A nice BIG family vehicle

The main reason I bought the Expedition instead of the Explorer is head room and size. The Explorer does not have adequate headroom for this 6'4" dad. Plus I have a lot of stuff I need to haul around.

My wife and I decided to hop on the bandwagon and get a van or SUV like 75% of Suburbia USA so we could look everyone else in the eye and get more than our fair share of the remaining fuel on the planet. Well, I've been driving a '95 Dodge Ram for 8 years, so not a big change for me, it was big and loved gas too.

Unfortunately, I've noticed some people are offended by the large SUV. I don't blame them in a way. They are really big, block their view, people drive them like they own the road, and they do eat a lot of gas. I make fun of it almost as much myself. It is an elephant of a car, but I like it.

I found a good deal on a used '03, but it has the 4.6 liter V8. I test drove the 5.4 liter and couldn't tell a big difference in power (30 horsepower difference is all). But 5.4 was new and not broken it yet. Anyway, they need to get more power in these big things. 260 horsepower may sound like a lot, but not in a 5500 pound vehicle. It needs a supercharger or something, I don't know. I think more power might improve gas mileage as well.

Speaking of gas mileage, I'm NOT getting 14 city. It's more like 11.5 or 12 mpg. I got 16 mpg highway which is close to their estimate of 17 mpg...but I drove about 75 mph.

Otherwise, I really enjoy driving this vehicle. To me it doesn't feel as big and heavy as it really is. I took some pretty swift turns in a parking lot and it really hangs in there with bit of over-steer (the back end slides out a little). The confident feel of the vehicle is what sold me in the first place...plus it's HUGE. I like that.