Urgent matter from potential buyer

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Tocapet

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I have a 2009 Expy EL with 129000 miles and it's still running and driving just fine. Only needed an 02 sensor once and tires and a battery. I have no plans to replace it any time soon.
 

chart75

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We've owned both an Odyssey and still have an 07 Expy EL with 212K miles that we've since handed down. We call the Expy "the tank" because it's been pretty much bullet proof. My wife always felt the safest driving the Expy because of the sheer size. Minivans are designed around families with kids, but you won't be driving through 30 inches of snow in a minivan.
 

AndyGJ

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I have had several Expeditions and several Explorers, and my wife has driving the current bodystyle (2015) Chevy Suburban, so I can comment on both platforms for you.

I have always loaded up my vehicles with the top options packages, so I have experience with the electronics as well.

Expedition - I have owned 2 prior versions, both went to 130k & 150k miles, then sold to a family member. That family member took the trucks to 200k with no issues. I did have the power running boards and power fold seats on my latest one (loved those features) and occasionally one of the servo motors or plastic gears will fail. Repair costs were about $300 - 500 total from memory, and were only a once in 150k+ miles event. Rear Load Leveling suspension went out once (main pump) and that was covered under extended warranty ($1,100 cost I believe if w/o warranty).

Other than that, loved the Expedition, kids loved the MASSIVE room in all 3 rows, and was a joy to drive on long trips to beach from Atlanta.

Suburban - bought new in Aug 2014 for my wife to replace her 2007 Mercedes GL450 that we took to 120k miles (don't get me started on repair costs on that one over 100k miles). Bought extended Warranty to 6 yrs / 100k miles (thank God) because the LTZ package has the magnaride suspension and had to be totally replaced (Rear system first, then Front went out 2 months later....$6,000+ if no warranty just for that at about 60k miles). Then, about 3 weeks ago, the entire transmission failed at 80k miles just before I was heading out of town on a 10 day trip driving to NY. With 1 year and 20k miles left on warranty, this Suburban will be sold once that is up - no question.

As far as Suburban comfort....third row is horrible. Kids don't have ample leg room or foot room at all. Visability from third row is also horrible as C pillar is right in the way so cabin fever is high for 3rd row occupants. The new 5.3 liter motor...what a joke. No power or torque. Was trying to pass someone on a 2 lane road one day on a family vacation trip with no one coming from other direction....accelerated and came around a pickup truck poking at 50 in a 55 mph when a car appeared way off in distance in oncoming lane, so I floored it to be safe. The Suburban hardly changed rate of acceleration....wife looked at me panicked saying "What are you doing? Get going!!" It finally started to move, but made us both uncomfortable with the lack of acceleration. I didn't like the front end looks of the GMC Denali, but that 6.2 motor would be a must.

Expedition's 3.5 Ecoboost would run circles around even the GMC motor...check out the Performance Tests on the GMC 6.2 Truck vs Ford F-150 with 3.5 EB....F-150 wins all day long (PS - just bought my 1st 2019 F-150 Platinum FX4 three weeks ago when Suburban failed and I can't be more happy with it and it's performance. Same motor in my 2017 Explorer Platinum and I absolutely love that one as well.....keeping both to 120k miles or more.

If I ever need another large family car, it will be an Expedition. Now with 2 of my 4 kids in college, needing a vehicle for all 6 family members plus our gear for vacation is slowly becoming a thing of the past....we usually wind up with 2 cars down at the beach anyway so that I can come and go to work for several days in middle of trips (curse of being a business owner) thus the reason for F-150 instead of Expedition. With room for 5 comfortably in the F-150, then the 2013 Edge or 2017 Explorer can be the other vehicle heading to the beach....probably the Explorer.

ALSO - I have a Shelby that I tow to Savannah from Atlanta for an annual event every year and used my prior Expedition for this 600 mile round trip tow. Car weighs about 3800 lbs, and trailer is another 2500 lbs so total just under about 6,500 lbs. The Expedition handled this MUCH better than the Suburban...and, never had ANY transmission issues in over 150k miles of service before I sold the Expedition to my Dad. The Suburban could do it (and did so the last two years since I sold Expedition for the 2017 Explorer), but the F-150 will blow the doors off of towing compared to the Suburban.

One last note....The fact that every GMC and Chevy SUV & Truck have the steering wheel off center (they are more to the right side of driver when you sit centered in the Driver's seat) drives me crazy....bugged me to no end! GM made a big deal when the finally centered the steering wheel for the first time either this year or last year in their GMC and Chevy Trucks. Ford...ALWAYS has been dead center of the drivers seat!!!

Hope that helps!!

Andy.
 
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rjdelp7

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The #1 complaint of Expedition owners, is lousy gas mileage. Plan on spending $40-$80 a/week in gas.
 

