jscozz

Thanks for the reply. I did forget to mention that I was referring to the 150. So, other than those two things, there is no major reason to wait for a 08 F-150... grabbing an 07 off the lot now I would not be missing out on any major updates for 08?

I did a quick search and could not find any list of changes for 2008 or reference to the order guide being available... Does anyone have info about this... or specifically if any changes have been made to add side airbags and/or curtain airbags? I am assuming that is too much of a change for midstream... if not 2008, are they in store for 2009?

If you were referring to the rear lock switch with this photo, thank you... but that switch does not exist on my 07 Limited. And after owning the truck for 9 months (and my last explorer with teh rear lock switch for 10 years) I can tell you that 7-8 times a week I wish it were there, when I have to go to the driver door to lock it after getting something out of the hatch.

I wa snot saying that only Ford had this problem... but my 96 Explorer had a good design... and my 07 has a TERRIBLE design. I am a biog fan of moving forward... keeping what you do well and improving on what you do not. Not backwards. I know there are a lot of limitations based on how they designed the side door safety features... BUT, we are not talking about cold fusion here...

I addressed this in my review a few weeks back... and many others have posted about the door handles... but I almost had my door riped off yesterday and it is even more clear to me that the current handle scheme is absolutely terrible. There was a decent wind and as I pulled the latch it got the door and before I could grab the upper or lower handle the door had blown all the way open and hit the hinges so hard I would have sworn that they were bent or the body was bent where they attach. If there was a car next to me there would not just have been a ding, but their whole side would have been knocked in. I sure hope that Ford has completely redesigned the doors for 2008... the release handle is just stupid... there is NO WAY to get your hand from there to one of the two handle in time if the wind catches the door... and it is ridiculous to expect a driver to use two hands when exiting the vehicle. Come one Ford engineers... please fix this... I know that in the years to come with this vehicle it is only a matter of time before I hit a car next to me HARD or actually bend the hinges. And with 2 kids routinely riding with me, it is even harder top expect a two handed exit... but that is the only way to make sure your doors do not fly open. Jeff

>>>One thing you need to look for is you manual. In it you will see the power lock switch in the cargo area is located on the upper left side panel at the base of the rear left side window. fllcobra... even though I have been through the manual before, just to be thorough, after seeing your message i went through it again... also crawled around in the back of my Explorer again... I see no reference to any cargo area lock button in the manual and i see no physical button in the cargo area... in the area you describe, are my power 3rd row seat controls... is it possible that the power 3rd row seat controls REPLACE the lock control in the same space? Meaning the wires are in there for me to add a 3rd switch??? Does anyone else have a lock/unlock button in the cargo area of your 07 Explorer? Jeff

