Suburban vs Expedition

[MrShorty]

With 4 kids, my wife and I would like a second vehicle capable of carrying us all around (BII just isn't big enough). Looking to spend less than $10K (so Excursions seem to be out, as I can't find any that list for less than even $12K). Also, at this point, not really considering vans/minivans/etc. Want to stick with an SUV. After a little looking, we've kind of narrowed it down to either an Expedition or a Suburban. All else being equal (it rarely is), I liked the Suburban over the Expedition simply because the Suburban had a lot more cargo space behind the third seat with a suprisingly small increase in the overall length (about 1 ft longer than an Expedition).

Anyway, I've come to respect the opinions of members of this board. Anybody have any things to look for/watch out for/have checked in either SUV? Considering my price range, I expect to get something in a late '90's model.

 

[hiridin]

i don't know too much about either but the expedition looks better hands down. and the suburban is too loooong. almost looks funny imo. not to mention it makes it more of a pain to drive. but u will get more space out of the burbon. soo i dunno. what years u looking at? 4wd or 2wd?

 

[rfuree11]

The Tahoe is more in the Expy's territory

 

[hiridin]

The Tahoe is more in the Expy's territory

ya i really like the tahoe. i'm more of a ford guy but the tahoes are nice. except the new ugly ones they have coming out :thumbdwn:

 

[briwayjones]

I have been driving Suburbans at work for years and don't like them. IMO the quality is shotty. Very cheap interiors and we've quite a bit of problems with them. My boss has a Expedition (he has been driving the subs. for years also) and he and I like it a lot better than the Subs. Nicer interior, more comfortable ect.

 

[MrShorty]

Thanks for the input.

We've officially tried a '98 Suburban and a '97 Expedition.

As far as comfort, my wife felt that the front seats were too hard and uncomfortable in the Expedition, my oldest daughter thought the back seat in the Sub was uncomfortable (Comfort is such a subjective thing).

Comparing the length, they didn't feel that different. According to Autotrader, a suburban is about 18 ft, the Expedition is about 17 ft (my Explorer measures about 15 ft). The Suburban is arranged to give a lot more cargo space behind the third seat. This is nice so you can haul all the kids and the camping gear inside, rather than having to put the camping gear on the roof.

I've heard the same thing about Tahoes (same drivetrain as the Sub, just a little shorter), but I guess I haven't seen any Tahoes around here in our price range.

Definitely want to stay 4WD.

briwayjones: what specific problems have you seen with the Suburban? Problems with the Expedition? I have a friend who has had both a '93 (K1500) and a '97 Suburban (K2500). got rid of the '97 only because the 454 ate too much gas, but he's still driving the '93 and has ~200K miles without problems (other than the usual maintenance). Problems aren't necessarily deal breakers if I'm aware of them and know what to look for (heck I drive an Explorer in spite of alleged issues with the A4LD, intake manifold gasket issues, Radius arm bushings and the rest of the alleged problematic TTB suspension, door pulls that break, etc).

Thanks again. Keep the ideas coming.

 

[briwayjones]

briwayjones: what specific problems have you seen with the Suburban? Problems with the Expedition?

The infamous front wipers that work when they want to. Water pump. The torque converter went bad in one in the trans. with only about 70,000 on it. The interior panels are painted and the paint on one started peeling off real bad. I think only some of the panels on the Exeditions are painted, I think most is molded with the color. The climate controls don't work real well, spongey feeling. The is no real off on the climate control. Even with the fan turned to off you still have air flow equal to low on other vehicles. And there is no off on the climate selection, it's always on heat or vent or whatever you have it selected on even though the fan is set to off. The older Subs. with the side swing rear doors are real easy to break into. On the newer ones some of interior panels come off real easy and won't stay put.

I'm not really familiar with the older Expeditions, my boss has a 2001 I think.

 

[MrShorty]

How frequently do the water pumps fail? Is it related to the other issues with the infamous DEX-cool coolant they use? Was the single torque converter failure an anomoly, or do you know if it's somewhat common (torque converters are a pain to replace)?

 

[expo5.0]

we have a 1998 suburban with 295,000 miles on it. It got to 275,000 with stock transmission and motor. We rebuilt the upper end of the motor and its run great since. The transmission is still going strong. It has had the u-joints replaced 3 times. it has also had a new rear end at 260k. How many expeditions have that sort of durability?

it is also rust free despite minnesota winters.

I guess i think the gmc does a better job than ford with durability, particularly when you are buying a 350 powered one. It has had its share of little problems, and the interior is cheap (but so is the expedition interior from those years). If i were you i'd be looking at buying a minivan (2000 odyssey in your price range?), but between tahoe and expedition pre 2002 (or whtever year the new expy came out) its an easy decision for me.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Buy a Toyota