Got the wife a new (to us) 4x4 Expedition

thefed

thefed

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After struggling to get around in the snow with her Nissan Quest for 3 years, I finally decided it was time for 4wd.

We need 3rd row for the kids, and she likes all the bells and whistles. Neighbor is a Ford dealer mechanic so we get parts at cost and free labor...so that played in to our decision

‎'04 Ford Expedition, Eddie Bauer,8 passenger,heated and cooled leather seats, navigation, dvd, power folding 3rd row,, advance Trac stability system, tow package, sunroof, 17' alloys,just up from maryland=no rust whatsoever underneath, 58k miles - $49k sticker new - got it for 15k.

I feel much better with my family in this monster than her Quest. Plus, she wont have to wake me up at 4.am. the next time her van wont go up our hill-of-a-street.
 

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thefed said:
After struggling to get around in the snow with her Nissan Quest for 3 years, I finally decided it was time for 4wd.

We need 3rd row for the kids, and she likes all the bells and whistles. Neighbor is a Ford dealer mechanic so we get parts at cost and free labor...so that played in to our decision

‎'04 Ford Expedition, Eddie Bauer,8 passenger,heated and cooled leather seats, navigation, dvd, power folding 3rd row,, advance Trac stability system, tow package, sunroof, 17' alloys,just up from maryland=no rust whatsoever underneath, 58k miles - $49k sticker new - got it for 15k.

I feel much better with my family in this monster than her Quest. Plus, she wont have to wake me up at 4.am. the next time her van wont go up our hill-of-a-street.
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Nice Ride, thefed! Early Christmas present? ;)
 
Payin-the-Toll said:
I'm a Ford guy. If that sucker can get 30 mpg, I want one too!
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My local transmission shop owner loves Fords too. He says they keep his business very busy, especially Explorers at 100K miles.
 
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RonBoyd said:
As long as you are aware of the issue that I brought up here:

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/this-weather-is-awful-41354-86.html#post1006453

and subsequent posts by others.
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Yes, I cringed when I saw the comment about snow in the first sentence. 4WD just means that you will spin all four wheels instead of two when trying to accelerate on hard snow or ice, and that you need four chains instead of two when you go over a mountain pass. Make sure you have four good winter tyres in any case.
 
thefed has done it well.

Nice ride, though I'm not a Ford fan. 3/4 ton BigBlock GMC suburban here.

Just keep in mind, only use 4WD when there is a real need, else will get stuck farther and deeper. And watch that deceleration, lots of mass.

Good luck.
 
zinger1457 said:
My local transmission shop owner loves Fords too. He says they keep his business very busy, especially Explorers at 100K miles.
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I worked at a company who had a fleet of the early Explorers...we nick named them "Exploders" for the transfer cases. But that was in the early 90s.

We have two Fords now, an Edge Limited that my wife loves (and she had a Lexus last time) and I have a F250 Diesel (needed for towing). Both purchased slightly used and at a fraction of the price of new (we always purchased new before).

So I say to the OP, enjoy and at that price, you can swap out a couple of trannies before you start feeling that you got a bad deal.
 
e86s54 said:
I worked at a company who had a fleet of the early Explorers...we nick named them "Exploders" for the transfer cases. But that was in the early 90s.

We have two Fords now, an Edge Limited that my wife loves (and she had a Lexus last time) and I have a F250 Diesel (needed for towing). Both purchased slightly used and at a fraction of the price of new (we always purchased new before).

So I say to the OP, enjoy and at that price, you can swap out a couple of trannies before you start feeling that you got a bad deal.
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How do you like the F250? Is it a hassle to drive and/or maintain? Although we tow an itty-bitty trailer with the minivan now, that will not always be the case. Plus there is something vaguely attractive about stepping out of a large truck rather than climbing up from a 4 banger wagon or aging minivan...
 
brewer12345 said:
How do you like the F250? Is it a hassle to drive and/or maintain? Although we tow an itty-bitty trailer with the minivan now, that will not always be the case. Plus there is something vaguely attractive about stepping out of a large truck rather than climbing up from a 4 banger wagon or aging minivan...
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Brewer,

It's a tank! It's big and sounds nasty! But I like it and it it suits my purposes (plow, pull a goose neck horse trailer, big boat and perhaps a 5th wheel trailer in a couple of years). But I wouldn't own it as a daily driver or if you pull stuff under 7000lbs. We use the Edge for that (except for towing). Sounds like the F150 is for you, much better non-commercial all purpose truck.
 
e86s54 said:
I worked at a company who had a fleet of the early Explorers...we nick named them "Exploders" for the transfer cases. But that was in the early 90s.

