4.0 Mountaineer to 3.0 Taurus Wagon

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Hmmm, yes the Taurus wagons are not that common and tend to have high mileage. But Freestyles are not all that common either. I think there are probably 10 Escapes out there for every Freestyle. It's nice though and the 4 banger should be a better fuel mileage bet.



The freestyle or Freestar or what ever they called it was a Ford flop. It didnt last long at all.


The reason is that Chrysler has the market. I know two people that own them and they are excellant vans. Just not popular compared to Chrysler.

 

[Whimsey]

Paul unless you're trading to a vehicle that gets a huge mpg greater to what you are getting now it doesn't usually pay. Especially if you spend more overall to get the new vehicle. Gas prices have fluctuated over the years. I already see prices coming down from last week. If you like the Mountaineer and it serves your needs don't jump for a few mpg that may cost you more overall.

Whimsey

 

[TallPaul]

Yep, the Mountaineer is a sure bet, though I still have to get the blower fixed, tends to cut out and go to defrost, and the transmission module needs to be reimaged as it has a weired problem common on these models that you can floor it at higher speeds and it will rev up and delay gear engagement which then happens with a hard slam--not good. Those items are a deterent to private sale, so I would have to do a trade and that would be a hit. Better to fix those things an stay with it. The other problem is when I first got the Mountaineer it seemed to get around 17 mpg for the first month or two, then it dropped to mid 15s and never came back, something must be amiss.

Besides all that, I already have the transmission and transfer case changed to Redline fluid, fluid changed in both differentials, totally rebuilt the parking brake (essentially had to get new rear disks/drums--horrible design that is guarenteed to rust), and had the leaky seal replaced on the rear pumpking (front has minor seep hopfully not get worse). So I have a lot into it besides the initial $7800 purchase.

As my son is getting a driver's license soon, we won't be carting him around as much so future fuel savings could be far less than $1000.