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I wouldn't touch a Suburban, I've driven several and spent countless hours fixing them and have never owned one and never will. They drive like a 5000# economy car, nothing truck like about them.
If an ex is not an option I would look at Expedition EL's, Dad loves his after the Suburban fiasco and if the EL is out of your price range like me the 05/07 Expeditions are almost as good, drives like a f150 which is slightly closer to an ex.
We had one older gentleman from Las Vegas that was hit in the rear at 45+...
The impact knocked his vehicle forward about 15-20 feet as well. He had one of our attenuators on the rear and, although the truck had $6,000 in damage (mostly because the truck box was shoved into the cab) he didn't loose the truck from frame damage.
The other vehicle didn't fair too well...
GM has the advantage of the hitch shearing off of the frame, I've seen it on farm trucks the bolts will pull though the frame like butter.
I'm having an issue finding an Ex in my price range, unfortunately. My kids are pressing me to buy a newer Suburban so I could get something with a Warranty.
I went and looked at 2 Ex's today, and the one that was my forerunner, turns out that the owner of the dealership has been using it as his daily driver, and just took it to Daytona for raceweek. When I saw it, it was dirty nasty, smelled like cigarette smoke, had some kind of liquid sloshing around in the cup holders... I was so turned off... but more so when I asked if he offered any kind of warranty, and he said no. So I told him if I decided to buy it, I was going to take it to Ford and have them give it a once-over. His response was, "you know they're gonna tell you it needs more than $5k of work". So yeah, needle in the red zone...
So, I currently have 3 options:
1) Buy one of the lesser excursions ive found. But that arent Diesel or 4wd.
2) Buy a 2007 or later Suburban from a dealership with a warranty.
3) Buy a cheap beater for less than $2k, and drive it around until the right truck presents itself. This beater would need A/C at a minimum and be presentable to pass down to my kids when I move into my next truck.
I -REALLY- don't want to just buy a cheap Ex and not get the diesel or 4wd, which is why #1 isnt appealing. I hate the idea of driving a small car, which is why the kids are rooting for #2.
How about you guys? Any words of wisdom to help me decide where I'm going with this?
Yeah what he said^^^^^ why not a Expedition. And if you want more cargo room get the EL. Ford guy till I die!
OP, I've got an 09 EL and an 05 EX, both Limited, both gassers, although the EX is V10. Just bought the EX last July, both as a toy, and as backup for the EL which I use for business. Reason for the 09 is that I had an 01 Expedition, but was involved in a collision in Feb of 09. Really miss that truck, actually. Knew I wanted another so started looking and couldn't find the options and color I wanted, and I really wanted the 09. I'd read about transmission issues in the 07-08's. Working against me was the relocation of the Expedition assembly line; no one could tell me when I'd have a truck if I ordered one. I did drive the Sub just for comparison, brand new, and walked away disappointed. Power seemed okay; comparable to the Expedition, but it had the 5.7. The ride and accompanying squeaks, rattles and overall road noise threw me off. It was such a difference that I waited until Nov of 09 to take delivery of a brand new EL, and I still love it. Warning though, the 5.4 is working harder than the 6.8 even considering the weight difference. While it will go pretty good, the gas mileage isn't much better than the EX if I drive them both the same way. Creature comfort wise, it's the EL hands down. Gotta be careful; the IRS means it handles more like a car than a truck. My tires didn't last nearly as long as I'd hoped, and I'd put most of that down to spirited driving, especially on/off ramps for the interstates.
I kinda like your idea of picking up a cheap beater and waiting for the right truck. Hope everything works out.
So, after much round and round with the insurance company, I decided to get own insurance company involved. Progressive (the INS of the girl who hit me), wouldnt give me any specifics about the truck besides "its totalled".
Geico, on the other hand, was very cool. They had ford put the EX up on the frame machine, and looked it over in detail with them. The outcome?
The back frame was 4 inches out of whack, and the rear crossmember was crushed. The frame could be bent back, but the issue was the crossmember. The cross member is a riveted on piece, and is not sold seperately. Per ford specifications, any piece of the frame riveted on requires a new frame, even tho technically it COULD be replaced. He then showed me, underneath, where the body of the truck actually HAD buckled up, even though you couldnt see it from the outside.
With all of that, it was plain to see it was a lost cause.
Geico offered me a little more money for the truck, but not enough to cover my deductable, so I took the 8500 from progressive.
