100,000 miles and still happy?

wvgasguy

Ok, so my first Expedition had the rear end replaced at 700 miles and I unloaded it when the electrical stuff started doing weird stuff. Swore I would not own another. However I leased one after trying a couple of smaller vehicles. Not sure I wanted to own it long term. My concern is that I see a lot of complaints about the Expedition that are age and milage related and I am curious, does anyone out there have a high milage Expedition that has not had mechanical or electrical issues? Please be honest. I realize these boards attract the people with issues, but even at that it's only a few people. I'd feel more comfortable if about 10,000 of you with older ones bragged about your vehicle.

I know the comfort and size of this will make you "happy", but I'm talking about problems, long running and and costly issues. If you have those problems there are already posts here for you. This isn't where you need to post.

So, happy owners, be honest but make yourself known.

wvgasguy

Hummm, then I guess I'm glad I leased mine for 2 years.

zoomzoomn

We just traded ours after 5 years and 96,000 miles. It actually was quite trouble free after a few last minute issues were taken care of under the 3/36 warranty. There were a few niggly issues starting to pop up, but nothing severe. The main driving factor for getting rid of it was more my fears of what lay beyond 100K miles more than any apparent issues with the truck itself.

The key, though, is maintenance. We drove it hard but took good care of it including trans/diffs/transfer case/coolant/power steering fluid changes, plugs and coil boots at 66K miles(really recommend this before 75K regardless of mfg recommendations!) and regular oil changes using the 5w20 syn blend with BG MOA.

wvgasguy

Thanks. I'm curious as to what % of new retail did you get on trade after 5 years? I'm planning to purchase my Expedition when the lease ends unless gas prices are $5 and unless the Sequoia is offered with a hybrid system.In either case I may still purchase and sell my vehicle as I believe it will be worth more then the residual.

zoomzoomn

I got less than I expected on trade ($6500 wholesale), but I think that I could have moved it for around $8500-$9000 if I had sold it myself. I paid $31,500 in 2003 so retail residual at the end of 5 years was about 27%. Honestly, it was lower than I had hoped it would be, but big utes are soft now. I got over $8100 in rebates and discounts on our new one just to prove the point.

I had thought about waiting for the hybrids. The new tri-mode from GM and soon Chrysler and BMW looks promising. Next time around for me. It will be proven technology at that point. It would be nice for those of us that need a big vehicle but don't want to be totally in in penalty box with gas prices what they are! Good luck on the Toyota, though, as they want a gold premium for their stuff right now.

wvgasguy

Thanks for the info.

I've had 2 Sequoias and wanted another one but the dealers thought it would be spring till they arrived with the new ones. I needed a big UTE so I went ahead last Fall. I had an 04 Expedition but traded it early (rear end went out and electrical glitches). Looked at everything this time and the Ford was really the only good choice at the time in my opinion. I traded a 4Runner for it. I'm not a Ford loyalyst but the Chevy was not comfortable at all in the second and even less so in the third row. I didn't want a last generation Sequoia with the new ones due out soon.

I decided on a 2 year lease. Best of all worlds. Almost 0% on the lease cost and if I want to buy it I can get a credit union loan for less than 6% on the used price. It was actually cheaper to lease and then buy than to buy from day one due to the low lease costs. Additionally I got it at the X plan price.

If I like it I can buy it cheap, and if gas is $5 I can walk away from it without being $10,000 upside down on my loan as I usually am when I trade in 2 years.

If the Sequoia has hybrid I'll lean that way unless they are gouging people. I do have a loyal dealer though that won't stick me I believe. I have a hybrid camry at present. If it wasn't for it I would have a hard time taking the 14 mpg with the Expedition as a main mode of transportation.

Took it to Flordia with the wife, son, daughter in law and grandson. Wow, I remember why I wanted a big ute. COMFORTABLE and ROOMY. The DVD (my first in a vehicle, wife made me do it) kept the kids (all three) quiet in the back the whole way.

Even at 25% I will lose a lot less the last three years if I keep it than what I lose the first two, so if they are reliable it may be the way to go. I usually have great vehicles to trade in.

Here's hoping gas prices stay reasonable (comparitively speaking)

crob26

I have a 98 Eddie Bauer 4X4 Expedition with 185,000 miles. I bought it used with 60,000 miles on it, four years ago. I have only had a couple of real problems. My headlights went out, and I could only drive with the high beams, and another time the front suspension sunk, which cost around $900.00. Other than those two items, just the regular maintenance, brakes, tune-ups. So I am still happy with it, just the price of gas is killing my weekly budget!