I bought a 2022 Ford Expedition Timberline at the end of October, after mixed Expedition reviews here on the board. I originally planned on buying a Tahoe Z71, but saw the Timberline package of the Expedition and it tickled my interests - and ultimately it's what I bought. I've since put 2000 miles on it - a combination of city driving, lots of highway, and lots of gravel roads. I've come to a conclusion about the vehicle and I'll talk about the good and the bad - and some will be copied from a post I made in a previous thread before I bought it.
The Good:
The Exterior - I absolutely love how it looks. A standard Expedition looks pretty bland to me but the Timberline package takes it up to another level. The orange accents are fantastic, the factory lift is nice, and the special Timberline wheels are some of my favorite Ford has ever put on a vehicle. I wanted one of the green exterior colors, but settled on black. I've had 3 Fords now and they've all been black - so like Henry ford said - any color you want as long as it's black.
The interior is extremely comfortable. My wife described it as a couch on wheels. We do a lot of driving - think 25k miles/year - so her happiness is priceless. The green leather was a one of my must-haves and I'm so glad I stuck to it. When the sun comes in that pano sunroof and hits the leather - well I'll just say my pants are suddenly a little tighter. There is a fair amount of usable storage, the captains chars in the middle row are great, and an adult can ride comfortable in the 3rd row. There are AC vents and charge ports for all passengers, and my growing family can all ride comfortably.
The quiet cabin also blows me away. My RAM 1500 was pretty quiet - but the Expedition takes it to another level. We can have a comfortable conversation at freeway speeds. Road noise is minimal and even with the cross bars on the roof rack - wind noise is also minimal.
The ride is smooth and composed. I get a little intermittent vibration from 55-65 - I think my tires need to be balanced and that's on the agenda. But it's plenty smooth. Highway runs are great, around town it soaks up pot holes, and on the miles and miles of gravel roads I do the suspension just absorbs all the abuse. I've used the 4x4 a couple times in some deep mud and it's quick to engage and works well. I haven't yet tried all the cool features like trail turn assist, but I reckon it'll be exactly as advertised. It's as good off road as on road.
I saved the most important part until last. That engine. The High Output EcoBoost from the Raptor. It's detuned from 450hp to 440hp but maintains the 510lb of torques. It absolutely makes the vehicle. I've never had an EcoBoost. My last F150 had the coyote and I was super happy with it. This EB blows it away. A vehicle this big accelerating like it does is a thing to behold. Car and Driver did a 13.9 when they tested it. The power comes on low in the rev range and just keeps building. Set the cruise at 80 on the highway and it's calm and composed, then dip into the fun pedal and it lifts its nose and moves.
The Bad:
That massive touch screen. I tried it - I really gave it a serious go. It's terrible. It's slow and l****, and it's not very intuitive. The UConnect in my RAM was 100x better in every way. Call me an old man (I'm 38 and work in tech) but I miss buttons for my AC controls. I really just have nothing nice to say about that large infotainment. There is supposedly an update that improves some things - but mine hasn't gotten it yet. Seriously no redeeming qualities. Example - I turn the vehicle off with the AC on and the fan blowing to top vents. I turn it back on, and it could be full heat to floor - or only rear AC on. The system really has a mind of its own. I have to set my climate control every time I start it because it just does whatever it wants.
The driver assist systems - they work when they want to. I'll have the camera go offline sometimes so adaptive cruise quits working and all the cool features. The automatic emergency braking will randomly start beeping a warning even if there's nothing in front of me on open highway. Thankfully it hasn't locked up the brakes yet. The lane keep has a mind of its own as well. I've basically just turned all the driver assist features off I don't trust them at all. Really anything electronic in this is questionable.
Interior rattles. How does an 80k vehicle with no miles rattle so damn much? The interior is comfortable for sure, but the build quality of it is pretty poor. There is a cover over the center speaker that is already warped and rattling, and the gauge cluster has a missive gap where the mold was obviously crooked. The cluster issue is super common on Expeditions. I'm coming from a 5th gen RAM 1500 and had a 4th gen 1500 before that. The build quality on a 38k RAM is day and night better then this Ford. It's incredibly comfortable, seats are amazing - 10/10 - but the actual assembly of the individual great parts is sub par.
Other thoughts
The transmission - it's had a couple hard shifts but nothing I'd call a huge deal. It shifts mostly well, and the shifts are generally transparent. There are lots of complaints from both GM and Ford owners about the 10r80 but overall I find it fine. Mine is low mileage and I'm adding the longest warranty I can - but I'm thus far optimistic that it'll be fine
Vibrations - I get a pretty annoying vibration from 55-65. The vehicle sat on the lot for a while and it feels like flat spots on the tires. I would have expected them to have worked itself out by now but the vibration persists. It's intermittent and I would have expected tires to be a constant vibration - but either way I'm scheduled to get an alignment and balance to see if it helps.
The gas pedal also vibrates. It tickles my foot to the point of annoyance if I'm wearing thin shoes. Much less noticeable when I'm wearing boots.