Well, it has now been 2 months since I took delivery on my new 2007 Explorer Limited V8. I was going to write a review on the third day, but decided to wait a while longer and see what I really like and dislike after a couple months… so here it is. In general, I have to say that I am impressed with the workmanship and quality of the product. I have not had any problems since I took delivery and have been very impressed with the power, fit and finish. The V8 has much more power than my old 1996 Explorer V6. The 6-speed transmission is smooth, except for an occasional kick on the first shift… not sure what that is from. Black interior looks great. I am also very happy with the silver exterior. Great combination. So, I think the crew in Louisville has done a great job in putting this baby together… and in most areas, I think Ford has given them a good product to assemble. BUT, it is the other areas… many areas… that I scratch my head about, wondering if Ford gave it any thought… or did any real-world testing… or even tried to use it themselves… these things I am talking about, many of which are just so ridiculous and cheap to have done right, that I really have to question Ford’s design process. So, here is my list of things I don’t like: 1) The instrument cluster looks like it was designed by a child. It looks bare in the center… the two main gauges (speed and rpms) are so recessed that the shadows cast on them at different times of day and sun orientations makes them unreadable at times. The numbers on the speed gauge are at intervals that do not match normal highway speeds in the US, so I have to constantly figure out what my speed is instead of just glancing and knowing. At dusk and dawn, when there is some sunlight but the gauges are also backlit, it is almost impossible to read since the numbers and lines almost disappear. Bright light is OK (besides the shadow) and no sunlight and full backlight is OK. The fuel gauge is tucked down in the lower left corner… and I have to really work hard to even see it. The red lines on the fuel and temp gauges are the same width as the needle, so you have to really look hard sometimes to figure out where the needle is… and, what happened to voltage and oil temp/pressure? No gauges at all! The dot matrix display is OK… but it looks like it just got slapped in the middle with little to no thought. And the font used is a bit 1980’s computer type face… a few extra dollars here could have made it look like it was designed sometime in the last 10 years. 2) The steering wheel controls are poorly labeled. Buttons that rock are not clearly differentiated from those that press in the center. There is an empty button… not sure if it has a use on other models, but I got most everything I could get on this baby and it is still empty. Instead of a false button, that I tried to press and is not recessed with no way to get it out, why not make it do what the “Info†button does on the dash? Would seem easier to just press a button on the wheel to see the message center change instead of having to look over to the dash and find a button behind the shift handle. 3) One of the things I used all the time was the lock/unlock button in the cargo area on my 96 Explorer. Unfortunately this is gone from the 07’s. WHY? For a few bucks and some wire, a great convenience was removed. 4) The door handles are just ridiculous! I am hoping the 2007 change that added the handle on the arm rest is just a stop-gap fix and that in 08 they are redesigning the whole door… the handle to open the door is just terribly placed. It is unintuitive and non-standard compared to all other vehicles on the road today. It requires two hands to open the door if you are parked near another vehicle or there is any wind… you have to unlatch with one hand while holding the armrest handle with the other. The lower handle is way too far forward and awkward to reach if you need to grab it quickly to catch the door from hitting another car or flying open in the wind. The arm rest and controls extend too far into your leg/knee space. I think a 2 year old could have designed this better. I understand there were some constraints based on the door beam design, but it seems that most other car manufacturers have made it work… a lot of work needed here! 5) Another thing I liked on my 96 was the dual visors. When the main visor was flipped to the side, and smaller visor still could be flipped down at the windshield. The 07 has only one visor… AND it is CRAP! When flipped down, it cannot be folded all the way to the windshield… it just drops back down about 6â€â€¦ because the side edge hits the door frame. So it is either nothing or full down… no in between. TERRIBLE design. Oh, and the vanity mirror… I guess people must like only half their face lit up… ???? Why not spend a few extra dollars and have a light on both sides of the mirror like most other manufacturers do? 6) The shifter if a bit awkward to use. If you rest your arm on the center console and try to grip the shifter fully you cannot… unless your wrist bends in a way mine does not. So you have to grab it from an awkward side position or just grab the top of it. The shifter also blocks easy access to the heating/cooling controls but even more so to the heated seats and windshield controls. Just a bad design in general. 7) The placement of the plug next to the trailer hitch prohibits many locking hitch pins from being used… I had to hunt around a long time to find one that would fit, and even then I have to open the plug cover to slip the pin in properly. 8) My 96 had a power jack on the passenger side of the center console… none there in 07. Just right behind the shifter under my hand and rear bottom of console, right where kids feet in the back will kick it and break it off. Why not inside the console? Passenger foot area? 9) No valet key!!! Ok. So, I have to give a parking attendant full access to my car. Every other car I have bought recently had a valet key. 10) Entry keypad. The buttons are slow to register. On my 96 I would just whip in the code and it worked every time. On the 07 I frequently have to reenter… either the contacts are not closing or there needs to be a certain pause between each press. Also, the old one was horizontal… very easy for a human hand to place fingers on and access while hiding the code from other people around… the 07 keypad is vertical and up higher and more visible. Much more difficult to use multiple fingers and almost impossible to hide the code from others unless you use two hands. 11) Radio: The layout is absolutely terrible. For a premium sound system, this sucks. The sound quality is OK, but the button placement was obviously done to look pretty instead of being functional. The AM/FM button is tucked along-side the volume knob and a regular sized human finger has trouble getting around the knob and pressing the button. At night the volume knob and the right tuning knob have NO lighting and CANNOT be seen. You have to guess and grope. 12) The reverse sensing system is really only for objects DIRECTLY behind the vehicle. If you are backing up and turning at the same time, it does not see to the sides at all. My wife’s Honda Odyssey DOES alert you if you are going to back/turn into a vehicle or object, but I could back out of a space and hit a car while cutting the wheel and never hear a beep. Poor design. How often do we back up straight? It is really only useful for sensing a vehicle when parking, not as a general backup sensor. It should be stated like this in the literature so people do not pay extra for it and not get what they expect. 13) Heating/AC: It would be nice to be able to see outside temp and the inside temp at the same time. You have to select either one or the other. 14) TPMS: Why can’t the message center show me the actual pressures in the tires? My wife’s Odyssey has this feature. How hard would that have been? The computer has the info already… 15) The fuel cut-off reset switch is visible to the interior of the car… a simple cover would have been a cleaner way to do it. 16) The parking brake still uses the pull handle to disengage. Most other vehicles use the press on / press off type brake. The handle is way down under the dash and while not terrible, it would just be more convenient to be able to use your foot to engage and disengage the brake. 17) Fuel filler cap on the passenger side. I am used to my old Fords and other vehicles being on the driver side. It is much more convenient to just hand the attendant your ccard on the same side they are pumping. Or to not have to walk around the car to pump gas… minor but not sure why they changed this. 18) You should go test drive a vehicle with the heated windshield if you are thinking about buying one. Most of the time it is unnoticeable, but if the sun hits at the right angle or night headlights at the right angle the wires are VERY visible… sometimes to the point of being very distracting. 19) I won’t even bring up the fact that the “New†navigation system looks like it uses 10 year old technology. I did not get this option since I am putting my own aftermarket unit it. But, come on, Ford… partner with Pioneer or some real nav system manufacturer and offer a factory unit that is actually current technology and upgradable for the life of the vehicle. People would notice this and it would be a big plus for Ford. 20) Plus: There are plastic deflectors at the oil pan drain and the oil filter area… these are very nice in that they keep oil from splashing all over the frame and me having to clean it all up afterward. They direct the oil to the pan below. Very nice. Why couldn’t Ford have been this thorough in the design of the rest of the items above? All-in-all I like the vehicle from a power train and comfort perspective… I don’t mean to dwell on the negative… I am happy with most other things about the vehicle… many people may think I am just being picky… but, it is just very frustrating to buy the top of the line Limited model and have to put up with these ridiculous little things (and so many of them) that some intelligent design and human factors engineering and VERY little cost could have fixed… and gone a long way to a better reputation for Ford. Just my two cents… Jeff

