Thinking of buying a 2003 Eddie Bauer, anything I should watch out for?

[1955moose]

Hamfisted is kinda right about seats, but they actually have strong mountings. I was close to 350lbs and mine held up, well about as any over the years. Besides replacements from pick and pull every 4 year's or so is only $200.00. Besides if the Suv fits you, like mine does, height, width, its a big mans truck, a lot cheaper than the f250/150 truck version. You might be able to retrofit the f250 seat onto the Suv. Get the price down or search the want ads for a low mileage/ low problem one. Like searching for a wife, don't fall for the first one!

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[Prince_Polaris]

Take a look a Kelly Blue Book for the value of the Expy. It's worth between 3-4k in good condition. The dealer is taking you for a ride. Honestly if you can't get that thing for under $4k I'd walk away from it. He's not giving you ANYTHING for your Explorer. He's building that little incentive into the cost of the Expedition you want. Expedition seats won't hold up very long for anyone over 250 lbs. and it's an extreme safety hazard when that seat back collapses and you're rolling down the highway. 70 mph and you're staring up at the ceiling wondering what happened. The seats are just not made very heavy duty. Really you should be looking at an F250. They have much stronger seats in them.

Yeah... the seat in my explorer is reinforced after the same exact thing happened

The 2003's 5.4L is 2 valve. I personally don't want to have anything to do with the 3 valve 5.4's. I don't know what year they started fixing some of the issues - if ever.

There's a sticky at the top of this forum on what to look for when buying a 2nd gen expedition. You might find that useful if you haven't already read it. Also, just peruse Craigslist in your area and look for other expy's local to you. Dealer is always going to want more. I test drove a 2003 eddy bauer, 4X4 for $3200 and ended up getting one a little more expensive for $4000, EB, 4WD, moon roof, leather, heated/cooled seats etc..both had around 150K miles.

BTW, taking off the tires / wheels to do work will not require an alignment or balancing LOL! Well, unless you're changing out the tie-rods or something else.

Well, I'll talk to my grandparents and tell them, it's not worth 6k! 4 sounds way better... near here is a trade school, I went there for IT and networking, and my brother is going there for Automotive, so I'll get him to show me some stuff

 

[Prince_Polaris]

Hamfisted is kinda right about seats, but they actually have strong mountings. I was close to 350lbs and mine held up, well about as any over the years. Besides replacements from pick and pull every 4 year's or so is only $200.00. Besides if the Suv fits you, like mine does, height, width, its a big mans truck, a lot cheaper than the f250/150 truck version. You might be able to retrofit the f250 seat onto the Suv. Get the price down or search the want ads for a low mileage/ low problem one. Like searching for a wife, don't fall for the first one!

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Yeah, the important part is how it simply has more room, and unlike in my explorer, I won't lean back hard in the chair just to adjust my shirt. I don't know why I ever thought that was a good idea... I think I did it growing up and never realized I shouldn't do it once I got big.

 

[Prince_Polaris]

So I uh.... I looked it up on KBB....

 

[autoarcheologist]

I don't know where you are in Maryland, but I just checked the Baltimore Craigslist and saw a ton of Expeditions for about $3k.

Here's one:

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/cto/d/2003-ford-expedition-4x4-3/6579140682.html

As someone else said don't buy the first one you see, and definitely compare it to KBB or NADA Guides or others on Craigslist. If you know you want an 03-04 Expedition just wait until you find a good one at the right price.

Also don't confuse miles and condition. I would much rather have a high mileage car with good records in excellent condition for myself than a beat up car with low miles. Most buyers can't see past miles and many dealers (myself included) charge accordingly for a low mile car.

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[BRIANGEE]

Like I said dealer is always gonna be more. Unless they offer you a fantastic used car warranty I'd stick to private seller. There's not a whole lot of extra security by buying from a dealer.

The local Craigslist ads will give you a better idea of valuation.

 

[Prince_Polaris]

I don't know where you are in Maryland, but I just checked the Baltimore Craigslist and saw a ton of Expeditions for about $3k.

Here's one:

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/cto/d/2003-ford-expedition-4x4-3/6579140682.html

As someone else said don't buy the first one you see, and definitely compare it to KBB or NADA Guides or others on Craigslist. If you know you want an 03-04 Expedition just wait until you find a good one at the right price.

Also don't confuse miles and condition. I would much rather have a high mileage car with good records in excellent condition for myself than a beat up car with low miles. Most buyers can't see past miles and many dealers (myself included) charge accordingly for a low mile car.

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I dunno, doesn't a sub 100k car for that cheap send off some alarm bells? Too good to be true and all that?

Like I said dealer is always gonna be more. Unless they offer you a fantastic used car warranty I'd stick to private seller. There's not a whole lot of extra security by buying from a dealer.

The local Craigslist ads will give you a better idea of valuation.

Private seller is how I got into this mess with the explorer, sadly, I don't think my family is gonna let me even try a private seller this time around :/



Also..... something weird I noticed. It's an eddie bauer, however, the rear seats aern't motorized (I don't think) and the front seats aern't heated/cooled. Were those just options or something? There's no moon roof either, or DVD player, or whatever, as I've seen in a few online reviews...

 

[autoarcheologist]

Try to find an original brochure online, I'm not sure that the EB came with originally. But Even on the Navigator a sunroof and heated seats were optional. If you want that stuff they are out there.

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[Prince_Polaris]

Try to find an original brochure online, I'm not sure that the EB came with originally. But Even on the Navigator a sunroof and heated seats were optional. If you want that stuff they are out there.

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Talked with dad about it, seems those parts are just options. I'm not gonna throw a fit about a motorized 3rd row or cooled seats, I was just wondering if something fishy was up! Also, is it possible that perhaps the battery being almost dead (First time we visited it was okay, second time, it was dead) was causing the seat/mirror/back wiper problems?

Edit: And hey, I'm okay with it, means I get a new battery along with the new tires that are on it <:

 

[John Christopher]

AAAHHH I'm sorry! I'm so used to typing Explorer! It's an Expedition! I won't touch explorers from the late 90s or early 2000s!

Wow, That could be a picture of my truck. Same colors and I have the hood deflector and window inserts just like yours.