Tocapet

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I get 13-14 MPG around town on regular unleaded. Here in the high country, (Colorado) it's 85 octane. Manual calls for 87. but I can't tell any difference. I can floor it and it takes off like a scared deer.
 

Deadman

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The #1 complaint of Expedition owners, is lousy gas mileage. Plan on spending $40-$80 a/week in gas.
It does better than a comparable V8 SUV, so its just its shear size.... I wish mine was a little bigger and got a little worse milage!
 

Tocapet

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It does better than a comparable V8 SUV, so its just its shear size.... I wish mine was a little bigger and got a little worse milage!
Find a good used Excursion. They quit making them in 2005 though. But they are bigger and 3/4 ton instead of 1/2 ton like the expedition
 

mike lemon

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just bought 2018 Expedition Platinum to replace 2010 Expedition. Good reliability on the 2010. Great tow vehicle for 6300# empty 33 foot Jayco with all 8 seats occupied by adults. Just towed the same trailer to Niagara - 2 passengers. Towed even better and great ride. Love the new engine HP, torque and transmission. fit and finish very good.
 

Deadman

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Find a good used Excursion. They quit making them in 2005 though. But they are bigger and 3/4 ton instead of 1/2 ton like the expedition

Have you driven one of those 3/4 ton Fords? OMG, they drive HORRIBLE! I mean, you almost can't keep them on the road if you even blink. My buddies have those year 3/4 ton fords and they saw on the steering wheel just to go straight..... I'm just being honest...
 

Kmdcolo

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I have 5-kids all in car seats ranging from 9-1. I run Diono RXT Rainers as they are safe as rear facing, forward facing, and as a booster. The seats 2nd row bench, were the biggest selling point over an Escalade or Sienna van.

Reality, not determined yet but the Expedition shares most drivetrain parts with the F150 which I see a plus as Ford isn’t likely to mess up their top selling vehicle. My 18’ is an early build and hadn’t had any issues outside of recalls (software updates). The dealer did have it for 5-days for recalls and oil change (crappy dealer). We did buy a 100K warranty.

Driving it is awesome. We are on our second road trip since buying it. Averaging over 19.2 at 80Mph.
 

mulrich

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We loved our Odyssey but our fifth kid pushed us to a larger vehicle. The expedition max is terrific but my wife would pick the Odyssey in a heart beat if we stopped at four kids. The van was designed specifically for families and does a much better job than the expedition in this area.
If you need the space or power a large SUV brings I think the expedition is the best option by far. But if those aren’t huge selling points for you, an Odyssey probably works better with kids.
 

Artie

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We loved our Odyssey but our fifth kid pushed us to a larger vehicle. The expedition max is terrific but my wife would pick the Odyssey in a heart beat if we stopped at four kids. The van was designed specifically for families and does a much better job than the expedition in this area.
If you need the space or power a large SUV brings I think the expedition is the best option by far. But if those aren’t huge selling points for you, an Odyssey probably works better with kids.
We rented a minivan on a trip after having our Navigator for a while and I agree, they are really family friendly. The low entry big sliding doors are awesome. However, the convenience stopped there for me. The extremely short hood was weird for me and the utter lack of power proved to be almost dangerous a couple times. A lot of people on this forum like to poke fun at the 4th gens being just lame minivans for people who refuse to drive an actual minivan but having been in both that’s clearly not the case as I see it.
 

Deadman

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Muchless the full frames under them, so they don't crumble like a unibody minivan might....
 

JExpedition07

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Deadman

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Its too bad that center tan leather looks so dirty. Thats exactly why I bought black interior.
 

JExpedition07

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To each their own, I prefer two tone and lighter colors. A lot of people like black because the low maintenance is nice, but the skillet effect is real lol.

Anyway not trying to talk about 3rd gens, my point is most 3rd rows are vinyl and not leather. Ford also uses a synthetic as well from what I’ve read called ActiveX or something like that.
 
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Artie

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To each their own, I prefer two tone and lighter colors. A lot of people like black because the low maintenance is nice, but the skillet effect is real lol.

Anyway not trying to talk about 3rd gens, my point is most 3rd rows are vinyl and not leather. Ford also uses a synthetic as well from what I’ve read called ActiveX or something like that.
The thing about the low maintenance black is that it’s no more low maintenance than the light colors, it just hides the dirt therefore it’s dirty and you just don’t realize it. For me I’d much rather see the dirt and clean it than go several months thinking it’s clean all the while it’s actually gross AF!
 

JExpedition07

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The thing about the low maintenance black is that it’s no more low maintenance than the light colors, it just hides the dirt therefore it’s dirty and you just don’t realize it. For me I’d much rather see the dirt and clean it than go several months thinking it’s clean all the while it’s actually gross AF!

Same here, I clean my seats often. Lighter colors and two tones look so much nicer than black anyways when clean and you know if they are dirty.
 
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