rush cuz they were behind schedule and the early ones there were like seven recalls which isn't that much take the Explorers when they first came out there were like 17 recalls the first year now obvious ones you would tell they don't have it on this one but some of the earlier ones you smell gasoline because when they put the liners in the back they drilled holes into the gas tanks and made hole in the gas tank you would smell it they had to fix all of those right and they had recalls for software issues and normal stuff but unlike the Broncos with those V6 engines that are exploding cuz the valves are wrong they hav had engine problems with these now like I say I like the two L because it's a simpler engine I'm not a fan of either hybrids or ainson engines yes they're efficient they get good gas mileage at that level of complexity if you're the type of person who often buys Ford pickups you want them to last 10 15 20 years or more hundreds of thousands of miles the hybrids and the ainon cycle engines are prohibitively expensive to fix when they do break down this one isn't this is a plain engine just a 4 cylinder inline 2 L engine so it's a lot easier to work on they have less problems in the long run and you don't have to deal with a very expensive Hybrid battery it's just got a normal battery in it so really if you're thinking about buying one of these I'd say pay the extra and get an XLT the standard ones with the hybrid and the ainson cycle engines yeah they get a little bit better gas mileage but at what cost the same size inside you can see there's decent room in the back for a family and sure Ford originally toed they're going to make a pickup truck for under 20 well this one was still under 30 with all the options on it so hey it's not that bad when you compare what's out there what you're going to pay for other vehicles you get a front-wheel drive pickup truck that really has a nice ride to it it's a radical change for Ford having a front-wheel drive pickup and I got to say in terms of how it rides they hit the nail on the head with this it really does ride well it rides much more like a car than like a truck if you're one of those people that have been in pickup trucks in the past and says I a pickup truck rides like crap hey okay this guy's wife loves this thing cuz it rides nice if my wife got in a pickup truck she'd probably go oh I'm not going to ride in another one of those cuz in the past Ford used to give me Vehicles lots of trucks to road test right they give me for a week and finally my wife said don't ever Point another one of those Ford trucks they ride like crap I'm too high up in the air I don't like it at all she wouldn't driveing she didn't even like riding at them but in a vehicle like this it's another story it's a range of trucks that hey might be like another Model T Ford that they can sell a whole bunch of as long as the quality remains up there they are made in Mexico we'll see what happens over time this is a brand new vehicle right if you get something like this you got to change the oil every 5,000 Mi with full synthetic oil you got to take care of it turbo is need to be lubricated they use the same oil make sure you change your oil every 5,000 miles and they can last a long time you can't treat it like an old V8 Ford where you're going to be oh change all every 10,000 miles it's the V8 it'll just keep going no you got to take more care of these engines but considering the much better gas modes you get and the better ride you might be happy if you're looking for a small pickup truck so if you never want to miss another one of my new car repair videos remember to ring that Bell\n"