So we were looking for various vehicles, and Mel really wanted a third row seat, but every Tahoe we saw was crap, and anything smaller was... too small really; so I convinced her to try out an expedition, and she loved it.
So, we are now the proud owners of a 2001 Ford Expedition XLT. Ours is FULLY optioned out. It literally has every option except 4 wheel drive, and the sunroof. The most important being the full power, heat, and leather packages (including heated seats and mirrors, center and roof consoles, third row seat etc...), the front and rear airbags, front and rear air conditioning, the heavy duty towing package with trans cooler, self leveling suspension, class IV hitch and LSD, the premium sound, and oh yeah, the big 5.4 triton V8 (255hp 350ftlbs).
This is not quite our truck; its a very similar model, but our is a bit better. We've got the larger premium alloy wheels with offroad tires (brand new tires), the lighted running boards, the uprated security and keyless entry system, special paint and mirrors... basically every option there is except the Eddie Bauer package.
The truck has 65,000 miles, and books out as equipped at $18,000 (auto trader has listings as low as $15k and as high as $20k, with trucks equiped like ours with as low mileage on the higher end); and we paid quite a bit less, but our final price including tax, license, title etc... was $19k, and we put $4k down (yes, our friend finally paid us back, by trading in his car for us and taking the difference back as cash. Tomorrow I'm going to help him look for a new car, so HE stays mobile.) with an additional $1500 buydown within the next thirty days for a lower interest rate. Oh ad a six month dealer warranty that matches the factory warranty (which has already expired. Anyone have any experience with an extended auto warranty? Are they worth the money?
Mel is stoked; and honestly I'm quite pleased. It's a great truck, it's powerful, smoothe, quiet, and VERY comfortable. It can haul a TON of stuff (actually 4.25 tons of stuff with the trailer); we got a decent price on it considering our credit; and a decent interest rate considering the same (8.9% with the buy down; and a no penalty buyout). Yeah if we'd put more down and had better credit we could have negotiated a better price, but as it is, we're happy.
Oh and this is Mels first "New" vehicle, and she keeps making happy kitten noises.
Personally, I'm thinking a lot about camping, range trips, Costco, IKEA, and towing ATV's and boats etc...
Now though, the question remains, what do we name it? Until and unless we come up with a better name I've been calling it "the beast" in my head. Why? well it's big, powerful, massive, can swallow up a lot of stuff, and sucks down a lot of gas.
Of course it will REALLY be the beast when I get my hands on a performance programmer, and an intake kit (+20hp and +40ftlbs at the rears - 20% more on the bare dyno, and MUCH better shifting). I wonder how much a Vortech kit is for the things (looked it up, $4358 +115hp and +95ftlbs at the rear wheels hmmmm over 400bhp gooood)... no, I CAN'T leave well enough alone thank you very much.
