Mr and Mrs Apoc

My wife and I went down this same road a few months ago and I was set on a diesel. After I spent some time looking all I could find was diesels that had about 100k more miles for about $7k more money. I quickly realized that at my expected driving I can buy a lot of gas for that $7k, have a vehicle with WAY fewer miles and still do everything I need it to do. We went V10. Any time I get disappointed about the mileage I remember why we made the decision we did.

 

Apoc, glad to see you made an well informed and considered decision. I'll always be in the diesel camp, but I commute 76 miles (mostly freeway) every day and tow the Chevelle with it, as well as a variety of other things for friends on a routine basis.

 

Once you decided on what you want, I'd begin my search far away from the rust belt. There are plenty of Exs in the south west, and I'd pay a little extra for lack of rust.

Curt

 

I own a 6.0L in my 2005 Ex. This is my 2nd 6.0L. I bought the first one new in 2003 and drove it to 183K miles. The 2005 now has 176K (I bought it at 60K), so I've driven a total of over 295K miles behind the wheel of a 6.0L Excursion. And...about 80K to 100K of that time was towing our 11,000 lb travel trailer.

Get one. It is not what you will do with it, it is what you COULD do with it.

The V10 is a great motor (we have this in our motorhome), but I do miss the driving range the diesel provides.

 

I've had all the common problems know with the 6.0, EGR cooler, oil cooler, ficm, injectors, head gaskets. The information on these engines is very accessible which makes diagnosing straight forward. One thing I'd like to point out though, even with the problems the truck has never left us stranded. It ran poorly when the ficm and injectors went but it still got us home. Only way I knew the EGR cooler and gaskets went was loss of coolant and puking, it still ran fine.

In addition to great troubleshooting information, there are also fixes that make them better and less likely to fail (bulletproofing).

I had a nice quad cab hemi but I was like you and had the oil burner itch. It took 5 years for all the different problems to surface and warrant repairs. Don't think you have to spend a bunch of $$$ on upgrades immediately. If you check out a prospective truck you can rule out almost every item I mentioned above with injectors being the most difficult. Additionally, if you're not going to tow then you may never have head gasket problems. Our Excursion was a grocery getter and highway travel machine for the first 90K that we owned it and never had gasket problems until we bought our travel trailer.

Good luck on your purchase! You can't go wrong with a v10 but I know about the oil burner itch

 

Not everybody is on board with your decision buddy! Like I told you before, why would you even think about a gasser? Diesels are the way to go. People on here say oh you have to drive it, work it, I call BS. There are dudes that buy diesel trucks to tow their 5ers once or twice a year and thats it. You can't tell me that driving it a small distance everyday is going to be "bad" for it. This is all nonsense, the only thing your gonna do is lower your fuel mileage a little bit. You will NEVER be happy with the 5.4 or the v10. You drove 1/one/01 6.0 and are comparing them to the rest of them out there? How about the 7.3 or another 6.0? Like dating one chick and it going bad and saying oh well i'm just done with chicks moving on to dudes now. No, you keep trying to other chicks until you find one that sticks.

Grab your sack and buy the truck YOU want, not the one your wife wants you to "settle" on. Trust me, you will LOVE it and want to spend money on it and cherish it forever. Now if only I felt this way about my wife!!

 

Easier said than done

 

Eh, I think he'll be pretty happy with the v10 and 4x4.

I would agree that he can have the benefits of the diesel without such a worry about unexpected expensive repairs. I think the 7.3 would be a great medium. Reliable, no VGT so less sensitive to short trips, although I haven't seen any issues arise from short trips in my experience. In the military, we short trip our 6.0's all day every day. Like start it, drive a mile across base, and shut down. Security forces also lets them idle all the time. My 7.3's haven't had issue either. Lots of in town stuff, ten minutes or less. That said, I'll have them on the highway every week or two and run then through their paces. So, in my opinion, the effects of short trips is overstated. I'm sure someone has had an issue though at some point, or it wouldn't be mentioned.

The 7.3 won't be the same playing field as the 6.0 power wise, but with a tune, it'll be in the ~300 WHP range. Plenty peppy, and more powerful than the V10. You're looking at ~$60 for an oil change, ~$20 for fuel filter and ~$20 for an air filter, so maintenance isn't extravagant.

