Soon to be purchasing...

[MCDavis]

Have questions: soon to be purchasing...

Hey guys. New to this site, but have been a member of the Explorer forum for years. Currently have a '99 Explorer and will be ditching it soon for a '07 or '08 Expedition, most likely an Eddie Bauer.
Can anyone lend me some advice on the new ones. Anything to look out for? My budget will allow for me to get in something with about 35-45k miles on it.
Thanks in advance.

 

[MCDavis]

Update

I'm looking at 4 wheel drive (wouldn't have it any other way) and the wifey would like me to find one with climate controled (heated & cooled) seats. Anything that you guys can offer up would be great. I can't wait to make the purchase, should happen in the coming month(s)

 

[Scott Gunn]

I just bought on 07. The climate controlled seats are nice, I use the cooling function all the time.

If you need the tow package, you can identify it by seeing both a 4-pin and 7-pin connector being installed. Those without the tow package only have 1 connector. Almost every ad/dealer will tell you it has the towing package whether it really does or not.

 

[MCDavis]

Is the Expedition just like my Explorer in the sense that the towing package adds an external tranny cooler? I really like the peace of mind I have knowing that my tranny fluid is being cooled outside of the tranny itself.

Thanks for your response Scott. That's good to know about the pin options.

 

[MCDavis]

No one else has anything to share?

 

[joezek]

I'm in a very similar situation as you are. I had a 98 Eddie Bauer Explorer for 11 years and decided to upgrade to the much nicer riding Expedition. So a few weeks ago I joined this site to get some knowledge/insight about the quirks of the Expedition. I learned what to look for, what to avoid, and what I wanted according to my budget.

I didn't have a budget to afford an 07' with 40K miles and my goal was NO payments. I know from experience that I was set on getting an Eddie Bauer, no questions asked. The re-sale value is always higher and it's got a nice look with the 2 tone scheme.

My search was on, and the truck I ended up with was a rare find in my market area. There were about 10 03'-04' models for sale over a 2 week period and all were roughly $12k to $15k. There were also about 15 more that were asking $15-18,000 due to lower mileage. 2 of them were salvaged titles and were only asking $7,500.

Finally I found one with a clean title with all my options for $8,500. It needed a lot of cleaning up and a few items to repair, but perfect for me to play with. So I bought it, repainted the front bumper, deep cleaned the interior/headliner, fixed some items like rear a/c, and all the power windows, and mirror controls, detailed the crap out of the truck/chassis/engine bay, and I can probably resell it for around $11K if I wanted to.

I won't sell it, love driving it too much. But it's nice knowing I paid so much less and then used my own labor to bring it's value back up to compete with the other 03's.

 

[MCDavis]

joezek it's nice to hear that someone else made the step up. I would love to go with an older year, but I love the interior of the '07+ and the wifey has a say in it too. Plus the 6spd tranny and some other touches make it worth it. This will be our primary vehicle for road trips etc (VA to NJ and Maine) so it needs to be comfortable for those longer hauls.
Not having a payment would be IDEAL, but realistically that just won't happen.
Congrats to you on your purchase, I hope that I'm just as, if not more, happy with mine when the time comes, soon!

 

[robby001]

We had a 2003 Eddie Bauer Explorer. Bought it with 45,000 miles on it for our primary family car. At the time we had only our daughter. She was 2 at the time. It was great for what we needed but when we had our son we knew it was time for a bigger rig. We do lots of driving as we are not big on flying. Our average trip is 1200 miles round trip. We also have a Thule car top box for extra storage. We had to get this as the Explorer was running out of room with the double stroller and portable crib. We wanted an Expedition and had originally thought about a 2005 Eddie Bauer. But after looking we decided on a 2007 Limited. It has the 5.4 with 3.73 gears with towing package, navigation, and rear DVD. We absolutely love it, the old 4.6 got just a little better fuel mileage than the 5.4 but then we do have the 3.73 gears which of course don’t help out with the mileage but great for towing. All in all we love our new truck. We have had no major issues with it yet. We bought it last month with just over 25,000 miles on it. It is a great riding truck. Seem to always find places to go now just so we can drive it lol.

