New guy - prob buying a ST today!!!

[J Sose]

Hi guys, I'm going to be trading in my 06 Chev Colorado and I think I've made up my mind on getting a Sport Trac. I've got 3 that I'm looking at right now: the leader is a 03 Tan 4x4

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The dealer is asking 16,995 for this, it has 41,000 miles on it. Is this a good deal? I could prob talk him down to 15,500 at least. The other 2 are white, an 04 2wd w/no moonroof and 39,000 miles for 17,995 and an 02 2wd with moonroof and leather and 60,000 miles and I have to call to get the price.



How off-road capable are these vehicles? How comfortable are they on long trips? Any other information I need before committing to one (i.e. looking for certain gearing 4.11, 3.73 or options)? Thanks a ton to everyone that helps me out.



John

 

[michael larkin 2]

John,

They are very comfortable on long trips, I have put about 45k on my 05, i have heated seats and the back support Lumbar, those both are excellanet. As far as the pricing, they are using the Suggested Retail value from KBB, I would be willing to bet that you could get them down to under 15k for it. The trade in values was around 11k, so i know the dealer wouldnt give much more then that if he actually gave that much. If they really want to sell the vehicle, you can work them down. Just make sure that you have them do a Car fax on it, if they wont do it on the vehicle, I wouldnt buy it. Good luck in your purchase, by the way, why are you selling your Colorado?



Duece

 

[Andrew Tollison 3]

I have a 04 4x4 with 48,000 miles and it rides real good. Very comfortable on long trips. That is a nice looking Sport Trac that you posted. You will enjoy it. Good luck.

 

[dave moore]

i have 4.11s in mine and wish I had the 3.73s for better gas mileage. Be shure to get limited slip though.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Why are you trading the Colorado? I think those trucks look pretty nice -- especially the off-road version.



Sport Tracs are pretty good off-road. The only issue is the takeoff angle, since they are so long. If you plan to do rock climbing, you'll need to do some serious modifications, but a 4x4 is good in mud and sand.



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[Jason Housman]

i love my st. it is comfortable on long trips. ive been to canada twice in it, countless camping trips and commute aprrox. 40 miles each way to work. as for off roading i have never had a problem. a couple times ive gone ive been the one pulling my friends out in their blazers. welcome to the site im sure you will find it very helpful. just be wary of the flashing od light of death.

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

First, I want to welcome you to the site. Second, I would not get the '02 simply because Ford made some suspension & chasis upgrades starting in '03 that improve ride and handling. We love our '01 4x2 that we've had for almost five and half yrs. We've been to 3 national meets cross country, and the ST does great. The first recommendation for which ever one you buy is to upgrade the stock shocks. There are a few people on the site that do serious off roading, and you can do a Torsion Twist (torsion bar front suspension) and Shackle Lift on the rear for better ground clearance if you prefer. Do a site search on Off Roading for more info. and pics.

 

[Brandon Hovater]

Welcome!

I have a 04 4x4 with 36000 miles on her. I have the 4/10 rear end and I get 21 mpg on the highway. I've got big tires too. I do some hill climbing and mud ridding and never had any problems. I travel around 7 hours at a time in her and I feel just as good as I did before I left on my trip. You will like it!

 

[Gavin Allan]

You need to decide if you want 4WD or 2WD. You are comparing apples to oranges.



Although Ford still has a long ways to go, you will notice a HUGE difference in build quality moving up from the Colorado to the Sportrac. GM's vehicles have extremely cheap plastic interiors that look tacky to me. The squeaks and rattles are horrible. Ford's latest vehicles are also full of nasty-looking plastic interiors, but Ford knows how to build them tighter and more squeak and rattle-free.



Good Luck.

 

[Rose Medlin]

There is a guy on base here at Shaw AFB, SC that has a yellow '02 for sale, he is asking

$11,800 it has a tonneau cover, moonroof , the only thing I could see from the outside looking in at the interior is a small cut on the top of the console door (top). He has a list of things on the window as to what it has, I tried taking a picture of the list with my cell phone but the glare from the glass makes it unreadable.



The list is very long so it must have a lot of add-ons.

