Need a little help selecting a new (used) vehicle

[HighPlainsPhotographer]

I'm looking for a few suggestions in my quest to acquire a new to me expo-type vehicle. I'm looking to replace my 2000 7.3l 2wd Excursion. We love this truck, but having moved into the mountains a few years ago. we are finding it no longer fits our lifestyle, we need another 4x4. The Ex sits for six months of the year because of it's lack of winter driving abilities. The Excursion was purchased to pull our 5k gross camping trailer and to use as our family road trip vehicle. It also serves as our utility vehicle for hauling large items or pulling a trailer full of firewood. It has served the purpose very well and is going to be missed.

I will be selling out-right or trading in the Excursion on the "new" vehicle. Trade in value is about $7k, retail close to $9k. I do not want to spend over $10k on the new truck. It must have three rows of seats, be able to easily tow our trailer in the Colorado mountains, be able to do some mild off roading - expo style. I will outfit this vehicle for self sustained off road travel. We would like to have other camping/travel possibilities, the travel trailer is nice but does not allow us to explore off the beaten path. I will need room for 3 kids, 1 dog and the assorted crap a family takes on adventure and travel. This truck would also serve as our family road trip/vacation vehicle, highway manners are important. The wife will also use it to cart the kids around.

I have been thinking of the following vehicles; 1996 - 2006 K1500/K2500 Suburban; 4x4 V10 Excursion; 1999-2002 Expedition. I looked at a nice K2500 7.4l Sub yesterday - 96k miles, in very good condition $5500. I'm a little concerned about the long term reliability of the GM vehicles. Not sure if I want another Ex as the size limits where it will go, we really like our Ex though. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[wirenut]

Why did you limit your choices on Suburbands to the 2006 model year? Don't like the new body? If you like the Ex I would think a 4 x 4 version would be a great choice. Certainly a 2500 Sub. would also fit the need. If you're concerned about the size you could look at a Tahoe with the 3rd row of seats. That would be a bit smaller than the sub.
I'm a GM guy but I hate '90s GM trucks. Not that they're that bad, I just don't like the look of the outside, inside, dash, etc. Also, the brakes weren't the best.
I would recommend a '00 and up Tahoe or Sub. If you can find a Sub. with the 8.1L big block I would get it. It's an excellent engine: quiet, smooth, powerful, just uses gas. However, given your vehicle choices and intended use I'm guessing fuel mileage isn't high on the priority list.
You might think about a 4 x 4 van too. They are super cool. I wish I could think of a good reason to have one. Chevy offered their 1500 van with AWD for a while. Maybe they still do.

 

[HighPlainsPhotographer]

Why did you limit your choices on Suburbands to the 2006 model year? Don't like the new body? If you like the Ex I would think a 4 x 4 version would be a great choice. Certainly a 2500 Sub. would also fit the need. If you're concerned about the size you could look at a Tahoe with the 3rd row of seats. That would be a bit smaller than the sub.
I'm a GM guy but I hate '90s GM trucks. Not that they're that bad, I just don't like the look of the outside, inside, dash, etc. Also, the brakes weren't the best.
I would recommend a '00 and up Tahoe or Sub. If you can find a Sub. with the 8.1L big block I would get it. It's an excellent engine: quiet, smooth, powerful, just uses gas. However, given your vehicle choices and intended use I'm guessing fuel mileage isn't high on the priority list.
You might think about a 4 x 4 van too. They are super cool. I wish I could think of a good reason to have one. Chevy offered their 1500 van with AWD for a while. Maybe they still do.

Thanks for the reply.

I was limiting the GM offerings to 2006 mainly based on price, I do not want to exceed $10k. I have looked into a 4x conversion on the Ex, though I consider myself mechanically inclined, it is beyond my technical ability and cost prohibitive. It would be cheaper to sell the current Ex and buy another, I'm not sure I can justify the extra cost of a diesel as we will not put a lot of miles on this truck, it will not be a daily driver. I will check out the 2000+ Subs and Tahoe's, there are a bunch on my local craigslist. Any thoughts on the GM 5.3 and 6.0L's? How about the reliability and strong/weak points of the 2000-2006 K1500/K2500 running gear/suspension? I know the 8.1 would make for a killer tow vehicle, there do not seem to be too many around in Subs though. And no, I'm not overly concerned about fuel mileage. More is better, but less is not a deal breaker. I'm more after function and reliability as I tend to keep my vehicles for an extended period of time. I also do not want to have to worry about break down's in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Raul B]

why not just do a 4wd conversion on the excursion? its super easy. and actually there is a guy selling a front axle from a 2001 superduty that would fit your needs flike like 250.00. you could do the 4wd conversion for about 1500 dollars at the most..

