Well fellow Toyota owners, I've done it. I have ordered the new 2011 Explorer! I have absolutely no regrets having had 3 Highlanders over the past 10 years but this was too good to pass up. The new Explorer has so many more new features that for some reason Toyota is slow to bring to the market place. Cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, blind spot warning, active park assist (apparently more advanced than the Lexus LS) and much, much more. What caught my attention was that the new model is no longer on a truck (ladder) frame but is now unibody. That and the fact that the person who bought my '06 is willing to take over the remaining 30 months of my lease AND give me back $5,000 of the $10,000 I paid down on my '09. It is the first vehicle I have ever ordered that I have only seen on the Internet. Delivery should be around the end of February or early March. I hope I don't regret it.
In the mean time I will continue to be a very happy and satified Highlander owner and have nothing but praise for the vehicle.
Happy New Year to all, and please be safe.
Peter
__________________ Lease Transferred - Canadian '09 HL Ltd, Classic Silver Metallic with Nav, ash interior, body side moulding, hood deflector, Camry trumpet horns, Philips X-Treme Power bulbs, Toyota 3 piece rubber floor and cargo mats.My 2011 Explorer Limited has arrived.
I had an Explorer in the early 90's. It was the worst POS I have ever owned. The entire interior plastic panels disintegrated, even though it was garage kept. The AC blew hot air. The final straw was when the freeze plug rusted out and the engine and tranny would have had to been removed to replace them.
That was my first and will be the last Ford I ever own.
^Ford's quality in the Explorer has gone up TREMENDOUSLY.
Meanwhile, Chrysler products still blow a$$, lol
Not only has the quality improved but the redesigned 2011 Ford Explorer has been named a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety — the automotive equivalent of the dean's list and a rarefied group that the popular SUV had been shut out of up to this point. It's up there with the Highlander now and it is, I believe, the only one to offer air bag type second row seat belts that inflate in a collision.
__________________ Lease Transferred - Canadian '09 HL Ltd, Classic Silver Metallic with Nav, ash interior, body side moulding, hood deflector, Camry trumpet horns, Philips X-Treme Power bulbs, Toyota 3 piece rubber floor and cargo mats.My 2011 Explorer Limited has arrived.
While it is perfectly understandable to mock your purchase from a Toyota fanboy perspective, I think you'll love the New Explorer.
My 2000 Explorer work sled has 212,000 miles on it and is still going strong. It has been a great vehicle and has had amazingly few issues for its age / miles. Of course, the new one shares nothing with mine, but the point is that Ford is coming on strong and has been building very reliable vehicles for quite some time in spite of what those blinded by Toyota might like to believe.
My Explorer has been far better than my neighbor's 03 4Runner Limited. He has had a ton of stuff replaced on that thing and it's only at about 120K.
Feel free to flame me with all of those mysterious "My buddy knew a guy who had a Ford and it was a POS" stories. I don't care.
I guess you'll have to join my forum over at www.truckmodcentral.com if the Toyota gang spits you out.
Can't blame you a bit. I saw several of the new Explorers on a Manufacturer's test fleet caravan a few months back and feel they look very nice. I'm not into brand new technology, I usually wait a couple years to determine if issues arrive although Ford's technology has come a long way with Volvo's help.
Good luck with the new ride and come back w/ comparison ratings for us.
Our recently purchased 2010 AWD H/L was not our 1st choice although after a problem child Subaru and VW, we decided to take the "Appliance" route......
I just left ford and went back to toyota,a gas mileage thing.I can't knock a ford all have been good but they can't beat gas mileage of a toyota.Just my 2 cents
Last edited by pesticide1480; 12-31-2010 at 04:31 PM.
Reason: spelling
Well fellow Toyota owners, I've done it. I have ordered the new 2011 Explorer! I have absolutely no regrets having had 3 Highlanders over the past 10 years but this was too good to pass up. The new Explorer has so many more new features that for some reason Toyota is slow to bring to the market place. Cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, blind spot warning, active park assist (apparently more advanced than the Lexus LS) and much, much more. What caught my attention was that the new model is no longer on a truck (ladder) frame but is now unibody. That and the fact that the person who bought my '06 is willing to take over the remaining 30 months of my lease AND give me back $5,000 of the $10,000 I paid down on my '09. It is the first vehicle I have ever ordered that I have only seen on the Internet. Delivery should be around the end of February or early March. I hope I don't regret it.
In the mean time I will continue to be a very happy and satified Highlander owner and have nothing but praise for the vehicle.
Happy New Year to all, and please be safe.
Peter
Congrats! Take good care of your new ride... it's all about preventive maintenance. nothing lasts forever! Happy New Year.
I just left ford and went back to toyota,a gas mileage thing.I can't knock a ford all have been good but they can't beat gas mileage of a toyota.Just my 2 cents
Excellent point. I'd be very interested to know what the mileage is like compared to the Highlander.
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2008 Highlander Base 4WD
2002 Avalon XL
1987 Suzuki Samurai 4X4 - Treading where no Jeep can follow....
Excellent point. I'd be very interested to know what the mileage is like compared to the Highlander.
With the 3.5 V6 it's rated at 17 city / 25 hwy. I get 20.5 out of every tank in my 2000. Not bad for the size and utility. Funny how warped our perceptions can be once we become a fan of something.
With the 3.5 V6 it's rated at 17 city / 25 hwy. I get 20.5 out of every tank in my 2000. Not bad for the size and utility. Funny how warped our perceptions can be once we become a fan of something.
I agree!
That happens when were young and dumb! Then reality sets in as we age
__________________
96 Camry Coupe LE V6
98 Honda CRV
08 GMC Crew
11 Kia Sportage EX AWD
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My 2011 Explorer Limited has arrived.
to the dark side 
1995 Ford Mustang
2000 Nissan Maxima SE
2011 Toyota Camry SE
Emily
Good luck, and keep us updated.
Then reality sets in as we age
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