IIGood
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- October 24, 2014
- Messages
- 189
- Reaction score
- 27
- City, State
- Arnold, MD
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 03 Explorer; 03 Mustang
Last night while returning home from yet another road trip to NC, my '03 XLT crossed the 200,000 mile mark. I can't take all the credit though...I've only owned it for just shy of 2 years and I bought it with 167,580 miles on it already. It had 2 previous owners...the second owner having owned it the longest from 2004 until I bought it in 2015.
Upon taking ownership, it needed a ball joint, new rear shocks, exhaust, parking brake cable, and the right rear wheel bearing replaced. Since then it's had the upper radiator hose replaced, fresh tires, and all new brake components (calipers, rotors, pads) put on.
While not quite perfect, this machine has served me very well in the 32,500 miles I've put on it and has allowed me to retire my 2003 Mustang GT from daily duty (though it's still my fun toy). It's definitely my road warrior, having seen several 600-mile round trips down to central NC, the Outer Banks, and more.
Going forward I just plan to continue maintenance on it. I'd like to address the front suspension soon but that's about my biggest plan for it coming up. The hatch panel is of course cracked so I might change that and it looks like the lower trim is in need of another touch-up. Other than that, I feel it's good to go for another 200K. The previous '03 I had - while only for a year - had 334K on the clock before that deer took it out.
Here's a picture (hope this works):
I've also added visors to the rear windows and applied some glossy black vinyl to the door pillars and D-pillars on the tailgate since the clearcoat had "burned away" on those parts. The vinyl looks good and I think it's a nice alternative to the weathered paint showing. The lower trim was also dyed with Forever Black but after nearly 2 years, that's starting to fade.
Upon taking ownership, it needed a ball joint, new rear shocks, exhaust, parking brake cable, and the right rear wheel bearing replaced. Since then it's had the upper radiator hose replaced, fresh tires, and all new brake components (calipers, rotors, pads) put on.
While not quite perfect, this machine has served me very well in the 32,500 miles I've put on it and has allowed me to retire my 2003 Mustang GT from daily duty (though it's still my fun toy). It's definitely my road warrior, having seen several 600-mile round trips down to central NC, the Outer Banks, and more.
Going forward I just plan to continue maintenance on it. I'd like to address the front suspension soon but that's about my biggest plan for it coming up. The hatch panel is of course cracked so I might change that and it looks like the lower trim is in need of another touch-up. Other than that, I feel it's good to go for another 200K. The previous '03 I had - while only for a year - had 334K on the clock before that deer took it out.
Here's a picture (hope this works):
I've also added visors to the rear windows and applied some glossy black vinyl to the door pillars and D-pillars on the tailgate since the clearcoat had "burned away" on those parts. The vinyl looks good and I think it's a nice alternative to the weathered paint showing. The lower trim was also dyed with Forever Black but after nearly 2 years, that's starting to fade.
