Should I buy 4th Gen?

[positivemojo]

Is the 4th Gen Expedition reliable? Will it make it to 300,000 miles with excellent maintenance and care?

I love my 2008 Expedition, 5.4L 3 valve. Yeah, I had to do the timing chain, but it purrs like a kitten and is at 150K and is reliable as the day is long. I'm concerned about all of the posts about 4th Gen.

What are your thoughts?

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Well, personally, I would run the 08 till it dies (like I'm gonna do with my '011), unless somebody offers you/me a whole bunch of moolah for it of course....

And like you, after reading through a lot of the 4th gen posts over the past few years, I will NOT buy one, unless absolutely necessary

 

[positivemojo]

Well, personally, I would run the 08 till it dies (like I'm gonna do with my '011), unless somebody offers you/me a whole bunch of moolah for it of course....

And like you, after reading through a lot of the 4th gen posts over the past few years, I will NOT buy one, unless absolutely necessary

I agree. I pulled the radio a couple of years ago and put in a Boss unit with Apple CarPlay and a backup camera. The only thing I'm missing is the adaptive cruise control for long trips. Just took it from Dallas to Florida a month ago and it ran like a champ - super comfortable and massive storage for boogie boards and beach stuff. Plus - I don't worry about it getting dinged after paying $80K. Paid for long ago.

 

[rd618]

New cars all around today are plauged with issues.
Ford is currently leading the charge in number of recalls, but others are not much better.

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Ford is currently leading the charge in number of recalls

Well, as Cmdr Worf said while looking up at the Borg & the deflector dish that was floating away: "Recall THIS" (well sorta) - (from ST: First Contact)

But yea, the recalls do seem to keep coming almost daily/weekly/monthly, and you wonder why I would NOT buy a '23, '24 and especially not a '25

 

[Benztech]

New cars all around today are plauged with issues.
Ford is currently leading the charge in number of recalls, but others are not much better.

Ford has always had a lot of recalls but I actually like this. They have problems but seem to address them instead of avoiding them like other manufacturers, cough GM cough.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Ford has always had a lot of recalls but I actually like this. They have problems but seem to address them instead of avoiding them like other manufacturers, cough GM cough.

What safety issues has GM avoided? I’m aware of the defective ignition switch debacle from some time ago, which caused numerous crashes, injures and deaths.

Ford has issued a MASSIVE number of safety recalls for the past three years, and leads in 2025. Their safety recalls involve millions of vehicles. All safety issues.

This is a classic example of systemic failures in quality and reliability in many levels of the company (and doesn’t include the poor quality issues that are not classified as safety-related).

 

[Calidad]

Modern days like today? 6.2L engines with failed connector pins putting holes in blocks? Estimated 500,000 units by investment firms trying to mitigate GM investment losses? Yeah kinda a problem. Neighbor just got GM to buy his Yukon back after the glitchy transmission quit at 110,000. Full buy back because its been problematic since day one with dealer visits.

Ford has its own parts quality issues also phasers, Transmission drum etc.

Pick your poison and run with it. If you have a vehicle with no problems run it till its done.

 

[Benztech]

What safety issues has GM avoided?

Not just picking on GM, just all I took the time to list. All manufacturers try to avoid them. My experience working on Ford, Mazda, and Mercedes makes me believe Ford handles them more proactively and with less pushback. Although I wasn't a GM tech I have friends who are. Just because there's far less recalls doesn't mean there aren't skeletons in the closet. Feel free to jump on other forums and see the myriad of problems all manufacturers have.

 

[Jettix2]

I would avoid the 4th gen Expedition/Navigator at all costs. I had a 2018 and 2019 and they were both super problematic. We bought a 2019 Toyota Sequoia that we just put 10,000 miles on in 6 months and it’s been perfect (80k on the odo now). The new Sequoias are not as reliable FYI.

 

[Dice Roll]

I posted a 30k update and said I’d replace the trans if needed instead of getting a new one. I still would. In fact, I finally let them do the trans reprogram tsb and it works better than before. I let this forum talk me out of doing it, some people had had issues that were hard to get cleared after the reprogram.

I’ve had new ford and GM full size suvs on vacation. I find the 19 just seems to have a better layout and feel, it is before all the decontenting took place.

 

[ZigZagFred]

Over the years, we've owned a 1997 Expy, a 2006 Expy, and currently drive a 2019 Limited. There was nothing wrong with our 2006 model, but we were lured into the 2019 Limited by all the bells and whistles. In dash nav, B&O stereo, and adaptive cruise control were features we couldn't ignore. We love our "new" Expy, which we've enjoyed for over a year now. We think we made a good decision.

