I am going through the same motions as JetForeman. Since the planned purchase will be for the wife (to haul the kids), suppose the 6 banger will do for the tasks. But when reading all the posts I am surprised how many things appear to go wrong with this model.

This makes a purchase from a private party quite a gamble as one can not buy some iwarranty/nsurance.

So is 2000 onwards I should be looking for? I saw ad's for a Sport model. Apart from obvious cosmetic/optical differences, what else has the Sport model to offer?

Does the forum rate the AWD system as reliable and longlasting?
My main conern is running up high repair bills on an AWD system.

I look forward to hear more opinions.

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1989 300CE (aka Schatzi)
2002 Ford Explorer