Selling 5.0 AWD (maybe)

[crunchie_frog]

My wife's brother told her that her (our) 2000 5.0 AWD does not ride as nice as a newer passenger car does. I agree. He owns two Ferrari's, 3 Corvettes, and other vintage rides, and is politically the same as we are and his opinion is respected by both of us. Partly/mostly because of his input/comments, my wife wants a new(er) vehicle that "rides" nicer than her (our) Explorer. I counter that her (our) Explorer has great visibility (good for personal safety compared with a smaller vehicles), and is very reliable, when properly maintained of course. So, we went to look for new vehicles. My choice to look at was 3 yr old Ford Escapes with all of the trim (~$20K). So off the to dealer, 3 dealers, top offer, $500 for her (our) Explorer. Okay, I am confident that I can sell her (our) Explorer for $1,500 and I would like to know what your thoughts are to the below questions:

1. What would you take/offer for a very well maintained 5.0 AWD with 200K miles.
2. What vehicles do you recommend as a replacement her (our) 5.0 AWD Explorer that gives the same visibility and feeling of safety.

Yes, in the end, she always wins just because....

 

[1998Exp]

My wife's brother told her that her (our) 2000 5.0 AWD does not ride as nice as a newer passenger car does. I agree. He owns two Ferrari's, 3 Corvettes, and other vintage rides, and is politically the same as we are and his opinion is respected by both of us. Partly/mostly because of his input/comments, my wife wants a new(er) vehicle that "rides" nicer than her (our) Explorer. I counter that her (our) Explorer has great visibility (good for personal safety compared with a smaller vehicles), and is very reliable, when properly maintained of course. So, we went to look for new vehicles. My choice to look at was 3 yr old Ford Escapes with all of the trim (~$20K). So off the to dealer, 3 dealers, top offer, $500 for her (our) Explorer. Okay, I am confident that I can sell her (our) Explorer for $1,500 and I would like to know what your thoughts are to the below questions:

1. What would you take/offer for a very well maintained 5.0 AWD with 200K miles.
2. What vehicles do you recommend as a replacement her (our) 5.0 AWD Explorer that gives the same visibility and feeling of safety.

Yes, in the end, she always wins just because....

My '98 5.0 is priceless, because neither a brand new Explorer nor a Ferrari can haul a trailer loaded with gravel or compost. Perhaps not in Johnson City, but there is plenty of people who need a reliable 4-wheel drive vehicle capable of towing 5000 pounds. If it's in sound mechanical condition and has no significant rust, you should have no problem collecting $2000 for it.

 

[Turdle]

Ride quality is all objective opinion. Your explorer will ride better on a road it is built for than a newer car will.

I bet your explorer will ride better driving over his Ferrari than his ferrari rides driving over your explorer. Real world scenario for you to ponder.

 

[410Fortune]

A 200K 5.0 Explorer in good shape is still fetching $1000-1500 on the private market these days, mostly because people wish they never got rid of their old 5.0 Explorer and also because Early Bronco dudes are chopping them to pieces so they can have the 5.0 and transmission

Trading up to an escape may not be trading up.........escapes are half the truck a 5.0 sploder is.

 

[C420sailor]

I’ll never understand spending $20k for ‘ride quality’

Very well maintained? No rot? I’d pay $1000-1500.

Here’s the deal. When that Escape is in the junkyard with 130k on it bc the tranny blew out, your 5.0 will still be kicking somewhere with 330k on it.

 

[crunchie_frog]

Ride quality is all objective opinion. Your explorer will ride better on a road it is built for than a newer car will.

I bet your explorer will ride better driving over his Ferrari than his Ferrari rides driving over your explorer. Real world scenario for you to ponder.

Hilarious, yes, I do believe my Explorer will ride better driving over his Ferrari, than vice versa. He is normally a nice guy though so probably won't give it a try to prove a point.

For now, the coronavirus has us sitting as we are relative to finances for newer vehicles but if I did sell her 5.0 AWD (very good condition, clean, everything works, no rust) I think I could get $1,500 in a pretty short market time. Area around here has a lot of mountains, some dirt/gravel roads and we do get some snow. I have two more 5.0 AWDs in the driveway so I will still have them to run over any Ferraris in my way.

 

[Gary Crist]

But when almost any of the Italian cars get
on a twisty mountainous 1 1/2 lane roads,
they will be gone as we tip over the cliff and
kill his car from the top!

 

[masospaghetti]

Not a huge fan of the newer Escapes, they seem cheap to me and I doubt they will age well. I would get a Rav4 or Highlander before I got an Escape. Something to keep in mind though - your Explorer has torsion bars and leaf springs so almost anything built in the last 20 years will have a softer ride.

For example, there's a 2006 GMC Envoy in the family that feels like a luxury sedan in comparison to my Explorer. Still a body-on-frame truck, but has a more modern front/rear coil spring arrangement and about a decade of newer engineering. These aren't the poster child for build quality but the drivetrain is solid and they can be found cheap.

My point is that you can keep a true body-on-frame truck SUV and still get a much more comfortable ride without spending a lot of money.

 

[Gary Crist]

If ride quality is what you seek, how are the shocks?
A good not cheap high pressure gas shock up front will do wonders for
T-Bar front-ends. I used Bilsteins up front and cheaper KYBs rear.

 

[ThunderbirdSport]

Trading up to an escape may not be trading up.........escapes are half the truck a 5.0 sploder is.

If even that. An Escape is a unibody with (barely) enough towing ability for a 4x8 trailer and a push mower.. LOL

Of course a newer car/suv is going to ride better than a 2nd Gen. But ride quality isn't everything. Can the 'vette or Italian Stallion pull a trailer? Drive through 6" of snow and not whimper?

Consider all facets before letting go of a capable vehicle, just because the fancy wrapper on something else catches your eye..

My experience is kinda personal in this regard. I daily drive an '06 Explorer (see sig), but the '98 will never leave me. It's simpler, less electronics, and can be made into a real powerhouse quite easily. The '06...well, yeah, it can be too, but at a lot more money. Both are V8s in my instance.

I vote to keep it, if you've not gotten rid of it yet. Just me.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Second gens don’t ride well in stock configuration. Even with the best bolt ons the ride is dismal.

I don’t miss daily driving my 5.0 NEARLY as much as I thought I would.

 

[palavine1951]

Having purchased 4 Exp in the last 2 years to build a project Exl Sport I would say if the body is straight and fairly rust free, the interior is good and the engine and tranny don't leak you can get 2k out of it. We have an Edge and it is a good vehicle but it won't pull a load like the Exp. Edge does ride better with plenty of room inside.