Ford Expedition advice

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
2nd gen, right? I like those wheels. It would be interesting to see a 2nd or 3rd gen Expedition build. Given the low prices I think they are a great "sleeper" vehicle with lots of potential. If I hadn't already decided that my next vehicle will be a pickup, I'd seriously consider an Expedition or Expedition EL.
 

al_burpe

Observer
2nd gen, right? I like those wheels. It would be interesting to see a 2nd or 3rd gen Expedition build. Given the low prices I think they are a great "sleeper" vehicle with lots of potential. If I hadn't already decided that my next vehicle will be a pickup, I'd seriously consider an Expedition or Expedition EL.
It is a 2nd generation, 2005. With a baby coming in the next two weeks it probably be a little while before getting much done to it.
 

boss324

Observer
Just to update this thread, I sold my Frontier this week and now have cash available to purchase a new family rig. We went and looked at cars today. We brought our daughter along as well as her current car seat and the car seat her new baby sister will ride in for the first year or so of her life. I wanted to pass on my observations for anyone in the same boat that I am in with two kids in rear facing car seats. We tested them in a 2004 Suburban, 2005 Armada, and 2005 Expedition.

Suburban - We ruled this one out before even driving it due to the way the car seats fit in it. On the Armada and Expedition, the second row is made up of three sections. On the Suburban, it is a 60-40 split or something close to that. Unfortunately, the 40 side is behind the passenger seat. This means that if you want to have 2 car seats in the middle seat and still access the third row, you have to have a seat behind the drivers seat. The Suburban was the least well laid out of the three and in order to have the seat behind the drivers seat, I had to have the drivers seat slide forward more than I was comfortable with. The actual seat itself was the most comfortable of the three however. The third row was also the hardest to get into of the three. The Suburban felt like it had the least amount of cabin space of the three. The main advantage to the Suburban was if you need to have passengers in the third row, it has by far the most amount of cargo space available.

Armada - The Armada had plenty of space in the second row for the two car seats and could have the front row all the back and still fit the seats. It was also easy to access the third row. The third row was the worst of the three however. I found the front driver's seat to be very comfortable, but the placement of the armrest was very awkward. The armrest was not comfortable to me, but the center console was not at a level where I could comfortably rest my arm on it either. We only test drove the Armada and the Expedition. In terms of driving, I would give a slight edge to the Armada in quickness and handling. The steering is a bit tighter and feels like you are driving a sportier vehicle. We only belted in the car seat in the middle, but I did find that it was more difficult to get it sitting properly due to the placement of the middle seat belt. This might only be particular to our car seat and other models might be better.

Expedition - Like the Armada, there was a ton of room in the Expedition in the second row. You could have both front seats all the way back and still be fine with the car seats in. We strapped one car seat into the middle ,and it did sit much better and was easier with the seat belt than in the Armada. The third row was the easiest to access and by far the most comfortable for an adult. It did drive nice and had good acceleration. It was little slower than the Armada, but there wasn't a huge difference. The driver's seat was comfortable as well and the center console made for a good armrest. One small thing it had that was a nice feature was a drop down mirror on the ceiling so the front passengers could view what was happening in the rest of the car which the other two vehicles did not have. Price wise, the Expedition was also the cheapest of the three even though it had 25K fewer miles. We felt like the Expedition would meet our needs the best and be the best family vehicle for us. I know I was leaning that way to start, but did feel like I gave the other vehicles a fair shot. Unfortunately, I was not able to test a Sequoia as well. Now we just have to decide if we want to go with one of the available Expeditions in town or wait until a better deal comes along.

I hope this might be of some help to others who have the same considerations as my family.
The Suburban solid rear axle is why it's designed this way and the other options feel like they have more space. Get yourself a leveling kit to fit 33" tires and it will take you a lot of places!

Sent from my K92 using Tapatalk
 

Judge Mills

New member
Good to see an Expedition on here, especially an 05'! Mine has around 155k miles, and have never had a problem. Last summer I changed one spark plug. After 6 hours of that, I drove it to my trusted mechanic to change the other 7. Ha! This week I installed a lift in the rear. I think the previous owner installed a leveling kit on the front, as it was much higher than the rear. Here's my before and after:
e367bf81387f603a7a6eecae31a89bd7.jpg


Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk
 

al_burpe

Observer
After two weeks of ownership, I have discovered another common problem with these vehicles if anyone is researching to buy one. A couple days after purchasing, I kept coming out to a dead battery. I had the battery and alternator checked and both were fine. I checked all switches to make sure everything was off, but the problem persisted. After doing research on parasitic battery draw, I found that on the 2003-2007 model Expeditions that they have a problem with the rear wiper. Something happens to the rear wiper to prevent it from returning to the fully parked position. It will then constantly try to park itself and this causes the battery to drain even when the vehicle is shut off. I pulled the fuse for the rear windshield wiper, and this is a good temporary fix. I also posted a negative review of the car dealer where I bought it as they told me I was on my own to fix it. After the negative review, the owner of the dealership called me and offered to fix it for free. They put a new motor and wiper on it, and that seems to have fixed the problem.
 

