Hey all, just joined today. I've always wanted to have an Excursion and now I think I'm finally ready to buy. I'm looking for a 4x4 diesel to be my daily driver here in the foohills outside of Denver. I'm new to the Ford/Powerstroke world, but not to the diesel world (PO of a '06 Ram 2500 Cummins).

I've joined to learn what to look for as I start my search. I'm trying to stay under $15k, so that means the mileage on these beasts will likely be 175k+.

 

The tech folder will be friend. You can choose the reliable 7.3 or the ill 6.0. There's a lot of great guys and girls to help you along with your search of the King of the roads SUV. Good luck

 

Welcome! and good luck with your search. I recently got me a '00 7.3 PSTD. In my search I had seen (online) a few in the Denver area. If you can spread your search southward, there are some good deals to be had in TX. Take your time and find the one that talks to you

 

Doing nationwide online searches, I've also noticed that California prices are not bad for Excursions. Often lower that the rest of the country, and a day's travel from Colorado.

 

Look in the "Craigslist find of the day" thread here in this forum. We regularly post local (good) finds in there. There are more Excursions in Texas than anywhere else. No rust here, either, if it spent its life here.

 

Thanks everybody for the tips. I was originally doing a local search, but after reading the comments I expanded to a nationwide search. It appears some of the better deals IMO are actually the local ones.

2003 Eddie Bauer - Local
Cars for Sale: Used 2003 Ford Excursion in 4WD Eddie Bauer, Parker CO: 80134 Details - Sport Utility - Autotrader

2005 Eddie Bauer - Local
Cars for Sale: Used 2005 Ford Excursion in 4WD Eddie Bauer, Golden CO: 80401 Details - Sport Utility - Autotrader

2004 Limited - Local
Cars for Sale: Used 2004 Ford Excursion in 4WD Limited, Parker CO: 80134 Details - Sport Utility - Autotrader

2004 Eddie Bauer - Las Vegas
Cars for Sale: Used 2004 Ford Excursion in 4WD Eddie Bauer, Las Vegas NV: 89146 Details - Sport Utility - Autotrader

Of these I'd lean towards the local 2005 EB and the 2004 EB in Vegas. my concern with the local one is its had 5 owners according to the CarFax, however it looks like it has been well maintained.

 

A 6.uh-oh that has had 5 owners is a major red flag.

 

When I started looking I had read an overview of the Excursions on edmunds.com that at the end suggested looking for an 04-05 with the 6.0. Did that article lead me astray? Should I be looking for a 7.3L instead?

 

I;ve had both a 6.0 and 7.3 and I liked my 6.0 better but there are some issues to cover to make sure its bulletproof. I never had an issue with my 6.0 and I owned it 11 years and put 200k miles on it. There are plenty of folks who will tell you they are junk but most of those folks either had a lemon or just like regurgitating information they read somewhere with no real experience.

 

How do you know if something has been bulletproofed?

 

If they have record of the work, EGR delete, maybe headstuds and definately coolant swap to ELC red. The ford gold coolant will clog the oil cooler which leads to $$$$.

 

It has head studs, EGR deleted and the oil cooler redone at minimum.

The fact that 05 6.uh-oh has changed hands so many times indicates a problem. Something is not right with that rig. Could be warped heads or it needs the block machined from being overheated. Could be someone chipped it, overheated it and it just isn't the same anymore. Many things to speculate on, but I would be looking for a ONE OWNER 6.0 that you have a maintenance history and PROOF of everything done in your hand. If you don't you are easily looking at the potential for a $6,000+ repair bill shortly after buying it.

 

Thats a low number probably.

 

I got mine in Denver!! After I searched for about a year or so. I had just given up and was going to buy a truck when I looked one last time on Craigslist and there she was, just calling my name. Good luck in your search and welcome to the forums!

 

Welcome to the forums and good luck as I am in the same boat ....SEARCHING.