Stop letting your kids drive fast cars (Nassau, Laurel: taxes, license)

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by Egobop

Ok Sean. I just thought about it again and you are correct! I forgot when subtracting the 2,500 pounds for my trailer that I mounted a truck tool box on it with my winch in it. It is a real winch like the ones used on a flatbed. It is quite heavy but more importantly I mounted it to my trailer with a large 1/2 inch steel plate that I needed to enlist the help of a friend to carry and we both struggled to lift on there. I also keep my 16 foot chains and binders in there as well as some tools. So when I subtract that weight plus myself and the tools I had in the truck itself we probably are much closer to being just under 8,000 pounds. Well; at least I can admit my mistakes. Thank you for your input.

LOL it's all good, something about that 10,000 number seemed a little funky to me. Almost 8,000lbs. curb weight is still totally NUTS for a passanger vehicle, though!! I actually didn't know they weighed that much until I looked it up before....would have figured closer to 6,000 at most.

Now I'll be even more terrified when I see a soccer mom behind the wheel of an Excursion, sipping a Dunkin Donuts iced latte, talking on a cell phone, putting on makeup and yelling at a carload of kids while swerving between all three lanes of traffic on the LIE at 85MPH

[Egobop]

What is even harder to believe is that auto companies do not do more to incorporate diesel engines into passenger vehicles. My Excursion averages 20-24 miles per gallon. As I have stated in an earlier post that I do drive it like a truck and do not go over the speed limit which I am sure lets me get better fuel mileage than other people with the same truck, but regardless, that is what I average. Compare that to the V-10 gasoline engine which was the other option in which I have heard horror stories of 8-13 miles per gallon. It also tows amazingly well.

[LIMA]

Did you get stuck with comm plates with that weight?

[Egobop]

No. The Excursion gets passenger plates because it is considered an SUV.

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by Egobop

What is even harder to believe is that auto companies do not do more to incorporate diesel engines into passenger vehicles. My Excursion averages 20-24 miles per gallon. As I have stated in an earlier post that I do drive it like a truck and do not go over the speed limit which I am sure lets me get better fuel mileage than other people with the same truck, but regardless, that is what I average. Compare that to the V-10 gasoline engine which was the other option in which I have heard horror stories of 8-13 miles per gallon. It also tows amazingly well.

I'm not that up on this stuff anymore, but I know the US is pretty stringent on diesel emissions standards for passanger cars. It's only been very recently (like within the last year) that direct injected motors have become available, while Europe has had them for almost ten years now. The new BMW 335d is incredible: 0-60 in 6 seconds and 35MPG highway, that's amazing!

[minesbroken]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

LOL it's all good, something about that 10,000 number seemed a little funky to me. Almost 8,000lbs. curb weight is still totally NUTS for a passanger vehicle, though!! I actually didn't know they weighed that much until I looked it up before....would have figured closer to 6,000 at most.

Now I'll be even more terrified when I see a soccer mom behind the wheel of an Excursion, sipping a Dunkin Donuts iced latte, talking on a cell phone, putting on makeup and yelling at a carload of kids while swerving between all three lanes of traffic on the LIE at 85MPH

Instead of having a "commercial vehicle" law designed to keep big heavy vehicles off of the parkways they should have a weight limit. Then see how many 8 thousand pound vehicles they sell when you cant drive your excursion on the parkway anymore and your all crammed onto the LIE with all the big rigs. Nobody needs an 8000 pound vehicle to get back and forth to work. A Ford Excursion is an absolutely useless vehicle, The only vehicle more usless than that is a Hummer H2.

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by minesbroken

Instead of having a "commercial vehicle" law designed to keep big heavy vehicles off of the parkways they should have a weight limit. Then see how many 8 thousand pound vehicles they sell when you cant drive your excursion on the parkway anymore and your all crammed onto the LIE with all the big rigs. Nobody needs an 8000 pound vehicle to get back and forth to work. A Ford Excursion is an absolutely useless vehicle, The only vehicle more usless than that is a Hummer H2.

Ford stopped making the Excursion four years ago and the Hummer brand was just sold to a Chinese company. Their entire model lineup will likely be completely gutted (in other words, no more H2s). The SUV backlash is in full swing, no need to worry!

I've actually got nothing against massive trucks, I just have something against dumbasses who bought them thinking they were a fashion statement.

