Lincoln Aviator?

[Pavesa]

Hi

I use the older Ford Explorers for towing for light construction work. I have a 4 liter 2004 and 4.6 liter 2006 a 2008. They come with a proper chassis and particularly the 4.6 liter is very good for towing, I believe having the engine from the F150 truck. I have a small construction crew of 3-6 that goes with the vehicles. The Explorer fits them very nicely, being a 6 or 7 seater and there's room in the back for tools etc as well as in the trailer. They were also super-cheap to buy, a few thousand dollars for a vehicle with less than 90,000 miles. I've run them for about 6-7 years now very happily mostly on fairly local work towing no more than 2,000 lb.

Although I take good care of them - nearly always oil change on time, issues chased down right away, all with garages that know what they're doing, undercoating with a super-diligent guy, the fact is they wear out.. The newer explorers don't have the towing capacity of the older ones, they're more vans - "sport" rather than "utility"..

Trucks are a crazy price and you're really looking at an extended cab for a crew of 4, I'm pretty sure getting one for 6 isn't even possible. Even if they exist there would be so few that they would hard to find and be even more expensive than the usual crazy price.

I've seen a very low mileage 2005 Lincoln Aviator for sale very economically. Probably with a careful owner. I know the Explorer and Aviator share a lot of the same parts and body and the Aviator has similar towing capacity so I'm tempted to look at it. I get all my parts off Rockauto and have them installed, so I just pay for labor, so I think I could still maintain it economically.

I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this?

Thanks for any suggestions/thoughts.

Pavesa

 

[mountaineer2004]

A 2005 is going to need endless maintenance and repairs, but depending on how well it was taken care of, and rust/lack of rust, may be a good fit.

"I just pay for labor" is in no way a minor thing. Think control arms, cv axles, wheel bearings, and much more...all labor intensive and expensive.

My favorite saying about cars is "they keep the middle class poor." I believe in keeping what you have, but that's me.

A 2005 LA for sale "very economically" may have had a careful owner, but maybe not. Hopefully he kept up with the oil changes.

 

[Josh P]

An older econoline van with a diesel would be the way to go, they run forever and can be had cheap. Not pretty but very functional.

 

[Pavesa]

Hi

thanks for the thoughts. I'll definitely look into the Econoline. Maybe I can find a diesel with 3 rows of seats..