The Ford Explorer has long been one of the most popular SUVs available, which has been the case for decades now – both on the used and new vehicle market. Ford has sold quite a few Explorers over the years as well, meaning that there are plenty of them to choose from on the used market. Thus, it isn’t terribly surprising that the Ford Explorer has become a bit of a regular on the bi-annual Consumer Reports list of the most popular used vehicles, which was the case this past spring – and now, the 2021 Ford Explorer, specifically, has maintained its spot on the fall version of those same rankings.
To come up with this latest top 10 list, Consumer Reports simply looked at which used model pages on its own site drive the most traffic, meaning that they’re the most searched-for used vehicles overall. Most of them have already received CR’s recommended status, meaning that they’ve performed well in road testing, are reliable, have superior crash ratings, and come equipped with a bevy of standard safety tech.
As is always the case with this particular list, CR limited its top 10 selections to vehicles that are three years old, mainly because that’s when most leased vehicles tend to be turned in, and those types of models are attractive for having lower mileage, as well as the fact that they’re typically well-maintained. Back in the spring, the Ford Explorer ranked sixth on the list of the most popular used vehicles, but in the new fall version, it slipped to ninth – landing behind the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape, Chevy Equinox, Subaru Forester, the Ford F-150, Toyota Highlander, and Nissan Rogue.
In its own testing, CR praised the Explorer’s agile handling, spacious and quiet cabin, and energetic powertrains. However, it also pointed to several negatives regarding the current-gen model, which include a noisy engine and “clunky” transmission, stiff ride, unimpressive fuel economy, and below-average reliability rankings. As such, the 2021 Ford Explorer landed on the organization’s list of vehicles to avoid some time ago, but it’s clearly still a popular entity among used vehicle shoppers, regardless.
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