Why are people paying so much for 20-year-old Ford Excursions?

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My high school science teacher, Mr. Smet, drove a Ford Excursion. This became handy on snow days, when the school buses ran, but couldn’t make it up the steep and slippery driveway ramp to the upper parking lot of St. Benedict’s Catholic Secondary School in Sudbury, Ontario. 

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On snow days, school buses had to drop their students off at street level, leaving many a lengthy (and slow) trudge upwards to the entrance doors.

The school buses couldn’t make the snowy climb, but Mr. Smet could — because Mr. Smet drove a Ford Excursion.

“SMET’S COMING!” the smokers at the bus stop would yell. The sheer size of his SUV was nearly comical, and watching for our own version of the Magic School Bus became a sort of spectator sport on the winter-iest days. Forget Ms. Frizzle and the little yellow bus: this was Mr. Smet, a V-10 powered SUV the size of a sea-can, and pass after pass spent whisking gleeful students from the bus stop below; to their classes above. Nobody would be late for science class with Mr. Smet and his Ford Excursion on the scene.

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Basically, the Ford Excursion was a Ford F-250 Heavy-Duty pickup turned into an SUV, the rear box and bed replaced by multiple seating rows and a cargo area the size of a shopping complex.

Diesel or gasoline power was available throughout the Excursion’s run, with engine options including a 5.4-litre Triton V8; two turbodiesel choices including 6.0- and 7.3-litre alternatives; or a 6.8-litre Triton gasoline V-10, for Heaven’s sake.

Shoppers could spec their Excursions up with three seating rows, and towing capacity was rated at a massive 11,000 pounds. According to its Wikipedia page, the Ford Excursion was the longest and heaviest SUV to ever enter mass production. 

It left the market in the mid-2000s after five years on sale, and remains one of the biggest passenger vehicles ever built, with a wheelbase significantly exceeding that of modern-day giants like the Cadillac Escalade ESV and Jeep Grand Wagoneer. 

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Today, nearly 20 years after it left the market, some folks are coughing up enormous money for their own copies of used Ford Excursions. Case in point? This example from popular car-auction website Bring A Trailer. 

Here, a top-condition 2000 Ford Excursion sold for a whopping US$67,500, with no shortage of commenters bewildered by the high sale price for this 22-year-old fuel-chugger. The auction site also reports an uptick in Ford Excursion listings posted within the past six months, with many units selling for more than US$50,000, and some pushing up into the seventies. 

What’s going on? I asked a few experts for some help looking for clues to answer that question.

“Large SUVs are hard to come, by and when we get one, they sell 46-per-cent faster than the average vehicle,” explains Cody Green, founder and co-CEO of Vancouver-based online car retailer Canada Drives. “At Canada Drives, we’ve seen car shopping behaviours trending towards trucks and SUVs over the last five or six years. Canadians became increasingly upsize-focused since the pandemic began–this may have changed very recently.”

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“Aside from the decreased supply of brand-new vehicles due to the microchip delay, travel restrictions created a surge in demand for larger, staycation-ready vehicles with versatile capabilities and plenty of cargo space or family seating. We’ve even seen Millennials turn to SUVs to fit their dogs. It’s fair to say that SUVs have become the preferred family vehicle in Canada due to their larger size.”

Demand for bigger vehicles increasing, sure — but what’s behind the demand for the biggest vehicle of them all? Part of the answer could relate to the collectible appeal of a one-of-a-kind SUV from a different era, the likes of which we may never see again. The Excursion’s ability to serve as a family-hauler, tow-rig, sleeping quarters, cargo van, and even off-roader all add up to make it a jack-of-all-trades for the adventure-minded shopper, with zero second-guessing when it comes to space or towing capacity. To put that another way, it’s a vehicle that’s pretty impossible to outgrow. 

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“The demand on these has always been skewed strongly to Gen X, but Millennials are actually stepping into the Excursion market with a strong foot starting in 2021,” says James Hewitt, an Information Analyst with collector-car insurer Hagerty. “Demand from Gen X peaked in May 2021, at 51 per cent of [insurance] quotes [Hagerty received] over the prior 12 months coming from them. At the time, Millennials made up 25.4 per cent. In March 2022, Gen X made up 43 per cent of quotes and Millennials made up 34 per cent — a pretty large increase.”

