The wife gave me the green light.

[Justinsteg]

I have been hanging onto my Jeep XJ for dear life and the opportunity has came and went several times to replace her. Well, I now have no other choice as my children are now smelly little young men who no longer fit in the rear of my Jeep. I have looked high and low, and researched for months. It came down to the Ford Expedition, Nissan Armada and Infinity XQ56. I have always been a Ford man, I grew up riding in the back of Ford Bronco's and Jeep CJ-7's. So I naturally gravitated towards the Ford. My wife and I have talked about getting one for sometime now and she finally told me to start hunting on Auto Trader. I believe I'm going to go used and aim my search for 2007+ as I really don't need anything new, and cheaper is always better! Any input from current owners would be grand and much appreciated!

Also, i'm an Ohio resident so FWD or AWD is a must. And I'm also a nursing student, so MPG is helpful but not a real big issue, but I will have to do some traveling for clinical's.

 

[deweysmith]

I would shoot for 2010+ if you can afford it. The older 3rd-gens still have some of the 5.4L Triton issues that have since been solved. Breaking plugs, knocking phasers, and slapping timing chains all seem to have at least gotten better in the 2010+.

If I had the cash I would have gone 2015 or newer. That 3.5L EcoBoost is a dreamboat. It's also had about a decade of sales in the F-150 under its belt so it's got most of its wrinkles ironed out.

All that said, I love my 2012. Since inventory up here is so limited (no one drives a monster that big in Montreal) I only searched for the Limited, because it has everything I need (MAX, tow package, and all the interior goodies) and that's pretty much the only ones that sell up here.

You can use ETIS to look up VINs and verify features on vehicles you look at before you even go see them. There are threads all over here with instructions.

Have fun!

 

[Justinsteg]

I'm hoping to go in with cash and walk with one, I really don't want another payment. Currently we have about 13k squirreled away, I have found two in my area that I like. Ones a 2007 EB EL with 89k on it, and the other is a 2007 Limited with 100k the limited they want 10k for but they want 13.9k for the Eddie. I keep catching myself going back to the Limited and over again. I play on taking it to a friend of mine who is a mechanic and owns his own shop to have it inspected before I buy anything.

 

[John Christopher]

I'm hoping to go in with cash and walk with one, I really don't want another payment. Currently we have about 13k squirreled away, I have found two in my area that I like. Ones a 2007 EB EL with 89k on it, and the other is a 2007 Limited with 100k the limited they want 10k for but they want 13.9k for the Eddie. I keep catching myself going back to the Limited and over again. I play on taking it to a friend of mine who is a mechanic and owns his own shop to have it inspected before I buy anything.

I think the limited would be a better value at 10,000. However as you know none of these trucks are going to give you great mpg. You may be able to get 18 - 19 on the highway. City 9 -12.

 

[Justinsteg]

I'm honestly okay with that, I'm lucky if I get 14 city/highway, loaded/unloaded, uphill or down with my Jeep lol. I was thinking the same-thing when it comes to the Limited.

 

[deweysmith]

The EL is amazing. I didn't want one initially but they're cheap up here because as low demand as there is for an Expedition, it's even lower for an EL. I will never go back.

 

[Flexpedition]

Not sure that I'd consider a 10+ year-old-anything thats lived in Ohio or any rustbelt state/providence for the matter UNLESS you can find one where the previous owner had it washed regularly or recently moved it there from someplace south.

You might find your dollar will go further in Texas where the Expedition market is more plentiful and rust is not typical on native vehicles. 4x4 might be a little less common, but still there.

On CarGurus today:
Within 100 miles of Dallas ZIP 75001 there are 124 examples of 07-12s.
Within 100 miles of Houston ZIP 77001 there are 118 examples of 07-12s.
Within 100 miles of Austin ZIP 73301 there are also 118 examples of 07-12s.
Within 100 miles of San Antonio ZIP 78006 there are 102 examples of 07-12s.

Within 100 miles of Cincinnati ZIP 41073 there are 67 examples of 07-12s.
Within 100 miles of Cleveland ZIP 44101 there are 64 examples of 07-12s
Within 100 miles of Dayton ZIP 45377 there are 62 examples of 07-12s.
Within 100 miles of Columbus ZIP 43004 there are 47 examples of 07-12s.

Its admirable to have saved $13K but with todays cheap interest rates and a stronger economy you might want to look at financing the Expedition partially/fully and putting your hard earned cash to work for you in anywhere but a savings account.

I somewhat regularly take 1-way flights from Cleveland (Cleveland Clinic) to DFW and somebody always has a deal for $100. Watch Spirit though, they'll take you from Hopkins to LAX then to DFW. Good thing they don't charge by the mile.

 

[1955moose]

2007 is right on the edge of the troublesome years to buy. If you've read up on the forum, then you'll see a lot of issues were with 2005-2007 expeditions. But if your determined to buy one of these have the full vehicle inspected, head to toe. I once bought a 1950 Chevy pickup from Iowa, back in 1973. Wow what a rust bucket. Got rid of it 2 weeks later. Good luck!

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[JExpedition07]

Welcome to the forum. All the years you mention are good but 08+ units have a newer style one piece spark plug.... an 07 won’t have them unless they’ve been replaced already. 04-14 5.4 engines are exactly the same beside VCT solonoids and chain guide material was changed. the VCT solonoid design was switched mid 2007 run. Besides those changes an 04’ motor is the same as an 14’. There was no *actual* change to the camphasers, Timing chains, tensioners. It’s all the same. I just found this out recently actually I had always thought they changed teh motor but that’s not the reality, all it was was the solonoids redesign I guess.

 

[deweysmith]

FordTechMakuloco said something about the spring being bigger on the later models. I dunno if the part number changed or not but they’re different, apparently. He showed the differences in the video.

 

[Adieu]

I'm hoping to go in with cash and walk with one, I really don't want another payment. Currently we have about 13k squirreled away, I have found two in my area that I like. Ones a 2007 EB EL with 89k on it, and the other is a 2007 Limited with 100k the limited they want 10k for but they want 13.9k for the Eddie. I keep catching myself going back to the Limited and over again. I play on taking it to a friend of mine who is a mechanic and owns his own shop to have it inspected before I buy anything.

They want waaaaay too much imho... that's all Gator money

 

[Justinsteg]

Well I updated my search parameters and found a 2008 EB EL in my price range. Thanks for the input fellers!