 

[Brian Stutzman]

Do not do it. I own one and it is a piece of crap. Just start researching the tranny problems, that the explorer and sport trac have had. Search on this site about O/D light Flashing and see the results of this. This problem dates back to 1999. Mine just went out of Warranty 400 miles over when the O/D Off Light started flashing. $700 dollars later and no help from ford. Some people have had to replace transmission due to problem $2,000 Plus. Do your self a favor go out get a Toyota RAV-4 or Honda CRV. Run as fast as you can from the Piece of **** Explorer Sport Trac.

 

[Dallas Starr]

wow. good thing you are a member of a sport trac enthusiast website. what are you. illiterate when you joined? Im sorry you had your problems but not everyone gets these, If you were an enthusiast you could have also been looking out for these problems and prevented them. Brian (Long time ford owner), every manufacturer has there problems, even Toyotas and Hondas, to think otherwise would mean that you are as uninformed as you are an unwanted member to this site. Please leave and never come back.



I have 196,000 kms + on my ST and have yet to have any major problems, the closest was the 4x4 module went which was a 50.00 fix. I love my ST, Have used it on many long trips, off raoding, towing, camping, you name it. If I wrote it off today and had a choice of vehicle I would get another one as it fits my life style perfectly. I hope you get one and I look forward to you being a positive member.

 

[Brian Stutzman]

If you read the front page of this fourm, it is to provide information to people who might be trying to buy a ST. That is what I am doing, I am not illiterate. I simplying providing the truth to a guy who is about to make the biggest mistake of his life. I refuse to be blinded to the of the quality of the ST, simply because I own a ST does not make it the greatest thing since slice bread. I simply provide the truth. Truth number 1 Ford has know about the tranny problem since 1999, that is why there is a TSB on the problem. Yet they keep putting out a piece of crap vechicle with the same problem. Fact two because Ford is putting out crappy cars/trucks they lost 5.8 billion dollars last quarter by doing this. Fact number three I have tried trading my ST in on a new vechicle, the first thing out of the dealers mouth was have I had to do any transmission work done on it. Because this vechicle does not hold any value at all, the best trade in offer was $14,000, or about 1,000 below Kelly Blue Book for trade-in (not retail). Before you ask, I keep my vechicles in perfect condition and detailed out because I think of them as an investment. So I am stuck with it. Yes I know Honda and Toyota has problems with thier vechicles, but unlike Ford they fix them before the next model year. (That is why Toyota passed Ford on sales of vechicles). If Ford did this they would not be losing billions of dollars a year and facing multiple lawsuits over the Ford Explorers.



I have been a long time Ford Owner, but never agian. The only reason that I still belong to this site is to try to save some money and figure out how to fix my ST from other peoples experience.



Once agian to the indivdual who is thinking about buying a used ST especially the one with 41,000 miles on it. There is probably a reason the guy is selling it or traded it in. DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND RUN FROM THE SPORT TRAC.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Long Time Ford Owner...



You crack me up. Grow up, quit abusing your vehicle, and get on with your life. You hate your Ford SO MUCH that you are unwilling to "lose" 1 grand to do it. Give me a break.



Toyota has problems with oil sludge in their engines. What if you were a Toyota owner? Would you be upset at Toyota because it is a common problem that Toyota refuses to address?



Come on dude. If you hate your Trac so much, suck it up, lose that grand and go on with your life.





Tom

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

Yes, do not buy a generation 1 sport trac.



I am an ST owner as well. I love my ST (look at my library), but like the 1000's of others with the crappy tranny, this is enough reason to steer away from the ST.



Im still pissed about the $2000.00 I spent on my tranny a year after I bought it to fix something as the fellow above stated Ford has known about for years. Until I am reimbursed this money from Ford, I will continue to deter people from purchasing Ford vehicles.



They should have spent the 5.8 billion dollars replacing poor quality parts such as our trannys, and thier profit would probably increase after that. To just lose 5.8 billion because of doing nothing is just lost money, and lost respect obviously from vehicle buyers.



