I remember every little thing
As if it happened only yesterday
Parking by the school
And not another SUV in sight
And I never had a car
Looking any better than this did
And all the moms at school
They are wishing they are me, that's right!~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**The Ford Excursion delivers big in the looks department, and I mean big. The Excursion is built on the chassis of the 350 pickup so the thing is high, it is wide and it is long. Oh baby we are talking now. Overall this is one impressive looking vehicle. The running boards make entering and exiting the vehicle a snap. (I once fell out of a 250 and it was not funny! (well maybe a little funny if you were watching))

However, because of the height the "luggage rack" on top, is for nothing more than looks, unless you carry a ladder with you. It is impossible for the average sized person to get anything up there or down from there with doing damage to the car. Now I have seen the Chevy tape where they have the woman jumping up and down trying to close the hood. But come on people...what in the world would you open the hood for? Drive the thing and call Ford Roadside assistance if it breaks.

The rear cargo door is great. It is a glass door that raises (which is nice if you are loading groceries in the rain) and two doors that open left and right. Placing items and removing items in the cargo area is a snap. Speaking of that cargo area, there is plenty of room for all your suitcases, shopping bags and whatever else you need to schlep around with you.

~~~~~~~~~~~And now our bodies are oh so close and tight
Leather seats never felt so good, they never felt so right~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Now for the inside. A wee bit disappointed, I was. The dash board is typical Ford. I am a bells and whistles kind of girl and they were far and few between here. The only good gadget is the one that tell the temperature, average fuel mileage and direction. I did get the 6 CD changer which is located in the center console. So far the CD changer works great. I have not had any CDs skip while I am driving (we will review that matter in a few months).

All of the instruments are easy to use and within reach of the driver except the ASH TRAY. If I smoked in the car I would not attempt to use this ash tray because you are now over on the passengers side of the car with a hot smoke in your hand. Also if I did allow passengers to smoke in the car I would not let them smoke at night because THERE IS NO LIGHT for this ash tray. I like ash trays in cars they come in handy for storing safety pins and hair pins and all sorts of "stuff"

I bought "the limited" model of the Excursion because I only want leather seats in my cars. As far as seats go, well I have sat in better and I have sat in worse. These seats are a bit stiff for my liking, sort of like sitting on bricks. But heated bricks! The seat heater works very well and you will have toasty buns in no time. The drivers seat is most excellent. It goes higher and lower so that my husband is comfortable driving and I (all of 5'3") can be comfortable and see the front of the vehicle. The drivers seat goes forward and back, but most do that don't they. Ford could have put a memory button in the seat so that you hit the button and the seat adjusts for you, like the corvette, but they did not.

Speaking of the seats. The middle bench folds down so that it is flat. However what am I supposed to do with the last bench? It does not fold down flat so the only way to get a flat cargo area is take that last seat out. YUCK! The seat does remove easily and this wee little woman was able to remove the seat easily enough.

Here is more Ford nonsense, they boast 10 cup holders. Well, Mr. Ford four of those cup holders are in the front seat, which seats two. I always drive with a number of open beverages. If you get caught with 2 Starbucks Grande Espressos and one Budweiser does one negate the other? The next four cup holders are for the middle bench which seats three. And the last two cup holders are for the rear bench which seats three also. So everyone gets 1.6 drink holders except for the guy sitting in the middle of the back seat he gets to hold that coffee between his legs.

Climate controls are manual. Which means you can pick your temperature some place between red and blue. There is a separate climate control for the rear of the car so most of us can be happy most of the time.


And we're rolling along like the metal on the edge of a knife
C'mon! Hold on tight!
C'mon! Hold on tight!

I thought this was going to be a real pain in the neck to drive but I have been surprised. This is one of the easiest things I have ever driven. If you have ever driven a large truck or van sometimes the rear wheels do not follow the front wheels. You tend to run over curbs and take home shrubbery that does not belong to you. The Excursions rear wheels stay in track with the front wheels, which means your tail is following you in a true line. Parking is easy. I pick my spot out (you need 4 spot lengths to hit your spot) and turn.

The Excursion is great on the highway. A must have is the heated telescoping rearview mirrors least you wipe out innocent people. There seems to be less blind spots on this than many of the other SUVs I have owned.

Great pick up. You hit the gas pedal and it goes. I opted for the turbo diesel model and so far I have averaged 15+ miles to a gallon.
**


Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night
I can see paradise by the dashboard light

***Inspite of the flaws I have picked out I am really happy with this vehicle. Of all of the cars, vans, trucks and other things I have driven I would have to say this has to be my favorite.