The ‘15 ‘16 and ‘17’s have the older body style, but the 6cyl turbo. We also have a ‘08 Expedition EL in the family. In comparison I do like the turbo engine. It’s faster and more responsive than our truck with the V8. As far as reliability… our 2008 we got new and now has 240k. It’s definitely showing its age and has had some repairs over the years, But still ticking. The 2016 was purchased used with 180k on the odometer. I think the key is good maintenance during the life of the vehicle. Sometimes that’s hard to judge when buying used.
When I found the used 2016 Expedition SSV (police package) I was really looking for a small car for my college kid. But this one was at a local used car dealer, and it caught my eye. The price was right, and when I test drove it, I was impressed. I ended up getting it for myself.
I knew that the Florida highway patrol took care of their vehicles very well, and despite the high mileage, I was guessing everything was always repaired and taken care of for the life of the truck.
Also, the highway patrol doesn’t use a central government repair shop, since their vehicles are spread out all across the state. They use local dealerships and shops to maintain their fleet. I was able to do a Carfax report on the Vin before I purchased this truck and it showed it had been maintained almost exclusively at a Ford dealership here in Florida. Carfax helped me verify that the service was always kept up with. I think that will be the key for you, especially if looking at any used fleet vehicle. Try to determine as best as you can the quality of the care the vehicle may have had.
Otherwise, I really like the SSV version of this truck. I like the column shifter, and I also really like the rubber floor and vinyl bench seat in the rear. I ride around with a big dog a lot of times, and the rubber floor and vinyl seat in back make it easy to keep clean. This particular police car must’ve been an administrators vehicle because the interior is very lightly used. It’s not full of holes from mounting of a police cage or police lights. So even though it had high miles as a highway patrol car it appears to be lightly used.
I can also tell you that some police cars are not well-maintained. Some of the equipment mounted inside can create quite a mess when removed, and sometimes the cars are beat on. Don’t be afraid to have your own mechanic give the car a once over before buying anything.
