I had some of the same struggles that you did. I was really into the Exp, but thought it drove more like a truck. I was more impressed with the D once I drove it. And once I started reading about all the issues with MySync I was a little turned off. The Exp was more like a video game inside, fun yes, but the D is better appointed. And then of course, even when someone was willing to give me even a little deal on an Exp, they couldn't get one.

 

Like the video game reference. That does apply to the Explorer. Key is my wife loves the D and that is all that matters. She loves how the Bluetooth works with her phone. The electronics are definitely an upgrade.

 

How's the space compared to the pilot? We have been comparing both. Looking at second row for rear facing child seats and trunk area when 3rd row folded down.

 

Welcome to the forum, nice looking ride!

 

Compared to the first gen Pilot, the Durango is much roomier, especially the third row. I'm 6'1" and can sit in the D's third row. A rear facing child's seat in the second row will have plenty of room. Even the doors on the second row are huge.

 

I agree with you. The technology in the Explorer is impressive, in particular the MyFordTouch is pretty advanced. The problem is that the UI has bugs, and has some significant delays with processing commands. Oftentimes you will touch the screen, nothing will happen and you will touch it again. Then, it will skip ahead several menus because it processed your first input but failed to display it. When you touched the screen a second time it processed that input as well.

My neighbor has the Edge and has consistently had these and other issues with the system. He said the other week he was driving down the road and his backup camera turned on automatically with no explanation! He's had it back to the dealer 3 or 4 times for such issues; automatic shutdowns of the touch-screen unit, start-up failures, etc. The dealer keeps saying that a new software patch is coming. The problem is (like with most dealer promised software releases), the car will be so old by the time the new operating system is developed that he will no longer be able to enjoy the vehicle!

I've also seen some year-old Explorers, and they are NOT impressive. Because of the cheap interior, the hard plastic gets scratched easily and the nice sheet metal view underneath the interior door panels gives it a nice, half-finished look. You made a great decision.

I'm loving my brand new 2011 Citadel. Maybe the UI isn't as clean looking as the Explorer's, but it sure does work well. How about being able to rewind satellite radio to replay what you just missed? Isn't that awesome? My Genesis 4.6 couldn't do that!