My wife is wanting to get an Excursion. We are looking at the years 2000-2002 so we can find something and pay cash for. We arent very picky about the options. Leather would be nice but not a must have. T.V. up top for the kids but can be added later. As far as engines, she doesnt really want diesel (we already have an 05 F250 6.0) so that leaves the 5.4 and the V10. How many miles would be considered too many to deal with on these engines. Is one engine more reliable than the other? I would assume that the V10 would be more economical just for the fact that it takes less power to move the big vehicle. I am not the best mechanic but have tackled some issues on the 6.0 so my next question would be which of these engines is easier to maintain or work on? If we found a price good enough I myself would consider the 7.3 but it would be a last resort. We have been scouring CL to try to find a good cheap ($8500 or less) but well maintained Excursion. There are 2 on there in the Dallas, Texas area, one having 239,000 miles on the V10 and another V10 having a whopping 750,000 but you have to call for the price. Both of these vehicles "look" clean but Im not saying Im considering them. Have seen several with mileage in the 130,000-180,000 range but dont know if that is too high. Thanks to all you knowledgeable Excursion owners. Hopefully one day soon we will be joining the ranks.

 

just depending on how well with these EX's were taken care off during its lifetime. there are some EX owners here past the 200k mark and still going strong. its basically a gamble buying something with high miles with no proof of service records/receipts. even then its still a high mile vehicle. best bet is to just stick to your guns and hold off on a low mile one for a good price..

p.s. check your PM box

 

For the best selectioon, give Ebay a try and have the one you like inspected by a local shop before buying it.

 

FWIW, I picked up a 2000 Limited V10 that is very clean with 112K on it for $7K about a month ago. There are deals around, I think I got a pretty good deal, I would not have been as interested if it had way more miles on it.

My last Ford, 1997 F250, started to have little things go around 130K, then it was every 5K something would break and it would be a couple hundred to repair. What I am saying is I wouldn't want to get started at 180K. The things I had to replace on the F250 were not a big deal: frost plug blew out and dumped all the coolant, breaks failed, starter went, cat got clogged up and needed to be gutted, gas tank rusted and leaked. These were each around $200 to fix. However each one of these problems needed immediate attention and the truck could not be driven until fixed.

 

I've got vehicles with both the 5.4L and 6.8L engines. If they're well maintained (regular oil change, kept cool) they'll run a long time...

192K on the '97 V8, F150 daily driver,
86K on the '00 V10, Excursion.

I bought the F150 new and in 14 years have put plugs, several COPS, water pump, and radiator in her. It's an outstanding motor with even the bolt on items holding up better than anyone has a right to expect. It should hit 200,000 miles later this year.

I bought the Excursion used a year ago and did put a torque converter in her. That's the only repair money in her so far. It is absolutely the smoothest motor that I've ever owned. In town gas mileage is poor and the only reason that I don't drive it daily.

I wouldn't be afraid of buying a used vehicle with either motor, but I would be careful of high mileage motors. And the 5.4 will give you better gas mileage. By about 20%.

 

I bought my '03 X with 160k miles on it in January 2011 for $7500. Since then I have put all 4 brake calipers/pads, 4 shocks, all new COPs/boots/plugs (had 2 COPs go bad in 1 week so decided to do all of them), belt idler pulley, power steering pump, rear driveshaft u-joints, air and fuel filters, and a trans flush. I did all the work myself except I did have a shop scan it when I was having COP problems. It is going to need ball joints this year. It now has ~181k on it.

As for the engine/tranny, they both work as well as I could ask, it will still out tow my friend's '06 2500HD 6.0 with 4.10s and 58k miles. This is my first Triton engine, after a handful of Ford diesels and I have been impressed.

The bottom line is, you may have some repairs to do on a higher miles vehicle, but you may on a lower mile car that was neglected as well. If you can do your own work, i would not be afraid of a high mile truck, but if you are at the mercy of a mechanic I might think twice about it and just get a newer truck with a payment and maybe even a warranty.

