Compare Suburban, Expedition, Excursion, Explorer

[Sonshine]

We are looking for a new used vehicle. We currently have a Suburban. Can anyone compare any two of the above vehicles? Ideally we would like it to seat at least 7. We would be purchasing a 2002 - 2006 model.

[mymonkeybug]

Wish we could help but we ar Toyota family all the way. However, if I had to choose, definitely stick with Chevy products. I never did like the way Ford's drove. Just my opinion.

[Cera]

I only have experience with the excursion, expedition and explorer. The excursion is basically a suburban. It is huge. The expedition is smaller than the excursion but larger than the explorer. Both the expedition and explorer come in 7 seat versions. We have a mountaineer which is the mercury version of the explorer (both are owned by ford and built from the same parts, just different styling). Ours seats 7 though the third row is cramped. We have never had any major issues with the vehicle and it has 130,000 miles on it (8 years old). I have also been fairly happy with the gas mileage. Even though it is a V8 we get 20 highway, 17 city.

[Barb_]

We used to have an expedition. We looked at the excursion, but it didn't seem that much larger on the inside, where it counted. Just heavier, taller, and more macho. Meh. Never thought I'd say it, but I prefer my van. The seats are more comfortable, there are more creature comforts included, it's easier to get in and out of, we can lug just as much stuff, and the price was better. Not that you asked :tongue_smilie:

[happypamama]

The Excursion is much bigger than the Expedition but has more cargo room. I had an Expedition for a while and LOVED it. It could seat eight and had a LOT of foot room for the middle row. We could put two carseats in the third row, with room for a third person in between. The only problem was that with the third row in use, we had little cargo room -- enough for groceries and such but not enough for a large family's full week of luggage. It did handle beautifully, though, and was really comfortable for both my tall DH and my very short self to drive, even while hugely pregnant. (That was largely due to the movable pedals, though, which I think was a feature of the Eddie Bauer options package, so ymmv.) Explorers seem nice too, but with the ones with the third row, I can't imagine that they have much foot room in the rear rows. Gas mileage was fairly lousy, about 13 mpg (this was for a 2000 that was ten years old). I loved the Expedition, and had it not been irreversibly damaged in a rollover accident last winter (in which the vehicle was toast, but the passengers were completely unharmed, and the airbags didn't deploy), I would still be driving it. It was at around 130,000 miles, IIRC, and we hadn't had to do a whole lot of work to it. Some minor work, like repairing the air conditioning system, but not transmission or engine yet.

 

(In all fairness, though, we have several Fords and have been really pleased with them. DH finds it pretty easy to do most repairs at home on them, anyway.)

[Denisemomof4]

please make sure you spend the money on a carfax report. I hate to say it, but I've owned both a Ford and a couple of Chevys and I won't buy either again. We recently looked at 2007 - 2009 Suburbans but after searching carfax reports, we ran away. Fast!

 

sorry, just trying to prepare you. We had nothing but problems with the Suburban which we brought brand spanking new.

[Alenee]

I LOVE my Expedition and cannot imagine driving anything else now. (the Explorers are just like a car so I can't imagine buying one unless I just liked the style) I think our Expedition is a 2003 and yes, it is one that had recalls but as of yet, it isn't high in mileage and we haven't had to change the spark plugs. Dh is a bit hesitant to do it because of the recall issue.

 

Ours seats 8 and as others have said, it is roomy for 8 passengers but when the third row is up, there is very little cargo space. We can however put down two of the three seats (or all three) in the third row and still have one passenger back there plus a ton of luggage and since we're only a family of 5, that has worked well for us. It has a fabulous turning radius so getting into tight parking spaces is no problem at all. If you get 4x4, it can do anything in snow and ice too! I had to drive dd to the hospital after our whole area was covered in 2 feet of snow and it had no problem whatsoever.

 

Dh and I have talked about it and have decided that when there's a need to replace it, we'll just buy a newer model Expedition. It is so nice to have finally found the car that works for me! :D

[Barb_]

Ours seats 8 and as others have said, it is roomy for 8 passengers but when the third row is up, there is very little cargo space. We can however put down two of the three seats (or all three) in the third row and still have one passenger back there plus a ton of luggage and since we're only a family of 5, that has worked well for us.

 

This is probably why I didn't love our Expedition. We had to keep the back seat up permanently and grocery trips, not to mention road trips, were a bear. Perfect for 5, not so much for 7 or 8.

 

Barb

[JenniferB]

We had an Explorer, which we loved. We traded it in for a Nissan Quest. It seats 7. We love this car too. It rides so smooth.