We did add a drop in K&N filter and change out the stock muffler with a magna flow 19”. We love our upgrades…

 

[MCDavis]

Nice! Thanks for the info robby001. The more feedback I get, the sooner I want to make my purchase. I'm trying to get the wife to bite on it, but she's having none of that. Wants to purchase in November.

I understand that all new Expy's come with a towing hitch, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it has a towing package.
1) How can I tell if it has the package
2) Does the package have an external tranny fluid cooler like my Explorer?

 

[robby001]

Pretty sure the towing package does have the external oil cooler on the tranny. I have not checked on mine but a call to the dealer should be helpful. I have been told that when you look that the hitch if it has the 4 prong and the 7 prong then it has the towing package for sure.

 

[MCDavis]

I'm not currently behind a truck to look at it, just pictures online.

4-pin is left of the hitch, 7-pin is right of the hitch. Correct?

 

[robby001]

That is correct. Here is a link to an article that you may find very insightful.

http://www.trucktrend.com/roadtests/suv/163_0702_2007_fullsize_suv_comparison/index.html

 

[MCDavis]

You know, I hadn't seen that article. I'd seen the comparo's over on MotorTrend and some at C&D but somehow missed that one. I think I'm becoming a little biased here, but the Expy seems to be THE BEST all around choice. Not the best offroader, not the most fuel efficient, not the fastest, but just a damn good, above average, jack of all trades.

I appreciate everyone's comments. The new vehicle itch is certainly growing/spreading. Now I just need the wife to catch the disease too.

 

[robby001]

Have you gone test drove any? I know when my wife was not sure after the test drive we left with the limited over the Eddie Bauer

 

[MCDavis]

Not yet. The wife is pretty adamant about waiting a few months (recently married last month, trying to get budget, etc straight) but that doesn't help calm the itch at all.

She'd rather us have something smaller, but I'm not super impressed with the new Explorer, not to mention our family will only grow from here. Hell, the dog takes up most of the back seat as it is!

I haven't driven one yet because I despise salesmen. I don't like listening to their banter. I usually have done so much research that I end up knowing more about the vehicle we're in than they do, or I ask a question they absolutely cannot answer.

Really that's why I'm on here, to gain knowledge and to avoid salesmen prior to my purchase. I know there are some good ones out there. I had a good one in Va Beach (100miles east) and I may end up back there if I am unsatisified here in Richmond.

 

[Drth Vdr]

I just got a used '08 expedition limited. We needed to get out of a Hummer H3 and into something more family friendly. After shopping around for a couple months, here's my experience:

The new style started in '07, so I was looking for '07+. I wanted the DVD player for the kid(s), leather interior & sunroof (for the wife). Other than that, I didn't really care. Most of the dealers in my area only had Limiteds in the '07+ body style leather. One thing to check for on any of these expeditions is bubbles on the back hatch. Mine has it, and I plan to take it in after the winter (still inside of my 3 /36 warranty) to get it taken care of.

I saw and test drove 5 different used Expeditions and ELs before settling on the one I wanted. I found that the ones which were abused show it. Listen to how it starts up and runs, check how the doors close and check the door gaps for uniformity, look at the carfax and see what life it may have led. Some of the ones I passed on had ripped seats, one was missing a head rest on the 3rd row, and overall were not well kept. It was obvious for the most part.

After driving the one I now own, it was clear that this vehicle was well cared for and almost all the miles were highway. (it had been owned for 10 months by a private owner in Michigan, then sold with 29,000 miles on it). Leather was immaculate, and it was built late in the model year '08 (built 9-08). It was much tighter than the other ones I test drove, but only about $1k more than a similar '07 with 40k miles.

Plus, it had just had all 30k mile maintenance done, including new brake pads on the front. Finally, it was still in the 36k mile warranty window.

A few notes on the "limited" trim - it is great! Heated and cooled seats are awesome, the DVD player has been wonderful, and even the in-dash nav / CD system is fairly intuitive. I also particularly like the power fold 3rd row seats. It means my wife is able to easily change from "normal" mode (3rd row seats down) to "people hauler" mode easily and as needed - no planning necessary.

This has been a great car for us for the past couple months, and I plan to hang on to it for another 8-10 years (should be at 120k or so miles at that point) - maybe longer!