Then, the perfect truck appeared. And disappeared. It was an 05 4wd diesel with 118k miles on it for 19k, Gold with Tan interior. By the time I got on top of it, it was already sold. It was an 8 seater, not a 9, but still an excellent truck and since it was for sale at Carmax, had an excellent warranty plan available.
So I then resigned myself to find a beater. But I did one more excursion search before settling on a smaller car.
And found another Ex.
05 4wd Diesel Limited. 130k miles, 7 seater,. 19k. Bluebook on it was 22k. So I jumped on it. Of course, it was in Tuscaloosa AL, so before I even went I ensured it had a warranty (they included a 36 month,36000 mile deluxe entended warranty from ford).
So, Thursday night I drove over to Tuscaloosa in the rental car still paid for by Progressive, and stayed the night. I got up in the AM and went and test drove the truck. Wow, does it have some pick-up in comparison to the gas.
So I made the deal and drove the 3 hours home with my new baby. Feels like it needs a front end alignment and probably a brake job, as it shudders a little when I stop. It had a burnt out running light in the back, and the lift supports for the trunk were shot. Replaced all the back lights and lift supports this morning.
So, I'm now in a new truck. Getting used to the diesel sound, and when I get some cash, will begin to fix it up piece by piece.
Oh, this truck is definitely taller. Were the 05 4x4s taller than the 02 gas? Or do I have a lift installed? How do I tell? It does have a digital trailer brake assist installed, which lights up to show me some numbers whenever I hit the brakes. A demon fx or something like that.
I need to give it a good inspection and see what, if anything, its had done.
So, after much round and round with the insurance company, I decided to get own insurance company involved. Progressive (the INS of the girl who hit me), wouldnt give me any specifics about the truck besides "its totalled".
Geico, on the other hand, was very cool. They had ford put the EX up on the frame machine, and looked it over in detail with them. The outcome?
The back frame was 4 inches out of whack, and the rear crossmember was crushed. The frame could be bent back, but the issue was the crossmember. The cross member is a riveted on piece, and is not sold seperately. Per ford specifications, any piece of the frame riveted on requires a new frame, even tho technically it COULD be replaced. He then showed me, underneath, where the body of the truck actually HAD buckled up, even though you couldnt see it from the outside.
With all of that, it was plain to see it was a lost cause.
Geico offered me a little more money for the truck, but not enough to cover my deductable, so I took the 8500 from progressive.
Then, the perfect truck appeared. And disappeared. It was an 05 4wd diesel with 118k miles on it for 19k, Gold with Tan interior. By the time I got on top of it, it was already sold. It was an 8 seater, not a 9, but still an excellent truck and since it was for sale at Carmax, had an excellent warranty plan available.
So I then resigned myself to find a beater. But I did one more excursion search before settling on a smaller car.
And found another Ex.
05 4wd Diesel Limited. 130k miles, 7 seater,. 19k. Bluebook on it was 22k. So I jumped on it. Of course, it was in Tuscaloosa AL, so before I even went I ensured it had a warranty (they included a 36 month,36000 mile deluxe entended warranty from ford).
So, Thursday night I drove over to Tuscaloosa in the rental car still paid for by Progressive, and stayed the night. I got up in the AM and went and test drove the truck. Wow, does it have some pick-up in comparison to the gas.
So I made the deal and drove the 3 hours home with my new baby. Feels like it needs a front end alignment and probably a brake job, as it shudders a little when I stop. It had a burnt out running light in the back, and the lift supports for the trunk were shot. Replaced all the back lights and lift supports this morning.
So, I'm now in a new truck. Getting used to the diesel sound, and when I get some cash, will begin to fix it up piece by piece.
Oh, this truck is definitely taller. Were the 05 4x4s taller than the 02 gas? Or do I have a lift installed? How do I tell? It does have a digital trailer brake assist installed, which lights up to show me some numbers whenever I hit the brakes. A demon fx or something like that.
I need to give it a good inspection and see what, if anything, its had done.
Think it may be time up update my sig
Good for you congrats, let me know if I can help neighbor.
Congrats sir on the purchase! I saw that 05 Carmax Ex too on Thursday evening and had planned to go at least check it out on Friday but it was gone before noon I think...it's amazing how fast they fly off the lot and it's very rare to see one on Carmax's front lot....I know...I work there