[mom2att]

My husband drives an 03 Excursion and I drive an 03 Navigator, which is similar to the Expedition (the Navi is a Lincoln, but Lincolns are made by Ford).

 

His Excursion is his work truck--big, heavy, 10 cylinder, pulls large loads long distances. It is definitely a work horse and he loves it. It is approaching 200K and while I can't say it is problem-free, for the mileage it has the problems are minimal.

 

My Navigator is also an 03. It has 115K and is a great vehicle. It has much less cargo room than the Excursion, but the back seats can be stowed with the push of a button so it's easy to make more cargo room when needed. It also drives more like a car than the Excursion, which I like. The Excursion doesn't look a lot bigger, but it definitely drives bigger.

 

The downside to both is the gas mileage, which stinks. We knew this going in, though, and we wanted big, safe vehicles. We bought both vehicles used for a great price and have been very happy with them.

[Hikin' Mama]

with over 207,000 miles, and it is still going strong. We've had to do nothing but regular maintenance. I love that car, except for the small amount of cargo space when the third row seat is in. We usually took that seat out when traveling. Our teen boys drive it now.

 

I now drive a Toyota Sequoia, and I love it too. It seems wider to me than the Expedition, and therefore a bit roomier. We'll see how well the Sequoia does when it starts getting up there in miles.

[Teachin'Mine]

I'd go with the Excursion for the size, and diesel for the fuel economy. '05 and '06 would be the years I'd look for. I think that even with the higher price of diesel, it would be cheaper to run than a gas model.

 

Googled and found this site with good reviews.

 

http://www.edmunds.com/ford/excursion/2005/consumer-reviews.html

Edited March 4, 2011 by Teachin'Mine

[Mrs Mungo]

I had a 2004 expedition that I just traded in because it developed holes in the roof. Ford has released a service bulletin about it, because it is a manufacturing defect on ALL Ford trucks from 2004-2009. The aluminum body panels were contaminated with iron particles; they are ALL rusting from the inside out. By the time the paint is affected and you can see it, the holes are already there. Ford will not fix it if you are a second owner or over 50k miles. Several people have sued Ford and won in court. Some trucks are rusting on the tailgate, we were lucky it was just the roof, it's the only reason we were able to unload it. There are thousands of complaints about this online. I will never, ever buy another Ford even though that was my fourth Ford and my second Expedition.

 

The 2009 Honda Pilot I have now seats 8, has about the same cargo space as the Expedition, but drives like a car. I love it.

[Denisemomof4]

The 2009 Honda Pilot I have now seats 8, has about the same cargo space as the Expedition, but drives like a car. I love it.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

I absolutely LOVE my 2011 Pilot. It is, by far, superior to the Suburban IMO. It handles SO well, drives like a car. It is more spacious than the 2007 Pilot I had, which I was forced into because my Suburban had been towed right out of my garage for the THIRD time when I found out we lost our 4wd. I *NEED* 4wd just to get home sometimes!

 

I'm SO glad we didn't get another Suburban. The one we were trying to buy, and went back and forth with the sales manager, was going to cost us 57k. I'm just SO glad it didn't work out.

 

I also love that with a Pilot you can just pull into any parking space you want to. I hated having to drive around and around and around trying to find a space for the Suburban.

 

I'm sorry..... I probably shouldn't even respond here! I just do NOT have a good opinion of Ford OR Chevy.

 

And...... I can't believe how Hondas and Toyotas just keep going and going and going with very few mechanical issues. HUGE :thumbup:

[melmichigan]

I test drove them all and will not give up my Suburban. :) It seats all of us comfortably and allows room for groceries. I also drove the Pilot and some other foreign options recently before we bought our second Liberty, our "for fun" vehicle, they don't compare in room with 5 kids who will all be over 6 ft. tall, and a DH who is 6'8".

Edited March 6, 2011 by melmichigan

[Mothersweets]

I've had an Excursion and currently drive a Suburban.

 

I loved all the room I had with the Excursion - even in the 3rd row there was a good amount of leg room. The Suburban does drive better, imo, but is a little smaller.

[Teachin'Mine]

I had a 2004 expedition that I just traded in because it developed holes in the roof. Ford has released a service bulletin about it, because it is a manufacturing defect on ALL Ford trucks from 2004-2009. The aluminum body panels were contaminated with iron particles; they are ALL rusting from the inside out. By the time the paint is affected and you can see it, the holes are already there. Ford will not fix it if you are a second owner or over 50k miles. Several people have sued Ford and won in court. Some trucks are rusting on the tailgate, we were lucky it was just the roof, it's the only reason we were able to unload it. There are thousands of complaints about this online. I will never, ever buy another Ford even though that was my fourth Ford and my second Expedition.