 

[positivemojo]

I would avoid the 4th gen Expedition/Navigator at all costs. I had a 2018 and 2019 and they were both super problematic. We bought a 2019 Toyota Sequoia that we just put 10,000 miles on in 6 months and it’s been perfect (80k on the odo now). The new Sequoias are not as reliable FYI.

I was actually thinking about a Sequoia. We own a RAV4 and it never gives us a problem. My brother-in-law owns a Highlander with 300K+ miles and he still drives it on road trips - never any problem - he follows maintenance. I really like my old Expedition but it is beginning to show its age through normal wear and tear.

 

[bobward757]

Run yours until you’re ready.

The ‘24 has “fixed” most of the issues with the recalls. I do not like the interior or features of the ‘25 personally.

Am 15K into my ‘24 after running 300K in my ‘19.

 

[gerard143]

If you buy an 18-22 model and keep it long enough expect to have to either replace tranny or swap it with a junkyard 23 or newer one if you wanna get away from transmission issues.

 

[19FX4Max]

Our 19 has had it's share of issues but all happened early on and were taken care of under warranty (cam phasers/20k, transmission rebuild/25k, alternator/25k, catalytic converter/26k, mileages are probably not completely accurate but should be close). There was a nagging issue where we experienced a lag in power while having the boost gauge max out during acceleration that seemed to only happen when traveling around Houston during the summer, which I've posted a few times on this forum. We were never able to get it diagnosed since it acted normal once we got back home but I was suspecting a VCT solenoid. When it finally got bad enough they diagnosed and replaced the passenger side VCT solenoid and it's been running great for the past 4 thousand miles or so. Now that warranty is up I'll be doing most repairs myself. I had a leaking inlet heater hose that I replaced a couple weeks ago for $75. When cold the transmission lags a bit shifting from 2nd to 3rd but it seems to do fine after the initial shift sequence or by using sport mode, which I pretty always do. We only have around 63k miles on ours so it should have a lot of years left. Overall it has been a good vehicle for trips and hauling people and lots of cargo. We plan to hang on to it for the long haul but may pick up an Aviator for my wife to daily drive at some point while keeping this one for road trips, towing, or hauling a bunch of crap.

I would say if you are looking try for 2020 and up, supposedly they were better but check service records and see what may have been done under warranty. I think issues generally happened at lower miles for 2018 to 2020 models so if they've been resolved then you should be good to go. I'd like to run this one up to 200k+ but the amount of miles we drive that will take a while, especially if my wife got a new daily. I drive a 2024 Bronco so if she got something else I may split driving between the Bronco and Expedition to save a few miles since the Wildtrac Bronco is no longer offered and the 2.7 is becoming a limited offering. I could also leave the top off more since I have to throw it back on whenever rain is in the forecast.

 

[dr2024]

I just picked up a ‘24 MAX Limited to supplement our ‘06 Expedition XLT (190k, timing set rebuild at 130k - happy engine, only other issues were throttle position sensor and FPDM fuel pump drlver module within the last year or two).

I went for a ‘24 because a) I don’t like the direction of federal mandates for Nannys (driver lockouts, etc) and b) I realized I don’t like the split tailgate on the ‘25 Expeditions so I hustled to find a remaining ‘24 with good specs.

There are some ‘24s left, especially if you are OK with white, black, or Dark Matter (dark dark gray). And the pricing incentives & discounts from Ford were really good.

 

[Left Coast Geek]

our 2019 Expy has 81,000 miles on it now. Only problem we've experienced was a cracked heater hose Y thing causing a slow coolant leak about 5000 miles into a 10000 mile Mexico trip last year. I nursed it along by feeding it coolant for a couple 1000 miles til we stayed near a town with a dealer. The dealer in Guaymas said it would take a week to get the part, so they stubbed off the heater as we were on a schedule and couldn't stay there that week, and got it fixed in Phoenix AZ the day after returning to the States.

 

[JohnnyG]

I've got 9,000 miles on my 2024. The only problem I had was an O2 sensor had to be replaced (last week.) Other than that, it's been flawless.

JG

 

[DieselMonk]

I think the 24 is the best year to get from this generation Expedition. It’s also the only one that gets USB-C if that matters to you. Did mine have recalls? Yes and they got done. At the same time my SUV was always drivable and always got me from point A to point B with ease.
Why not the 25? Didn’t like the looks of it in t side cockpit and split tail gate is a hard pass for me. Had that back in the late 90’s. It just makes you stand further back than you need when loading and unloading stuff from the trunk. I think I keep my 24…