Would an 07 be a smart purchase?

[blackshadowed]

Hello everyone. A good family friend (father of the step kids, really awesome and honest guy, we all have a great relationship), is offering us his 2007 Expedition LTD with about 240k Miles for $2,000. He's the second owner and got it back in '13 with 59k on the engine.

He tells us that shocks were replaced within the last 2 years, and breaks and discs within the last month. The car needs rear tires, but the major things are: AC is not working and he hasn't checked on the culprit, and there is an unspecified power steering leak.

I know the car's value is a bit more than what he's asking from us, but he's doing us a favor as we are just getting back on our feet from being unemployed.

The question is, would an 07 Expedition with this high a mileage be a good buy, or would we be getting into a world of potential age related problems around the corner? I read around the forum and seems like the AC not working is a PITA to troubleshoot properly and could climb into the thousands of dollars in wrong part replacements, is this the case?

PS. This would be a second vehicle for us to use as the "Family car", since my other is a small Scion. We would be looking to keep it for 2, maybe 3 years until we can upgrade.

Thanks in advanced for your advice

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

'07 is, statistically, the least reliable year for 3rd gens, likely in part because it was the first year of the redesign. The truck in question also has 240k on the clock and there aren't a whole lot of 3rd gens around that seem to make it to 300k without major issues. That said, it's only $2k and the odds are in your favor that some Stop Leak will resolve the PS issue (that's been my experience with previous Ford SUVs anyway). At $2k, I'd be happy to get 2 years out of the vehicle without major issues. Anything beyond that would be a bonus.

 

[Shantheman73]

Hello everyone. A good family friend (father of the step kids, really awesome and honest guy, we all have a great relationship), is offering us his 2007 Expedition LTD with about 240k Miles for $2,000. He's the second owner and got it back in '13 with 59k on the engine.

He tells us that shocks were replaced within the last 2 years, and breaks and discs within the last month. The car needs rear tires, but the major things are: AC is not working and he hasn't checked on the culprit, and there is an unspecified power steering leak.

I know the car's value is a bit more than what he's asking from us, but he's doing us a favor as we are just getting back on our feet from being unemployed.

The question is, would an 07 Expedition with this high a mileage be a good buy, or would we be getting into a world of potential age related problems around the corner? I read around the forum and seems like the AC not working is a PITA to troubleshoot properly and could climb into the thousands of dollars in wrong part replacements, is this the case?

PS. This would be a second vehicle for us to use as the "Family car", since my other is a small Scion. We would be looking to keep it for 2, maybe 3 years until we can upgrade.

Thanks in advanced for your advice

I’ve got a 2007 with 199k and to be honest…if not for the neglect of the previous owner…it’s been a quality ride. (I also recently purchased a scion for my daily driver since gas prices are killing me and the Expy is more of the family vehicle and not needed for just commuting).

That being said…the parts I DID have to replace were expensive. Seems nothing is cheap when fixing a truck that’s capable of what an Expy can do.

The A/C system was one of them…to the tune of $1900. Even tires were $200 a piece. (Bridgestones)

If your plan is to drive it for a year or two and not worry about fixing every rattle or issue…then you should be fine. But should something major fail…there goes that 2k.

Honestly…you’re not going to find another $2k vehicle that you’d consider bulletproof. At least you can get all of the fam in the Expy and room to spare.


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[Boostedbus]

I look at it this way.... I’d feel a lot better hauling kids around in a Expedition (especially on highway trips) than in a Scion. Traffic is getting back to crazy again now that COVID is winding down and people are going back to work. You also have that distracted driving thing and I think some people just flat out forgot how to drive because of not driving for so long. I think this reason alone makes it a no-brainer. Good luck and enjoy your new ride!

 

[mnachreiner86]

If you know the history of the vehicle and he’s had it for that long and taken care of it I’d say that’s a great deal. Any reliable running vehicle is worth that. The mileage wouldn’t scare me for the money, mine has 213k now and runs like a new one. Even incredibly high mileage the biggest common problems are phaser issues and if you are mechanical the job can be done relatively cheaply and by yourself. The expensive unknown is the ac repair. Question is how badly do you need it? Is it something you can get by without? Do you have little ones that NEED it on hot days that you are hauling? If it’s not a deal breaker then absolutely. Additionally if you have a good relationship with him maybe offer to troubleshoot the AC first so you might have an idea of what you would be getting in to?


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[Aspen03]

2k is a fairly price for most any working vehicle of that age and mileage. The one thing you've got going for you is you know the owner and their character. If it had been a huge problem vehicle it likely you'd have previously heard about it in passing comments. People rarely fail to mention thier issues when given even the slightest chance in a conversation. My experience anyway.

The lack of AC as a family hauler would be a near deal breaker for me however. It's a large space and takes a decent amount of air movement to cool down with windows down. Depending on the age of the kids and where you live. It can get extremely hot easily and if anyone is in a booster or car seat it's already like lying on a blanket fresh out of the dryer when you've been parked on a sunny day, slow moving traffic will exacerbate this issue even with 6 windows that can open. Unless it's something incredibly simple expect the AC to be several hundred dollars at a minimum and worst case as already mentioned as much as you're paying for the vehicle. We have 4 kids and speak from experience on not having AC in a vehicle. Its happened once, for a span of about a month in my life. If I have to get a second job to fix my ac, I will. The wrath and attitude of hot children is like nothing else and if anything will make drives miserable.

 

[JExpedition07]

For 2 grand you really can’t go wrong

 

[JamaicaJoe]

Listen to the engine for any death rattles in the valve train or misfiring. If you can nurse the drivetrain along for another 4 or 5 years, then investing in tires and AC might be worth it

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[blackshadowed]

Thanks for all the sensible responses. We know the vehicle well since he bought it when he and the wife were still together. The priority here is the kids, and since 2 of them are his and we have a 2 year old, we all feel safer in the expedition. We had a Rav4 that got totaled by some idiot 2 weeks ago and left us just with my '16 Scion, but that's definitely not a family car specially for road trips.

So I guess I'll be a permanent member of this group. No offense, but I hope not to have to reply on you guys too much!

 

[Motorcity muscle]

Have a '07 myself, small issue's, keep the oil changed and use motorcraft. When you get into the A/C let us know we, can figure it out, retired refrigeration guy.