I posted some of these comments in another forum, but I think it deserves a thread of it's own.
I recently shopped 2007-14 large GM SUVs and ended up buying a 2010 Lincoln with 133K e.g. fancy Ford. Mainly due to GM interior issues that I chose not to live with, that seemed to be endemic to the entire GM line of large SUVs.
I drove probably 15+ GM SUVs and a couple of Expeditions before buying the one I ended up with. I started off wanting a GM because of the reliability of the LS series engines plus not having 50 feet of timing chains, but, I found out some things about GM SUVs firsthand that I could not live with.
The GM interiors frankly suck after 5-7 years, including the dash, leather shows more wear, rattles, etc. The Ford interiors hold up better all around. We only found one GM that didn't have a cracked dash and byzantine rattles, it was a 2012 Escalade Hybrid and we guessed it had been garaged it's whole life. My wife loved it and I liked the idea of slightly better gas mileage, but the dealer was too proud of it for it to come home with us, the cost was double of the vehicle that I ended up with. It also had 22" wheels which I was dead set against.
Perhaps if you live in the North the GMs have less issues with the cracking dashboards? I don't know, but almost all of them had the problem where I live.
It also seems like the GMs with sunroofs have less headroom than a similar Ford/Lincoln vehicle with a sunroof. That is important to me, because I am 6'7".
Lastly, I prefer the way the Fords handle on the highway. They are more dead on center going down the highway, which makes for an easy drive. The GMs seemed to wander more in the lane.
The unit I bought is extremely clean and straight and was well cared for. Very few blemishes on the paint, no door dings at all. No faded paint on the roof or hood, which is an issue here in Central Texas with many used cars. Judging from the Carfax both prior owners lived in Texas so rust is not an issue, there is no visible corrosion looking under the vehicle. Good maintenance practices were followed as per maintenance records logged on the Carfax.
I was looking for something a bit newer with less miles but this one made a good impression and cost less so we bought it. Leaves more money in my pocket to buy more fuel. I came from a car that got 26-27MPG combined, now I'm expecting 15ish.
Yes I'm aware of the timing and cam phaser issues, but I'm able and prepared to do a full timing job in my garage. Not that it seems to need it at the moment, the engine runs smooth and quiet, no ticking at all other than the normal fuel injector noise. It pulls strongly. Well pulls strongly for a Ford 5.4 anyway, the GM SUVs definitely had more power, especially the Escalade, but that's neither here nor there. I think the 5.4 has adequate power for my needs. I don't anticipate doing heavy towing, although the Lincoln I bought has the heavy towing package and is rated to tow 9000 lbs.
The 6R80 transmission shifts very well, very smooth with moderate acceleration, and a bit more snappy if you give it the beans, overall as expected. Will do a fluid exchange in the near future though for preventative maintenance.
We took our Navigator on a 900 mile road trip the first week we had it, got 18.2 MPG in mixed driving and with the cruise set on 75 when we were on the highway with occasional excursions into the 85-90 range for passing.
Your thoughts?
I recently shopped 2007-14 large GM SUVs and ended up buying a 2010 Lincoln with 133K e.g. fancy Ford. Mainly due to GM interior issues that I chose not to live with, that seemed to be endemic to the entire GM line of large SUVs.
I drove probably 15+ GM SUVs and a couple of Expeditions before buying the one I ended up with. I started off wanting a GM because of the reliability of the LS series engines plus not having 50 feet of timing chains, but, I found out some things about GM SUVs firsthand that I could not live with.
The GM interiors frankly suck after 5-7 years, including the dash, leather shows more wear, rattles, etc. The Ford interiors hold up better all around. We only found one GM that didn't have a cracked dash and byzantine rattles, it was a 2012 Escalade Hybrid and we guessed it had been garaged it's whole life. My wife loved it and I liked the idea of slightly better gas mileage, but the dealer was too proud of it for it to come home with us, the cost was double of the vehicle that I ended up with. It also had 22" wheels which I was dead set against.
Perhaps if you live in the North the GMs have less issues with the cracking dashboards? I don't know, but almost all of them had the problem where I live.
It also seems like the GMs with sunroofs have less headroom than a similar Ford/Lincoln vehicle with a sunroof. That is important to me, because I am 6'7".
Lastly, I prefer the way the Fords handle on the highway. They are more dead on center going down the highway, which makes for an easy drive. The GMs seemed to wander more in the lane.
The unit I bought is extremely clean and straight and was well cared for. Very few blemishes on the paint, no door dings at all. No faded paint on the roof or hood, which is an issue here in Central Texas with many used cars. Judging from the Carfax both prior owners lived in Texas so rust is not an issue, there is no visible corrosion looking under the vehicle. Good maintenance practices were followed as per maintenance records logged on the Carfax.
I was looking for something a bit newer with less miles but this one made a good impression and cost less so we bought it. Leaves more money in my pocket to buy more fuel. I came from a car that got 26-27MPG combined, now I'm expecting 15ish.
Yes I'm aware of the timing and cam phaser issues, but I'm able and prepared to do a full timing job in my garage. Not that it seems to need it at the moment, the engine runs smooth and quiet, no ticking at all other than the normal fuel injector noise. It pulls strongly. Well pulls strongly for a Ford 5.4 anyway, the GM SUVs definitely had more power, especially the Escalade, but that's neither here nor there. I think the 5.4 has adequate power for my needs. I don't anticipate doing heavy towing, although the Lincoln I bought has the heavy towing package and is rated to tow 9000 lbs.
The 6R80 transmission shifts very well, very smooth with moderate acceleration, and a bit more snappy if you give it the beans, overall as expected. Will do a fluid exchange in the near future though for preventative maintenance.
We took our Navigator on a 900 mile road trip the first week we had it, got 18.2 MPG in mixed driving and with the cruise set on 75 when we were on the highway with occasional excursions into the 85-90 range for passing.
Your thoughts?
so technically you could have found one within your budget would have just had crazy miles.