[Egobop]

Originally Posted by minesbroken

Instead of having a "commercial vehicle" law designed to keep big heavy vehicles off of the parkways they should have a weight limit. Then see how many 8 thousand pound vehicles they sell when you cant drive your excursion on the parkway anymore and your all crammed onto the LIE with all the big rigs. Nobody needs an 8000 pound vehicle to get back and forth to work. A Ford Excursion is an absolutely useless vehicle, The only vehicle more usless than that is a Hummer H2.

To be honest with you, the Excursion has been the best vehicle I have ever owned. I also have four children and a wife. I have had a Plymouth Voyager in the past and it was tight whenever we went somewhere on trips. Between the people in the van and luggage it was too tight to be comfortable. The Excursion will fit eight adults comfortably and has ample room behind the rear sit to put a lot of stuff.

When you take out the rear seat and fold the middle row to the floor it gives enough room to carry 8 X 4 pieces of plywood, which I have done. I also happen to tow cars with mine. I have a hobby of working on old cars (50's, 60's 70's) and tow them on my trailer with my Excursion. I would not be able to do this with a minivan or a smaller SUV. By the way, while towing I have averaged anywhere between 13 to 18 miles per gallon depending on the roads (large hills such as upstate) and the weight distribution of the load on the trailer.

The diesel engines also last much longer than a gasoline engine. They can last anywhere between 300,000 to 500,000 miles without needing an overhaul. My truck now has 160,000 miles on it and all I have had to change was the cam sensor, the water pump and a starter since I have owned it. I bought it with 80,000 miles on it.

Therefore, for all of the above listed reasons, you may not need an 8,000 pound vehicle on the road but I obviously do. If I did not have the Excursion I would need a pick up truck for all of my towing and hauling needs and another vehicle for driving with the family. The Excursion really is more of a truck than an SUV and is built on the F-250, F-350 pick up truck frame.

Just for the record, if I had to get commercial plates on my Excursion I would. I would not care whether or not I could not drive on the parkways. Before I owned my Excursion I owned a GMC 3500 series pick up and it needed commercial plates. It did not bother me. The only thing that did bother me is the fact that it had a 454 cubic inch gasoline motor that averaged 8 miles per gallon.

If you would not want to ever own anything like an Excursion that is fine and you do not have to buy one. At the same time you should not be telling other people that there is no reason they should own one?

[Egobop]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

Ford stopped making the Excursion four years ago and the Hummer brand was just sold to a Chinese company. Their entire model lineup will likely be completely gutted (in other words, no more H2s). The SUV backlash is in full swing, no need to worry!

Yes, the Excursion was discontinued when the gasoline prices started getting high. Ford felt the 8-12 miles per gallon in the V-10 would discourage people from buying them and they did not think they would have a large enough market for people buying the diesel version of it.

I actually bought mine for the reasons stated in my earlier post. I was actually looking around for an F250 or F350 and then I found the Excursion on one of the lots I went to. I did not know much about them at the time so I went home and did some research and found it would be able to do everything I needed an F250 or F350 to do PLUS haul the family around.

I do my best to keep my Excursion in excellent shape and plan on just rebuilding the engine when it finally goes since there is nothing equivalent to the Excursion any longer. The Suburban/Yukon is the closest thing but they do not make a diesel version right now and I know they get poor fuel mileage and are not rated for the type of towing the Excursion is.

I believe people should buy what they want but the Hummer would be useless to me for the same reasons any small SUV would be worthless to me. The tow rating is not good for me and the interior is not spacious enough either. To me it is the same as a Durango, Pathfiner or Escape. I consider these to be more like a more truck looking minivan with four wheel drive. This is just my personal opinion and I would never say that someone else has "no reason" to own one. Some people may need them to tow smaller things or feel they need one because they live in an area with a lot of snow. To each their own.

[jpg71]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

Ford stopped making the Excursion four years ago and the Hummer brand was just sold to a Chinese company. Their entire model lineup will likely be completely gutted (in other words, no more H2s). The SUV backlash is in full swing, no need to worry!

I've actually got nothing against massive trucks, I just have something against dumbasses who bought them thinking they were a fashion statement.

Actually, even the Chinese are having reservations about the Hummer. The Chinese Government is moving to block the sale of Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industries due to environmental concerns, not to mention the fact that Sichuan Tengzhong builds construction equipment and has no automotive experience whatsoever.