Hello Excursion.
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Senior User
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 208
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From: San Francisco Bay Area
Hello Excursion.
I joined the ranks of 6.0 Excursion drivers today.
I ended up with an 05/08 build date, black, Limited.
Limited means it has leather, mono paint job, shiny wheels and things like thermostatic a/c, puddle lights, garage door opener, dimming rearview mirror, the radar reverse distance beeper and heated seats. Everything is remote-controlled and/or eletric. The 6-disc in-dash CD changer is "standard" but I paid extra for the second-row DVD player, tow-pack, tubular running boards (pretty cheapo) and 3.73 LSD.
The final test drive (it arrived with 20 miles on it) before signing the contract was a gentle cruise along the freeway at flanking speed and some zipping down side streets, but enough bumping and swerving to be confident it's not got any immediate problems. Time will tell. I did get to this point with another X that exhibited grabby, shuddering brakes and an incredibly, unbelievably noisy engine. I couldn't believe how loud it was. So I went to another dealer just to compare and the next X 6.0 I started sounded "normal" (loud, but normal) and sure enough, starting my truck it sounds normal. I don't know what they'd done or what they were running to make that first demo truck so loud. I initially put it down to the missing hood-liner, but that wasn't it.
The paint is, well, Ford quality. The cabin is bland like nothing I've bought before, but I've rented and borrowed the X so often, I hardly notice it. The front suspension is junk and sorely needs at least a two-inch lift. Maybe a four-inch job and blocks in the back to retain the rear leafs. Some decent dampers and a few other upgrades (20" wheels, 35" tyres) and a power-up from Banks and it should be good for five years and about 100K miles ... let's hope Ford or someone has a better SUV by then ...
The dealership was great. They kept to the their word (shock!) they found the right truck (should have been a Sept build, but Aug is fine) and these days, just delivering it with a full tank is $120 into the bargain ... I paid about $12K off MSRP or about $42K for it, but squeeze back in taxes and stuff and the check climbed back to about $47K ... for a Ford SUV ... holy crap!
Well, out of the box, it's a great vehicle and does exactly what it says it will do. And then some.
I need an SUV and I wanted it to also serve as a tow vehicle. Short of getting horrible mpg from a gas SUV (Suburban or Armada) there's just nothing out there that will tow my 10,000lb triple-axle trailer and the ideal of yet another vehicle (a diesel pick-up) just for towing was just too much.
So, here I am. $50K the poorer, but I couldn't be happier ... well, unless I could get a diesel Range Rover, maybe ... : )
The only thing I didn't know was the '05 Excursion doesn't have LATCH mounts for a child seat. That's just incredible. I thought it was law from years ago that all vehicles, I think since about '02 were mandated to have LATCH. Crazy. Well, I should have checked. Anyway, I guess it slips by under some truck or vehicle weight law. I'll drill out some neat holes in the overly beefy seat frames.
Well, I have a very long list of upgrades just as soon as I get over the shock of buying the thing. Suspension, wheels and tyres are at the top. Power-up and exhaust. Handling (radius rods) and braking (cryo rotors) will follow as needed. I'd love to be able to change the cabin trim colour to black or dark grey -- has anyone tinted the cabin plastics? I'll be putting in a Valentine One radar detector from another vehicle, a baby mirror or three and a rearview camera so I can avoid backing over the dogs, the children or the lawn-mower ...
By the way, my truck has no hood-liner, no rubber pad in the main console but it does have a light under the hood. Tomorrow (or really, later today) I'll do my own PDI, get it up on a hoist, "nut and bolt" it stem to stern and even torque the wheels. This thing is so big, I'll need all day. : )
Cheers,
I ended up with an 05/08 build date, black, Limited.
Limited means it has leather, mono paint job, shiny wheels and things like thermostatic a/c, puddle lights, garage door opener, dimming rearview mirror, the radar reverse distance beeper and heated seats. Everything is remote-controlled and/or eletric. The 6-disc in-dash CD changer is "standard" but I paid extra for the second-row DVD player, tow-pack, tubular running boards (pretty cheapo) and 3.73 LSD.
The final test drive (it arrived with 20 miles on it) before signing the contract was a gentle cruise along the freeway at flanking speed and some zipping down side streets, but enough bumping and swerving to be confident it's not got any immediate problems. Time will tell. I did get to this point with another X that exhibited grabby, shuddering brakes and an incredibly, unbelievably noisy engine. I couldn't believe how loud it was. So I went to another dealer just to compare and the next X 6.0 I started sounded "normal" (loud, but normal) and sure enough, starting my truck it sounds normal. I don't know what they'd done or what they were running to make that first demo truck so loud. I initially put it down to the missing hood-liner, but that wasn't it.
The paint is, well, Ford quality. The cabin is bland like nothing I've bought before, but I've rented and borrowed the X so often, I hardly notice it. The front suspension is junk and sorely needs at least a two-inch lift. Maybe a four-inch job and blocks in the back to retain the rear leafs. Some decent dampers and a few other upgrades (20" wheels, 35" tyres) and a power-up from Banks and it should be good for five years and about 100K miles ... let's hope Ford or someone has a better SUV by then ...