Hewitt says that he first noticed a massive ramp-up in insurance policies for the Ford Excursion from 2019, noting that the amount’s leveled off since mid-2021. “This tells me that the number being bought and sold has stabilized,” Hewitt says.

“Most of the ones on our books are not modified or lifted trucks. Only 18 per cent are modified in some way,” he explains. “They’re largely concentrated in Florida and Texas. I doubt that owners care about gas prices, or are buying because of used car values — this is more an ‘I don’t care, I want what I want’ purchase.”

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Of course, when shoppers want what they want, they’re often willing to pay big bucks to get it. For instance, a recent uptick in the popularity of used supercars that deliver an analog driving experience has seen values of cars like the Dodge Viper skyrocket, and pushed shoppers to spend over $100,000 extra to secure certain used Lamborghini models with a manual transmission.

The gist? When a collector decides that a certain vehicle is the one to have, prices can balloon as a result of increased demand, massively exceeding the so-called NADA or ‘book’ value of that vehicle.

This article from Jalopnik highlights the trend as it applies to the Ford Excursion — in particular, how the unit on Bring a Trailer’s US$68,000 price compares to its NADA value of less than US$18,000. Just remember, book values for used cars consider many factors, but don’t necessarily capture increased demand and trendiness that can suddenly pump up the prices when shoppers and collectors decide that a certain vehicle is the one to have.

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Like, perhaps, the Millennials who seem to have taken a keen interest in the Ford Excursion. Emily Atkins, a journalist who races cars for a hobby, thinks she knows what’s behind the SUV’s appeal for an adventure-minded shopper who wants to travel, explore, and be ready for new experiences, every day of the year. 

“I still miss my Donner,” says Atkins, referring to her Ford Excursion, one of many vehicles she’s named after Santa’s reindeer. “I loved the humongous engine. Loved the enclosed cargo space. Loved that I could sleep comfortably in it if need be, or carry an engine back there. I never used the third row, and only ever put the second-row seats up when it got used as the errand bus at the track, like when people wanted to go to town.”

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Atkins says there’s nothing in the market now that remotely matches the Excursion. Years after selling her “Donner” because of rust and other problems, she’s even considering buying it back and restoring it. “It was a brilliant vehicle. If they made it again, I bet there’d be a market.”

Atkins says she especially appreciated the Excursion’s highway driving range, even while towing a race-car. Today, Atkins uses a Ram pickup to do her towing. “It’s wimpy by comparison, and needy” she says. “I’ve got to put gas in it all the time because the tank’s too small.”

If you happen to be a Millennial (or anyone else) considering a used Ford Excursion to take on new experiences, Atkins figures you’re looking at about the best machine for the job. “If you have the ability to troubleshoot [mechanical issues], it could be the ultimate getaway vehicle,” she explains. “Keep in mind, mine had over 250,000 kilometers on the clock, so it is very much buyer beware. Rust, old engines, and transmissions can be problems, and parts are very hard to find.”

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“There certainly is a cult-like following,” adds Hewitt. “That’s especially true of the earlier models with the 7.3-liter Powerstroke, versus the later 6.0. Although, despite the 6.0’s well deserved reputation of being troublesome from the factory, they can be a beast of an engine with far better durability after some significant modification.”

“You still see several Excursions hooked up to large car-haulers in the trailer lots at major events,” he explains. “People love the diesel towing power with the extra cargo- or people-hauling capacity. Excursions aren’t for everyone, but there is enough of the cult following that some will pay top dollar for a really good example.”

Of course, if you don’t need an Excursion-sized machine (or fuel bill), more modern options are available for similar money. Today, a Chevrolet Suburban or GMC Yukon XL can be had for just over CDN$77,000, with 3.0-litre Duramax diesel power. These models are smaller than a 20-year old Excursion and can’t tow as much, but they’re much easier on fuel, and come with all the modern must-haves — and a factory warranty.

It’s always nice to have choices.