Might be buying my first excursion
 

I will find out tomorrow if I will be the owner of a new excursion or not.I wish I had found this site sooner so I could ask but,are there any things that are obvious I should look for before I actually sign the papers?It is a 2003 xlt v10 4x4.I have not even heard this thing run yet.I went and looked at it last night but the lot was closed.It appeared to be very clean but I guess most black vehicles look good at night.I am looking for something big enough for myself the wife and 3 kids(plus friends).The heaviest thing I will probably pull with it is a 23 foot camper.I dont know the weight of it but at the moment I pull it with my 4.6L Expedition and it does fine as far as power goes.I thought about buying the diesel version but I cant find one in my price range.I will be searching thru the forum for problems I should check for but Please feel free to Tell me what you know.Thanks in advance.

RE: Might be buying my first excursion
 

i bought my first one 6 months ago and love it it is 4x4 with the v-10 and i'm averageing 14mpg

RE: Might be buying my first excursion
 

Really,That is awesome to hear.I keep reading these posts about people getting 9 miles to the gallon and I was starting to doubt this purchase.I can deal with 14 because my expedition only got 16-18mpg.Have you done anything to make it get better mileage?

RE: Might be buying my first excursion
 

only thing i have done is teach my wife to take off easy at stops and not waite till the last second to brake in other words no jackrabbit start and stops or the fuel mileage will drope to around 11 mpg

RE: Might be buying my first excursion
 

I bought my X about 5 months ago and i couldn't be happier! It is a 2000 limited V10 with 120k miles on it. I do construction work and it works great. I pull a 16' enclosed construction trailer that is usually around 5500-6500lbs depending on materials and tools I have in it. The v10 is a great motor - pulls nicely and you can't beat piling 8 people comfortably in the X! I get around 9.5mpg pulling the trailer on the highway at 65mph out of overdrive. if it is a calm dayit will pull in OD very nicely but generally itow in 3rd gear to save the tranny.65 seems to be the sweet spot for fuel mileage when towing. Solo I get around 14 mpg highway- keep it at or below 70 solo otherwise I notice a significant loss in fuel mileage.