1996 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer AWD review from North America

Very little has gone wrong with the truck since I've owned it.

Some of the dash lights don't work anymore, namely a light in the cluster, the fog light switch and some of the cruise control switches.

All the switches still work they just don't light up anymore. Fortunately Ford has designed all the switches at least on the cruise control to be a different shape so you can tell what they are even in the dark. Smart design on their part.

Other than that the power mirrors just stopped working one day. I'm told it's just a 35 dollar switch that needs to be replaced. And the front ball joints will need to be replaced fairly soon which is going to be expensive as they're more costly on all wheel drive explorers.

I love this truck, it's fast, has loads of power for passing and is very reliable.

This is our second Explorer, we used to have a 91 Eddie Bauer. It was a very reliable truck as well. The only reason we got rid of it was because it had serious rusting problems and it really couldn't handle the weight of the trailer we wanted to pull with the 4.0 L 6 in it.

Excellent stock sound system with speakers matched perfectly to the head unit.

The only exception being the remote six-pack changer in the console is a cheap Clarion unit which I've already had to pull out and have fixed once.

Very solidly built truck, massive sway bars and strong front end. I t-boned a Honda coming off an ice covered parking lot off ramp at 15 mph last winter. The Honda was written off and the only damage to the truck was a scratch on the bumper.

Very comfortable on long trips, decent ride and quite good handling for a truck. Much better than my 91 Explorer.

Guzzles gas like nothing else I average around 14 mpg around town and only slightly better on the highway at about 17 mpg.

That's the same mileage as the new 5.9L dodges.

The V8 is worth it though especially compared to the original 4.0 L six.

You just have to drive both to be convinced.

The original 4.0 L six was a good motor we never had any problems with it, but the V8 is something else again, rocket like acceleration and boat loads of torque.

Plus the 8 sits lower and makes the truck handle better than six cylinder versions.

It's supposed to be more reliable too, especially compared to the later (95 - up) sixes.