My wife went from a 95 5.8 Bronco to a 2000 X 4x4 PSD!!! She has never once asked me to put the insurance back on "her" Bronco!!! The best she saw with the Bronco was 12 mpg, she has seen 20 mpg on several occasions with the Excursion.

 

According to an article I read in the late 90's...............

Ford dealers had customers comming in looking for an SUV bigger than a Suburban and an Expedition. Ford was currently developing a new vehicle that was originally intended to be sold only to utility companies and the like that had a need for a large vehicle and one with 4X. Due to input from the potential customers and the dealerships, they decided to make the Excursion into a mainstream vehicle, one with the comforts that the general public would want to put in their driveway. Some buyers were not to careful pulling into their garages; they found that the roof of the thing was higher than the top of their garage door .

 

Ya Billy, I have that problem exactly! Raising my Garage Door Opening and installing an 8ft door is on the way! What a Truck!!

 

With a previous truck, that cleared an 8' door by an inch or two, I up'd the wheels and it wouldn't go in with the racks on.
Then I loaded the roof with skis and mountain bikes and drove into a parking garage ... but I stopped about four feet from hitting the metal bar they use to stop trucks from bringing down the roof. Lucky break.
So, I bought a very cool locking rack thing to carry a sailboard, masts, sails etc. without it all getting ripped off (like some previous gear) but then I drove into a parking garage and snapped everything off the racks. Junk. And the maker (Thule, I think) just thought I should buy more of their flimsy crap and remember not to drive into garages ... of course, you try to park in the city without using a garage ... make sure you have a spare hour to find a spot ...

Now, when I have the "roof boot" (a big, fibreglass missile for skis and light luggage etc.) I put a little orange up-arrow on the windshield in my line of sight. So far, so good. But my wife did try to take the whole rig into the garage, so there's a dent on the house now ...
I'm about to lift the Excursion by four inches, so it's not going inside anywhere any more until my barn is built -- that will have a 20' hangar door for my trailer, boats and such such. Heaven will be like that ... : )

 

This thread reminds me of a photograph of a guy, taken in the 70's I guess, who had packed the suitcases on the roof of the family station wagon ... while it was in the garage ... tearing everything off as he backed out ...

 

I just read in Car & Driver and interesting MPG fact.

In the current issue, there is a comparison story with the new Explorer and Commander. The Jeep has the (oooh I'm gettin' chills) Hemi, yawn.

Their observed fuel economy on a 900 mile trip was 13 with the Jeep, 16 with the Explorer. Why aren't the eco-weenies getting their knickers in a bunch over that? Geez, the last tank of fuel in my dainty, svelte V10 7600 pound Excursion was 11.3.

 

Well I'll throw in my two cents worth in. For years I drove a 3/4 Chevy Conversion Van. It was the only thing that would hold all my crap and a family of 6. I got maybe, at best, 14 mpg, or worst 10 mpg, loaded up. I bought a 21' boat a couple years ago and the two wheel drive on the van wasn't cutting it on the boat ramp. I looked around and, shazaam, it was like I had custom ordered a vehicle to fit all my needs. Only difference was now I was getting 13-16 mpg, with what feels like twice the power and the 4WD as a bonus. I haven't found any reason to ever part with it, wish I would have got into one sooner. IMHO

BTW- last weekend, 5 adults, luggage for a three day trip to Deadwood, 3 coolers-650 miles with mountains- 15.9 mpg

 

IMHO - what ruined the X was the press it recieved regarding fuel mileage.

It sounds like quite a few of us were previous Bronco owners. In my case I had a 1993 Bronco with a 351 fuel injection, OJ edition. I owned that truck for over 7 years and the best mileage I EVER saw was 11.5mpg on one single highway trip (it must have been all downhill with a strong tailwind!). That truck consistently got 9.5mpg no matter if it was city/hwy/towing trailer/not towing - 9.5 was all I could get. I did full tune-ups, everything trying to get better mileage with no luck.