In the end, he should go with whatever best fits his needs and desires. However, I think they'd be well served by the 7.3. You have the reliability, the diesel sound and torque, more power, and better mileage.

If your main deterrent is sudden and unexpected expensive repairs, as well as expensive upkeep, it'll serve you well on those fronts while still satisfying your diesel bug. And if you then get the mod bug, the 7.3 still has good head room for power.

But again, you can't let us decide for you, lol. We've got plenty of opinions, but you're the one who'll actually be driving the vehicle.

 

But (and I'm just asking) isn't the 7.3 going to run a little more dollar wise? I'd be happy with a 7.3 at this point

 

Definitely more than the v10. I think in general you'll find 7.3's cheaper than 6.0's, but I've seen it the other way too.

 

Have you test driven a V10 or a 7.3? I see you are familiar with the 5.4 obviously and you've tested at least one 6.0... are there any FTE members nearby that could give you a feel for their V10/7.3? I'm obviously biased since I own a V10 but in my stupid weather province (right now we're getting a mix of freezing rain and snow) the 4x4 is a must and we also get -30 C temps for at least 2-3 weeks in winter and -20 C for another 3-4 weeks in the late December to early March times... a gasser is so much easier to deal with in those periods but I don't think you have that same issue in your area... I think you'd probably see a nice difference with the V10 as opposed to your 5.4... I've driven the whole modular range (4.6, 5.4, 6.8) and you really do have to rev them to be in the power band but they deliver when need be. Of course though... you'll never get the sound/torque/smell of a diesel... but are those worth the price difference?

 

This is like you being a boss at a company and hiring somebody. You have the guy who will get the job done, but not as quick or as efficient, but will take less money. Then on the other hand you have the guy who does the job above the standard you ask and efficient, but requires more money......Which one you should choose???

Now we get to the point of starting it up in the morning to let it warm up, listening to that purr of PowerStroke Diesel!!! Who cares that you pass the gas station and gas is cheaper then diesel, it was the other way around for a LONG LONG LONG time. We have to give the Gasser Bros something to hide behind! Lets get to maintenance..Sure she might costs more to take care of it, but again...She works harder and Faster, assuring you get the proper Stroke time and time again

See what i'm getting at here? Last and least, Espylacopa has stated that he wants this to be his next vehicle for at least 20 years. Ok he buys an Excursion, if you get into an oh **** moment where you need money and need it quick, the diesel wins again.

Get a diesel Apocalypse and I'll pay for your first tank of fuel ...........Get a gasser and.........Well you know what they say, Squirrels and Chipmunks somehow get the uncanny ability to drill holes into fuel tanks

 

He's talked about lifting his 2x4 Ex before... if he gets a 4x4 will he want a 6" lift? Is he buying the Ex to tow his 10k lbs boat that he owns or the 10k lbs boat he'll eventually own?

Depending on his budget, he'll need to figure out the lift & tire cost he might want... if he's buying it to tow a boat he doesn't own, the diesel might set him back another 5 years to owning that boat.

In hockey (I'm French Canadian so it's the only sport I know) you pick the best player for your needs at the draft... if you're lacking a quick forward who can score on a regular basis... you don't get a big Dman who can't skate quick and is only good at hitting things...

My grandfather was the king of penny pinching... he only bought what he needed... but at the same time he also spent hundreds of thousands recording gospel music that made almost no return in profits... but he was rich...

In a rich world anyone could do whatever they wanted. In the real world you get the best available player that fits your needs.

If he wants a 6" lift, 35's and a boat... then he might as well save the cash and buy a V10 and have money left over for those things rather than spend his entire budget on a truck that won't look the way he wants and won't haul the toys he can't afford.



I'm not getting into the whole gas vs. diesel thing... I'm just giving Apo my $0.02... if Apo and I were on unlimited budgets we'd both be driving diesels already...

 

Nah, I think it's diesels that always smell like they are leaking fuel.

 

Buying a truck is like buying a horse. The easy part is bringing it home. Get what you can afford to fix and feed or you will be miserable.