Everyone's entitled to thier own opinions, and in the past year i've talked 3 or 4 people I know out of purchasing a sport trac (all of them ended up with a Honda or Toyota).



Wake up Ford.

 

[J Sose]

Well, I did not buy any of the Sport Tracs today. The Tan one was sold by the time i got there and of the two white ones the 02 had cracked leather seats and the 04 was a base model with no bells and whistles. So the search continues.



As to why I want to trady the Colly, I just want to upgrade a little. I have 3 kids and the Colly is moderately cramped with them in the back and also the seats are uncomfortable and like someone mentioned it looks and feels cheaply made (doors and such squeaking and vibration noises). It is a really nice truck, especially after some of the mods I've done to it. I put an AEM Brute Force Intake, Flowmaster, 2" Lift with Hummer wheels and 33" tires, tint, visors and flecter, nerf bars, bed rug, and tonneau. here's some pics of my ole gal that gets to live with me for a while longer.

 

[Brian Stutzman]

Is this another ST owner with his lower lip quivering and a tear rolling down his cheek. That someone is not nuts about his ST. If you get the tears out your eyes and even read through this site you will see this is a long time problem with the exploders, and has nothing to do with abuse. Read my post, you will see I do not abuse my vechicle, I get it completely detailed twice a year. I use sythentic oil because I believe it is much better for my cars. I have a 96 Bronco in storage that I have owned since it was new it is in great shape, because I take care of my cars. Not only am I losing the $1000 but I have also lost the $700 for the tranny so that is 1700, and now I have to start paying interest over and another 3 years of payments, so this is much more than sucking up the $1000.00. I do not blame Ford it was my fault for not doing my research on the ST. As a long time owner I trusted Ford. Just google Explorer O/D light and see how many returns you get. This is not the only problem I have had with my vechicle, however this was the one that finally convince me I will never own another Ford. I will be driving down the road when my gas guage drops to empty and low fuel light comes on, this has been going on for a year and Ford has not been able to fix the problem. I have had problems with my factory installed trailer light harness. I have had a noise in the drive train, that has finally gone away with the last fix. My biggest problem with the ST is that Ford has had this problem with the tranny since the 1990's has not done anything to fix the problem coming out of the factory.



To the guy who wants to buy one, just start paging back through this site and see what kind of problems people have had, and look at the postings where people have good luck with their ST and make an inform decision. The one thing you should ask though before you buy, has there been any tranny work done on. Ask to contact the former owner if you buy from a dealer and once agian make an inform decision. If you do buy one I wish you the best of luck with it.

 

[Jeff C]

People don't post when everything works like it's supposed to, aside from a few times when people have just for fun. I have 78k on my ST and I abuse it daily, on the way to school, on the way to work, on the way to the grocery store, etc. I have no tranny problems. That's not to say I won't have them in the future. The truck is a machine, machines break. I don't plan on selling it and when it comes time for a new tranny in another 50k or 100k, I'll just pay up and keep goin.



BTW, my ST is a 2001 Job 2, purchased in December 2000. It has had no major problems aside from the a/c unit failing (replaced under warranty) and the paint on the hood and roof.

 

[kil roy]

its funny beause i hear of problems with every brand

my previous truck was a 97 ram 1500 4x4 sport.



i heard nothing but bad things about the transmission, ball joints,

rears, catalytic converters, brakes and a bunch of other things.

in the time that i owned mine i had to replace the catalytic converter

and fix the "loose mirror syndrome".

never had a transmission problem, problem with the rear or any of the

other complaints if it was big enough for my family i would still own it.



my brother owns almost the exact same truck that i had only his has the 360

he now has over 140K and has never done any major work on his.



what im getting at is ALL vehicles have problems and as someone said above

you only hear about the problems and not how well something has performed

over the years.

maybe its time for a survey on the site here on mileage and what problems

other than maintenance issues have arisen.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Long Time Ford Owner is right about the tranny problems though...they do appear to plauge the Explorers at a very alarming rate, higher than I have heard hitting any other mfgr's light truck:



It is believed that as many as 1 in 10 2004 Explorers (and ST's and Mountaineers) will exhibit premature transmission problems.