They got a Sport with the rear mounted tire, maintained,with 170k miles, 4x4 for only 3 grand.
http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/5709075027.html
There is also a 2000 Endeavor package and a few gen 3 locally.
I went with a friend and we drove this yesterday. The owner claims to have owned it for a month, and bought it on impulse. It seemed to be mechanically sound, except it had a hard time staying straight on the road. He was including the tie-rod ends with the vehicle. The engine dripped a very small amount of oil... a quarter-size drop every 3-4 days according to owner, but it looked clean and well-sorted under the hood. It had two new rear tires, and the fronts were still decent.
The problem was that we found broken window glass in tucked in the carpeting under the seats, so one or more windows had been smashed in the past, and the carpeting had gotten soaked with either rainwater, or.... (I'm not claiming it was ever in a flood, but Houston has been under water several times in the last few months). The carpeting was orange/brown stained, and there was clearly some sort of scent/spray in there. It reminded me of the chemical spray used to inhibit mold/milder growth.
I think it would be a great 2nd vehicle.
I don't think I'm going to make hime an offer because of the interior issues. I have a kid who'd be back there occasionally, and I don't want to worry about them finding glass fragments or mold/mildew.