al_burpe

Observer
I thought I would update this after a year and a half of ownership. I had nothing but problems with the Expedition and sold it when the latest issue came up. It needed the rear differential replaced after 4 months and that wasn't because I was doing crazy off road things with it. After a year and a half, the cam phasers went out and the transmission started leaking. It had 139,000 on it at the time. I wasn't willing to dump more money into it, so I decided to trip it. Anyway, the mystery as to why the resale value is so low on Expeditions was solved for me. For someone with more mechanical skills and time than me, the issues might not had been as big of a deal.
 

al_burpe

Observer
Should have bought a 1st gen. Those 2nd gens were problematic.
You are probably right. I will say that I really liked the fold flat third row. It was super useful to be able to keep the seats down and be able to easily open them when needed. Had I had the budget, I should have bought a 2nd gen Sequoia.
 

al_burpe

Observer
That’s too bad. What did you replace it with?
Don't laugh, I replaced it with an ebike for the time being. We are making due as a one car family while we save some funds. Our one car for the time being is a Jeep Compass. The plan is to see if we really have a need for two cars. We have gone 2.5 months so far with me commuting on my ebike. The end of this year we plan on getting rid of the Compass for something bigger. Not sure what we will replace it with. Leaning towards something Toyota or Lexus.

On a separate note, I love my ebike. I work in an office and need to dress in slacks and button up shirt. I have two kids under the age of 4 so I don't have time for the hassle of regular bike commuting. On my ebike, I wear my office clothes and show up ready to work without being all sweaty. I live in Pennsylvania so the winter riding hasn't been as much fun, but still very much doable. It gets me out of the car in the outside which I really like.
 

al_burpe

Observer
And get 12mpg. My father has a Tahoe that’s been very reliable. Mostly commutes and road trips while pulling an 8k lb trailer. Gets ~22mpg Highway.
The Expedition got about 14 combined, so not much difference between that and the Sequoia.
 

phsycle

Adventurer
Don't laugh, I replaced it with an ebike for the time being. We are making due as a one car family while we save some funds. Our one car for the time being is a Jeep Compass. The plan is to see if we really have a need for two cars. We have gone 2.5 months so far with me commuting on my ebike. The end of this year we plan on getting rid of the Compass for something bigger. Not sure what we will replace it with. Leaning towards something Toyota or Lexus.

On a separate note, I love my ebike. I work in an office and need to dress in slacks and button up shirt. I have two kids under the age of 4 so I don't have time for the hassle of regular bike commuting. On my ebike, I wear my office clothes and show up ready to work without being all sweaty. I live in Pennsylvania so the winter riding hasn't been as much fun, but still very much doable. It gets me out of the car in the outside which I really like.

I sometimes commute to work on my Vespa. Even in rain, it’s got enough fender coverage I don’t get too wet. Ebike would also be fun but too expensive for me. Scooters are <$1k.

I’d put in a vote for a Subaru Outback. H6 and 4EAT (5-sp auto) for 2010-2012 models. No third row but second row is extremely spacious and gets great MPG.
 

al_burpe

Observer
I sometimes commute to work on my Vespa. Even in rain, it’s got enough fender coverage I don’t get too wet. Ebike would also be fun but too expensive for me. Scooters are <$1k.

I’d put in a vote for a Subaru Outback. H6 and 4EAT (5-sp auto) for 2010-2012 models. No third row but second row is extremely spacious and gets great MPG.
My bike was about $1,400. For where I live, it was the right decision for me. I get to take a bike path most of the way and don't have to ride on the busy streets at 40 MPH in the dead of winter. An ebike doesn't require insurance or registration either, so not as much on going cost as a scooter.
 

malibubts

Adventurer
I thought I would update this after a year and a half of ownership. I had nothing but problems with the Expedition and sold it when the latest issue came up. It needed the rear differential replaced after 4 months and that wasn't because I was doing crazy off road things with it. After a year and a half, the cam phasers went out and the transmission started leaking. It had 139,000 on it at the time. I wasn't willing to dump more money into it, so I decided to trip it. Anyway, the mystery as to why the resale value is so low on Expeditions was solved for me. For someone with more mechanical skills and time than me, the issues might not had been as big of a deal.

That’s a bummer. The Cam Phasers on those 5.4L engines are no joke. My parents bought an ‘07 new as a family hauler and lost the engine due to that problem maybe like 1,000 miles past the warranty. Somehow they got Ford to put I a new crate engine for just the cost of labor, after that the thing ran great up to about 250k and they traded it in 6 months ago just to get into something newer.
 

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