Good luck.

 

I just looked at a 00 V10 with 82k on it for $7500. It was a screaming good deal for the mileage but it just felt... worn... not to mention there was mad scientist wiring back by the hitch. Also missing the third seat... My point is there are deals to be had for lower mileage ones. There is an 02 XLT V10 with leather for sale near me for $9995 and also 82k miles which is also very good. I would jump on that one except I'm still not sure about V10 vs a PSD for my needs and also the fact that I need to wait until after tax returns which I should have back in a month...

I'm also wondering about the mileage thing too, I'm going to need to finance my Ex so likely going to have to be under 100k but my bank (USAA) has stated that as long as the vehicle still books for at least the value of the loan I'm asking for I can finance even a 00 or 01. I see a LOT of nice looking Excursions in the 120-130k mileage range and immediately disqualify them just on past experience with higher mileage vehicles. Should I re-think this? My gut says to just hold out until a really nice one comes along with low mileage and then jump on it but I also realize that these vehicles are getting harder and harder to find with low miles and when you do there are like 20 other ppl trying to buy it already it seems. I guess beggars can't be choosers?

 

I had not problem buying my '04 with 154k on it. On start up from sitting cold, she just purred. That is what convinced me. Plus she was fleet maintained with records. Not a single issue on record with the driveline. Only common wear items like brakes, u-joints and ball joints/suspension. Ford build the modular gas motors 5.4 an 6.8 real good.

 

Scotty -- Are you still on active duty? (Salute!)

I bought my '00 Excursion with 76k miles for $8K a year ago. I knew that that was a bit high, but it was a low mileage V10 with a perfect interior. There are a few dings/scratches on the finish, but Excursions are hard to find in these parts and I considered the extra up-front money an investment into something that I expect to own for a long time.

I guess I love the Ex. I've put 11,000 miles on her in a year. That's usually my TOTAL driving for a year and the F150 is still my daily driver.

 

The 6.8 is identical to the 5.4 just with two more cylinders added to the middle. So repairs are identical you just have two more cylinders to deal with.

 

Good information guys. I would expect to have to deal with some "issues" being a used vehicle that is roughly 10 or so years old. I have had to do a few things on our 6.0 so I believe I could tackle most tasks. Us being new to the world of Excursions we dont really know the flaws that these vehicles have especially the mechanical issues that each engine has had.I have heard about spark plug issues but other than that I dont really know like on the V8 one thing is an issue or the V10 it has its own issue. We will not be towing anything with it, basically it will be just a kid hauler/grocery getter/vacation taker. My wife has a 97 Suburban that we are fixing to get rid of to make room for an Excursion. With three kids she already said that she didnt want to downsize from the Suburban and after driving our F250 she fell in love with how much safer it felt. And with the Excursion being basically our F250 with a shell she was hooked on the idea of finding one. 4X4 isnt really a necessity but if we find one in our price range that meets the standard itll surely be considered. About the only thing she is really picky on is color but thankfully she has about 3 choices she wants to stick with. Other conveniences that again arent necessary but on the list is leather and a tv for the kids. That would probably put us in the Limited category. Thanks again for all your responses and I know that when we find the right one that I have a good background of info here at FTE.

 

The years you are looking at suffer from lack of spark plug threads and they can blowout. Its not a big deal just keep them torqued and it will never be an issue.

 

Yeah I am active still, probably going to do 20 if nothing else to have a non-fixed income for the rest of my life starting at 42yrs old lol. And wow 11,000 miles on a V10 in a year... ouch...

You just gotta REALLY watch with the torque, a ton of problems with the spark plugs are from blowing out OR from people not using torque wrenches and just german torquing the spark plugs and stripping the threads out.

 

The 6.0 f250 vs the 6.0 excursion are two different htings. Check out a diesel excursion, before writing it off your list. I'm at 210k and still going strong.

 

The 2000 had a transmission diode issue. Others with the issue/model years can elaborate. Don't rule out a newer one in your search. Some times you find them comparably priced.