I needed more room and more towing power than the Bronco could safely handle and I now have a 2000 Ex, 2WD with a V10. This truck drives SO much better on the highway, carries all our gear to the races and I can get 15-16mpg if I keep it under 75 on the highway. For me that is more than a 50% improvement in gas mileage! The worst mileage I've ever had in the Ex was 11mpg which was all city driving in traffic. There is a definate downsize to the EX, it doesn't fit in my garage and when I go downtown I can't fit in the parking garages, it's a trade-off I can live with personally, I just leave early so I can find a spot on the street!

When I owned my Bronco, not one person ever mentioned I owned a "gas guzzler", yet with my Ex that is the first comment anyone ever makes. With the Ex, strangers will walk up and talk to you about how bad of gas mileage you get. This NEVER EVEN ONCE happened with my 9mpg Bronco. I think this truck developed a bad reputation for gas mileage that it will never live down despite the fact that it gets better mileage than many other vehicles that 'fly under the gas guzzler radar'. This bad reputation worked in my favor because nobody wants to buy a "gas guzzler", so I got a 6 year old truck with 27K miles for thousands under blue book value

When they build a electric/hybrid/whatever that can tow 9,000+ lbs and carry all my gear more economically I will be more than happy to sell my Ex, but until then, she ain't goin' anywhere

 

Why? Because most People believe in the adage that 'Perception is Reality'.
Kinda like if you're Canadian you must live in an igloo, or if you're from the Ozarks you must be a Hillbilly!
In other words the Excursion is so Huge it must be a Pig on Fuel!!

 

We bought an 01 X about a year ago and it is a beast!!! we traded in my wifes escape on it and we love it. I shoot alot of archery tournaments and we are always traveling out of state. I took 5 people with me to myrtle beach(from ohio) this year with all of our gear and still got 15 mpg (V-10). not to mention we drove nearly 600 miles on the same tank of gas(44 gallon tank). and it has plenty of room in it for 6-7 people. This is by far my favorite vehicle I have ever owned. I just wish my wife would let me drive it more often. It is not our everyday driver though,she drives the volvo wagon and i have a honda accord and a 4x4 f-150. but we always look forward to the weekend the most when we take the X out of the garage and play. Ya just cant beat it!!!!!!!

 

I read an article in Petersens 4wheel and offroad (back in 95 or 96) about ford coming out with something to rival the Suburban. the picture they showed looked like a suburban of the 80's

 

I just lit up the little yellow gas pump symbol having filled up, I dunno, sometime a week or so back, driven around town, gone up to the city once, picked up some enormous boxes then home at 2000 ft, then let the truck sit, then drove from the San Francisco Bay Area to Squaw Valley (climbing a total of maybe 6000ft) laden to the roof liner with furniture, clothing, ski gear etc. getting ready for the ski season ... then home again ... then down to the corner store for milk and such ... hmmm ... 700+ miles on 44 gallons ... the bizarre "distance to empty" gauge has been reading "0" for about 25 miles now. I guess I'm on the last gasp of fumes -- it's a 6.0 diesel, it's not skipped a beat and I'm not gentle on the loud pedal -- if the cruise control isn't set for 75mph, I'm usually moving at least as quick as the traffic.

At what point can someone realize that a 7700lb lump of pig iron in the shape of something born from a Super Duty and an SUV can carry four or more people, plus everything they bring along to enjoy their life and still turn better fuel economy than a family sedan running empty and solo driver from ten years ago? If I looked at all the solo driver Camry's eking out 30mpg in the commute traffic and compared my weekend driving with two kids, two dogs, wife etc. ... well, the old "cost per person per mile" really makes anything short of a VW TDi at 50mpg with four people carrying their bags on their laps look like someone burning rain forest in the Amazon just to see if there's oil under there.

Well, suffice to say the last weekend of family fun, all of us (two dogs, two babies, two grandparents, two dogs, my wife and myself) plus everything we need (stroller and supplies, bags, food, dog stuff ... you name it) can get around in comfort with the rear viewing a DVD in surround sound and me watching the road without distractions ... just exactly how else can I get this done short of renting or buying an RV and churning 8 mpg if I keep it to 55 mph?

