Faults:

Nothing major - the usual wear-and tear items you'd expect with a higher mileage vehicle (stuff wears out folks!) Mostly I do all my own work - but I had to have the local garage do some stuff that requires a lift - such as replace the gas tank due to rust (around 200K miles), shocks (including the rear "shimmy" shock), front upper control arms, and front lower ball joints, and the clutch has been replaced a couple times (again, there's 285,000 miles on her!)

I do all the other stuff: oil changes, rear differential service, brakes, body work, etc. Most of the stuff is pretty straight forward, and if you have tools and can do the work - this is a great reliable vehicle that's easy to work on.

Transmission is the Mazda 5 speed manual that was offered as an option. And other than the 3rd gear syncro gear not being operational after ~180 K miles, (3rd gear works, you just need to match the engine speed to the transmission speed to slide it into gear) - the transmission is the original and works great.

General Comments:

The last year for the optional 5 speed Mazda manual transmission (Wahhhh!) - and matched to the 4.0L V6 motor, this truck is bullet-proof. If Ford continued to offer the Explorer with a manual transmission - I'd have bought another one, and another one, etc.

Gas mileage isn't horrendous - ~22 MPG around town, and ~25-28 MPG on the highway - and the user controlled 4WD option is a MUST for the New England winters and for recreational off-road use.

The truck also pulls a 1.5 ton homemade utility trailer with no issues - and that really extends the capability of the truck without requiring a bigger vehicle all the time.

Faults:

A transmission noise started at 80,000 miles; still there at 180,000 miles. Shifts smooth, no other transmission problems.

New shocks at 170,000, new fuel pump at 175,000. Last tune up at 80,000.

95,000 miles on BF. Goodrich, Commercial grade tires, mostly highway miles, 17 mpg at 70 mph, 20 mpg at 60. Runs straight. Throttle sticks after using speed control.

Had to rebuild driver's seat twice, high miles & 260 lbs. Cloth interior like new. Center arm rest needs reupholstering.

I normally get over 200,000 miles on my cars.

Radio lights out at 30,000 miles. I like not having a clock; less stress in traffic.

California car.

Faults:

HVAC fan resistor went (so climate would only do flat out or off).

Coolant leak (possibly through the radiator).

Differential leaked.

Drive line tended to shunt when warm.

General Comments:

The handling was incredibly sloppy, very very loose in the body and just woeful under brakes on gravel (the back end would fly out).

Nevertheless, it was a good bus with heaps of space, reasonable economy and performance for its size.

The stocker stereo was OK and you get heaps of kit.

The seats are flat and lacked support, and the rear seat is too close to the floor (lacking under-thigh support).

The split tail gate is a good idea, and the tall diff makes for good highway cruising. Unfortunately it makes 1st gear very tall, and thus it isn't ideal for towing.

The handbrake was a joke though - it just never held, even after tightening.

The worst thing about owning this car in Australia is the lack of support. Parts are so expensive through dealers and they have little idea what they're doing! The conversion wasn't handled very well, so the engine bay is a bit of a disaster in RHD cars too.