Hello everyone. I apologize for this long post, but I want to make sure I'm not looking at a truck that is going to give me a lot of problems.

This is my first post here, but I've been lurking for a little while now. I recently sold my 02' F-250 7.3L truck and I am now in the market for an Excursion. I found one about 2 hours from me and went to look at it yesterday.

It is a 2004 Limited 6.0L with 117,500 miles on it. The truck looks fully stock as far as I could tell, but there were a couple of holes in the dash right above the radio which I would assume was for one of those old style Sirius satellite radio tuners. The truck looked like it was someone's business vehicle because there was a mobile desk mount attached to the passenger's seat frame. I also pulled the CarFax which showed the original owner bought it in Virginia, but it has Ford service in VA and FL during the time he owned it (business travel)? The 1st owner had it from 6/04-6/06 and drove it for 31,000 miles. While he had the tuck I can see that the steering column was replaced at 2,500mi and the EGR valve was replaced at 20,000mi by Ford. The 2nd owner was in FL and had it from 10/06-10/07 and last odometer reading was 51,000 miles with the only maintenance being the oil and filter changed. The 3rd owner was also in FL and had it from 12/07-10/15 and had regular maintenance done at the local Ford dealer. So it looks like other than the steering column and EGR valve being replaced by Ford, the truck didn't have any other major problems, no accidents, and was regularly maintained at Ford dealerships.

The truck hadn't been through service or detail when I looked at it yesterday so I was able to get a decent view of it in it's raw condition. The main things that I saw were:

Motor: I didn't see any Mods or any evidence of where mods were. The degas bottle was sort of yellow, but I could see the fluid through the bottle. There was no white residue anywhere on the cap threads or anywhere else I could see. The fluid inside the bottle was crystal clear and didn't have a smell to it so I think it was just water in there. I've never heard what a 6.0L sounds like, but I am very familiar with the 7.3L and I can tell you that my 7.3L was louder than the 6.0L, but the 6.0L was knocking like a diesel. There was also some sort of a whine/tick coming from somewhere around the turbo area that I couldn't identify. It was more noticeable under throttle. The oil was very clean with no white residue, no smell of fuel and no evidence of coolant in it. There wasn't an oil change sticker on the window so I don't know how old the oil was. The truck started and ran with no problems I could tell and it didn't leak a drop of oil, fuel or water (other than from A/C) during my whole afternoon with the truck. I got the truck up to 80-85mph and didn't see any smoke coming from the exhaust on start-up or under throttle.

Cosmetic: The worst thing I could see was on the roof, passengers side at the rear of the truck on the side of the roof rack channel there was a spot that was rusting in a straight line about 1.5" there. The rest of the metal on the truck looked pretty good for its age (better than my F-250 was). There was nothing but light surface rust underneath the truck. The tires need replaced as 3 of them matched, but the fourth was different. There was no spare (just a bare rim) where the spare should be in the truck. The front seats had wear on the leather, but they were pretty clean overall. The middle seat had a tear in it, but the dealer said they are going to fix it. The door panel on the rear driver's side was chewed (looked like a dog) in the lower corner. The 3rd seat looked like no one had ever sat in it before. There was evidence of a dog (hair) around the truck but it didn't smell like a dog at all. The A/C worked good and got cold pretty quickly. The radio and all speakers worked good, and the steering wheel controls worked fine. There is no DVD unit in the truck.

Overall, the truck looked pretty good other than the rust spot on the roof. The dealer is getting me an OASIS report tomorrow and the truck will be going through service and detail this week. I didn't have a monitor with me, so I couldn't test the EOT and ECT deltas, but I am going to purchase an Edge Insight CTS this week and check them next time. I put a deposit on the truck and will be going back next Saturday to work out a deal. The dealer is asking $17,250 for the truck so I am asking if this is a good deal for a completely stock 2004 Excursion in "good" condition?

 

Welcome to the forum. It sounds good so far, but check the deltas first. If anything it may help with your negotiations if you find the temps are off.
Where in Florida are you looking? There's plenty of 05's in the south Florida market at this time.

 

Thanks for the welcome and reply. I am in the Central FL area. I live in Ocala and I'm looking at this truck in Orlando. I would love to find a 2005 similar to this truck, but they are very difficult to find locally. Also, I'm finding that when I go look at trucks that are supposed to be in really good condition, I find that almost every single one of them has paint or rust issues on the roof. It's almost like no one washes or waxes the roof on these. This is really getting old when I have to drive 1-2hrs just to look at one.

I am going to buy an Insight CTS this week and take with me on Saturday. I had a CTS on my 7.3L and I loved it but it went with the truck when I sold it. I see that they now have a CTS2 out. Is there any reason to go with the CTS2 vs the regular CTS?

Thanks again!

 

Know the feeling, it took me a lot of time to find my current Ex.
Not sure on the CTS, I'm using an older Hypertech HyperPac. I'm sure others will chime in with more info on it.

 

That is a lot of money for an '04. You should be able to get an '05 for that much. (Or a nice 7.3)!

 

I agree... That is a bit on the high side. To me, for the cosmetics and other items, it's a $14.5k truck. I am in the Sarasota area and there are a fair amount of Ex's around here and Tampa for sale as well. But I think you are on the right track with Oasis report and taking a look at the EOT / ECT deltas. Put a monitor on that thing. If you're hearing a whine around the turbo, I'd make sure it's putting out 23-24 lbs of boot under full throttle. Don't forget to check the FICM voltage as well. Anything below 47.5v under hard acceleration or startup, they need to replace it for you.

Yes, the 6.0 is very chatty...especially when it's cold. Sounds like skeletons humping in a closet. But put a good Synthetic 5w40 in it and she quiets down a good bit.

 

Thanks for all of the replies so far. I agree that the truck is probably worth more like $15k and that is what I am going to try to get the dealer down to on Saturday considering I have to replace the tires ($1k) and fix the rust spot on the roof (?, but I'm figuring $500-1k). We will see in a few days I guess.

The salesman got me the OASIS report on the truck and it looks like it has had very little work done. The EGR was replaced in Dec 2005 at around 25k miles, the clock spring in the steering column was replaced once, and the driver's seat heater switch was replaced twice. That is pretty much all I see on the OASIS. I also see where the original owner had purchased the 100k mile ESP warranty when he bought the truck. Although it's expired now, I figure if he had any issues with the truck he would have taken it to Ford because it was under warranty and it would show up on the OASIS.

I do like this truck because of the low mileage (118k), no accidents, very little work done to it on the OASIS report and it is being sold at a reputable Ford dealership. However, there is also a 2003 Eddie Bauer that is already bulletproofed for $17k that is being sold by a private seller about an hour and a half away from me.

I'm not sure if I should keep pursuing this truck or if I should just keep searching for a 2005 or a lower milage 7.3L? Either way, thanks for all of the advice so far and keep it coming!

 

Take your time, the right one will show up... Just be ready to buy it quickly when it does.

 

Different geographical area but FWIW my buddy sold his 03 7.3 Eddie Bauer yesterday for 17k. 188k. Very mild lift with airbags and a compressor kit, nice wheels and new toyos.

It was for sale for a month at 18k firm. He finally took less when the manilla envelope was in front of him. They owned it since 10k miles and it c was extremely nice and well maintained.

It has been a rust free Oregon Ex the whole time.

 

Thanks for all of the help so far everyone! I am going to look at the truck again tomorrow so is there any last minute things you guys can think of that I should look at while I'm there tomorrow? Thanks again!