betaiota

Thanks everyone- a lot of things to think about. I've never bought any vehicle used, let alone a diesel, so this is all new to me. If the 7.3 wants work everyday, I can't provide that. I don't need any tuner chip, and wouldn't buy an engine that wasn't stock. And with the problems worked out of the 05's and on, maybe I'll start tracking those.

Ok everyone I've never owned a diesel, but always wanted one. I'm just starting to search for a weekend truck so I can downsize the Explorer when it's paid off. My ideal situation would be to find one of the last of the 7.3's roaming around with under 50k on the odometer, and while that's possible to find, those owners know how good the motors are (hence the price they can command). Then I see all these 6.0's out there with amazing deals. I'm aware of the problems they've had. But there has to be a high number of good motors that were produced too, right? Like, if a 6.0 has made it past 40k and has had all of the recall work and any other mechanical work done, and it's running great now, then I shouldn't be too scared of what might happen in the future? Have they worked out all the bugs? Finally, I have seen some 'factory buy-backs.' Huge deals on those, but would I be inviting trouble?

The first 2 radios in my explorer were bad too. Try pulling the ground on the battery again, this will reset the radio. But if that doesn't work, you'll need a new radio.

Not as good- how? Is this just personal preference or experience?

For some reason I'm thinking it was "Amethyst Clearcoat Metallic"???

Maybe try to find a guy with an SEL and see if he'll trade you rims? (BTW I'm not that guy- I love my SEL rims!!)

Speaking from many years of professional and personal experience, choosing to replace parts of a factory 'premium' system while keeping other parts can be a nightmare. Do your research on products from JL Audio and Alpine (and others) that let you keep your factory dash unit while enabling you to add aftermarket amps and speakers. You need to buy these types of processors to sucessfully interface new amps. But to answer your questions 1. and 2. No, none what so ever. These radios aren't designed for aftermarket upgrades. There are about 4-6 different plugs depending on your truck's options (such as Sync, stock amps, steering wheel buttons) and none of them resemble traditional RCA wires. And when you use the aux line in, you must use a traditional headphone-type amplified output (no line-level RCA's). 3. The sub is not included with the standard audio, but otherwise, yes. 4. No, don't try this. Good luck!

Have you tried another dealership to get the work done? All dealerships are NOT created equal. It took my service guy twice but it's been strong now for over 10,000 miles. It's all in the programming of the trans, and obvously the service dept. you've been using is not up to date.

"SPORT TRAC" A four door T-6 Ranger will fill the spot. And it should be a lot nicer with more capacity than the current Sport Trac.

You'll have to decide how much you want to spend to keep that factory look. Unless you are getting factory equipment at a discounted price, you'll be much better off doing one of the two options- keep the 03 head unit and add a hide-away Sirius box wired through the AUX button, or buy an aftermarket head unit and interface it with the stock audiophile amps. Otherwise, you are looking at tons of money and many hours of pulling apart stock harnesses and splicing in connections.

A "good" problem to have, but soon enough all of the pent-up demand will ease and you'll be able to get plenty of Fusions. Ice- I'm sure it's frustrating for you, but remember over-capacity played a big role in the demise of your domestic rivals!

I got mine at a local tire shop, and they weren't balanced right the first time either. I took it back, they fixed em, now they're great. I've had the opportunity to take them on a long trip and a lot of short ones. Very low road noise and I don't feel every little bump. I can't say about speed bumps though. I'd recommend these tires to anyone! They were my first choice until the only model they had in 18's to fit would have cost $200 more.

Over the weekend I finally replaced the CrapTerrains with a set of BFGoodrich Long Trail T/A Tours. So far so good- just as quiet anyway. I'll get a chance to take them on a longer trip this weekend. Even the guy at the shop said they are a nicer tire that will last a lot longer than the Michelins, even though the Michelins were $500 more for the set.

Well somewhere between 2002 and 2007 Michelin started making tires for Ford that just wear out too soon. My 06 Fusion's stock Michelins wore out at 36000. And don't think I'm hard on them, I am a stickler for correct tire pressure and rotations. I made it through the winter on the Crapp Terrains from the factory, so at least I squeezed 38000mi out of them. In 2 weeks I'm getting a new set of either BFG Long Trail T/A Tours or the new Dunlop Signature CS.

I think the reliability ratings are low due to the early transmission programming gripes that are fixed now. Make sure that the unit you look at has all of its TSB's and recalls performed on it. Mine has been running solid at 30,000 miles after I got the tranny reprogrammed.

My experience with the modern Ford trip computers is that they are mileage-based. When I'm at about 4900mi, it'll tell me that an oil change is due soon, at 5000mi it will say it's required. IDK some vehicles may take time and number of starts into progrmming too.

Exactly- 2 years ago I was thinking of replacing the '06 V6 with an F150. Then came $4 per gallon gas. I still want an F-150, but it won't be a daily driver! I am about 90% sure that as of now, only the 3.0L has the fuel shut-off deal. It will eventually be worked into the 2.5 though, perhaps even mid-year.

That turns off your passenger airbag (in the dash) so you can have a small child ride there. That pre-dates the weight sensors in the seats of new vehicles.

Very smooth- I was going 75 in a 55 yesterday, I didn't even know it. At highway speed, there is almost no road noise and the suspension eats up the bumps well. I didn't notice much change in the steering from my 06, but the braking is a ton different- not better but not worse, just grabs quicker than what I am used to.

Always quote gap insurance FIRST with your insurance agent, sometimes it's only a few dollars a year or even included for free and you don't even know it.

I read about this feature somewhere, and I think currently it is only on the 3.0 but will be coming to the 2.5 mid or late year. Basically when you let off the go pedal, the engine can completely shut off all the gas to the cyls but still runs. I don't know maybe someone else here can better explain this?

They're probably holding the hybrids longer- my non-hybrid VIN is in the 800's.

Picked mine up last night. I haven't drove a 4 cyl since my Escort when I was 16. I haven't really got on it yet, but so far all I notice is a different tone. I'm averaging about 26mpg mixed, and it isn't even broke in! The radio design is a nice upgrade and a huge step forward in ergonomics. The HVAC- not so much. It seems like the buttons are slanted down when they should be slanted up so you can read them. But that's being extremely picky. The sync feature is unreal, I think Ford did an outstanding job there. Why isn't this car more photogenic? It looks ok in all of the pictures, but absolutely gorgeous in person.

It's not a hybrid, and my dealer's printout said the ETA was 3/29.

Mine is scheduled to arrive Sunday 3/29! But, I'll wait until Thursday to pick it up- I've waited this long!