Welcome back! Today’s bacchanalia of beaters takes us to the front range of colorful Colorado, where we’ll be looking at a pair of all-wheel-drive SUVs. But first, let’s see which Wisconsin rustbucket you chose yesterday:
Get on your Pontiac and Ride! The W-body takes the win. And I know a lot of you felt these were both overpriced, and you might be right, but that’s where the market is. I don’t price ’em, I just write about ’em. So don’t shoot the messenger, okay?
Today’s choices are from Pueblo, Colorado, a town on I-25 a ways south of Colorado Springs. The weather on the front range can be unpredictable, with snow one day and seventy degrees the next, so 4WD/AWD vehicles are popular. For your consideration, I’ve got the evergreen (and in this case very green) Ford Explorer, and a bit of an outsider in the form of a Mitsubishi Outlander. Which one makes its case better? That’s for you to decide.
1999 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer – $2,500
Engine/drivetrain: 5.0 liter overhead valve V8, four-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Pueblo, CO
Odometer reading: 175,000 miles
Runs/drives? Currently driven daily
The Ford Explorer, of course, was one of the most popular vehicles in the country throughout pretty much the entire Clinton administration. You couldn’t go anywhere without seeing at least one of these things, and a surprising number of them are still on the road, especially considering Ford’s propensity for making transmissions out of some form of hard cheese. Most Explorers were powered by a four-liter V6, but Ford’s long-lived 302 cubic inch small-block V8 found its way into some of them, usually in the upper trim levels like this Eddie Bauer edition.
The Eddie Bauer package probably impressed a lot more people in 1999, but more than twenty years later it mostly means everything is green and tan and the car has a few more gizmos in it. The interior is leather, and I imagine the seats are pretty comfy, from what I know of even the standard-issue Explorer’s seats. The interior of this one isn’t trashed, either.
Let me rephrase that: it isn’t trashed if you disregard the spare tire sitting in the cargo area on a garbage bag, instead of being suspended on a chain underneath the floor like it’s supposed to be. Maybe the chain thingy is broken. But hey, maybe you can find a janky overpriced “factory” spare tire carrier for this one, too.
The seller says this Explorer runs and drives well, and is their current daily driver. It doesn’t have too many miles on it, and it looks fairly well cared-for. The biggest drawback I’ve heard of with the V8-powered Explorers is fuel economy: Don’t expect to ever see a number that doesn’t end in “-teen.” Unless it’s twelve.
2007 Mitsubishi Outlander – $3,800
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0 liter overhead cam V6, six-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Pueblo, CO
Odometer reading: 163,000 miles
Runs/drives? Doesn’t actually say, but I’m sure it must
Oh, right: Mitsubishi. It exists, and it makes cars, too. It has been easy to forget that for the past twenty years or so. But forgettable or not, Mitsubishi’s products are consistently good, and often a fair bit cheaper than some other Japanese brands. It’s just that if you tell your friends “I got a 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander,” not a one of them could tell you what it looks like.
This one looks, well, kinda not so great, at least from one angle. It appears to have side-swiped something, and someone tried to pound the dents back out from the inside, and it didn’t work so well. It’s not hideous, but you can tell it suffered some trauma. Perhaps that’s why the previous owner decided to donate it to Habitat For Humanity rather than try to sell it.
That’s right; this forgotten SUV’s proceeds are going to charity. You get a new old vehicle, and a warm fuzzy feeling, all at once! The ad doesn’t actually say anything about its mechanical condition, although I’m sure it runs and drives. If it didn’t, I imagine that would be the first thing they mentioned. It only has 163,000 miles on it, so it should have some life left.
Apart from the damage on the passenger’s side, it’s in nice condition from what we can see. The styling looks like Mitsubishi was trying to make it look like a RAV4, but not too much like a RAV4. It’s inoffensive, but certainly not exciting. Maybe that’s an argument in favor of the body damage: you can find it in a parking lot more easily.
So there they are, two ways of doing the all-wheel-drive SUV thing. One is a traditional body-on-frame truck with a V8, and the other is a unibody transverse-engine crossover. Which one is the better deal?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
The explorer, for sure. You can probably build one from scratch just collecting parts on the side of the road that fell off running ones in less affluent parts of LA County.
This is the Outlander that got refreshed with the Lancer face right? I remember thinking it looked crisp and kind of cool back in the day, when most of its mid 2000’s competitors were straight blah.
It’s continues to blow my mind that Mitsubishi has basically dropped off the face of the earth, while it’s equally mediocre competitor Subaru has become a cult and mainstream favourite despite building catastrophically ugly cars with engines that failed regularly at 100k for nearly a decade.
Body on frame Ford Explorer. Ford Ranger Wagon, handling so bad a generation thought a Honda Civic was a sports car by comparison.
The Mitsu’s definitely the better choice, I’m not sure if it’s worth well over a grand more (basically a third again) than the Explorer.
Explorer. I have owned many of this vintage and can fix nearly anything and everything that can and will go wrong with it easily and quickly. There also tons of them in junk yards, so finding parts is easy and cheap. While the Mitsubishi may be newer, little of what I just said about the Explorer is true for the Outlander.
Mitsu”bitch”i!!! Definitely not Ford (Exploder)
Pretty rare that I would choose an Exploder, but maybe the green over tan Eddie Bauer trim just speaks to me more than a second gen Outlander with one very large pretty hideous deformity. At least the Explorer brings nostalgia to the party.
Tora, tora, tora, I’ll take the Mitsubishi.
Throw some old firestones on the explorer, lower the air pressure enough to make it proper suv beach mobile and then without re-airing them back up take it for a nice ride down the highway to see if you live to talk about it.
