So when I first went inside my 2017 Explorer Platinum it was surreal. A car I’ve been researching for months is finally mine.
Initial reaction when I first drove it:
- Steering wheel turns so smooth. My Xterra felt stiff/heavy so this was a good change.
- Quiet interior.
- That acceleration is nice!
- All this technology! Self parking, collision warning, Android Auto, backup camera, front camera and a full list of other stuff will keep me busy for the next few days.
- The entire car is super spacious. Can’t wait to take all my buddy’s to go to the lake or midnight run to the diner.
What I didn’t like:
- Limited visibility. I’m use to wider side mirrors like my Xterra. Also, for some reason the rear view mirror show’s a lot less, most likely the due to the wider C-Pillar.
- The MPG. This thing drinks a lot of gas when driving in the city. I average around 13-15 mpg so far. I’ll update later to see if the highway driving is any better.
Pre-owned Issue
The car market right now is a sellers market and sadly there’s not much room for negotiation. I accepted this Explorer knowing there was some minor cosmetic imperfections.
I discovered the previous owner must have had a pet wolverine, the center armrest console was scratched. The car also has a few exterior imperfections. Here we’re the issues:
- Scratched middle console lid.
- Missing leather patch on passenger door.
- Scratched seat on passenger side.
- Dog nail imprint on dash.
- Bubbling on hood front.
- Side mirror has a crack on the blinker light
- Dog nail scratches on rubber trim outside the window.
Scratched center armrestÂ
Missing leather patch on passenger door
Scratched leather seat
Imprints on leather dash left by dog’s nail
Bubbling / rust on hood
Cracked blinker light on side mirror
In my future blogs I’ll be writing tutorials on how to repair majority of these issues. So stay tuned!