hello all, my wife and i would like your input. we currently own an odyssey minivan. we love it, but need more towing capacity. i am looking into an '01 2wd excursion diesel ltd. we have 2 kids and will be towing an rv cross country. i wanted an suv that will get halfway decent mileage on the hwy. so i feel diesel is the way to go. i have never owned a diesel before. is the mileage difference true, seems like it would be...more tq at less r's.

i appreciate any input you guys (or gals) could offer...

 

Diesel is absolutely the way to go. City with the V10 I get on average 9mpg. 6.0L diesel in the city I get 13mpg. The 7.3L diesels seem to do even a smidge better. Diesels are WAY better for towing, even in stock form. Diesel are fairly inexpensive and really easy to get great power gains with aftermarket parts. The V10 is really expensive to upgrade and the perfomance gains are only modest at best.

Either way though, definitely get the Ex. You'll be saying Honda who? and mini what?

 

you might wanna check out the 02 model. they actually did some changes on the 02s. I had an 01 V10 X and traded for 02 PSD X. here are some changes i can think of:

crystaline healights---slightly brighter i think
deeper cup holders---prevents your supersize drinks shooting forward on sudden stops or slow down
both middle bench seats slide forward---easier entry for rear pass.
seats---better feel, more of a sporty style in my opinion
brakes---less effort on the pedal to stop the rig. this one I know for sure it was a consumer complaint on the 01 models.
tighter/firmer steering feel---when I had my 01, the loose steering feel was my big complaint. this one should be enough reason for you to test drive the 02 and the 01 then compare it which one you like better. when my 01 was driven on the freeway interchange (clover leaf style) with those expansion joints with just my left hand and let's just say the other hand is holding my cell phone. when the front tires went over those joints,(this takes more explanation but anyways to make it short) just the weight of my hand was enough to turn the steering more to the left. Maybe this was just my 01 but i thought I read it somewhere too. better shocks and stiffer steering stabilizer should fix the problem though. come to think, maybe my 01's steering stabilizer was defective

 

the steering issue was on a 4wd model. i just remembered you aree looking at 2wd so that shouldn't be an issue at all. 2wd will be even more comfortable ride than the 4wd especially if you're driving cross country. on top of that, should be better MPG too. as long as you keep your RPM @ 2000 or below, MPG is awesome. above 2000 RPM, MPG is still better than the V10. I used to get 10MPG on the freeway towing my trailer and car, combined weight of 5000#. PSD gets 14.5 with same trailer and car.

 

You will love the X! I have a 2002 4x4 lts with the 7.3 and love it. Mine has the 2nd row captain chairs and it LOVES the freeway towing! We take all our vacations as camping vacations and will drive up to 2 1/2 days to get where we want, so the kids have plenty of seat time. We make a point to stop every couple of hours for the dogs and me to streatch and empty out. Great safe rig!
Enjoy.
Pat

 

thanks for the replies. it looks like the excursion is a great truck. the diesel expectations are also seem to be holding true mileage wise. honestly an expedition would be fine for us, but i had a '97 f150 before and i got 16mpg highway, i know the expedition would do no better. the amount of miles we'll be driving (one of our planned trips is south FL to Glacier Nat'l Park in Montana) the difference of 13 to 18 is a lot of $$.

should i be concerned about a higher mileage diesel? the one i'm looking at has only 38k, but if it doesn't work out should i steer clear?

thanks again.

oh and i prefer a '00 or '01 model due to cost.

 

The X will be far better towing and for the long haul. I like the Expeditions, just like more mass when towing.
I would recomend getting a carfax report on any rig you are looking at. These engines were designed for well over 100K. It is not uncommon for a well maintained engine to last 300K or more. I personally like to start out as low as possible, but you will know when you have found the right rig. Sounds like a great vacation. You will love the Glacier area, plus lots of great camping stops in between.
Pat

 

I got a carfax, it's clean. As for the vacation, I did it years ago when i was younger and it left such an impression on me. I want my boys to experience it as I did. What beautiful country it is up there. The only difference is that I was stuck in the back of a Ford Taurus with my sister for 1500+ miles whaereas my boys will be riding in style (hopefully) in an X with room to stretch and a built-in DVD.

I'm working the deal. If he gives me what I want for trade then it just might happen.