Hello everyone, I was wandering if I may get some advice on this nearly mint conditioned ford excursion that I was thinking about purchasing. It is an eddie bauer 2005 ford excursion with a 6.0 powerstroke diesel and also the truck is 4x4 and with 40,000 miles. They are asking for a price of 30K. I am thinking of trading in my 2013 Nissan Altima for it and was wandering if this would be a good decision. Is the 30k price a good asking price for it? What about the 6.0 powerstroke? We had a few issues with a previous 2005 6.0? Have they ironed out the issues with the engine? The truck looks like it's brand new but the engine makes me a little nervous although I'm a big fan of Ford Excursions (I've went through three of them and currently have one with a 5.4 Triton gasser.).

 

Seems high to me, I'd have to pass on this one seeing as how it's overpriced AND has the 6.0.

 

Unfortunately that is the correct retail price accoding to KBB....

The 6.0 is really nothing to be afraid of, the big thing is keeping up on maintenance:

-Fresh Oil
-Clean Fuel
-Motorcraft Filters

Keep things changed at the proper intervals and you won't have a thing to worry about.

Some things to lookout for (you'll need an AE or some kind of scantool):

-If you see green coolant in the degas resevoir, there are two ways you can go about it:

1. Thank them for their time and walk away.

2. Hook up a scan tool and monitor the Engine Oil Temp and the Engine Coolant temp, with the engine fully warmed up and cruising at 65, see what the delta is...I believe if the delta is higher than 11 degrees then you may have clogged or clogging oil cooler than will need some attention.

I say all this becuase green coolant has no place in the 6.0 due to the silicate dropout that causes the oil cooler to clog, causing a deadly (and expensive) chain reaction.

If you have healthy deltas (less than 11 degrees between EOT and ECT)Have them flush the coolant and replace with an ELC like Rotella or CAT.

-Check the degas cap and make sure you don't see any type of hard baked on coolant. If you see that, it may either need a new cap or it may have a headgasket problem. However with only 40K, I don't see that being a problem.

-Take note of how the truck starts cold. If it starts rough and won't idle smoothly, the FICM or Fuel Injection Control Module may need some attention or you may have an injector or two that needs replacing.

-Look on the passenger side valve cover and see if the sticker either says 2004 or 2005. If it's a 2004 engine, disregard, but If it's a 2005 drive the truck until hot, shut it off, wait a few minutes, and restart. If the truck stuggles to restart or takes a little longer than usual to crank, it may have a high pressure oil problem. Dummy plugs, STC fitting, or Standpipes may need to be replaced.

Other than that, drive the truck and you'll know what needs attention. The above is what I would look for being experienced with the 6.0.

 

great advice listed above for anyone looking to get an X. I bought an 05 EB X 4x4 6.0 in 2011 for about 27000 with about 90000 miles (i really wanted it, plus price was not the problem). So the price is about right for what they are asking, but that does not mean that is what the final price will be.

As you can see from my signature line, I have done a few mods, but the X has been great and I haven't had a single problem with the 6.0.

My advice is to take a close look at it (crawl under it) and if it is really the vehicle you are looking for, go for it.

 

That's a whole lot of money IMHO, but it's up to you

 

Like Toreador said, a cold start not a "well we had to run to the store for a gallon of milk an hour ago" start! It has to sit all night and be ambient temp for a good cold start, and don't take there word for the cold start, open the hood and feel the thermistat housing. I stress this because I know someone that just bought one and the seller said he would meet him some where to view the truck, after buying it the next day the truck would hardly start and had no power till it warmed up. A cold start is a must, no acceptions!
It also takes at least a 10 mile run down the highway at 60 to 65 mph for the oil to get to temp. fwiw

Good luck

 

I don't know where you're located but here's a few '05's that are well under $30K. True, they have more than 40K miles but you oughta be able to get at least 300-400K miles out of an engine. Even if the engine in these is toast, you'll save enough $$ to buy a new engine.

2005 FORD EXCURSION DIESEL 4X4 <--20K
2005 Ford Excursion Diesel 4x4 <--$18.5K
2005 Ford Excursion - Limited - Turbo Diesel <--$16k
2005 Ford Excursion Diesel 4x4 <--$19.5

I'd even consider those I've posted as mildly overpriced since I've seen a few of them in the $13-15K range over the past few months.

 

More confusion

Ford Excursion - Used Cars for Sale - Carsforsale.com

 

IF you can find a 2005 6.0L Limited or Eddie Bauer in 100% original condition, 40K miles, never in a wreck, never messed with (lift kits, unknown engine mods, etc.), then $30K may be a good price. Most low mileage trucks have a weird story. Very few are original condition.

 

This is so true. When I was looking for Excursions - low miles on the Ex's were either because it had been wrecked and sat in a tow yard for a few years or were dash swaps.

He shouldn't be afraid to make a low offer. When I bought my Excursion I offered and got a price that was thousands lower than what the asking price and KBB was. Fortunately it was owned by a non-profit that rarely used it and had zero emotional attachment to it (and it's a gasser).

 

$30,000 sounds high but people pay crazy prices for these things. There is a 2000 on ebay and current bid is just shy of $30,000. It supposedly has 37,000 original miles. I paid $11,000 three years ago for the Ex in my sig with 232,000 miles. Maybe I was lucky.....

 

I understand where you're coming from but I respectfully disagree since I look at it from a different angle.

I'm a DIY mechanic with decent skills and know that if you gave me a $10K 2005 Excursion with 200K miles, I could spend another $20K and have a MUCH better truck than a $30K 2005 that only had 40K miles. For that kind of money I could either upgrade or bulletproof the engine, install a HD trans, loaded interior, new suspension, wheels/tires, paint, etc.

Since the components in these trucks usually run 400K (not always the 6.0 but you know what I mean) without anything major, it's relatively safe to say that you wouldn't have to replace every major component on the truck but even if you did, you'd still come out cheaper and have components with 0 miles on them instead of 40K.

I'm biased because I came from a background of finding the vehicle you wanted with a straight body and blown mechanical parts, and then replacing the mechanical parts and ending up with a "newer" car than what you could have bought if you found one in perfect condition. OR buying a vehicle with higher mileage for a significantly lower price knowing that if major components failed, you'd still come out cheaper than having bought a lower mileage vehicle.

 

I agree with your sentiment. However, I don't have the kind of time to totally rebuild an engine (esp 6.0) with everything else going on (i.e. life). To do the 6.0 justice requires a good 2 post full body lift and about $4k in parts. For me, I needed to put the truck to work immediately.

Sometimes, you have to choose your battles...