The dealership was great. They kept to the their word (shock!) they found the right truck (should have been a Sept build, but Aug is fine) and these days, just delivering it with a full tank is $120 into the bargain ... I paid about $12K off MSRP or about $42K for it, but squeeze back in taxes and stuff and the check climbed back to about $47K ... for a Ford SUV ... holy crap!
Well, out of the box, it's a great vehicle and does exactly what it says it will do. And then some.
I need an SUV and I wanted it to also serve as a tow vehicle. Short of getting horrible mpg from a gas SUV (Suburban or Armada) there's just nothing out there that will tow my 10,000lb triple-axle trailer and the ideal of yet another vehicle (a diesel pick-up) just for towing was just too much.
So, here I am. $50K the poorer, but I couldn't be happier ... well, unless I could get a diesel Range Rover, maybe ... : )
The only thing I didn't know was the '05 Excursion doesn't have LATCH mounts for a child seat. That's just incredible. I thought it was law from years ago that all vehicles, I think since about '02 were mandated to have LATCH. Crazy. Well, I should have checked. Anyway, I guess it slips by under some truck or vehicle weight law. I'll drill out some neat holes in the overly beefy seat frames.
Well, I have a very long list of upgrades just as soon as I get over the shock of buying the thing. Suspension, wheels and tyres are at the top. Power-up and exhaust. Handling (radius rods) and braking (cryo rotors) will follow as needed. I'd love to be able to change the cabin trim colour to black or dark grey -- has anyone tinted the cabin plastics? I'll be putting in a Valentine One radar detector from another vehicle, a baby mirror or three and a rearview camera so I can avoid backing over the dogs, the children or the lawn-mower ...
By the way, my truck has no hood-liner, no rubber pad in the main console but it does have a light under the hood. Tomorrow (or really, later today) I'll do my own PDI, get it up on a hoist, "nut and bolt" it stem to stern and even torque the wheels. This thing is so big, I'll need all day. : )
Cheers,
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 187
Likes: 0
Congrats on the new purchase.
I have 2 in car seats..The Ex does have the anchors for the car seats. In the second row and third row. They are mounted in the on the bottom of the seat near the floorboard. Not sure what kind of car seats you got, but I have to go over the seat head rest and then down to the anchor. The seats are very stable and passed our local police dept inspection. Look in your Ex Manual for proper installation..
Again Good Luck with your Ex.
Big Rig
I have 2 in car seats..The Ex does have the anchors for the car seats. In the second row and third row. They are mounted in the on the bottom of the seat near the floorboard. Not sure what kind of car seats you got, but I have to go over the seat head rest and then down to the anchor. The seats are very stable and passed our local police dept inspection. Look in your Ex Manual for proper installation..
Again Good Luck with your Ex.
Big Rig
New User
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
Congrats on the new X
We just recently got ours also. An '05 EB 6.0L
I know exactly what you are talking about. We have had an older car with three car seats. We alway had to use the metal strap hold along with the anchor that goes over the backrest. What an absolute PITA getting those things tightly in. But it was a great feeling when I had the CHP check the carseats and they couldn't get them to move. We were the only ones that day. I was SO looking forward to the new carseat latches! Absolutely unbelievable that the X does not have them. My mother's 04 mini van came with them, so I was totally surpised to find out that the X doesn't.
For those without kids, old style carseat when facing forward use the vehicle seat belt to hold and an tether anchor to hold the seat in place. You basicall ran the seat belt through the back of the carseat, pulled it all the way out so that it locks when tighten. Buckle carseat in, then pull seat belt all the way out, then put one or both knees in carseat and push it as far into the car as possible. Most new vehicles come with brackets mounted in the seam between the backrest and the seat. New child carseats also come with a very easy belt that then latches to the brackets. Very easy, even my wife could get the seat very tight. Hopefully that is a logical explaination.
This seems like an extremely low cost item. Just seems stupid not to be there.
I know exactly what you are talking about. We have had an older car with three car seats. We alway had to use the metal strap hold along with the anchor that goes over the backrest. What an absolute PITA getting those things tightly in. But it was a great feeling when I had the CHP check the carseats and they couldn't get them to move. We were the only ones that day. I was SO looking forward to the new carseat latches! Absolutely unbelievable that the X does not have them. My mother's 04 mini van came with them, so I was totally surpised to find out that the X doesn't.
For those without kids, old style carseat when facing forward use the vehicle seat belt to hold and an tether anchor to hold the seat in place. You basicall ran the seat belt through the back of the carseat, pulled it all the way out so that it locks when tighten. Buckle carseat in, then pull seat belt all the way out, then put one or both knees in carseat and push it as far into the car as possible. Most new vehicles come with brackets mounted in the seam between the backrest and the seat. New child carseats also come with a very easy belt that then latches to the brackets. Very easy, even my wife could get the seat very tight. Hopefully that is a logical explaination.
This seems like an extremely low cost item. Just seems stupid not to be there.
