Advice and shop needed near Greensboro NC

[RichardH]

Unless it gets prohibitively expensive I'll fix anything that pops up on my 03. Aside from rocker rust its solid and never been in an accident. Pushing 221k now and runs fantastic. If I had to put 1500-2k into it tomorrow or buy another vehicle the choice would be easy and would get the $ thrown at it as the next one could be even worse. Always a gamble on another vehicle unless you're buying new.

Much agreed. I spent time and $$$ sorting out issues on my '03 EB 5.4

Knock on wood, but I have 95%+ of all niggles sorted. Waiting to see if I can hit several more cycles to get rid of the P0442 after new gas cap ordered.

Small items left, not too critical to me right now, but will take care of myself: rear plastic gear I believe for blend door 'clicking' (aware of the fix), minor cosmetic - scratch needs touch up, replace driver's door tint to TX max % allowed (couple of ripples), consider clay bar routine and wax after summer. No garage and too hot here.

Engine and trans fine, zero leaks.

Anyhow, I plan of keeping this for several more years. Of course it's paid for, paid cash about a year ago. I like no payment. Makes repairs more palatable.

Here are two pics. Cleaned the steering wheel up since...

 

[Richard_S]

Update! I had a used 90k mile engine installed and then drove to Atlantic Beach for a long weekend. It runs terrific, just like it did before it sat for months and months. My kids are going to use it when I'm traveling. I took one of my kids driving the other day and she prefers it to our Explorer, go figure.
Thank you all for your opinions!

I'm glad I put the used motor in it. I already knew the vehicle and its history and hope I can get another 3 or 4 years out of it.

EDIT 8-14-20
I drove it 1400 miles this week and at first when starting up when cold it made quite a bit of noise. Also if I went through a drive thru and tipped the throttle I could hear the slight rattle from the echo of the brick wall. I've noticed progressively over the last week the noises have completely gone away cold startup and when warmed and the oil is still clean and hasn't lost a drop. It has an unlimited mileage 6 month warranty so I think its going to be fine. I'm really happy to have it back going down the highway like it always has.