As far as the minimal surface rust the undercarriage is showing, a $300 self fix that may take about 6 hours or more if a shop does it.

That is pretty clean for as old as it is, I am a stickler on price and wouldn't go more than $20k myself.

But as I always say, pay what you feel comfortable/good with for what you are getting.

I use the Kbb/nada values and what Insurance companies will insure it for when argueing price.

I also remind them you cannot eat surf and turf every night, sometimes Ramon sees you through the week.

I worked as a salesman at a decent sized lot for a year and a half years ago, so I don't mind breaking their ***** with things said when customers are not around (friends still in the business, same talk/phrases still going on 2 decades later).

 

Well, it looks like they upgraded the undercarriage. That was quick!

 

Justifying the price? There was nothing to cover up.
If you like 20,000, than stick to that. I watch sale listings often, just because. And even though the Excursion in general, is becoming more rare, there are "plenty" out there and more turn up from the bowels of peoples garages with low miles, and in pristine condition.

This seller always has low mile excellent condition Excursions.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-Ford-E...UAAOSwKlxeMgy9

 

I woke up with no excitement about getting an excursion. Very strange..... The first time in months it has been like this.

 

@AbbyExcursion

Just my observations and opinion.YMMV.

• Is that USD or CAD?
• That amount of surface rust is expected. But looking at your pictures and the seller trying to overnight have that painted etc. would give me a 2nd thought as to what they may be covering up?
• 29K is an extremely high price, IMHO for any Excursion that has over 50K miles. Those are prices you would find in California.
• I would search some more and look at California trucks with low mileage. There quite a few that will be sold soon as people are not so happy with the CARB regulations making it more and more difficult to pass their SMOG tests.
• Alternatively, look at AZ, NM, TX, AR, FL, OK trucks for rust free specimens at a much lower price. Mileage may be high as these trucks are used ver well, and most are maintained very well also.

Editing to add:

• What is the condition of the rocker panels? Door bottoms? With this kind of rust from the pictures, I do not see a problem, but better to be sure.
• Have you seen/heard the engine running?
• Oil leaks? Coolant leaks?
• Many people use tuners on the 7.3, but that is a matter of preference and experience with the tuners.

 

$27k USD and 105k miles.
I think they just wanted to make it look good underneath.
I had no idea about what was going on in California! Thank you for letting me know.
If I purchase this truck it would be site unseen. I would have to trust it's all good to go. Big risk

 

They spent $10 on undercoating spray (which will peel, fleck, fade since it wasn't prepped; they painted over the dirt/surface rust ); I kinda expected the price to go up another $1000.

 

Post up a link. Maybe there's a FTE'r somewhere close by and can check it out for you in person.

 

https://www.garysautosales.com/vdp/1...Ferry-NC-28460
It's located in Jacksonville NC. I'd be more than happy to pay someone if they could go check it out if they are close by!

Thank you for the suggestion Prakash and nice Excursion in your picture

 

I really like this one also https://www.rbpautomotive.com/detail...rsion/62498185
Is a 190k high for a 7.3, I know it has the million mile label.

 

190k is not high mileage for the 7.3 engine, but it is high mileage for ANY vehicle when talking ball joints, suspension, transmission, interior, etc

 

27K for a 2wd/RWD EX is too much $$ IMHO. I'd prefer the 4WD, though it has a higher mileage. Even then, you will be able to find these at much lesser cost. To give you an idea, my first EX ('00 LTD) was a 4WD 175K miles, out of PA that I bought for ~15K and then sold for a higher price after making quite a few mods. My current EX ('03 LTD) came out of FL with 216K miles and I paid just about the same as the previous EX. The first one was a private party sale and the second one I bought from a used car lot near Orlando.

FWIW, dealers will spend a couple hundred bucks to have the vehicle detailed and tack on thousands of $$ to cover their overhead costs. I'd advice you to do a cash deal with a private party where you can have the additional comfort of meeting with the previous owner to learn and understand what they actually did in terms of maintenance, usage, what kind of parts went in - OEM/aftermarket, why they did an upgrade, who did the upgrade etc. Buying from the dealership does not give you much at all except for a carfax/autocheck report. Many dealerships never turn over maintenance records even if the previous owner left them in the vehicle. The 7.3 is a proven platform that was killed by the EPA requirements. These motors have served well in a variety of good and adverse conditions. Having said that, regardless of what vehicle, motor, manufacturer etc., they all need timely maintenance and TLC to server you in the long run. I wouldn't shy away from a higher mileage 7.3 if the previous owner can prove the upkeep with proper maintenance records.

Let me get off the stage now

 

$29k is top of the market and at that price I would demand stock pristine.

while the amount of corrosion I see is minimal the fact is it is not pristine and once you pay a few grand to have it brought back to pristine by a professional vehicle restoration specialist then it would not be stock. it may well be pristine after restoration but restored pristine does not command the same value as stock pristine.

bottom line it looks to be a fine example but priced incorrectly.

priced in its current condition it is a low 20k excursion not a high 20k excursion.

 

dang, didn't read all the comments.

that undercoating just knocked it down many notches on the scale.

at this point if you are wanting a pristine excursion it is time to walk away.

the Excursion itself is still in great shape and would be awesome to own but value was that undercoating severely undermines the ability to call it pristine, it now falls into much more difficult to value lower value class “ clean modified”

to me it knocks it down from a $20-$23k vehicle to a 14-18k

forget the fact you know their was minimal rust, when you go to resell it the new buyer must assume the undercoating is covering unknown amounts of corrosion or other problems

 

First - I agree the pricing should be closer to $20k for this great example of an Ex with the highly desirable 7.3 PSD. But the undercoating, in all honesty, did nothing to either detract or add to the value - let's not overblow things here.