Interested in buying an 03-04 Expedition

[Zap Rowsdower]

I am interested in buying a 03-04 Expedition. I previously owned a 01 XLT Expedition and it was nice however at the time I didn't appreciate it. I was going to school and had a full time job. My money was spent before I had a chance to see it! Now, I am interested in getting back into one (I love the body style on the 03 and after!) with my heart set on doing some simple mods to it, rims, intake, exhaust, program. Nothing to major but something to make it unique in my own way.
My question to the Expedition community here is what are the common problem experienced with the 03-04 5.4L Expeditions? I had to deal with getting the rear end fixed once on my 01 and it was a good thing I still had the dealer's warranty on it because that was a pretty penny! Odds are with this purchase of a 03-04 vehicle the factory warranty with either be just about to expire or have already expired. I'm dealing with a car outside of it's warranty (both factory and extended) and it sucks having to deal with crap going out on it!
Thanks in advance for the feed back guys!


Zap Rowsdower

 

[367KIX]

I bought a used 03 (40K miles) two years ago after a great experience with my 97 Expedition. I have to say the new one has had many more issues, including broken rear air flow/temp actuators, intermittent seat heater, jammed 6-CD player, sticking front caliper, and the auto adjusting rear view mirrors not positioning correctly. Of course my 97 didn't have some of these more complicated accessories which are more troublesome. I can't remember the website, but I recently saw that the 03 model had the most consumer complaints of all Expedition years, and I recall the 04 was much better. But thats just one website so I would suggest more research. Good Luck!

 

[Stoned06]

With '03 being the first year of the Gen 2 body style, chances are there will be more things going wrong as it usually takes a year to work all the bugs out.
I have an '06 that just had a Coil Pack go out causing a missfire, and had the steering wheel buttons replaced under warranty last year due to half of them not working. Other than that, no major issues...even towing nearly 6000 lbs around in the summer.

 

[bubbadabulldawg]

I bought an 03 Gen 2 two years ago also and the only complaint I have is the fuel milage sux ballz! I get 10mpg around town and maybe 13mpg on the highway, a guy I work with has an 05 EB and he says he gets 15mpg around town and 20 on the highway but I can only take his word but I want to call BS! The only issues I have had to deal with was the latches causing the dome light to stay on but that was fixed with cleaning and regreasing the latches and the plastic panels on the outside of the doors fading but I color matched the paint on the entire lower half so it looks like a limited. Other than that it is a great truck.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

Thanks guys, I'll keep my eyes open for an 04.

-Rowsdower

 

[ELVATO]

05 is the year when they went to the 3V 5.4L, so an 04 should still have the 2V 5.4L. Or, did they start offering the 5.4L 3V in 04? Can't remember...

Either way, if it's a 3V, know that broken spark plugs can be a problem with anything close to 100k (assuming they haven't been changed already.)

 

[Stoned06]

Yeah, I believe the 3v was offered starting in 2005. With 51K on the odo and needing to change #8 plug/Coil pack due to a miss, I think I will remove and clean the threads of the other 7 (Unless they look to need changing also).

 

[smo0othride]

2003 is the best year expedition made too date. I think it has the best features of the old and new expedition. One thing you will find in the 03 that none of the other gen 2 body styles have is the bench seat up front which creates a lot more leg room for the driver. 03 doesn't really have any other problems then you normally would have.. I bought mine brand new with 8 miles on it, and now it's just turning 120,000 miles and I've pretty much only done routine maintenance. I had a leak in the a/c compressor, but like I said that can happen to any year expedition.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

Okay so I'll look for an 03 in that case.
It's funny because I'm setting a goal to trade in my current P.O.S. to get an Expedition in February of next year and when I decide to do the trade I went to a couple of dealerships and looked at a few. Now two weeks later they are harder to come by locally. It's like because I'm going to be in the market for one here pretty soon there all getting bought up!