To prevent getting the threads bogged down, I thought maybe we could add a thread for the members who've gotten their 25s to let us know what they got and to share their thoughts and opinions here.
'25 Owners...Thoughts and Impressions
- Thread starter dlcorbett
- Start date
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OP
OP
Guess noone wants to use this thread lol. One of my local ford dealers got a couple of platinum ultimates, shorty and long. I got to sit in one as the detail guys were prepping it. I will say that in person, the expy is really gorgeous inside and out, so it must not be very photogenic lol. I was worried that the armadas interior would be too high a reach for ford, and I'm happy to say, they have def matched nissan in the interior feel, it blows the new tahoe, wagoneer and sequoia out the water(i haven't been in a yukon to compare). I'm hoping to go back tomorrow with wifey so we can drive one of em, with no traffic, but it def makes a very good first impression.
Speaking to your photogenic comment... Been comparing Z71 Suburbans, Yukon AT4s, Sequoias and the Expedition Max. Saw pictures of the only interior color on a Yukon AT4 non-ultimate and it photographs as an almost vomit color that reminds me of some cars from the early 80s. Went to see it in person and it was shocking how much of a difference photos were compared to in-person viewing. No matter the light, I could not see the vomit color in person, only in photos. I am very much looking forward to seeing an Expy in person because photos of the interior (dash and steering wheel) completely turn me off. Which is a shame because I've driven F150s for a decade and find them very comfortable and would really like to get an Expy.
Please let us know how your test drive goes!
Please let us know how your test drive goes!
OP
OP
We finally got our hands on one to test. Platinum ultimate max in star white. It was priced at 97k and it had the cargo management option. The dealer also had a another platinum ultimate shorty, but it was in the showroom. These are the only expeditions in the low country. It's definitely a looker in person but my goodness that black applique in the back is off putting. Wifey said it looked a pull and swap part lol. Otherwise, Here's how we felt about it:
Powertrain - since the engine is the same as what we had in our navigator it felt almost exactly the same, just smoother overall. The engine was extremely smooth, and it's quiet through the range, even in sport mode. The transmission had no hiccups and went through the gears smoothly, i didnt even notice it. I do think my nav felt faster overall though.
Comfort/space - i made a comment about the interior in an earlier post, and i will echo it here, The interior and ambiance is one of the best in the fs suv market. Materials felt great, everything is placed where it's supposed to be, and not a far reach. I sat in the first 2 rows. The first row seats were very soft, wide and comfy, honestly, the seats are elite. The ultimate had the massage function, and honestly, its not that great. We felt the 4th gen massage seats were better. The cabin is wider, but i did think the second row felt slightly less roomy than last gen, but the seats were extremely comfy. The steering wheel does take some getting used, and the only issue i had was that when holding the bottom portion, its hard to turn without moving you arm to turn the wheel, but it feels great. The screens are damn near in perfect position so i didnt miss hud, and they looked good and clear. One thing I missed was the shoulder support that's adjustable on the nav. My wife forgot to see how far the seat reclines but She loved the seats. The second row was only heated, which for this price point is egregious. They were soft and wide and there was a good amount of knee space. However, the seat was a bit too low to the floor. We didn't see the third row. Cargo space seems larger in the shorty though the cargo floor is high. The split tailgate is very well implemented, wife did feel it was hard to reach on the max variant, with no such problem In shorty.
Tech/space - the screens were clear with great graphics and no lag. The screen is in your line of sight and doesn't look as tacked on, but my wife did say it looks incomplete. Thanks lincoln. The steering wheel pads once you learn them makes sense, but youll have to look to see what controls are available to adjust. We had no trouble adjusting anything on the screen, all the readout are large and easy taps on the screen. We rele like the lane change camera display and we didnt rele miss the digital rearview mirror. The model we drove had the 22 speaker unit. We didnt get to ring it out completely, but its def one of the best in the segment. The sound was crisp and clear, and filled the cabin well. I did think the mids could be more slightly pronounced, but thats probably because i didnt adjust it to what i like. Regardless, it's slightly less good than our navs sound system, which is high praise.
