Decisions, decisions

[Leftaur]

Hi All - We need to get a different vehicle and I'm having a heck of a time deciding between a 3rd gen Expy or a Highlander. As far reliability goes, I'm a just setting myself up for a crap ton of repairs with the Expy? Thanks for any input!

 

[Trainmaster]

I've had my 08 Expedition for 120,000 miles without any real repairs. Depends how much you want to spend on how new a truck I suppose.

 

[Motorcity muscle]

Welcome to site. The key to any used truck is the maintenance, have a '07 with 140,000 & '09 118,000. Best to read through some of the post under the third gen if that is what you're interested in. Great driving and very safe trucks.

 

[gkretro]

I love Toyotas, had extremely good luck with them but seems like there's a difference in size and capacity between an Expedition and a Highlander, sort of apples-to-oranges thing. I got my Expy to tow a travel trailer, something I don't think a Highlander would handle.

 

[ExplorerTom]

And what year 3rd gen? Not all 3rd gens are the same. Even amongst the V8s there is a huge disparity.

 

[Leftaur]

Specifically looking at an '09 or '10.

 

[kzei]

I am currently driving a Sienna minivan (am 1 of the billions waiting on a 22 expedition max). Had to take it into for service and was given a highlander for 48 hours. It was a 22, however it is definitely not the same size as an expedition. I had my 11 and 13 year olds on the 3rd row and they were tight on leg room. And not a large amount of space behind the 3rd row seat. It was a nice vehicle but if you’ve got growing kids and haul a lot of their stuff, I find it too small. I find it more comparable to an explorer.

 

[Fastcar]

I am currently driving a Sienna minivan (am 1 of the billions waiting on a 22 expedition max). Had to take it into for service and was given a highlander for 48 hours. It was a 22, however it is definitely not the same size as an expedition. I had my 11 and 13 year olds on the 3rd row and they were tight on leg room. And not a large amount of space behind the 3rd row seat. It was a nice vehicle but if you’ve got growing kids and haul a lot of their stuff, I find it too small. I find it more comparable to an explorer.

Yup, I owned on for about 8 months. Just didn't like it for a bunch of reasons.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Specifically looking at an '09 or '10.

Why those 2 years?

Personally I’d go for 2012-2014 or 2016-2017.

 

[Leftaur]

Crash tests are good as well as the price point. Seems to have relatively lower issues, from what I've read. We can't really swing the "newer"years.

 

[2020-MAX-Limited]

Hi All - We need to get a different vehicle and I'm having a heck of a time deciding between a 3rd gen Expy or a Highlander. As far reliability goes, I'm a just setting myself up for a crap ton of repairs with the Expy? Thanks for any input!

First of all, they are completely different vehicles. The Highlander is car-based (Camry) while the Expy is truck-based (F150). If you decide you really need the 3rd Gen Expy, then I would definitely get the '15-17 with the EcoBoost V6. Great power plus good economy on Regular gas. Then you still have a lot of decisions to make. Standard or Long (EL) wheelbase, Trim level, 4WD and Towing are all options to decide upon. From my experience, I would not worry about the reliability of the Expy. We got the loaded Limited-trim EL with 4WD and Towing. It had 110,000 miles and we've added only 4,000 miles in about 18 months. I changed the engine air cleaner right away and then the engine oil and filter somewhat later. Several months in, it tripped the Check Engine light for Fuel/Air Imbalance on one bank, but the engine never ran rough or exhibited any negative signs (fuel MPG remained constant) so I just ignored it. Recently, the light went out on its own and has stayed off. As far as I'm concerned, the truck is a beast.

 

[chuck s]

Purpose is what determines what vehicle I buy.

A Toyota Highlander is barely as capable as the Ford Explorer in many categories and can't approach those of the Expedition. People carrier or tow vehicle? The Expedition is better in both categories. I own an Expedition only to tow my '05 23-foot travel trailer. My '02 Explorer could handle it but with a lot of whimpering. Same trailer behind either my '07 or '17 Expeditions was easy peasy as it is for those rare times I need 7 passengers.

Determine your need first. Without the need to tow the trailer I'd not own any SUV since I don't need to haul passengers.

-- Chuck

 

[Speed 330]

Hi All - We need to get a different vehicle and I'm having a heck of a time deciding between a 3rd gen Expy or a Highlander. As far reliability goes, I'm a just setting myself up for a crap ton of repairs with the Expy? Thanks for any input!

Got an Eddie Bauer 06 220,000 just had a timing job done on it 200,000 other than that no major problems do something

 

[Speed 330]

Purpose is what determines what vehicle I buy.

A Toyota Highlander is barely as capable as the Ford Explorer in many categories and can't approach those of the Expedition. People carrier or tow vehicle? The Expedition is better in both categories. I own an Expedition only to tow my '05 23-foot travel trailer. My '02 Expedition could handle it but with a lot of whimpering. Same trailer behind either my '07 or '17 Expeditions was easy peasy as it is for those rare times I need 7 passengers.

Determine your need first. Without the need to tow the trailer I'd not own any SUV since I don't need to haul passengers.

-- Chuck

Why would you want to get one of them little tiny Vehicles anyway have you ever tried to load your family and all the stuff up in the air and go across country in a little small tiny Toyota get yourself a man's vehicle where you can have some room to family can stretch out nobody's complaining

 

[Motorcity muscle]

Specifically looking at an '09 or '10.

Like the '09 Limited a bit better than the '07 EB, ride is firmer and gets a mile or so better on fuel, both are rear wheel drive. Had to replace the cats on the older one but was my own fault for driving it with a misfire.