Any Ford Excursion owners?

My wife and I are about to adopt 2 kiddos to add to our 2 biological children and I will be ditching my truck for a road tripping people hauler that can fit all of our crap in it. I really like the new Expedition Max but they have jumped substantially in price. A quick search finds lots of nice used options on the old body style so that's pretty much what I had settled on.


Then I found a unicorn...A friend of a friend is ready to let go of a 2002 7.3 Excursion. It is absolutely bone stock with 89,000 miles and is probably the nicest interior I've seen on a 16 year old vehicle outside of a museum. I know the 7.3 is rock solid but I do have concerns about buying a 16 year old Ford. Anything I should be prepared for? Anything preventative I should do? Should I just stick with one of the many nicely optioned 2-3 year old sub 40,000 mile Expeditions out there? FWIW I have absolutely no need for the 7.3.


...yes I checked Excursion forums and 7.3 forums but they all put this thing on a bigger pedestal than I have or want to build the motor to 11. I just want something we can load everybody and everything in and drive 1,500 miles comfortably.

 

My ex-BIL has a 2002 (or 3002), not sure which, that has well over 250,000 miles on it. I saw him about a year and a half ago and he was at 250,000 and change. Last I heard he still has it and drives it regularly. It saw lots of boat hauling duty when I was married to his sister. He was always on top of any and all maintenance, so I can't comment on a neglected unit. If it was taken care of, and his is any indication, I'd say go for the one you've got a line on.

 

If you're coming from a half ton, it'll be a horrible daily driver. If you're currently driving a ten year old or so 3/4ton, it'll feel like home. I thought I wanted one and found them to be horrible to drive. The Suburban 2500 was miles and miles better to drive if you need a big 3 row tow vehicle.

 

My best friend has had 2 of them. They were his daily drivers and I spent MANY a miles as a passenger and a few as a driver. I dunno, I wasn't crazy about driving it, though that might be the result of him not being particularly diligent with maintenance on it and the truck feeling slopping at the controls. I'd have to imagine that a clean and well maintained one would be a decent enough multi-purpose rig to have around, especially with that monster diesel engine in it (apparently chipped they make an obscene amount of torque).

 

I wouldn't mind the ride but I am worried about the wife. My personal truck is a 1/2 ton but my company truck, which is pretty much my daily, is a crew cab long bed 1 ton...I'm used to the ride and trying to park a freight train at the grocery store. This would mainly be for road trips with a weeks worth of stuff in the truck. Soon my truck won't have enough seats. My wife's Pathfinder has enough room to handle around town duty for all of us but the"cargo" room with the 3rd row up is nonexistent. I've thought about one of those boxes that attaches to the roof and a hitch hauler but I don't think that would be quite enough room. Our biggest trip is about 10 days in Colorado for Musicfest, the ski gear and other stuff we bring easily fills the bed of my F-150. The only towing duty this would see might be a boat that a modern 1/2 ton can pull with ease.

 

I don't know anything about them other than the fact they have a solid cult following. If you can get that unicorn for a decent price go for it- you'll likely always be able to get your $$ back or make a few bucks on it. Personally- I'd be looking for an '08+ Sequoia.

 

If you're not stuck on an SUV there's lots of van options too.

 

That crossed my mind, I figured they were pretty close to bottoming out on price and with my company truck I'll keep the miles pretty low.

 

My wife tried to turn the tables on me because I did everything I could to get her to buy A sienna or Odyssey when we got her Pathfinder. They don't get you any cool pints but they sure are great for hauling kids and stuff around. I work in the oilfield and when the company truck is in the shop I have to take my personal truck to location. I can risk having to do that...none of my hands would listen to anything I tell them ever again.

 

i've got 190,000 on my 2005 6.0L excursion, rear wheel drive (not 4x4). I also have 89,000 on a 2013 f150 platinum 4x4. the newer truck drives nicer , for sure, but it's not a 3/4 ton truck.

if price is a factor on not buying a newer diesel, i would not hesitate to buy a 100,000+ mile 6.0L especially if it's been "bullet proofed" (about $3500-4000 if done right). i think you will find polar view on this motor, but the 6.0 is a good motor, if it hadn't been chipped or modded, and especially if bp'd. Even with the arp studs, i understand you can still have issues if you add lots of power. Leave em close to stock? will run 300k easy. still a lot of em on the road.

Just replaced some sway bar bushings and wheel bearings, and 2 pulleys (one pulley bearing went last weekend, luckily before i got on teh interstate). Injectors were good (may need to replace at 250,000).
the 7.3 is sought after for sure. Drive it, see what ya think. the new 250's and 350's drive really nice (but have a $60k+ price tag)

 

My daily driver is an '06 Sienna... it sure is useful but far from a pleasure to drive. I was suggesting a full size van for all the people and stuff you want to carry. There are a ton of Transits on the used market these days (though passenger versions are less prevalent) and they're getting down to affordable levels. The traditional E series and the like are a dime a dozen, but the newer ones drive a thousand times better.

 

I had a 1999 F-250 with the 7.3 liter diesel. That engine was absolutely bullet proof. I racked up over 300,000 incident free miles by the time I sold it.

 

Not a minivan, a man van. E350 with nice conversion job done to it.

 

I’ve seen one a few times in my area. Not really sure what it is but it’s diesel and jacked up. No clue what it’s like inside but the outside definitely caught my eye. I imagine you are better off finding one that somebody else converted, building it from the ground up would be exponentially expensive I’m sure.

 

That’s the stuff I’m trying to get a feel for. What is going to go wrong on 16 year old ~10,000 lb truck? Being an older diesel I think it’s safe to assume likely fewer problems but when they do come up they are going to be hella expensive.

 

GO BUY THE 7.3 RFN!!! The 7.3 requires MINIMAL maintenance and will run strong for 100's of 1,000's of miles more. I just borrowed my fathers 7.3 Excursion for a family vacation with 6 peeps and all the luggage, coolers etc. Has nearly 300K miles on it. He put in a stereo, changes oil, fuel filers and tires. That's it.

Oh, and get like 18mpg.

 

Depends on your budget and tollerance for used trucks. There were a lot of van conversion compaines pre2008 crash. That were pumping out nicely appointed 150/250/350 conversions.

 

The motor won't be your issue. It'll be all the other BS: front end work, rust, window motors, sunroof motors, stereo speakers, dash lights, seat heaters, trim pieces, rear heat/ac lines, frozen calipers, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc (I know that's a lot of etc's).

Plus everything in it will be old/low tech.

Go buy a new minivan It'll have the latest and greatest of everything, cameras out the ass, even a built in vacuum. It'll be safer too. I think they have like 50 airbags in them now. You can drive off a 100ft cliff and the landing will be like jumping into a feather bed.

 

That's a lot of miles on a truck that won't be built for another 1000 years...

 

https://www.caranddriver.com/flipbook/best-boxes-every-minivan-ranked-from-worst-to-best#1

https://www.caranddriver.com/review...da-odyssey-2017-toyota-sienna-comparison-test