Ride/handling - the truck we drove had the 24s, and with no air suspension, i was eager to see how well they did. I can honestly say, its not bad at all. The truck is very quiet, which it should, but i did feel the armada was slightly quieter. The handling is smooth and surefooted with not much body roll if any and steering is relatively slow WITH not much feel, but it felt planted and natural feeling. The ride is still trucky and still kinda jittery, but i feel that's more a product of the 24s. Bump absorption was spot on. Your def gliding over the road, with little Intrusion to the cabin, and slightly more insulated than either armada suspensions. It was about even with the tahoe on magnet shocks, albeit slightly more jittery, but less floaty overall but ill need to do a back to back on the same roads to narrow it down. Other than that, ford def improved the ride substantially.
So overall, I think the platinum ultimate is a bit overpriced, and we still want to drive the navigator before we make a decision. We also would like to drive a stealth as that's the package I prefer. The product as a whole is a massive improvement and a fantastic truck. It's probably the best all around fs suv as theres absolutely no compromises, to the point where my wife outright said it's her fave and this is what she wants (until we drive the nav). Go drive one, a lot of your worries will melt away.
Powertrain - since the engine is the same as what we had in our navigator it felt almost exactly the same, just smoother overall. The engine was extremely smooth, and it's quiet through the range, even in sport mode. The transmission had no hiccups and went through the gears smoothly, i didnt even notice it. I do think my nav felt faster overall though.
Comfort/space - i made a comment about the interior in an earlier post, and i will echo it here, The interior and ambiance is one of the best in the fs suv market. Materials felt great, everything is placed where it's supposed to be, and not a far reach. I sat in the first 2 rows. The first row seats were very soft, wide and comfy, honestly, the seats are elite. The ultimate had the massage function, and honestly, its not that great. We felt the 4th gen massage seats were better. The cabin is wider, but i did think the second row felt slightly less roomy than last gen, but the seats were extremely comfy. The steering wheel does take some getting used, and the only issue i had was that when holding the bottom portion, its hard to turn without moving you arm to turn the wheel, but it feels great. The screens are damn near in perfect position so i didnt miss hud, and they looked good and clear. One thing I missed was the shoulder support that's adjustable on the nav. My wife forgot to see how far the seat reclines but She loved the seats. The second row was only heated, which for this price point is egregious. They were soft and wide and there was a good amount of knee space. However, the seat was a bit too low to the floor. We didn't see the third row. Cargo space seems larger in the shorty though the cargo floor is high. The split tailgate is very well implemented, wife did feel it was hard to reach on the max variant, with no such problem In shorty.
Tech/space - the screens were clear with great graphics and no lag. The screen is in your line of sight and doesn't look as tacked on, but my wife did say it looks incomplete. Thanks lincoln. The steering wheel pads once you learn them makes sense, but youll have to look to see what controls are available to adjust. We had no trouble adjusting anything on the screen, all the readout are large and easy taps on the screen. We rele like the lane change camera display and we didnt rele miss the digital rearview mirror. The model we drove had the 22 speaker unit. We didnt get to ring it out completely, but its def one of the best in the segment. The sound was crisp and clear, and filled the cabin well. I did think the mids could be more slightly pronounced, but thats probably because i didnt adjust it to what i like. Regardless, it's slightly less good than our navs sound system, which is high praise.
Ride/handling - the truck we drove had the 24s, and with no air suspension, i was eager to see how well they did. I can honestly say, its not bad at all. The truck is very quiet, which it should, but i did feel the armada was slightly quieter. The handling is smooth and surefooted with not much body roll if any and steering is relatively slow WITH not much feel, but it felt planted and natural feeling. The ride is still trucky and still kinda jittery, but i feel that's more a product of the 24s. Bump absorption was spot on. Your def gliding over the road, with little Intrusion to the cabin, and slightly more insulated than either armada suspensions. It was about even with the tahoe on magnet shocks, albeit slightly more jittery, but less floaty overall but ill need to do a back to back on the same roads to narrow it down. Other than that, ford def improved the ride substantially.