Voted for the explorer. When i think of a nice japanese suv, outlander from 2007 is not one of the ones a i think about.
Egads, wasn’t there a RAV4 vs Exploder a few weeks back? That seems like a fair-er fight. These are both old enough that I would take caution before planning any long trips, so the poor economy of the Ford isn’t a big deal. Plus it’s green!
It’s Ford by a mile right now and I’m not surprised at all.
This generation exploder was extremely popular with soccer moms and hood rats. the 5.0 is definitely a bonus, and although I have no interest in a Psuedo off road vehicle that appears to already squatting carolina style(possibly rear air ride failure) I would still take that over the over priced Joe Isuzu clone.
I am voting for the Exploder for two reasons: it is significantly cheaper, and it has the V8 with a transmission that is actually reliable. Throw in easy parts availability, and it is a no-brainer as a cheap beater.
That said, I owed a 2008 Outlander. I picked it up for cheap pre-plague, it served me well for two years of work car/beater duty. I traded it in for a much newer SUV right when the covid first hit and car dealers were freaking the fuck out and taking stupid offers on vehicles, I’m talking the first two weeks of the lockdowns. It was a surprisingly good vehicle. Smooth V6, decent mpg, center locker, and paddle shifters lol. It was unstoppable in snow and better than it deserved to be on trails. If not for that big booger on the right….
if it is to be believed, it has also had a fair amount of the more simple, but still not cheap repairs done to it recently. a beat up 2007 anything is likely to have gone to Habitat because it was unsellable because of overly expensive repair repair requirements.
This poll is going exactly as I thought it would: “I used to ride in an Explorer when I was 10” or “my cousin’s brother’s girlfriend had one” so everyone’s voting for it, despite it being.. well, a quarter-century-old Explorer.
I would only not consider the Mitsu a better choice it it had been rolled over and on fire. (not one or the other, but both)
I had a same-generation Mercury Mountaineer (better lease deal) with this exact powertrain and it was awesome. +1 for the Ferd.
ew
Succinct, to the point, and crystal clear. COTD.
I feel like the Explorer has some potential for shenanigans. The body looks like it’s in good shape, parts are everywhere; I could easily see taking that $1300 difference, giving the engine a freshening up, replacing some suspension bits, and having a fun weekend vehicle.
But if I want a daily, it’s that Mitsubishi thingie any day. Thing is, I already have a daily. Explorer it is.
I can’t believe I’m choosing the Explorer.
Don’t forget to write for more information at “Pueblo, Colorado, 81009”!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVCcaf1nM00
The bubble on the back of the Outlander look like rust about to blow through.
Explorer for me.
The Outlander is better than any Ford from the 90s that isn’t a rebadged Mazda. Especially the Firestone Tire Wagon LOL
Remember that the Explorer only has one more cubic foot of space than the Taurus wagon of the same vintage
peak Exploder era
This is a case of “what’s the worst that could happen?” either way. I think it would be less worse with the Explorer.
The old 302 is an excellent engine.
I second this motion.
Good news, the V8 Explorer uses the 4R70W transmission, the wide ratio version of the tough AODE. These were found behind V8 Crown Vic’s and Lincolns. I had one in my 96′ T’bird w/ the 4.6L Modular V8.
These are emphatically NOT made of glass or old hard cheese.
If they had anything to do with the old C4s and C6s, they are terrific transmissions. My dad was an independent mechanic in the1970s, 1980s and 90s, working on Fords mainly. I don’t recall he ever had to do a thing to Ford automatic transmissions, apart from adding fluid.
AOD is based on the old (MX) transmission with an added overdrive (4th gear). AODE is an electronically controlled version and and the 4R70W was an update with a different gear ratio spread. These were used on all the Panther cars, Mustangs and some E series vans.
Yup. I own a 1955 Mercury that has an old C4 and a 302 in it. I bought it some 20+ years ago and drove it to work for years. It has been an amazingly reliable drivetrain. All I’ve ever done is change the fluids, occasionally clean and tune the carb, change plugs and wire, etc and it just goes and goes.
No, the problematic ones were the 4R55E/5R55E from the six-cylinder ones. But that was the bulk of production, hence the reputation.
Can confirm, those were most definitely made of some form of dairy product…
my experience with AOD is in a 91 LTD and a couple 90-93 GT mustangs. the AOD was not the most reliable thing and often was the problem with those cars. perhaps it got better with the E tacked on? I know by 99 the trans behind the 4.6 seemed to survive better, or perhaps they just had less torque and HP to deal with, so survived better.
That gen of Outlander was pretty neat – looked good, practical with lots of space and the sorta-clamshell tailgate (like an Element), reviews said it drove well, decent available tech/gadgets for its day. But the condition here…nah. That plus the V8 in the Ford makes the Explorer an easy choice.
PS: the Explorer listing still links to the T&C from yesterday.
Does it? Dammit, I thought I fixed that. Let me see what I can do.
It’s fixed now! Whether that was after you said that or I just was a slowpoke in reading and commenting in between you fixing it. 🙂
Rode the nostalgia waves into smashing that MF button for the Explorer. This is very similar to my first car, which was an older version with the 4 liter V6 in the same green over tan. Funny you should mention the transmissions that were made of cheese because I dropped the transmission in mine my senior year of high school…which led to the unfortunate fate of the car being cash for clunkers’d and me losing my car privileges for the rest of the year.
That being said boy was it a fun first car. I remember countless McDonald’s runs, smoking assorted tobacco products (actually, I was too much of a prude for weed in high school), canoodling with girlfriends in the backseat, and driving it entirely too fast. Good times.
[citation needed]
They’re consistently a good value. As for being good vehicles, you get what you pay for.