I am looking at navigators right now and would very much appreciate some advice..

What I think I want is..
Second generation (U228) body style 2003–2006 with
5.4 L InTech DOHC 32v V8 and
4-speed 4R100 automatic transmission

Don't want the 24 valve engine, or the 6 speed trans..

It's a bit hazy as far as what years had what, is their any mixing of the drivetrain for like 2004-2006 or were they all 24v and 6 speed?

If you could help me figure out how to identify these characteristics from pictures, like can you tell from the picture of the shifter what trans it has?

How can I figure out which has what without calling many and asking stupid questions they won't know or actually going to see all of them?


I'm looking at clean body/interior navigators under $5,000..
I see many many 250k miles and over and these seem to be quite reliable but I'm looking to find one under 200k miles preferably, the lower the better.
Looking on the used market these trucks really seem to hide their miles well and last quite a long time, they don't seem to rust much at all even to 300k miles and many interiors seem to last as long too, I'm quite impressed..

What things should I look for? Rust in certain areas? Any specific bahaviors or noises to look out for?

I'm a decent used car inspector but would like advice on specifics to these things I should be mindful of..

What advice can you offer someone looking at these trucks?

And, what is the maintenance interval/procedure like on the timing of these quad cam engines?

 

03 - 04 have trim on the side that rises up and the front bumper resembles the older 98-02 with round fog lights.

05 - 06 are more sleek and don't have trim on the side or front bumper with the squared fog lights aka from the lincoln ls lol

Keep in mid the top navigator pic is not an ultimate so it has grey color trim which changed on 05 to black.
The bottom picture shows an ultimate navigator which come with chrome front insert and chrome tail pipe with other goodies included.

Interior does have some changes just to name a few the shifter was changed from 03-04 plastic 3 2 1 D selector to chrome and have 1 2 3 D4 D6 choices on the 05-06 . The climate seats controller was switched to the climate control unit05-06 vs on the window switch on the center console 03-04.

Powertrain
03-04 have the 32v dual overhead cam 300hp
With the 4speed 4r100 transmission
05-0​​​6 have the 24v single overhead cam 300hp
with 6 speed zf6 automatic transmission

If was me I would try to get a fully loaded navigator since it's already used anyways!