2003 explorer

i,m looking to buy 2003 explorer 4.0 V6 with 28,000 km (17,000 miles) not sure which model it is, but it has leather, sunroof, cd, heated mirrors all that. What do I have to look for on this vechicle, what has gone wrong on these and what will go wrong, i want to keep it for 5 years which will bring it to about 120,000 km (75,000 miles) If you can let me know what do look for and what to ask when I am examining it. I,m buying from a dealer and they only have a 3 month warrenty but i can buy more, should I? Any info. at all would be helpful, thanks a lot.

Does that one have the 5-speed automatic transmission? I think the V6 has the 5-sp auto, and the V-8 has a 4-speed auto. If it has the 5-speed, the transmission has been a bit of a sore spot for Ford. They didn't use that transmission in very much of their model lineup at the time and it took awhile to get most of the bugs worked out. Ask the dealer if it had the recall performed for the transmission additive. If they don't know, you may want to push them to knock off $1500 if the transmission shows signs of harsh shifting or if it seems to hunt around when shifting. If the transmission seems healthy, have them add the fluid as part of the "We Owe" paperwork.

Check the rear gate for signs of cracking. There have been quite a few posts on this forum regarding that.

I don't have much experience with the 2003 Explorer, but others on this forum do. Hopefully some of them will chime in with more items of interest or correct me if my info was not completely accurate.

-Rod