So overall, I think the platinum ultimate is a bit overpriced, and we still want to drive the navigator before we make a decision. We also would like to drive a stealth as that's the package I prefer. The product as a whole is a massive improvement and a fantastic truck. It's probably the best all around fs suv as theres absolutely no compromises, to the point where my wife outright said it's her fave and this is what she wants (until we drive the nav). Go drive one, a lot of your worries will melt away.
cooldude919
Well-Known Member
We ordered the stealth the stealth performance package. $86,465 msrp and we got it for $80k. Had a PCO plus dealer discount. Granger would have been a bit cheaper, but our local dealer has been pretty good and i got them to give a reasonable enough deal to stay local. Maybe we get lucky and ford has a rebate of some sort by the time we get it which will stack, but doubtful, i figure they are working to push all the 24's out still.
Great review overall, but I have test driven all the other SUV's you mentioned, in their top of the line/max/Plat etc trims, and IMHO, none of them can hold a candle to the Expy in any way shape, or form.....
It's not that they are bad vehicles in any way, they are fine in most ways, but just sayin.....
And except for they styling and a few refinements, I'm still debating whether or not to ditch my beloved '011 EL, which still runs great & does everything I ask of it, and the thought of having a big car payment & jacked up insurance AGAIN does concern me a bit, which I have been free from for many years now...
Maybe I'll just write a check from one of my investment accounts and not worry about the payments...
Decisions, decisions
It's not that they are bad vehicles in any way, they are fine in most ways, but just sayin.....
And except for they styling and a few refinements, I'm still debating whether or not to ditch my beloved '011 EL, which still runs great & does everything I ask of it, and the thought of having a big car payment & jacked up insurance AGAIN does concern me a bit, which I have been free from for many years now...
Maybe I'll just write a check from one of my investment accounts and not worry about the payments...
Decisions, decisions
OP
OP
Great review overall, but I have test driven all the other SUV's you mentioned, in their top of the line/max/Plat etc trims, and IMHO, none of them can hold a candle to the Expy in any way shape, or form.....
It's not that they are bad vehicles in any way, they are fine in most ways, but just sayin.....
And except for they styling and a few refinements, I'm still debating whether or not to ditch my beloved '011 EL, which still runs great & does everything I ask of it, and the thought of having a big car payment & jacked up insurance AGAIN does concern me a bit, which I have been free from for many years now...
Maybe I'll just write a check from one of my investment accounts and not worry about the payments...
Decisions, decisions
That's what my wife said about the expy compared to the others.
having yet to drive the 25, a question for those of you who have -
Maybe i'm missing something but it looks like they've eliminated the physical buttons for the headlights / exterior lights in general - is this true and are they located within the touchscreen menu now??!!!!
if this is true... pardon my french but what the ....?
Maybe i'm missing something but it looks like they've eliminated the physical buttons for the headlights / exterior lights in general - is this true and are they located within the touchscreen menu now??!!!!
if this is true... pardon my french but what the ....?
This was noted by a couple of the YouTubers who attended Ford's 2025 Expedition launch event. But, I don't think any of them actually showed how the user interface works.
Like you, I'm not crazy about this.
OTOH, on the 2022-2024 models, the physical headlamp switch does not directly control the headlamps. The headlamp switch is a rotary encoder that sends a digital signal to the body control module over the LIN bus network. The BCM controls the headlamps using various inputs to determine the state of electronic switches that feed the headlamp relays. It's not like the old days when full headlamp current went through the headlamp switch on the dashboard.
OP
OP
If you left it in auto mode, why does it matter where the option to select it is? I never had to do anything either the old rotary switch unless I was just sitting around and wanted the lights off.
regardless of the technical power routing, its simply mind blowing that there is not a physical switch to easily & safely (and quickly) toggle headlights off / on as a warning to other drivers when there is a road hazard, (something that i probably do more often than changing the radio station - especially in deer country). so now my only quick option is to blast them with high beams?! i absolutely cannot wrap my head around the benefit of eliminating the switch here, sorry. whoever decided that is a moron period.
OP
OP
I didnt mention it, but the car does have youtube and other apps built in and worked well. I know the nav you can play videos on the big screen, but i couldn't figure out how to move it to the other screen on the expy, or how to move the lower screen icons out the way of the youtube video display.