 

The 2009 Honda Pilot I have now seats 8, has about the same cargo space as the Expedition, but drives like a car. I love it.

 

Aluminum was used in areas on the Expedition to reduce weight and you're right there is a problem with them rusting. The Excursion doesn't have aluminum panels, and doesn't have this same problem. Or at least that's what I got from some quick googling. :tongue_smilie: It was the light duty trucks that were affected. The Excursion is built similarly to the F-series trucks and is considered heavy duty.

Edited March 6, 2011 by Teachin'Mine

[momtotkbb]

I test drove them all and will not give up my Suburban. :) It seats all of us comfortably and allows room for groceries. I also drove the Pilot and some other foreign options recently before we bought our second Liberty, our "for fun" vehicle, they don't compare in room with 5 kids who will all be over 6 ft. tall, and a DH who is 6'8".

 

Agreeing with Melissa on this one! I have a 2001 Suburban (I grew up w/ Suburban's and said I'd never drive one - but that was before 4 kids). We tried the Excursions when we were purchasing our Suburban but didn't like the way it handled and there were a number of complaints. We know two families w/ Excursions and they have had lots of trouble with them - both are diesels. The Expedition and Explorers just weren't big enough for us - primarily the cargo space - it would have been no different than our mini-van that we were getting rid of. We are in the market for a new one since mine now has 200000 miles on it and no other vehicle out there has the passenger room plus cargo room w/ the luxury options I can get on my Suburban - well except a Yukon which is just the GMC version. We will be getting a smaller SUV though for dd - she likes the CRV's - we call them baby SUV's here.

[Mrs Mungo]

Aluminum was used in areas on the Expedition to reduce weight and you're right there is a problem with them rusting. The Excursion doesn't have aluminum panels' date=' and doesn't have this same problem. Or at least that's what I got from some quick googling. :tongue_smilie: It was the light duty trucks that were affected. The Excursion is built similarly to the F-series trucks and is considered heavy duty.[/quote']

 

Many Excurions and F-150s have this same problem. Google "excursion paint bubbling."

[delaney]

If you want to fit 7, have a smooth ride, more cargo space, better resale, and better overall safety I would save money and get a Honda Odyssey. Really there is nothing better. I can fit way more in there than my friends with SUVs and the back row is roomy enough for a kid and 2 car seats! A HUGE plus is that van tires are way cheaper than SUV tires as well.:)

[Imprimis]

We traded in my (beloved ;)) 2000 GMC Yukon XL for a 2007 Ford Expedition.

 

While I haven't had any major problems with the Expedition, I still miss the Yukon. Much more comfortable interior and a better ride, imo.

 

And, I was not even aware of the TSB Mrs. Mungo mentioned :glare:

 

I would prefer not to purchase another Ford.

[Teachin'Mine]

Many Excurions and F-150s have this same problem. Google "excursion paint bubbling."

 

I've been googling and reading, but all I'm finding is for model year 2003 and earlier. But I could be totally wrong and maybe there is a problem across the board with all the years. I would not recommend the diesels from first half of 2004 and before as they had definite problems then and a few years previously. The '05 and '06 diesels were pretty good and that's the engine (6.0) most commonly used to replace older ones today - generally very good and good mpg too. But each vehicle is different and each is driven and maintained differently as well.

 

But to the OP, I would definitely have a mechanic go over every inch of any used vehicle you're looking at. Special attention should always be given to the paint and body as you can look for any signs of an accident that way too.

[4everHis]

We are looking for a new used vehicle. We currently have a Suburban. Can anyone compare any two of the above vehicles? Ideally we would like it to seat at least 7. We would be purchasing a 2002 - 2006 model.

 

If you truly need it to seat 7, as in most of the time, I'd be looking for answers from the people who seat 7 MOST of the time. A 7 passenger vehicle that seats 7 and only carries 4/5 is not comparing apples to apples. We drive to Texas from Michigan with 5 kids in a 7 passenger mini-van. To ask what a trip like that is with only 2/3 kids would NOT be comparing the same. We too are looking for a new vehicle. My mom 'swears' her mini van is so much roomier. . . uh yes, it is when only the driver and passenger seats are the only ones OCCUPIED!!! once you put my 5 kids in there. . . hhmm? not as roomy as she thought.

 

just a thought.:001_smile:

[Teachin'Mine]

Actually, if you're not dead set on an SUV, I'd definitely be considering an '04 or newer Toyota Sienna with the third row seat. 2004 models are roomier than the older ones. Great mpg, dependable, etc.. :)

 

Make that 2005 or newer: http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/sienna/

Edited March 6, 2011 by Teachin'Mine