The wife has her eye on the new Ford expedition. Looking at the Max model with 4x4. Does anyone have any feedback on these, good or bad? Any specific things to watch out for?

How do you guys like the ecoboost? I told myself many years ago, I would never own a turbo vehicle due to the additional maintenance/complexity. Should I scrap this old way of thinking, or is this still true today?

As far as use goes, this will be a kid hauler, and occasionally tow a boat. I have a truck for normal truck duties and any long tows of the boat. Part of the reason for getting the max version is for the longer wheel base for towing purposes, and the third row in the max is almost like a normal 2nd row in most SUVs from what I've seen.

Other options we are considering are the Toyota Sequoia and the Lexus GX470 (sort of the smaller SUV compromise).

Thanks in advance

We own an Ecoboost 4cyl and I have driven the Ecoboost 6cyl in F150s, without issue.

If you are using then in normal driving conditions, they are fully capable and durable.

If you are going to "drive it like you stole it" then it's more likely to wear out as these are not high pressure, performance turbos like you would find on track cars.

The 3.5L eco boost is a great engine. Ford has made improvements to a good engine to make it even better. I just bought a new F150 and (After much research) I decided the 3.5EB and the 5.0L were equivalent for power, capability and reliability.

They are pretty solid SUVs. The Ecoboost is a fairly proven motor but if you loose a turbo they get expensive.
Size is nice and they are very comfortable and easy to drive. I would highly suggest getting the Max the space is great.
I had a catastrophic brake failure on mine at 54k miles. It was the identical failure the F150s are recalled for but the Expedition is not included.

I have an f150 ecoboost and love it, the sound of the twin turbos winding up is pretty cool.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Black, what year was your Expedition? Do you know if the brake issue is still a problem or has the recall corrected it?

That engine is a solid engine. Why all the apprehension over the turbo? There is no maintenance and there really is nothing complex about them. Plus, they have been around forever.

The wife has a turbo in her 4 cylinder CR-V. It has been flawless and kind of interesting to listen to when you put your foot in it.

I had the 2.7 EcoBoost V6 in my F150. Never had a problem out of it, and it could pull a loaded cargo trailer no problem (apart from the MPG hit).

My mom has something like 150k on a 3.5 EcoBoost F150 (a 2011 Lariat, IIRC). and it's still running great. She was regularly pulling a horse trailer with it & that I'm, aware of has never had any major problems out of that truck.

quote:

Originally posted by ACTEG:
Thanks for the replies guys.

Black, what year was your Expedition? Do you know if the brake issue is still a problem or has the recall corrected it?

I had a 2016 and the Expedition has never been covered under the recall though the parts are the same and the failure I had was identical to the F150s.

Ford is on their 2nd round of recalls for the F150 for the brakes on newer models than the 1st recall. So not sure if it has been corrected or not.

I have a 2016 Expedition Limited. It is the extended version in 2016 they called it the EL option or extended length. It has the 3.5 EB twin turbo. It's been a absolute fantastic vehicle. I have about 36K on it now and got it with just over 5k on it. It is 4wd. The thing drives down the road like you grandpa's Buick even while towing a boat. The seats are the most comfortable I've had in a vehicle. My second row is also captains chairs and the third row being a bench. I've carried seven passengers for a two and a half hour drive and no one complained.

Four of us take a fishing trip every year which is a 7 hour drive. We all can sit comfortably and have plenty room with all our gear in the back with the third seat in the stowed position.

A mechanic who I know and trust stressed to me that with the Eco Boosts you must dilligently change your oil. He recommended every three thousand which is the way I've done it since I was old enough to drive.

My only issue with the 3.5 Ecoboost is that the water pump is driven by the timing chains. When it starts to leak (average around 100-150K miles), it will cost thousands to replace it. This is a common issue on all of Ford's 3.5 V6 motors.

Now had Ford offered the 2.7 EB or the 5.0 V8 in the Expedition (like they do the F-150), that same repair would be in the hundreds, not thousands. That's because those motors have a traditional water pump driven by the serpentine belt.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by ACTEG:
Thanks for the replies guys.

Black, what year was your Expedition? Do you know if the brake issue is still a problem or has the recall corrected it?

I had a 2016 and the Expedition has never been covered under the recall though the parts are the same and the failure I had was identical to the F150s.

Ford is on their 2nd round of recalls for the F150 for the brakes on newer models than the 1st recall. So not sure if it has been corrected or not.

I was to the point of finalizing financing on a CPO '14 F150 Limited when the sale was yanked from under me due to the brake recall. Truck didn't show any symptoms, but since there was no fix at the time, they "would get fined for selling the truck".
Lost sight of where it all stood once that all fell apart.

I have the 3.5 Eco-Boost in my Lincoln Navigator. Combined with the 10-speed automatic, it is an excellent powertrain for such a heavy SUV.

Agree with the keep up with the oil changes, plus give the turbo some time to cool down if you have been at high revs before turning the engine off.

For the wife, probably be fine. For the way I would use a full size suv there is no way I would buy one. It is a kid hauler and grocery getter and that is about it. Sad what ford did to their full size suv Might as well put strait leg girlie boy pants and deck shoes on with a pink pack pack and send it to college.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
For the wife, probably be fine. For the way I would use a full size suv there is no way I would buy one. It is a kid hauler and grocery getter and that is about it. Sad what ford did to their full size suv Might as well put strait leg girlie boy pants and deck shoes on with a pink pack pack and send it to college.

Not sure I understand. The Expedition is far more capable than my wife’s Suburban.

Most guys don't black. Which is understandable these days. Since so much of the market is for highway/interstate use. Little or no towing and virtually little heavy hauling. You just have to look at the tires on 98% of these things driving around have on them. More suited for an eighties caddy.

The roots of these rigs were loading 4-6 guys in them. Full of survey gear, chainsaw's, road crew's, rail crew's, construction crew's, gear, etc. Then they evolved in to Heavy V-8 haulers of the eighties and early nintie's. Then over time they evolved into highway haulers and now you have these super fancy v6 twin turbo, 10 and 12 speed transmission super shifters that get good gas mileage that the mass' think are fantastic rigs for $70k plus. No thanks.

ACTEG, if towing anything substantial, very far, in the mountains and bucking any head winds. I think you will be disappointed in this vehicle.

We are on our second flex, with the 3.5 Ecoboost motor in both. This is not quite the same motor as in the trucks, but same idea. Synthetic motor oil only every 4-5K and let it cool down for 10 plus seconds before shutting off the engine. I have extended warranties on both to 150K, so not worried about much. Great engine in my opinion

I’m in a ‘20 3.5 EB f-150 just got out of a Coyote powered f-150.

Power numbers are about the same but the feel is very different and since the 5 liter isn’t an option it doesn’t matter much. It has been solid for 6000 miles

Confused by ORC's response.

As I recall, the Exped gets the same EB engine as the F150?
My mom has done a fair bit of heavier towing with her 3.5EB, can't imagine the Exped being overly worse than the F150 in that regard.

And I am on record saying the F150 isn't much of a real truck.

None of these are horrible rigs for what they are. I am just not a fan for my use.

If you are in flat, interstate county and do not need a regular hauler or tower any of these rigs will do fine. But the offering's of 1/2 ton pickup's and suv's these days are just fancy grocery/kid haulers. Not serious HD rigs like days gone by.

In pickups you still have the option of a 3/4 or one ton. In an Suv about the only thing left is the Sequoia that is a HD rig, imho