We have two Fords now, an Edge Limited that my wife loves (and she had a Lexus last time) and I have a F250 Diesel (needed for towing). Both purchased slightly used and at a fraction of the price of new (we always purchased new before).

So I say to the OP, enjoy and at that price, you can swap out a couple of trannies before you start feeling that you got a bad deal.
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gimme a day or 2 and i'll post pics of the f-250 i bought 3 days ago! 2004, 24k miles ! woo hoo!:D
 
The only problem I see is it is a Ford....


I have a 2004 Explorer I bought from a sister... it works well enough but we have had a number of problems... but for now we will keep it as we do not drive it that much anymore.... only when we have to take more than 4 people... or go on a long trip...
 
funny thing is you ask 20 people and you'll get the same 'oh its a ford' 'oh, its a chevy' 'oh its a chrysler' etc...based on their personal experiences...all seems to be a wash in the end


that being said, my mf'ing rear end in my '01 f-150 with 40k miles just seized up while driving thru a parking lot...rear right wheel wont move forward, loud clunking metal-on-metal noise...not good. my guess is a new reard end is needed...my hope is its some kind of wild brake/hub situation
 
woo-hoo! 2 hours in a snow storm with some hand warmers and bacardi revealed a shattered e-brake shoe which caused all the racket and the wheel stoppage! $0 fix for now, maybe $100 in parts in the spring if i so desire
 
thefed said:
funny thing is you ask 20 people and you'll get the same 'oh its a ford' 'oh, its a chevy' 'oh its a chrysler' etc...based on their personal experiences...all seems to be a wash in the end


that being said, my mf'ing rear end in my '01 f-150 with 40k miles just seized up while driving thru a parking lot...rear right wheel wont move forward, loud clunking metal-on-metal noise...not good. my guess is a new reard end is needed...my hope is its some kind of wild brake/hub situation
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True... but did you notice that you did not put in Toyota, Honda and lately Hyundai....

History has shown that Chrysler is the worst... Ford was next and then GM.... I think Ford has improved enough to equal GM, but I have been burned enough with Fords that they will not get me back as a customer no matter how good they become... in fact, I was not thrilled about buying the Explorer from my sis... and a $1700 rear end job confirmed that... and lately we have been having a number of electrical problems that seem to move around... sometimes the cruise control decides to not work... I have had the car stall on me while driving down the street at 50 mph (only once... if it was regular I would get rid of it... that is the problem I had with my Cougar and will not live with it again)... It has drained the batter down a couple of times without us being able to figure out why... and my wife has said the fuel gauge has shown empty within a few days after she filled it up... it worked when I went to check it out...
 
Texas Proud said:
True... but did you notice that you did not put in Toyota, Honda and lately Hyundai....

History has shown that Chrysler is the worst... Ford was next and then GM.... I think Ford has improved enough to equal GM, but I have been burned enough with Fords that they will not get me back as a customer no matter how good they become... in fact, I was not thrilled about buying the Explorer from my sis... and a $1700 rear end job confirmed that... and lately we have been having a number of electrical problems that seem to move around... sometimes the cruise control decides to not work... I have had the car stall on me while driving down the street at 50 mph (only once... if it was regular I would get rid of it... that is the problem I had with my Cougar and will not live with it again)... It has drained the batter down a couple of times without us being able to figure out why... and my wife has said the fuel gauge has shown empty within a few days after she filled it up... it worked when I went to check it out...
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well the media sure tried to add toyota to the list, didnt they? I am a huge toyota fan and currently own a lexus that never even hiccups. last toyo was an avalon that hit 200k when we sold it...no issues. i wish they made a heavy duty work truck! for work trucks, ford can't be beaten, imho...ive tried them all
 
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