A/c was quiet and changed temps super quick.
Unfortunately, unless I didn't find the option, we couldn't find the parking assist feature. A shame because the armada and tahoe have them.
Also, didnt see if it was an option somewhere, but the front camera didn't auto engage at low speeds.
Lastly, I saw some members say the haptic buttons on the dash move, but I didnt feel any movement on the buttons. Overall build quality seems very good, but i did notice the plastic and front speaker bar fabric pulling away from eachother. I'm sure the dealer would've fixed it, but I mean as long as they kept these trucks on hold, they should've caught it. The Black one they had didn't have the same issue.
A/c was quiet and changed temps super quick.
Unfortunately, unless I didn't find the option, we couldn't find the parking assist feature. A shame because the armada and tahoe have them.
Also, didnt see if it was an option somewhere, but the front camera didn't auto engage at low speeds.
Lastly, I saw some members say the haptic buttons on the dash move, but I didnt feel any movement on the buttons. Overall build quality seems very good, but i did notice the plastic and front speaker bar fabric pulling away from eachother. I'm sure the dealer would've fixed it, but I mean as long as they kept these trucks on hold, they should've caught it. The Black one they had didn't have the same issue.
OP
OP
Funny I found a video showing how to move the video streaming from lower screen to the bigger screen
Ours kicks on with the proximity sensors detect something, like pulling into the garage.
Just picked ours up tonight and haven't been able to spend a lot of time fiddling with things.
Coming from a 21 Limited.
The higher output 3.5l and 3.73 gears make it noticeably more responsive, and the exhaust note sounds better.
Road noise is the same as the 21.
The interior is absolutely great.
I was a bit wishy washy about the dash and gauge cluster/screen from the pics but it is awesome. It's at a great height and IMO is a better idea than a HUD projected on the windshield. It's in your field of view but not in the way of your field of view, if that makes any sense. However, not pleased with the limited info you can put up there. You get one spot and can only select one extra "widget" to put up there, trip/gauges/full economy/tire pressure/etc, and no option to scroll through them. Very disappointed in that. But love full map nav being up there. And the turn signal cameras are great.
The gear selector knob location will take some getting used to but no big deal.
Being an android user, the infotainment system is nice. Frankly, android auto through your phone is kinda useless now. But we have the connectivity plan so that may skew my outlook. There's a lot there to go through for setup and customization.
Many may disagree but we love the split tailgate/hatch. No more groceries rolling out when you open it.
More time needed to get a big impression.
Coming from a 21 Limited.
The higher output 3.5l and 3.73 gears make it noticeably more responsive, and the exhaust note sounds better.
Road noise is the same as the 21.
The interior is absolutely great.
I was a bit wishy washy about the dash and gauge cluster/screen from the pics but it is awesome. It's at a great height and IMO is a better idea than a HUD projected on the windshield. It's in your field of view but not in the way of your field of view, if that makes any sense. However, not pleased with the limited info you can put up there. You get one spot and can only select one extra "widget" to put up there, trip/gauges/full economy/tire pressure/etc, and no option to scroll through them. Very disappointed in that. But love full map nav being up there. And the turn signal cameras are great.
The gear selector knob location will take some getting used to but no big deal.
Being an android user, the infotainment system is nice. Frankly, android auto through your phone is kinda useless now. But we have the connectivity plan so that may skew my outlook. There's a lot there to go through for setup and customization.
Many may disagree but we love the split tailgate/hatch. No more groceries rolling out when you open it.
More time needed to get a big impression.
OP
OP
Oh nice about the camera kicking on when sensors sense something. Which trim and color did you end up with? One reason I want to drive one without the 24s is the roadnoise. I felt the truck was quieter overall, however, i always thought the expy had relatively excessive suspension noise and was hoping that would've changed for the new one, which they did, but it was still more noticeable on the expy than the new armada or wagoneer.
Black Platinum with Ultimate package.
birrclan
Member
Haven't seen any comments yet on how it rides with the 24's. Did I miss someones experience?
OP
OP
I did a write up on a test drive i did above that details what I felt in regards to ride.
