Need Advice! Best 3rd Gen Years

[stevem]

Hello,
I'm looking for a new family car. My wife has grown up with Fords and loves them. I've never owned a ford, so I'm a bit more hesitant on purchasing an american car due to lack of reliability compared to the hondas and toyotas I've owned. Prove me wrong in this please!!!

We are looking at Expeditions 2008 and up. We have a budget around $27k. We'd like an EL Limited, but the ones I'm finding in that price rages have around 80-90k miles on them. How many miles are too many on these trucks? I know there are so many variables when buying a used car, but I'm just looking for something that will carry my family around reliably for the next 8-10 years.

Any advice on what years are best would be very helpful. Thanks everyone!

 

[k9education]

I would go for '09 and up for the 6R80 transmission and just the overall refinements. When we were shopping back in May, we were looking for an '09+ EL with 60-80K miles. We ended up with an '11 EL Limited (4WD) with 78K for $27,800 including a CPO warranty. The mileage was at the top end of the range for us, but my Mercury was still going strong at 233K when I sold it and my prior vehicle, a Ford Crown Vic, went to 230K before the head gasket blew - so we went for it. Normally, I wouldn't have spent the money on the warranty as Ford is determined not to fix anything, but the tires were shot and the $800 we paid for the warranty happens to be exactly what a set of tires goes for. So I figured anything I got above and beyond the tires was a bonus.

Now in comparison to a Toyota Sequoia, I think the Sequoia is the more reliable vehicle. However, for the money we spent, we would have probably been limited to an '08 Sequoia with far less bells and whistles. More importantly though, we needed the size and in the EL size you, literally, have only 2 choices: Suburban or Expedition EL. The Sequoia is about 1.5' shorter than the EL if measured from the back of the front seat to the tailgate.

 

[stevem]

Thanks for your reply! It was very helpful.

We brought home a 2011 EL Limited last night. Its in exceptionally good condition with excellent service history. Has 81k miles, only 1 owner. Hoping this lasts our family for many years.

 

[k9education]

Congrats!