I went from Ranger to Explorer to Expedition to Excursion to Excursion over the past 15 years. I've loved them dearly, but it's time for a change. The modern lineup ford offers just doesn't do it for me.

I need a suv type, not a pickup. The expedition is ok, but I'm a bit more demanding of my trucks as far as towing capacity, off road ability, ground clearance, interior space.

I'd continue with my excursion, but I spun a bearing in the v10 and with 260k on the clock, it's just not worth fixing. I was shopping around for excursions, but there just isn't much on hte market now. I looked a bit at the suburban, smaller, but probably wouldn't be to bad. Looked at a few and it didn't feel very truck-like, or durable. Then I saw a h3 and remembered that hummers exist, so I started reading up.

Couple questions about the H2 that I wasn't able to find clear answers on.

In the excursion with the 3rd row out and 2nd row folded down, I could fit an 4'x8' sheet of plywood inside, and close hte doors. What's the cargo space with the 2nd row folded in the H2?

With the fords, one issue has always plagued them was rust. If not the frame, then the body, fenders, etc. How is the h2 on rust on the under-side? Is it coated from the factory?

The excursion's v10 is a very large/long engine. As a result, getting to the rear 4 cylinders is nearly impossible. Additionally, the under side is almost completely inaccessible. With the H2 from what I could see, it seems to be a similar situation on top, but what about the under side?

Any additional weak points I should look for? Going for a test drive this afternoon and will be poking around.

 

Have to respond b/c I went from a 2002 7.3 diesel Excursion to a 2008 6.2 H2 and have no regrets. We used the Excursion for towing, lifted it, put on 35's, regeared, and added a performance chip. It kicked butt and looked awesome. Gas Mileage while towing was only 10mpg, the new diesels do much better. We need a 3rd row seat.

The Excursion 7.3 only had a 4 speed and towing up hills was scary. The power band for the 7.3 is very limited so you could tow at either 40mph in 3rd gear or 80mph in 4th gear. I prefer towing at 70mph and doing 40mph up a hill is taking your life in your hands here in AZ where the speed limit is 75mph.

This is where the H2 shines. Having 6 gears, I can use 3, 4, 5, and 6 and tow a hill at 60mph. Also while towing, the H2 gets just over 9mpg so not much worse than the Excursion.

The H2 does much better off road as well, not even a comparison. The H2 has been a nice upgrade in almost every category to the Excursion. The only thing I miss about the Excursion is the 42 gallon tank...the H2 could use it

 

My 04 had been in Colorado and on the Gulf Coast. I glanced underneath and blew off what I saw. After buying it I realized it had serious cancer underneath so make sure you take the time to lay on the ground with a good flashlight. If the truck's been in salt for a long time there could be big corrosion issues. The body was fine on that truck, but the frame was a little scary.

 

I had a 04 6.0 diesel from new, in '14 and 230k the egr went. I garaged it and bought the '01 v10 until I could fix the 6.0. It's still in the garage and the v10 kicked it this past weekend. 14"+ of snow tomorrow, so the timing kind of sucks. The 6.0 was 10x better than the v10, though.

In the v10 I get an average of 7-8mpg, so I can't imagine the h2 hurting much more. How big's hte fuel tank? I do like the 44gal excursion, nice that I don't have to stop at the gas station every few days.

I'm taking my creeper and flash light, so I can roll around under it looking for rust. I can fix just about anything, but not much can be done about rust.

 

I think 29ish gallons. My big rust areas were the A-arms and most everything in the rear of the truck. The compressor, bracket, and all that were pretty bad off.

 

Just got back. What a pleasant test drive. There were a few minor cosmetic issues, but nothing serious. No rust on the under-side. There was an oil leak on what I think was the return line, next to the oil drain plug and oil filter.

Something confused me, though. The RPM gauge would drop to zero while coasting. Even when accelerating it never got over 2k rpm, even though I could clearly hear it.

Engine cover was missing, one step cover was missing, rear lens cracked and repaired poorly, door latch panel missing on passenger side. Brake controller added, wires all over. A mystery switch under the dash someone added. Under the hood there was what looked like a sensor taped up, but was in the power main junction box.

In the end, the seller had it for 16.9, I wasn't going above 13, they came down to 16.5, so I walked. Questionable wiring has proven a nightmare in the past for me. The oil leak I can fix, the misc missing panels/pieces I can fix. There was a fair amount of tarnish/scratches on the hood/chrome. THe wheel cover was missing, the rear seat didn't exist.

The good news is there's 3 more on my radar, the bad news is they'll probably have to wait until this weekend, as we're getting 14+" of snow tomorrow.

 

What year and mileage h2 was this with all those little things that will eat away at your wallet. I paid 10k for my 03 with 163k. The seller wanted 14k but I had another on the line 03 repo'd with 89k selling for 9k at the loan place.

I was to late on that cherry 03 repo so offered 9 on this one but we settled on 10. I need a spare tire rack on the back cause it came with no spare.

New brakes and brake lines were put on by seller sooo.

Other than that, it runs out fine and has a couple a dimples in the doors but talking with a guy who does PDR it will run me 150 bucks to pull the dent dimples.

 

It was an '03 with 65k. All those little things degraded my confidence, though. I'm in eastern PA, and have two others with 60-80k miles in the 13-14k range, so I couldn't justify it. I want under 100k miles for that price, so I know I can get a solid 10 years and 100k+ miles out of it.

 

65k miles and it's been bandaided all up. There's a reason these sell with low miles all beat up. I figured with all the miles on mine the things needed to be done have been done and I just have to spin the wheel of repairs, I get away easy.

200 miles north of me is an 06 h2 158k for 12k I'm thinking of looking over and maybe flip.

 

I don't see the H2 as a work vehicle. Not good for hauling 4x8 sheets, Not terribly roomy inside, awful fuel mileage, some replacement parts hard and or expensive to replace.

While I love my H2 as a capable off road vehicle, boat tower, comfy weekend cruiser and overall joy to drive. I don't think I would like it as a work vehicle. A Suburban would be a better choice for you.