If Ford still made the Excursion in 2015, what would it cost?
I went to the Salt Lake City Auto Show this winter and I about hit the floor when the sticker price for a loaded up 2015 Suburban or Expedition was OVER $70,000! What?! This is for a 1/2 ton gasoline SUV, is Detroid out of its mind??? Who the hell pays $70,000 for an american Ford/Chevy SUV? And then I recently found this article from Cars.com called "No Joke: We Drove a $73,000 Chevrolet Suburban". That's MORE expensive that this gorgeous Dodge Cummins with the fabulous new 5-link rear end and load leveling airbags that was also there:
I thought I was Detroit's ideal demographic, a dual income middle class family who actually NEEDS and wants a full sized capable SUV and can afford to drive just about any vehicle we wish...minus the exotic stuff I like to dream about. So who are these people paying $70k for an american made suv by Ford and Chevy? Certainly not me! As much as I both want and need one, that's way above what I'm willing to spend. The last brand new SUV I purchased was a 2012 Nissan Armada Platinum fully loaded with an MSRP of around $55k. I waited for an end of year promo to come along and scooped it up with a massive $15k discount and only paid a little over $40k for it NEW!! Yes that's a rare deal, but that's what I think about while staring at a Suburban going for over $70k. I'm sorry but no matter how good the new 'burb is, it's nowhere close to $30k better than the Armada I owned and absolutly loved. The max I would consider spending on one is probably in the $50k neighborhood, and that's even a stretch.
Now the really scarry part about pricing is what if Ford brought back the Excursion with the wonderful new 6.7L Powerstroke Scorpion motor? How much would it cost today? Well that's not easy to answer. A fully loaded suburban has gone up in price by 36% in 10 years. (The last Excursion was made 10 years ago). An F250 Lariet Powerstroke has gone up about 24%. Taking the list price of a 2005 Eddie Bauer Excursion of $50,230 and adding the inflation that gives it a range of $62,000-$68,000. But, that doesn't make much sense because that is what a Suburban or Expedition on a light duty gasoline chassis is going for in 2015, so there is no way detroit will sell an HD Diesel for that amount.
Another way to calculate it is to look at an F150 vs an F250 to get the gap in price to go from light duty gasoline to heavy duty diesel which is about a 20% increase. So, if we increase the price of a 2015 Expedition Limited 4x4 priced at $58,415 by 20% that gives us a price of $70,098 which is probably getting a little closer to reality. Now dont' forget that is a base Limited model WITHOUT any options added to it, so this is the starting price. I suspect an Excursion today moderatly loaded with options would have an MSRP of about $80,000! And that is why we will most likely never see another Excursion.
And then there is the Hennessey Velociraptor that was just announced.
The Velociraptor is a modern day Ford Excursion with some nice upgrades. The bad news, It starts at $160,000!!! Of course this is a custom build, but it goes to show you that an HD Diesel SUV these days is a vehicle that few could afford.
So, what do you do if you have a family of 6+ with hobbies that demand the capabilities of a heavy duty truck and a 3rd row?? You build it...which is what I'm about to do and why I created this blog.
I thought I was Detroit's ideal demographic, a dual income middle class family who actually NEEDS and wants a full sized capable SUV and can afford to drive just about any vehicle we wish...minus the exotic stuff I like to dream about. So who are these people paying $70k for an american made suv by Ford and Chevy? Certainly not me! As much as I both want and need one, that's way above what I'm willing to spend. The last brand new SUV I purchased was a 2012 Nissan Armada Platinum fully loaded with an MSRP of around $55k. I waited for an end of year promo to come along and scooped it up with a massive $15k discount and only paid a little over $40k for it NEW!! Yes that's a rare deal, but that's what I think about while staring at a Suburban going for over $70k. I'm sorry but no matter how good the new 'burb is, it's nowhere close to $30k better than the Armada I owned and absolutly loved. The max I would consider spending on one is probably in the $50k neighborhood, and that's even a stretch.
Now the really scarry part about pricing is what if Ford brought back the Excursion with the wonderful new 6.7L Powerstroke Scorpion motor? How much would it cost today? Well that's not easy to answer. A fully loaded suburban has gone up in price by 36% in 10 years. (The last Excursion was made 10 years ago). An F250 Lariet Powerstroke has gone up about 24%. Taking the list price of a 2005 Eddie Bauer Excursion of $50,230 and adding the inflation that gives it a range of $62,000-$68,000. But, that doesn't make much sense because that is what a Suburban or Expedition on a light duty gasoline chassis is going for in 2015, so there is no way detroit will sell an HD Diesel for that amount.
Another way to calculate it is to look at an F150 vs an F250 to get the gap in price to go from light duty gasoline to heavy duty diesel which is about a 20% increase. So, if we increase the price of a 2015 Expedition Limited 4x4 priced at $58,415 by 20% that gives us a price of $70,098 which is probably getting a little closer to reality. Now dont' forget that is a base Limited model WITHOUT any options added to it, so this is the starting price. I suspect an Excursion today moderatly loaded with options would have an MSRP of about $80,000! And that is why we will most likely never see another Excursion.
And then there is the Hennessey Velociraptor that was just announced.
The Velociraptor is a modern day Ford Excursion with some nice upgrades. The bad news, It starts at $160,000!!! Of course this is a custom build, but it goes to show you that an HD Diesel SUV these days is a vehicle that few could afford.
So, what do you do if you have a family of 6+ with hobbies that demand the capabilities of a heavy duty truck and a 3rd row?? You build it...which is what I'm about to do and why I created this blog.
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