Did I pay too much for this explorer?

[Ford Explorer9]

I just bought a 2006 Ford Explorer XLT 2 wheel drive V8 and I am extremely excited! However I was wondering if you thought I paid too much. It is clean with 79,000 miles and it's fully loaded. Dvd, third row seat, etc. I paid 12 thousand out the door with dealer fees. Is that too much? I thought it was good for a dealership but I was wondering if anyone would pay 11k for that private party.

Anyways I love it! I purchased it before it made it through the dealer inspection so I have to wait until Tuesday to pick it up. Can't wait!

 

[FROADER]

Congrats on the purchase!

That seems about average from a dealership around here in SoCal. Private party seems to be going for between 8-9k.

 

[Ford Explorer9]

Thank you

Yeah I feel pretty good about it now, I always have the worst buyers remorse but after a few hours I relax haha.

 

[Essex4x4]

I paid 14,000 for mine and when I bought it I had 78,000. Mine is an XLT, 3rd row seating as well. However mine does not have a dvd and I do have 4wd. Wish I had the DVD. That would be awesome on camping trips with my girl. Congrats on the new toy and welcome to our humble abode.

 

[Ford Explorer9]

I paid 14,000 for mine and when I bought it I had 78,000. Mine is an XLT, 3rd row seating as well. However mine does not have a dvd and I do have 4wd. Wish I had the DVD. That would be awesome on camping trips with my girl. Congrats on the new toy and welcome to our humble abode.

Thanks So I guess 12k out the door isn't too bad for a 2wd. Congratulations on tracking down the elusive 4wd V8! I originally was locked onto finding a 4wd but they don't seem to exist with the V8, at least not with less than 150k miles haha.

 

[Ford Explorer9]

Does anyone know if they offered premium sound in the XLT? Or did you have to buy the Eddie Bauer or Limited for that?

I know it has an OEM 6 CD changer and I think I saw speakers in the third row but not quite sure if it was standard speakers or the upgraded package. Never had an amp before

 

[Essex4x4]

Thanks So I guess 12k out the door isn't too bad for a 2wd. Congratulations on tracking down the elusive 4wd V8! I originally was locked onto finding a 4wd but they don't seem to exist with the V8, at least not with less than 150k miles haha.

Autotrader was my best friend haha. I kept looking and looking and finally found one in Lompoc California at a Honda dealer. Drove out to look and about half an hour later had given them $1000 bucks to not sell it. I wanted it to go through service first before I bought it. Glad I did now! Oh and they are elusive because no one wants to get rid of them

 

[Laserbait]

I just bought my Mercury Mountaineer AWD V8 with 99kmiles for $12000, out the door.

Value can vary greatly depending on your location. I'm in Minnesota, as a reference. AWD/4WD is a big plus up here. Down South, 2WD may be more desirable.

 

[Essex4x4]

Yes very true. Value and location affect pricing. However I don't think anyone down here would have some of the same issues as a car that spent it's life in the snow would such as salt damage and cancer (rust).

 

[Ford Explorer9]

Yeah sadly 4wd is pretty desirable here because of the dunes. I live in Pismo Beach and everyone wants 4wd "just in case". However I think marketing the vehicle as 24 mpg on the freeway should boost the interest if I ever sell it. What other vehicle weighs 5,000 pounds and does 0-60 in 6.75 AND gets amazing mpg!

Anyways I still haven't got my truck from the dealer though. Apparently they went to put the new tires on and the rim is bent. Little scared if that means other damage is present. But at least the dealer has to buy me a new rim I wonder how much they are if they ordered them from Ford...

 

[edwx]

Sounds like you did well. I have noticed that the prices of used vehicles in our area have gone up significantly in the past few years. Almost 4 years ago in November 2008, I bought my '06 XLS 4wd w/33k miles on it, from a local dealer for 12,500. You'd think that with the stale economy that the prices would have stayed low. Apparently not. Still cheaper than a new one though!!

 

[Essex4x4]

Yeah sadly 4wd is pretty desirable here because of the dunes. I live in Pismo Beach and everyone wants 4wd "just in case". However I think marketing the vehicle as 24 mpg on the freeway should boost the interest if I ever sell it. What other vehicle weighs 5,000 pounds and does 0-60 in 6.75 AND gets amazing mpg!
.

