2005 Expedition Eddie Bauer. I liked it so much I bought another one.

[BillAlex]

Hello to All. I purchased a brand new 2005 off the show room floor in 05. Drove the living heck out of it and racked up over 200,000 miles. I have towed everything from a 32 foot Fishing Boat to a Concession Trailer. The car operated perfectly for over 13 years without incident and then I had to replace the transmission. It was leaking fluid like a sieve.
Here's the problem. My wife fell in love with the car. It's hers and consider us lucky if any of the other family members were lucky enough to drive it. Really was a nice car until we ran the wheels off. Did I tell you I have five Sons? So at 210,000 I decided I had better look for a replacement. A new one and what I would call a "plane jane" list for $61,000 but Ford will give you a couple of grand off. Such a deal. So I went a looking. Today, I found the sister ship to our own 05 Expedition Eddie Bauer. See if I can up load some photos for you.
She has 100K on her and was a one owner car. Little old Lady School Teacher and drove to and from School at 20 miles per day for 13 years. I ordered out a Car Quest history report and everything matches. Clean report and rated at 80 which was the top of the chart. One owner, 12,000 miles per year and in top mechanical shape. It is an exact duplicate of the one we bought new. This is what I call a "do over". Thanks for having a great Forum and I plan to post some of my journeys as they come up. Take care folks and Thanks for having me.

 

[fordexpylvr]

you better buy it if you already haven't!

 

[fordexpylvr]

what are they wanting for it?

 

[BillAlex]

I have already bought and paid for it. Looks like about $2,730 and about a $175 in gas to go get it. Call it three Grand. I am going to detail it and not much else to do to it. It has new tires with $800 worth of receipts. New plugs, Tri Tip Platinum, wires and one injector. There was a little plastic elbow by the firewall that had something to do with the vacuum line, part was $20 and I didn't see a receipt for labor. It does look like they were in love with the Dealership and a lot of preventative maintenance or things "discovered" during an oil change. I think what sold me on the car was the amount of "new" parts on it. The other thing if you look close, there isn't a ding on the body and no signs of any body repair. Accident report was clean. Parked in a Garage at night, but in the Faculty Parking lot without cover during the day. Car purchased New in Woodland Hills California and Dealership maintained the car including 2,500 mile Oil changes. Synthetic with Mobile One Filters. Not sure what the book is on it and really don't care as it is a "driver". We tore the crap out of the Sister Car and now we have a chance to go back an enjoy the ride.

 

[JExpedition07]

Nice truck, love the 2nd gens.

 

[fordexpylvr]

You got a buy buddy! Thats a beautiful truck. And what a buy! thats awesome!

 

[BillAlex]

Thanks. I pick it up Monday. Can't wait to drive it back home.

 

[ExpyMo]

How do you find a deal like that?? I don't have any insider friends, so all I have are small dealers and craigslist. There's nothing nearly that nice at that price!! That's what I get for living in the rust belt I guess.

 

[BillAlex]

We are kind of spoiled out here in Arizona. NO RUST! My mechanic showed me a car from Pennsylvania that was brought in for an oil change on the Rack. He could not remove the Rusted out oil plug without tearing the pan open. There really is only two places to buy a car, Arizona and California. As a rule, most cars are kept in a Garage. Too Damned hot to leave it out in the Sun. We are trying to keep it a secret out here in Arizona We have what is called "Snow Birds" that frequent us during the Winter. Seems they like to play golf at 70 degrees on Christmas Day. Don't tell anybody though, we are trying to keep this place on the QT.

Now I am going to pass on a secret on how to buy really great cars at really cheap prices. Again, don't tell anyone, this one is between you and me. Here goes. Charity Auctions. What people do not realized is that some of the best "Cherry" cars are actually donated to Charity rather than sold. Especially older cars that have been maintained by a Dealership with regular oil change and preventative maintenance. Also, a lot of these cars come from nursing homes where the kids who inherit these cars are used to Brand New cars and payments that would choke a horse. I am going to download a Cadillac (I know I am on the Ford Expedition Forum) that was one owner, looked like it came off the show room floor and it cost me $2,500. My idiot neighbor offered me $7,500 and I had to sell it. Every time I see him drive by the house, I am the one that is crying and he is the one that is smiling. Take a look... it had 41,000 original miles on it.

When you take a 15 year old car to a dealer, he will offer you $500 for it. Donate it to Charity, and you get an appraisal on the car, you got yourself a pretty decent tax deduction and hopefully, some good, might come from it. So take a look at some of the Charities. Don't sell them short. Some the best cars I have ever owned came from Charitable Auctions. Now this one is going to blow you away boys and girls; I have never lost a penny on a used car I have purchased. I always sold them a year or two later for more money than I paid for it. The only time I took it in the shorts is when I bought a new one and believe me, you don't want to hear about some of the losses I have had from depreciation.

 

[BillAlex]

Took Delivery of my "new" 2005 Ford Expedition, Eddie Bauer edition. Wow. What a car. It was like going back in a time machine. Screw the DeLorean, this is the slickest time machine I have ever traveled in. Here is my philosophy and correct me if I am wrong. You can buy a Brand New shinning one for $61,000. I know, I just pulled one up. The Dealer told me I could get $2,000 back from Ford. Big Deal. So why not buy a really clean well taken care of Expy and do whatever it would take to make it new again. I checked a 5.4L rebuild from a reputable firm for $3,300. I found a guy who would change out the engine for 500 on craigslist. Also found a guy who would rebuild a transmission for $750 and again, he would take your old one out and put his rebuilt one in for $500. I got lucky. My mechanic says I do not need to do a thing to this car. All the cylinders check out. Perfect compression in all 8. She runs like a top. No problem with Timing Chain as the maintenance records show that the oil was changed every 2,500 miles regardless if it needed it or not. Guess what they used for oil? Mobile One. Same with the Filter. Upholstery? This one you can eat Sunday dinner off the interior. It is that clean. Here is my problem guys. There is absolutely NOTHING I can do to Cherry this car out. Nothing. My mechanic needs counseling because he's got kids in College and this car is his worst nightmare. he might see me every other month for an Oil Change but that's it! You can't pay for Harvard with oil changes. He put a stethoscope on the Timing chain cover and it purred like the day it came off the show room floor. Fortunately for him, the sister car for this one was making all kinds of noise at 210,000 miles so he gets to do that one for a timing chain kit. Thanks to my good buddy John Boneske who did all the research on a timing chain and sold me one for cost. There really are great guys on this forum that try to help those who are trying to figure it all out. Thanks again, to a really great bunch of guys for sharing their success and even their failures with us "newbies".
Now I am not bragging, but through the years, I have owned Cadillacs, Buick Park Avenues, my share of sports cars and many many Corvettes, Jag XK-E and at least a dozen cars off of show room floors (mostly Chevy Pick Up Trucks) but I have never found such a perfect fit as the Expedition. That boys and girls is the ultimate machine. It is built like a Truck. No wait a minute, it is a Truck. So I am new, but not to Expeditions and my loyalty is never wavering. Great Car, Great Build, Great piece of Machinery and I might add, it really is a work of art. The engineering is light years ahead of the Germans. Simply look at the phasers and how they work. A ton of torque on the low end of RPM and a ton of Power on the high end. Don't block and lock it into place. Fix it. You really don't want to lose 30 horse power on a bullet proof 5.4L engine. Change oil regularly, use a high grade synthetic and you will never have a problem with timing chains on these beast. They will run forever.