Overall I really do love it. It's got some things that annoy me - but then I give it some gas and that engine lights up. The power of that engine makes up for all the shortcomings of the vehicle. I don't regret my Expedition decision over a Tahoe Z71. There are already things I miss having a truck for, but I see a cheap beater truck in my future.
The Good:
The Exterior - I absolutely love how it looks. A standard Expedition looks pretty bland to me but the Timberline package takes it up to another level. The orange accents are fantastic, the factory lift is nice, and the special Timberline wheels are some of my favorite Ford has ever put on a vehicle. I wanted one of the green exterior colors, but settled on black. I've had 3 Fords now and they've all been black - so like Henry ford said - any color you want as long as it's black.
The interior is extremely comfortable. My wife described it as a couch on wheels. We do a lot of driving - think 25k miles/year - so her happiness is priceless. The green leather was a one of my must-haves and I'm so glad I stuck to it. When the sun comes in that pano sunroof and hits the leather - well I'll just say my pants are suddenly a little tighter. There is a fair amount of usable storage, the captains chars in the middle row are great, and an adult can ride comfortable in the 3rd row. There are AC vents and charge ports for all passengers, and my growing family can all ride comfortably.
The quiet cabin also blows me away. My RAM 1500 was pretty quiet - but the Expedition takes it to another level. We can have a comfortable conversation at freeway speeds. Road noise is minimal and even with the cross bars on the roof rack - wind noise is also minimal.
The ride is smooth and composed. I get a little intermittent vibration from 55-65 - I think my tires need to be balanced and that's on the agenda. But it's plenty smooth. Highway runs are great, around town it soaks up pot holes, and on the miles and miles of gravel roads I do the suspension just absorbs all the abuse. I've used the 4x4 a couple times in some deep mud and it's quick to engage and works well. I haven't yet tried all the cool features like trail turn assist, but I reckon it'll be exactly as advertised. It's as good off road as on road.
I saved the most important part until last. That engine. The High Output EcoBoost from the Raptor. It's detuned from 450hp to 440hp but maintains the 510lb of torques. It absolutely makes the vehicle. I've never had an EcoBoost. My last F150 had the coyote and I was super happy with it. This EB blows it away. A vehicle this big accelerating like it does is a thing to behold. Car and Driver did a 13.9 when they tested it. The power comes on low in the rev range and just keeps building. Set the cruise at 80 on the highway and it's calm and composed, then dip into the fun pedal and it lifts its nose and moves.
The Bad:
That massive touch screen. I tried it - I really gave it a serious go. It's terrible. It's slow and l****, and it's not very intuitive. The UConnect in my RAM was 100x better in every way. Call me an old man (I'm 38 and work in tech) but I miss buttons for my AC controls. I really just have nothing nice to say about that large infotainment. There is supposedly an update that improves some things - but mine hasn't gotten it yet. Seriously no redeeming qualities. Example - I turn the vehicle off with the AC on and the fan blowing to top vents. I turn it back on, and it could be full heat to floor - or only rear AC on. The system really has a mind of its own. I have to set my climate control every time I start it because it just does whatever it wants.
The driver assist systems - they work when they want to. I'll have the camera go offline sometimes so adaptive cruise quits working and all the cool features. The automatic emergency braking will randomly start beeping a warning even if there's nothing in front of me on open highway. Thankfully it hasn't locked up the brakes yet. The lane keep has a mind of its own as well. I've basically just turned all the driver assist features off I don't trust them at all. Really anything electronic in this is questionable.
Interior rattles. How does an 80k vehicle with no miles rattle so damn much? The interior is comfortable for sure, but the build quality of it is pretty poor. There is a cover over the center speaker that is already warped and rattling, and the gauge cluster has a missive gap where the mold was obviously crooked. The cluster issue is super common on Expeditions. I'm coming from a 5th gen RAM 1500 and had a 4th gen 1500 before that. The build quality on a 38k RAM is day and night better then this Ford. It's incredibly comfortable, seats are amazing - 10/10 - but the actual assembly of the individual great parts is sub par.
Other thoughts
The transmission - it's had a couple hard shifts but nothing I'd call a huge deal. It shifts mostly well, and the shifts are generally transparent. There are lots of complaints from both GM and Ford owners about the 10r80 but overall I find it fine. Mine is low mileage and I'm adding the longest warranty I can - but I'm thus far optimistic that it'll be fine
Vibrations - I get a pretty annoying vibration from 55-65. The vehicle sat on the lot for a while and it feels like flat spots on the tires. I would have expected them to have worked itself out by now but the vibration persists. It's intermittent and I would have expected tires to be a constant vibration - but either way I'm scheduled to get an alignment and balance to see if it helps.
The gas pedal also vibrates. It tickles my foot to the point of annoyance if I'm wearing thin shoes. Much less noticeable when I'm wearing boots.
Overall I really do love it. It's got some things that annoy me - but then I give it some gas and that engine lights up. The power of that engine makes up for all the shortcomings of the vehicle. I don't regret my Expedition decision over a Tahoe Z71. There are already things I miss having a truck for, but I see a cheap beater truck in my future.
