Hey guys, my wife and I are expecting our 3rd child. We currently have a crew cab F-150, but realize we will all be pretty cramped when the baby gets here. We are trying to decide between the Expedition and the Excursion. My concerns with the Expedition is the towing capacity, we have a 27ft travel trailer that we camp in. My concerns with the Excursion are the mpg's and just the size of the beast. I prefer the Excursion but I don't want a diesel. I currently get 14-15 around town and 18 hwy in my F-150. Is that somewhat comparable to the X? Help me decide guys.

 

Not comparable mileage to a gas EX. Going to be more like 9-11 and 14 ish hwy.

The shear size I think is something most all of us love about the EX. Also the capability. Fuel economy is not a plus, but we find it worth the price.

 

You aren't going to get many unbiased opinions in this section.
My opinion is that for your use, either truck will do fine. That 27' trailer is probably well within the tow rating of the expy.
The 2009+ F150's probably have the biggest back seat of the three options. So unless one of your brood is big enough to crawl to the third row and buckle himself (herself?) in without supervision, maybe the pickup is just fine for your needs?

I've only got the two kids though.

 

Yeah, I know mpg's aren't gonna be good but I also know a lot depends on how you drive it. I can get almost 2 mpg's better than the lead footed wife. But yes, the size is what I like also. The wife is a little intimidated by that somewhat. I even love the 5.4. I have it in my current truck and an 01 F-250 I used to own. Love the motor, not real fast but very durable and it does what I want it to do.

 

My F-150 is an 05. It has good room. But with a 7 year old, an 11 year old, a baby in a carseat and the two oldest wanting to bring friends on camping trips, I just think we will need that third row seat.

 

I hear you brother, I run a minivan as well as the F150. I don't need the third row often, but a few times a year it's crucial.

 

We just picked up our own excursion about a week ago. We have three kids under 3 years old, which we have all in carseats across the second row bench. Theres plenty of room for all the gear in the cargo area, and room for three more passengers. After owning both the expedition and having the excursion, I will tell you that the expedition just doesnt compare. There is very MINIMAL cargo room in the expedition unless you go with the EL model.

However, I will tell you that if i lived in a more suburban area, we wouldnt own the EX. We drove into the city the other day. Most parking spots closer to the building were not large enough, or enough room to open the doors. Luckily for me, most of our driving is in rural areas and road trips.

 

I had a 2006 F-150 FX4 SuperCrew with 3 kids in carseats.

at the same time

I had a 2008 Expedition EL 4x2 (the long one...think small Excursion)


The Expy got 12-13 mpg in city, and would pull down 20 mpg highway without issue. The 5.4 3v motor is really suited to that platform and does very nicely coupled with the 6 speed trans.

I am currently rocking a V-10 Excursion 4x4. She gets on a good day 9 mpg city...lets say 14 mpg highway. now granted I'm also on 35" rubber...but it still hurts at the gas pump when I spend $150 and the damn tank still isn't full.


depending on configuration, a Expy EL is rated to tow 9,200 lbs. I'm all about people getting into an X, but if you only tow occasionally...well the Expy EL is a better rig IMO. They ride really nicely, get good MPG, and...well they're newer. Only the 2007+ models have 6 speed and 3v motor.

 

If you're looking to haul a bunch of people AND their luggage, you can't beat the Excursion. As previously mentioned, the normal Expy with a third row leaves not a lot of room for luggage. My X with the rear seat in can haul 8 comfortably and still has the luggage capacity of a standard Expy.
I know you said you didn't want a diesel, but personally I feel it's worth a nudge and second look. Yes, overall maintenance costs tend to run more over the life of the vehicle, but the 7.3 is one of the best, durable, reliable tanks of a motor IMHO. It's hard to beat, really. Took a cross country trip a few months back and it never skipped a beat or blinked an eye, even when I was less than kind with the skinny pedal on hills.
I have one munchkin, a whopping 20 months old and I partially used her as an excuse to snag the X when she was born. I also wanted something that could yank the Chevelle around for longer trips or drag days and not know it was there, and that's where the big difference is that I've seen compared to a gasser is when towing and at the pump. Bigger tank = more bucks to fill! that's just common sense. But when I'm pulling down 4-6mpg better than my gas powered friends TOWING, it's hard to argue. Could've gotten a truck, but everyone has a damn diesel pickup and I like to be different. Plus it's hard to beat being able to access all of your gear on the side of highway in the rain without getting out of the rig.
I average roughly 16mpg over the course of a full tank, mostly city cruising. As you stated, it's all in how you drive. I'm rolling "35's" and stock gears, so around town isn't as good as it could be but we take long haul drives frequently and the lower freeway rpm help out a lot for fuel consumption, so I'm in no hurry to regear.