We are talking about the 4th gen explorer with the V8. Not the new (cough mini van) 5th gen. My explorer couldn't get 24 if you threw it off a cliff. haha

 

[Ford Explorer9]

Yeah used car prices have sky rocketed! I was constantly calling sellers trying to buy their vehicles and they would sell before I got there. One woman actually paid above excellent bluebook for a VW passat wagon I was bidding against her for even after her mechanic said it needed one thousand in work! I just can't compete with that lol

I know it sounds crazy but I think it actually gets 24 mpg, I read a lot of other peoples mpg with this truck and a lot said they managed it. If I remember right a lot of people got 15 city and 22 highway with a 4x4 V8. And I think up to 25 highway with the 2 wheel drive V8. And when I test drove the truck I reset the fuel economy readout and drove 10 minutes on the freeway and it said the average was about 24.5 mpg doing about 70. Maybe the gauge was way off but it falls in line with what other people claim. Granted this is with stock size tires and nothing else to decrease mpg. But like I said, the gauge could be way off for all I know lol.

Just curious Essex, what kind of mpg do you get? And what size tires do you have?

Hopefully my new explorer gets half decent gas mileage, or I might have to trade it for one of those explorers as you put it

 

[mounted]

The used car market is hot right now. People don't want to committ to a new car payment because the economy is so volitile right now, so they buy used.

For reference just last month I bought an 06 Mercury Mountaineer "Luxury" 2WD for $8000 + TTL. 90k miles. The truck is in excellent shape.

 

[Ford Explorer9]

The used car market is hot right now. People don't want to committ to a new car payment because the economy is so volitile right now, so they buy used.

For reference just last month I bought an 06 Mercury Mountaineer "Luxury" 2WD for $8000 + TTL. 90k miles. The truck is in excellent shape.

Wow! Sounds like a sweet deal to me! That's 3k under what I paid for the XLT lol (TTL was $1,000 though so that put me at 12k). Yeah the used car market is a little too crazy for me, people either want to sell their car for beyond blue book so it's a bad deal or crazy cheap so you have no chance of contacting them in time. When I first started looking I thought a 10k budget would allow me to get a vehicle easy, turns out all that was good for was a starting bid with some sellers

 

[mounted]

Wow! Sounds like a sweet deal to me! That's 3k under what I paid for the XLT lol (TTL was $1,000 though so that put me at 12k). Yeah the used car market is a little too crazy for me, people either want to sell their car for beyond blue book so it's a bad deal or crazy cheap so you have no chance of contacting them in time. When I first started looking I thought a 10k budget would allow me to get a vehicle easy, turns out all that was good for was a starting bid with some sellers

Its true. I looked for months for for a SUV. I was originally only going to spend $5k (its a second car for us), but the only thing in that price range was a 15 year old vehicle. When I saw the Mounty for sale at $8k I jumped on it. I tried to haggle but they werent having it so I bought it anyway.

 

[Essex4x4]

... when I test drove the truck I reset the fuel economy readout and drove 10 minutes on the freeway and it said the average was about 24.5 mpg doing about 70.

Reset your MPG calculator then go at least 1000 miles before resetting it again. Now tell me you are still getting 24.5mpg. It doesn't count if your going downhill LOL.

p.s. For reference I get exactly what Ford said I would get 13 city and 18 highway, although my full open nonstop highway is probably around 20.

 

[Ford Explorer9]

Reset your MPG calculator then go at least 1000 miles before resetting it again. Now tell me you are still getting 24.5mpg. It doesn't count if your going downhill LOL.

p.s. For reference I get exactly what Ford said I would get 13 city and 18 highway, although my full open nonstop highway is probably around 20.

Yeah that's true, I sometimes forget those things aren't very accurate on short trips lol. I figured/hoped I would be getting 15-17 city and 22-24 highway, but maybe I'm a little too optimistic haha. When I get it I'll fill it up and do the old fashion dividing miles by gallons and see how I do. Until then I can keep dreaming However that still may not be accurate because my foot will probably be a little heavy in the first few weeks

 

[Essex4x4]

I would like to know what average fuel mileage you end up getting. I have really had no one give me a straight answer as to is there any real difference between the 4x4 and 4x2 4th gens.

 

[Ford Explorer9]

I would like to know what average fuel mileage you end up getting. I have really had no one give me a straight answer as to is there any real difference between the 4x4 and 4x2 4th gens.

Alright so I learned two things; my fuel economy average computer is extremely accurate, the other thing is that I shouldn't believe everything I read on the internet lol.

I have been getting 10-13 city (I live in a really hilly area)
21 highway (75 mph)
22-24 highway (60-70 mph)

Combined I have been getting about 15 mpg since I drive mostly city. I love this thing so much though, it's amazing

I remember reading about people getting around 17 mpg in the city with the V8 when I first researched the truck, and I agree with you Essex, I could only get that on downhills lmao.

But I wouldn't trade this truck for anything, it's everything I wanted.