Accidental double post...

Last one I bought was for my 96 Explorer... I bought the Ford manual and was forced to buy the 95 manual for $100 and the 96 update for another $100. Is there any cheaper solution to get service manuals these days for my 07 Explorer (don't have yet)? Preferrably in electronic format? For a lot cheaper than $200? The first thing I want to do is buy and install the DRL module, but FordParts lists two... a dealer install kit and a Control assembly... and only up through 06 at that. I am sure it is probably 076 compatible... Any recommendations for good service manuals for an 07 Explorer would be greatluy appreciated. Jeff

Is teh Nav not an option with the heated windshield because of shared mounting location for devices where you describe or some other reason? I just ordered an 07 Explorer WITHOUT nav but WITH heated windshield... I will be putting in a Pioneer Z1 later... just want to make sure there is nothing standing in my way of doing this...

WOW! That was almost my experience exactly!!!! I had two dealers agree to a deal via e-mail. I went to the dealer I had bought my last Explorer from. Checkbook in hand, options, option codes, etc. all ready to go. SHould have been a 30 minute process for all of us. 3 hours later, after trying to get me in an 06, after putting up with an incompetent sales person who I knew much more than... I had a signed piece of paper agreeing on my new car price. They would NOT give me a price on the trade on paper... since there would be 6-8 weeks, during which they said the vehicle and market values could change (onan 11 year old Explorer... how much more can it go down? Anyway... that was on a Saturday... they claimed they could only place the order on Mon and Fri... which I now know to be BS... 10 days went by before they even placed the order... with me calling every other day for a confirmation sheet to review to make sure they did not screw something up. After 10 days I got the order print out only... not the Ford order confirmation... so I have never been able to verify that Ford actually has the right details on the vehicle I want. Now after 23 days, I call and find my sales person is no longer with the dealer... and they have a VIN # but no build date... Anyway... it has been painful... and I fully expect that they will try to knock a few hundred off what they guessed my trade was worth because of extra mileage in 8 weeks... although I have the option to get my deposit back and walk if they do. It should just not be that complicated to hand over money! Don't even get me started on the lack of ergonomics, technology, etc. on Ford vehicles. Inflexibility in getting what you want even when you are willing to pay top dollar... and more. Hope all goes well for you from here on! Jeff

Hey, carguy... no need to apologise... I just appreciate your's and calvin's help in understanding this process. Once I hopefully have the VIN next week I am hoping there is a way I can independently verify that the options are correct on the order... since the dealer has not provided me any confirmation to verify. I can't afford to find out in 6 weeks that a mistake was made... my loan lock will be off and APR higher. Jeff

Thanks, Calvin. In any case, I am going to be in their showroom first thing in the morning to get the info I need... I cannot take a chance that they did not order it. I have a car loan at a great rate that cannot be locked in forever, and this dealer could wind up costing me a lot of money if they delay me. Jeff

Still 3 days later and all I have been able to get them to fax me is a "Daily Status Report"... even after asking for the DORA. This report has no Factory Order #... and the status shows "Unsch/clean"... on the VIN only MEU758 are filled in... order type RET. Dlr Order # J001... Are these guys jerking me around or is what they sent me any confirmation that they really ordered my vehicle? Jeff

It is the end of the day and the dealer says they got no info from Ford on the order they placed yesterday... is the DORA always available 24 hours after placing the order and my dealer is just wrong or not interested in looking or are there cases where it takes longer?