I am getting ready to retire my ’99 Merc Mountaineer (V6)that I bought brand new. It only has about 190K miles on the engine but the rustis causing the body to fall apart. It has been a work horse for us these last 5 years doing more than I ever expected. So we are looking for an equivalent replacement in terms of interior space, towing and lack of issues.

I’ve looked at the current Explorers but they seem way too small compared to what I have now so we are toying around with the idea of getting an Expedition as the replacement, no older than 2008 but I really don’t want to buy a new one. I have found a couple locally with less than 60K miles that seem promising but are they too good to be true?

I don’t need all the electronic “extras” they seem to load all vehicles with these days, this vehicle will be put to work hauling and long distance trips. But as I’m most likely buying used I’ll have to take what I can find. So what should I be on the lookout for between the various year? What do I need to run away from? What are the common problems (electrical, body, engine)? If I do go new what options do I really need (there seem to be a ton!) or should I just stay with the stripped down base model?

Some general questions - Does the 3rd row fold completely flat in all years (I’ll probably never use the 3rd row for people)? What about towing, which model is better (it will be hauling a 10ft enclosed trailer)?

Thanks for your input!

 

Before I dive into your question it's worth mentioning that the new Explorers are bigger inside than the '99 Mountaineer. I went from a '00 Mountaineer to an Expedition and like you I was certain the Explorer was smaller than the Mountaineer, so I wrote it off without even looking at one. Then my mom purchased one and a couple weeks ago I took a tape measure to the interior. Much to my surprise it is both wider and longer inside than my old Mountaineer.

There are a lot of Expeditions out there with fairly low mileage. Some have incredibly low mileage because some people only use their Expeditions as the weekend/vacation vehicle. You will, however, pay a huge premium for the ultra low mileage trucks. I have seen as much as an $8K difference in price between two trucks that were virtually identical aside from a huge gap in mileage. We even came across a 2012 last year that only had 8K miles on it (former lease vehicle).

Common problems ... the extras you will find on the Limited/King Ranch are #1. The heated seats, power running boards, etc. are all an issue. (Fairly minor) engine leaks are fairly common. If you're looking at 07/08 I would aim for one that has already had a tuneup or check the build date and see if it was before they switched over to the 1-piece spark plugs (the old 2-piece plugs tend to break when you try to change them). If it has the 2-piece plug and no one has changed them, try working a tuneup into your deal. Personally, I would go for a 2009+ in order to get the 6R80 trans which is a bit smoother and more reliable than the 6R75. It's not a huge difference, but worth considering. Listen for any excessive tapping in the engine; cam lifters and timing components are a common problem on these trucks. Some gentle tapping is normal, however, for a VVT engine. Check the oil for any signs of metal; if you can look at it before the stealership changes the oil, awesome. Leaking struts are common. I've seen them go as early as 60K. One of mine developed what the mechanic described as a "catastrophic leak" at 78K. Accessory drive belt components (idler pulleys, tensioner) on these engines seem to go early as well. Cheap fix if you're doing it yourself, but figured I would mention it.

The third row folds flat on all models. It's also easy to remove either row if you don't need it. I have my second row in the garage as it made for easier ingress/egress for the dogs. Now human passengers can sit waaaay in the back so I can get some peace.

Extras ... well that's entirely up to you. If towing, look for the tow package (standard on Limiteds). I would strongly suggest sticking with 4x4 regardless of whether you feel you need it. (a) These trucks are big and heavy and get stuck VERY easily in mud/snow in RWD. (b) You'll have a hard time selling a 2WD when the time comes. Aside from that it comes down to personal preference.

As far as towing goes, the regular length Expedition can haul more than the EL due to the simple fact that the EL weighs 600 lbs more (and thus can tow 600 lbs less). However, the EL 4x4s all have 3.73 gearing whereas the regular length come in 3.31. You can get 3.73 in standard length, but they're relatively hard to find. None of this is a huge issue of course, but 3.73 is better for towing. With a 10 ft trailer though, you should have a ton of overhead in terms of weight. An empty EL can haul 8,200 lbs and a standard 8,800 if I recall correctly so even with 4 adults at 200 lbs each you will still have 7,400(EL)-8,000(standard) lbs of hauling capacity.

 

THANKS!!!!!!!!

That is exactly what I was looking for and a really nice write up. We are going to go out and look at the new ones in the near future just to give us a comparison when looking at used for price and value. I'll look at the explorer as well while we are out parking my '99 next to it for a size comparision (maybe we will go that way instead). I was playing with the Ford web site the other day and I can't find anywhere that gives you actual dimensions - like overall height or cargo space!!

We were going to try to find something with lower miles because like the '99 (and all my vehicles) we don't plan on replacing it anytime soon and I want lots of room left on the engine. What milage are people getting on these engines?

Getting a 4X4 is a must for us as the driveway to the barn is basically a mud path and my '92 F350 4X2 can't pull itself out to save its life. The plan is to get something before next winter so I have time to search for what i want.

Good to know about the difference between the regular and EL, once again the Ford website is hard to find things like that. With that level of towing capacity I will have a hard time keeping my husband from turing this into "another" work truck when he doesn't want to use the work trucks.

The search is now on!

 

I've seen people get as few as 120K on these engines and others break 300K, so it seems to vary widely. I can't say that I've seen many reports of people getting over 200K, but I'm hoping to be one of them. My '00 Mountaineer had 233K on it when I sold it and was running strong so I'm hoping to get at least that much out of my Expedition.

Regarding the size, none of the manufacturers make it easy. We were looking for space in terms of length and width behind the front row as we needed room for the dogs. All of the manufacturers provide space in cubic feet/inches only and since we can't cram dogs in up to the roof that wasn't useful. I ended up Googling pictures of various vehicles with ladders as it seems that many people use a 6-ft ladder in order to illustrate interior length. And once we narrowed down our search I literally brought a tape measure with me for test drives.

 

Good idea! I'll bring a sheet a plywood with me as that is what seems to always be in the back and the whole reason I bought the Mountaineer in the first place - only SUV at that time that could fit a full sized sheet of plywood in it (width wise).