 

[EricU]

I will be selling out-right or trading in the Excursion on the "new" vehicle. Trade in value is about $7k, retail close to $9k. I do not want to spend over $10k on the new truck. It must have three rows of seats, be able to easily tow our trailer in the Colorado mountains, be able to do some mild off roading - expo style. I will outfit this vehicle for self sustained off road travel. We would like to have other camping/travel possibilities, the travel trailer is nice but does not allow us to explore off the beaten path. I will need room for 3 kids, 1 dog and the assorted crap a family takes on adventure and travel. This truck would also serve as our family road trip/vacation vehicle, highway manners are important. The wife will also use it to cart the kids around.
.
I have been thinking of the following vehicles; 1996 - 2006 K1500/K2500 Suburban; 4x4 V10 Excursion; 1999-2002 Expedition. I looked at a nice K2500 7.4l Sub yesterday - 96k miles, in very good condition $5500. I'm a little concerned about the long term reliability of the GM vehicles. Not sure if I want another Ex as the size limits where it will go, we really like our Ex though. Any thoughts or suggestions?

.
I have just kind of gone through (am still going through) the same thing. I have a '01 7.3L F250 4x4 that I have had since new and now has about 180,000 mi. on it but just doesn't seat enough teenagers while towing our 7,000 lb boat.
.
Last year I picked up a super clean two tone loaded (for the time) '90 suburban 1/2 ton 4x4, put some new rims, Michelins and a stereo in it. This one seats the kids fine, but with the early 90's small block and the heavy boat, just doesn't have enough grunt to it. I then thought I would go purchase a new Suburban and be done with it, until I found out, Chevy only has the 5.2L gas motor, not enough towing capacity and cost as much as a diesel truck! That was a NO-GO.
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So then I started looking around for a clean old Excursion 4x4 with lower mileage, well they must be made out of gold as they are selling for wayyy tooo much $25k to $30k for one with less than 100k miles.
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So I bought two more work trucks and will keep looking for a nice clean old 4x4 Excursion.
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BTW, stay away from the older Ford Expeditions, I had an '02 4x4 with the 5.4L gas motor which had no torque, when you stepped on the gas, it didn't go any faster, just made noise and burned more fuel!!

• I would look around for a 4x4 Excursion or see if an F250 (add a shell) would fit the bill.

 

[HighPlainsPhotographer]

Thanks for the continued feedback.

The 4x conversion on my Ex is not in the cards, I just do not have the time and space to deal with it. From my research it is somewhat involved as there are many differences between the 2wd and 4wd trucks. If I went this route, i would want to do a manual trans conversion too, and that just further complicates things. So, no conversion for me.

Thanks for the advice on the 5.4l Expedition.

I have spent a bunch of time researching this, I think I am nest of sticking with a 3/4 ton or heavier truck. This leaves me to a K2500 Sub an Excursion or possibly a crew cab pickup. Most of the trucks I have found are beat to death and high mileage, especially if you want a 7.3l Ford.

I have located a low mileage 05' K2500 Sub, 8.1l. It is about $3k out of my budget, I could a few more $$ if I think this is the truck for me. Owner is on vacation in FL, returning Friday. I'm in no hurry so I think I'm going to check it out later this week. Any common issues I should be aware of with these trucks? The last GM vehicle I owned was a 96' Tahoe, it has been awhile

 

[wirenut]

That sounds like a great find. I hope you can somehow close the budget gap. The 8.1L I had was almost as powerful as my '05 Duramax. Almost.
I have a friend with a 1500 Sub. and the 5.3 V8. He pulls a 29 foot camper with his wife and 3 kids in the cab. It does a nice job of it really. I rode with him once when it was 4 guys going on a camping trip. I was really impressed with how it pulled. It was no big block or diesel of course but not too bad.
The GM 6.0 gas engine has been around for a long time and has had very few if any problems. That would certainly be the best GM V8 currently available in my opinion. I had one in a '02 2500 2wd. The truck was a work truck and weighed about 9,000 loaded with tools. It did really well pulling my 5,000 pound job trailer.
I just finished a 900 mile trip driving my Dad's '09 Tahoe with the 5.3. We averaged almost 19 MPG with it loaded full of the family, dog, and Christmas presents. I think that's pretty impressive mileage.

 

[GDSQDCR]

GM's 5.3 is a great engine! First, I will say that I love my Fords and I think the 7.3 PSD is a pretty much bullet proof engine. With that said, I have been very surprised with my 5.3 in my 04 Sierra. We bought her with 50K on the clock and she has 172K on her now. I had to replace the knock sensors and the water pump. The knock sensors were do to traveling through a river with water rolling over the top of the hood (probably should not have done that!). The knock sensors are in the intake valley on the top and are not sealed from the factory. Once sealed, no more worries. The water pump started to seep at 125K. I did the tune up at 100K per GM instructions. I average 15-16 in my 80 mile commute through San Francisco. We originally thought that the truck, would be dead by the time it got to 120K or so .. and now we are taking it on a road trip this 6K miles road trip this summer.

I will echo the other comments on the 5.4 Excursions, DON'T DO IT! Underpowered, gutless slugs. Diesel is the only way to go in an Excursion.

I can not speak to your other questions, so I am done.