http://www.businessweek.com/autos/co...219_378764.htm
The Good: Great interior build quality, macho looks, cavernous interior
The Bad: Deplorable gas mileage, conspicuously large
The Bottom Line: Large, and largely irrelevant
Reader Reviews
View Slide Show
Up Front
The 2007 Expedition is likely the best mega-SUV ever to come out of Ford's factories. The number of standard features is up, the base price is down, and—thanks to a host of new technologies—safety is much improved. Unfortunately, this better-than-ever Expedition comes at a time when gargantuan gas-guzzlers couldn't be more irrelevant to most
consumers.
High gas prices last year chilled sales of truck-based SUVs. According to Automotive News, Expedition sales fell 23.6% last year, to 87,203. Sales were so bad across both the Expedition and Explorer badges, in fact, that Ford's (F) game plan for the foreseeable future consists of building so-called crossover vehicles, like its newly released Edge, which looks like an SUV but rides on a car platform.
The company ceased production on the larger-than-life Excursion in 2005—even before last year's runup in fuel prices, consumers just found the thing too big. In the meantime, Ford has tried to make the best of a bad situation, styling the refreshed Expedition to mirror the still-popular F-Series pickup and bringing the base price down to an attractive $29,995.
The interior is capacious beyond belief and well-appointed. Still, even with three vast rows of seating and an impressive 9,000 lbs. of towing capacity, it's hard to make a case for buying into this giant.
My test vehicle, the 4x4 Eddie Bauer Expedition, has a base price of $38,475. Options were plentiful, including $1,595 all-season tires, $795 second row captain's chairs, $100 skid-plate package, $45 daytime running lamps, $950 power moon roof, $675 convenience package, $55 rubber floor mats, $350 trailer tow, $1,995 navigation, $495 power-lift gate, $195 satellite radio, $485 load-leveling suspension, $625 climate-controlled seats, $1,500 rear-seat entertainment, and—phew—$75 chrome exhaust pipe.
The Good: Great interior build quality, macho looks, cavernous interior
The Bad: Deplorable gas mileage, conspicuously large
The Bottom Line: Large, and largely irrelevant
Reader Reviews
View Slide Show
Up Front
The 2007 Expedition is likely the best mega-SUV ever to come out of Ford's factories. The number of standard features is up, the base price is down, and—thanks to a host of new technologies—safety is much improved. Unfortunately, this better-than-ever Expedition comes at a time when gargantuan gas-guzzlers couldn't be more irrelevant to most
consumers.
High gas prices last year chilled sales of truck-based SUVs. According to Automotive News, Expedition sales fell 23.6% last year, to 87,203. Sales were so bad across both the Expedition and Explorer badges, in fact, that Ford's (F) game plan for the foreseeable future consists of building so-called crossover vehicles, like its newly released Edge, which looks like an SUV but rides on a car platform.
The company ceased production on the larger-than-life Excursion in 2005—even before last year's runup in fuel prices, consumers just found the thing too big. In the meantime, Ford has tried to make the best of a bad situation, styling the refreshed Expedition to mirror the still-popular F-Series pickup and bringing the base price down to an attractive $29,995.
The interior is capacious beyond belief and well-appointed. Still, even with three vast rows of seating and an impressive 9,000 lbs. of towing capacity, it's hard to make a case for buying into this giant.
My test vehicle, the 4x4 Eddie Bauer Expedition, has a base price of $38,475. Options were plentiful, including $1,595 all-season tires, $795 second row captain's chairs, $100 skid-plate package, $45 daytime running lamps, $950 power moon roof, $675 convenience package, $55 rubber floor mats, $350 trailer tow, $1,995 navigation, $495 power-lift gate, $195 satellite radio, $485 load-leveling suspension, $625 climate-controlled seats, $1,500 rear-seat entertainment, and—phew—$75 chrome exhaust pipe.
