The Ford Expedition is a bold-faced monster with all the subtlety of a punch in the bits and kibbles, and unapologetically so. I know I'm supposed to be objective, and I'm honestly trying to be just that, but when it comes to a black and chrome beast standing well over six-feet, with enough horsepower to make you sick on top of the sort of curb appeal that literally earned me kudos in traffic, objectivity has to be tempered. There's more to the Ford Expedition, though, so put your pretended modesty aside a minute and do us both the justice of reading on.
Ford was one of the first companies to take the likes of their diminutive Ranger and inject it with the machismo it had sadly lacked over previous decades of ill attempts to compete with the down-sized imports. Chevy did the same with their Blazer, with less success, while Ford held an edge (even in the days before their namesake Edge), as evidenced by the runaway success of the Explorer series of SUVs dating back to the very inception of sport-utes. The Expedition, and later the Excursion, took these successful concepts not so much to a new level as much as a larger platform, and I'd argue they still do it as well as any, though in this case, just a tad better.
I reviewed a later model Explorer well over a year ago, coming up with the otherwise obvious conclusion that it was the everyman's equivalent of a humble luxury car, despite the near-unbelievable towing capacity. It was posh, powerful and well-trimmed, even in consideration of the price. Corporate subsidized financing kept it within reach of the working man, and this is what Ford has been famous for since the first generation Mustang reached the masses day-one. This beast is the same sort of thing, except perhaps a bit bigger, though with a vastly improved sense of street appeal, and dare I again point out how unapologetically so.
Ford has never struck me as the apologists for what they are, which is style, amenity and power. I'd like to say it's regardless of power, but that's not quite true. Reliability has always been fair, and recalls have always been generous, so despite mistakes (Firestone, anybody?), Ford has always stepped up and made it right. There's no reason to believe there are current quality problems, but if the unexpected arises, you can rest assured that, at least historically, these are matters always taken care of regardless of cost or inconvenience.
The power of the Expedition is, depending on your take on such things, either uncompromisingly afforded (as evidenced by towing capacity and raw torque-style satisfaction), or just a tad compromised (since it's still modestly economical for its weight and class, despite a lack of governmental requirement to do so.) This is a conveniently commercial-class vehicle, so it falls outside of federal restrictions pertaining to economy. Regardless, it delivers fairly for the weight and category, which is at least a tad remarkable, even if not strictly because a suit in a distant office says it must be.
The real selling point for me was that it looked like a monster and performed like a monster. This isn't the car for everybody, and the sticker will tell you so from the get go, but if you want unabashed comfort for five-to-seven passengers with enough room to tag their excessive stuff along, plus the ability to tow anything you like short of a brick building (though smaller ones might still work), this is easily the best choice, if not in the top-two for what it is.
The towing capacity and styling outperform anything in the Chevy/GMC lineup, with economy that's nearly on par, though in most cases better. The sticker price is every bit as affordable, despite better performance in several key categories, and the fuel economy is surprisingly reasonable. It's as if Ford has been mass-producing cars for a hundred years or something
which they have been.
But all of those are secondary matters, since if it looks like you're driving a sprinter van or dump truck, not much else matters. Even from a solid block away, nobody is going to mistake this for anything less than what you'd like them to; it's an honest-to-goodness trick-beast. The styling is distinct, mean and gorgeous, if ever the three could exist in harmony, which it now seems they can.
On the inside you'll have a ride vastly better than any "truck" of the weight, and as many amenities as you might wish to beg. The climate and other controls are intuitive and luxurious, the entertainment options are equal to your capacity to request the premium purchase of them, and the cargo capacity is equal to anything else you might wish to shove your inability to pack light inside of.
With all that said, bear in mind that there are many options on the market more economical both in terms of purchase price and fuel efficiency, but you'll be hard-pressed to get the cargo capacity and towing space from much that's less expensive. An Explorer has a lower sticker price (even when exceptionally well equipped), and the Escape is offered as a gas-electric hybrid (if you can stomach the inability to haul much cargo or ass), or if you really want to strut the might of your stuff, you've always got the absurd likes of the Hummer H2, but for what the Expedition is, it's exactly what it is, for lack of a better explanation. You can't begrudge it for its honesty, even if it isn't your (huge, impressive, arguably-decadent, chrome-slathered) cup of tea.
But if you've got a Ford Expedition, who needs a cup of tea?
