Community Chat

[hckynut]

On 7/20/2014 Qwackertoo said:

I was reading a little bit more last night and came across the pro's and con's of "boxer" engines and that pretty much right now only Subaru and Porsche use them and since Porsche costs twice as much their R&D and components are probably a better quality and that way back when VW Bugs used "boxer" engines. Interesting reading. Anyways, I've always driven V8's and a few V6's . . . even the inline's are fairly new to me . . . and "boxer" engines . . . well I never had even heard of them! I've never owned one but did like the Outback and Forester when I was comparing similar models . . . but with the AWD which we don't need right now where we live and now this "box" engine . . . I'm thinking it ratchets up the repair costs when something does go wrong.

I think I'm back to considering Honda or ??? whereas we've always been GM and Ford, now just Ford . . . and most recently a new Honda . . . and with the recalls and such GM is off the list FOREVER. Maybe Ford too and their brakes . . . we've spent more money on brake issues on our two Expeditions than anything else I've even spent in repairs my entire life of owning vehicles exception being of course tires and routine oil changes.

Expeditions are a pretty big truck with lot of weight in the front and especially so if it has a V8 engine. Think the Excursion was the only SUV made by Ford Motors that was bigger. At one time when Mercury was still in business, they also made a twin to it which I think was called the Navigator or maybe it was a Lincoln model. While the V6 is not a lightweight, these SUV's drive differently because of the difference in the weight of these 2 engines. I drove both when we we looking to buy our SUV, and the V6 didn't handle as good as the V8, and the miles per gallon was exactly the same on the 2.

If a front heavy vehicle is driven primarily in town, stop and go stop and go, the front brake pads are the first thing to go. If left unchecked this can lead to wear of the rotor and if too much wear, the rotors may need to be replaced. These are easily checked by someone that knows a bit about motor vehicles. Not near as easy with the old type of Drum Brakes.

Our SUV is a 2004, which we bought new, and we replaced both the front and rear only once. I had the friend of mine that is a GM mechanic replace the rotors and pads with a type used with many race cars as they have a bigger contact surface on the rotors and also uses bigger pads and made of a longer lasting material.

It cost us more but since we plan on driving this to it expires, which will probably outlast me, and the extra investment was worth the price. "Heat" is the biggest enemy of any type of braking system and that is why many front heavy vehicles that are more "stop and go driven" need the front brakes looked at more frequently. Find an Expedition that has been driven primarily on Interstate or highways and brakes will last 2 to 3 times as long.

I raced Fords and I will stick with them. We did buy a Toyota Yaris and are very happy with it. Ford had not yet come out with the Fiesta or that may have been our choice for our sub-compact car. When Ford got by without taking money it further solidified my faith in Ford and Ford Motor products. I've driven/raced and repaired them going way back to the Flathead V8 engines that go way back to the deuce. Sure they needed repairs but I have yet to see a motor vehicle that didn't. Many vehicles succumb to more bad things because of the lack of maintenance of their owners. I worked with and know many that do very little to their vehicles but complain the loudest when something is wrong with them.

[Qwackertoo]

Thanks for that info! I always have stuff checked and am very faithful about it. One I had checked a day or two before a big trip and yep brakes and rotors. Bad luck I guess. And I'm not one to usually do jackrabbit starts and stops either. Other than that, we've had very good luck . . . even the newest one . . . the ABS . . . I think the newer Expeditions, or at least the EL versions are based on the F250, not the F150 like our older one was, and almost as big as the Excursion but not quite. We've always had long trips to see family, opposite directions for his & mine, so it was nice to have a larger vehicle for our road trips. Sometimes airfare x 4 was a bit on the spendy side so we saved those for our "fun trips" vs. visiting family trips although both are nice but on our "fun trips" I don't like to waste a day going and coming, both in time, money and vacation hours lost on the road. Of course it would be nice to fly all the time but sometimes budget overrules convenience.