So. Anyone who buys an Excursion or any turbo-diesel and doesn't need it and use it -- shoot 'em despite their right to live life. Anyone that finds the money to buy one and uses it to even a tenth of its capacity is doing a helluva lot better than someone that picks up a Camry and thinks they've done their bit while they idle along solo in commute traffic. After all, it's not just the stuff out the tail pipe, it's also the factory that belches out coal soot to make the electricity to build the vehicle in the first place and everything else that goes into selling the new vehicle product. I happen to have a Prius too -- in part to try out the alternate power hybrid thing and in part just to have fun with an interesting "gadget" car -- but I realise that Toyota burned a lot of coal to develop that thing and a lot of non-renewable materials are gone in order to see just one Prius roll off the production line and when it's going to its grave, it's full of batteries and no doubt some mercury and other substances that could end up doing just as much if not more harm than the "conventional" damage done by the rusting carcass of my Excursion in a decade and a couple hundred thousand miles.

It's not over. But the solution is there. It's just not as simple as looking at numbers from bureaucrats (EPA/DOT/CARB) or idealogs and tree-huggers riding bikes or buying old Volvos. I'm starting to feel that drivers of large, diesel vehicles are akin to gay or black people -- the blind prejudice seems much the same.

Alright. The violin is back in the box. I'm not sure if that came from the joy of a family weekend and Halloween and all that or if it comes from the frustration I see in the eye of the Camry driver that won't let me change lanes and it seems to be because I'm in a really big vehicle he thinks is a gas-guzzler.

 

That's funny - your wife won't drive anything else, and neither will mine, unless she has to (because I have Big Black!). I brought home a beautiful new '03 6.0 Excursion Limited two years ago, back when my wife was still driving her car, and she wouldn't touch it. "It's too big", she said, and so I took it back and bought her a Grand Cherokee. When she was pregnant with our third child, a couple of months before he was born, I went to the Ford auction with a buddy of mine who is a dealer and picked up an immaculate '01 7.3 Limited, loaded out with the No Boundaries package and a WAAG brushguard set and some other stuff they didn't even list on the auction inventory. Having driven a smaller SUV for a couple of years, she was more inclined to give Big Black a try, and the rest is, as they say, history. It's since been across the nation from coast to coast and all around and in between, hauling our family and stuff and utility, boat and travel trailers without blinking. Even with the 7.3 PSD, I have gotten as much as 21.27 mpg on the highway, with an average of ~18 mpg at ~70 mph (okay, I HAVE altered the intake and exhaust and benefit from the programming choices offered by a 1705 Microtuner). I hardly notice the noisy prattle of the "ethicists" and the "environmentalists". These are the same people who do double duty trying to get the government to take other choices away from individuals, out of a misplaced sense of propriety or superior morality or what the he!! ever. Necessity drives invention, and the biggest SUV on the road was invented because there is a need for it.

Ford plans to release an extended version of the Expedition sometime in 2006 as a 2007 model. Word is they're planning to offer the 6.0 PSD as an option - let's hope that the Expedition XL, or whatever they call it, is up to the tasks to which I daily subject my BigBlackEx.

 

ymmv - what a scream!

 

Eco-Terrorists are spray painting graffitti on Excursions and even torching them at
the dealerships (as in Los Angeles a year or two ago). Yet my 2003 Excursion gets
15mpg at 70mph carrying up to 8 passengers and their luggage. Would someone please explain why these Eco-Terrorists ignore my '86 Ford E-150 that gets 8mpg in town and 13mpg at 55mph (about 10-11 at 70). These E-150 vans have been around
in one form or another since the early sixties. They are used for delivery and often family conversions with captains chairs and TV's. They are EVERYWHERE you look, OUTNUMBER the excursions by a mile and get MUCH WORSE mileage overall. I can only guess that because the Excursion can run 40 to 50 thousand dollars new, that their real motivation is jealousy or spite at those of us who can afford these great trucks?