All bull**** aside, Stay Puft is my favorite vehicle I've owned and I can't imagine getting rid of her. It. Whatever. It's a damn tank.

 

Well, we have 1 of each.

Granted, neither one gets to see towing duty, yet. We got the expy to just have a nicer vehicle and to save on the gas consumption. Running around town, I tend to get in the expy, it just rides nicer, and gets better mpg.

That said, after a few days of not riding in the X, I just have to get behind the wheel and take it.

Now when it comes time to go for holidays, I put on the roof basket on the X, load down with supplies, and we haul all of us and all of our gear and don't skip a beat. The expy just will not have that capability. The X is wider also, and the kids have more shoulder room in the X.

I gets used to the the sunroof in the expy, and tend to look up, and reach up to get the sun roof open in the X, and chuckle when it dons on me, no sunroof. Dooough!

Plus the wife was pushing me to sell the X just after the expy purchase, and when she went into town on the X, all I hear now is, we are not selling the X. It was frustrating, as I was already building a case to keep the X and just couldn't use any of it, cuz she changed her mind before I could let loose. LOL.

I would look at the towing cap of the expy, and see if that is enough for the trailer pull, and how often you pull your trailer. For me the low usage of the GAS X, and the non trailer duty of either vehicle made it an easy decision to go the V-10 in the X, and the expy is a nice ride, when we use it.

I would take the family, and test drive both. It might make the decision easier. Plus let the wife drive both. I know my small framed wife @ 5'5" is not intimidated by the X at all.

Good luck on your decision.

 

Just found a 2002 Excursion V10 here in town that we are gonna go look at. It is a 4x4 limited with 129,000 miles. Price is $8,900. It looks like it has been barely used. Maybe an older couple owned it? My 4x4 F-150 currently gets around 14-15 around town, 18 hwy, 10 towing my camper. What should I expect with the Excursion?

 

Expect 8-10 in town and 12-14 highway.

 

my '02 V10 limited 4x4 just rolled 134k, i've owned it the last 32k+ miles. These things are about as trouble free as a 10+ year old truck can be. put gas in it and change the oil...done!

8-10 city and 11-15 highway all depending.

for $8k i'd ****** it up if its clean, that price is GREAT at least compared to what they go for here.

 

Like stated before... you will be hard pressed to find an "unbiased" opinion with this crew, lol.
Couple points to consider.

1. THe Excursion will do everything, including get good mpgs if you went with a diesel. But will tow what you need, haul the kids and have plenty of room for all your luggage/gear.

2. The Excursion has the "wow" factor, no other vehicle like it. It also will hold it's resale value, even at it's age, better than an Expy. Here in IL, you can't pull into a dealer lot with you EX without them badgering you about trading for it. They sit on the lot literally for days here. Highly desirable at least in the IL/WI area, for boating/camping with family.

3. The Expy has the luxury of taking advantage of the last 9 years of technology since they axed the Excursion. So more comfort options, Sync, rides more like a car

4. There are TONS of Expys available. They never stopped making them. So you have many years to choose from, as well as options and prices.

-The Great

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I'm trying to convince myself to overlook the gas mileage lol. If I can get 12-13 around town, I will be happy. Not sure those numbers are possible. But I am very lightfooted. My wife? Not so much. But we are gonna go check this ride out today. Am looking forward to driving it. I have never even sat in an Excursion, so we are pretty excited to see how it drives.