1997 Ford Explorer Limited review from North America

ABS is kind of funny; it acts up going very slowly over small bumps. Not a big deal, but I will get it fixed.

The motor has a light ticking sound to it under load... Research leads me to believe that sticky/wearing lifters are making the noise. I seafoamed the motor; it's much less noisy... I think it's just carbon build-up, but who knows.

A/C isn't working... As far as I understand, this has something to do with a blend door rather than the A/C system. Not sure yet.

The previous owner had some work done to the front end, has been great for me.

Well I didn't have very much money, but needed a vehicle suitable for Canadian industry so I bought one at $8K. I think that's a decent price for an SUV in good condition in 2007... It's not a brand new Escalade or anything, but it's still a nice truck.

The leather interior is very comfortable and has every option you could ask for. Everything in the interior still works perfectly fine. Very spacious...

Performance wise, well it does pretty well too. The 4.0 has enough power to do whatever you need to do, and is a pretty smooth engine. Some have described tranny problems; I dunno, mine is still flawless knock on wood.

The brakes are decent, and the truck is generally rather quiet. The 4WD system is pretty sweet, I've never had another 4x4 but this thing is hard to get stuck. I was off road recently and thought for sure I was in trouble at the bottom of this ridiculous hill, but got up without breaking a sweat. Looking forward to a Northern Alberta winter...

Other users have reported a rough ride, and being able to feel small bumps in the road. This is somewhat true, over some roads I do notice the bumps and sometimes vibration. It's not harsh or anything, but noticeable. I think it's a fair trade-off though compared to its 4x4 abilities...

Anyway I'm happy thus far, but I've only driven 15k and the mileage is pretty low. We'll see from here, but so far, considering the price, I would recommend a late 90's Explorer.