Buying advice

[benalexe]

Hello,

We are a family of 5 3 boys ages 11, 8, and 5. We currently have a Honda Pilot on lease and thinking of making a change. We definitely want a car that has 8 passengers.Also we want some room behind the 3 row seat. Don't want to lease so we are thinking of buying a used expedition. Have a budget of about 25K. We drive between 12K and 15K a year.

So I have some questions.

1) Is there a year or model we should not look at. I was thinking of looking at 2007 and above as they are the newer design.

2) How bad is the gas millage? Is it terrible?

3) I would plan on keeping this used car about 10years. How is the longevity of these? Are there common and expensive service repairs I will probably need to make?

4) Any other important advice I should look out for?

 

[KWT2000]

since you want room behind the 3rd row your gonna want to look at the EL model... most everyone says you dont get an expy for fuel mileage i get about 10 around town and 16 on the hi-way... longevity mine has 231,*** on it and its a 97... hope this helps

 

[Stoned06]

^^Agree that you may want to look at the EL model as it will give you the most room behind the third row seats. The newer models will get slightly better gas mileage. With my 2006, I get about 14 around town, and can get around 18-19 on the highway depending on how fast I am going.
As far as issues, I don't believe the newer models have been plagued with anything major. The only common issues I know of is the spark plugs can freeze to the heads if not removed regularly, and Coil Packs seem to go bad without notice. If you wait too long, the plugs can break when trying to remove them as the carbon build-up will make them difficult to thread out. With 54K on the clock, the only issues I have is that my seat motor sounds like it is about to die, I had to replace a coil pack and plug for a miss-fire, and I had the steering wheel controls replaced under warranty when I got the car 2 yrs ago.

 

[benalexe]

Thanks for the feedback. Don't want the EL. Too big for my wife. It is going to be a hard stretch to go from the pilot to the expy

 

[nvycrmn]

well since you have a family of 5 like i do, a regular expy should work. if you need the extra room in the back, just fold the 3rd row down. and the newer ones come with the power fold down seats. i dont use my 3rd row for anything really so i just took mine out and i have plenty of room back there.

 

[Stoned06]

With the third row seats up, you have enough room for duffle bags, grocery bags, etc. I thought the EL would work for you as it just sounded as if you wanted a good amount of space back there. But the regular Expy does have a decent amount back there, and with the powerfold seats, it makes it easy to put them down to get more space when needed. Even if one of your kids is back there, you can still put the other seat down to increase the cargo room.

 

[nvycrmn]

that is one thing i love about the new expies compared to my 01. its either all or nothin with mine. so i just took mine out and dont use it.

 

[nvycrmn]

the only other thing i wish my expy had was a better 2nd row. i want seats like they do in the jeep cherokee where you can fold each section down individually.

 

[Stoned06]

the only other thing i wish my expy had was a better 2nd row. i want seats like they do in the jeep cherokee where you can fold each section down individually.

You might want to see if the '03-06 Expy interior will work in your vehicle since that is how they work in mine.

 

[walnuts4x4]

wait am I reading it wrong or does your 2nd row seat not fold down? Mine does its split 60-40 but i can fold each side down.

 

[mtondreo]

We had the exact same scenario (less children though). My wife had a 2005 pilot and loved it. When lease was up she went to a CX-7 for smaller and more car like. She absolutely hates it. I found an 06 expedition and now she can't wait for her lease to end so she can take it from me. she absolutely loves driving it and says the size does not bother her. Mine is an 06 4x4 EB standard length. I get 11-12 city (85%) and get around 16 on the interstate. I am not light-footed by any means though and we absolutely love ours. In that price range you may get lucky and find an 07 that will have the 6-speed tranny and I believe that is supposed to be good for another mpg or 2. Gas should be going up some more and you may find people trying to dump them. Good luck, Mike

 

[nvycrmn]

yeah it folds down walnuts like yours, the 60-40. but the jeeps have it where the back seat is 3 sections. so you can fold down the door-side seats but leave the middle up. or just fold the middle down. i like that cuz state law mandates that you have to put your child in a child seat BEHIND THE DRIVER, which pretty much screws me if i need more room than just the one seat folded down. just a nice little perk i wouldnt mind havin.

 

[cheapdad00]

Considering Used Expedition as well

Benalexe,
I am in the same boat you are - except looking to move from an Odyssey to an Expedition. Must have the three rows to keep the kids from trying to kill each other....

I'm right now looking for an expedition in the 75K-100K miles range. Anything specific I should look for either failing/needing replacing in the next couple of years? Anything maintenance wise it would have been beneficial for the previous owner to have done? [Just finished doing a bunch of deferred maintenance on my other van, (Mazda MPV - oxygen sensors, spark plugs - which required intake manifold removal to get to, sway bar links, lower control arms, etc.), so not afraid to get my hands dirty - trying to determine what to be prepared for.]

Is the mileage substantially improved with the 2007 6 speed transmission? We never came close to the predicted mpg on our Odyssey, even with the VCM that turns 2-3 cylinders off at coast.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[seeker]

moved from honda

I had a CrV. Rear ended by an 18 wheeler. I made it ok but if my family were with me, it would have been fatal. I bought a 2002 5.4 xlt for the size and protection. I get 15mpg in town and 18 -19 on the hwy. Have reached 100k and no real problems. If you want size then mpg will suffer. I figure it costs me currently $16 more to travel 300 miles in my Expedition Vs the old honda. Cheap peace of mind.