Eddie Bauer
Apr 11th 2004, 9:49 am
#1
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Eddie Bauer
Okay, here's a couple of question's for those in the know Re: SUV's.
The Ford Expedition 2003. Is it worth paying a little more (approx $2,000), for an Eddie Bauer version?
Would you buy a 4 wheel-drive even though you would probably off-road only once or twice a year? All general feedback on the Expedition most welcome.
p.s. Who is this 'Eddie Bauer' bloke anyway?!?!?!
The Ford Expedition 2003. Is it worth paying a little more (approx $2,000), for an Eddie Bauer version?
Would you buy a 4 wheel-drive even though you would probably off-road only once or twice a year? All general feedback on the Expedition most welcome.
p.s. Who is this 'Eddie Bauer' bloke anyway?!?!?!
Apr 11th 2004, 10:23 am
#2
Arrogant ****
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Plano, TX
Posts: 4,323
Eddie Bauer is the name of a relatively up-market store that sells mainly clothing. As I understand, they are one of the oldest mail-order companies alongside Sears in the US.
The point of the Eddie Bauer line of Fords is that it's their way of saying that there's a full leather interior. The Eddie Bauer brand stands for quality leather tailoring, I guess.
Worth the extra $2000? That's a matter of opinion. I'd go for a good leather interior every time, but many people wouldn't bother spending the extra I guess.
If you're going to off-road once or twice a year then you'll be off-roading once or twice a year more than 99.9% of Expedition owners. That makes you an enthusiast, so you'll need to buy titanium-plate protection for the underside, four 10,000W spotlights, kevlar tyres, extra-high suspension, sat-nav, GPS and a gun rack (to help fight off the natives)... well at least that's what you'd do if you were Texan
The point of the Eddie Bauer line of Fords is that it's their way of saying that there's a full leather interior. The Eddie Bauer brand stands for quality leather tailoring, I guess.
Worth the extra $2000? That's a matter of opinion. I'd go for a good leather interior every time, but many people wouldn't bother spending the extra I guess.
If you're going to off-road once or twice a year then you'll be off-roading once or twice a year more than 99.9% of Expedition owners. That makes you an enthusiast, so you'll need to buy titanium-plate protection for the underside, four 10,000W spotlights, kevlar tyres, extra-high suspension, sat-nav, GPS and a gun rack (to help fight off the natives)... well at least that's what you'd do if you were Texan
Apr 11th 2004, 10:41 am
#3
Ping-ponger
Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Dreich Alba
Posts: 12,024
Re: Eddie Bauer
Originally posted by whatever
Okay, here's a couple of question's for those in the know Re: SUV's.
The Ford Expedition 2003. Is it worth paying a little more (approx $2,000), for an Eddie Bauer version?
Would you buy a 4 wheel-drive even though you would probably off-road only once or twice a year? All general feedback on the Expedition most welcome.
p.s. Who is this 'Eddie Bauer' bloke anyway?!?!?!
Okay, here's a couple of question's for those in the know Re: SUV's.
The Ford Expedition 2003. Is it worth paying a little more (approx $2,000), for an Eddie Bauer version?
Would you buy a 4 wheel-drive even though you would probably off-road only once or twice a year? All general feedback on the Expedition most welcome.
p.s. Who is this 'Eddie Bauer' bloke anyway?!?!?!
4WD cars tend to have worse gas mileage than 2WD - worth considering the way gas prices are going (I think it's typically about 1 or 2 mpg worse).
Apr 11th 2004, 11:14 am
#4
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DBJ1000... okay I know I said once or twice a year but I was probably grossly exagerating 
Thanks for the explaination. Think we'll give the gun rack a miss!
There was us thinking that Eddie Bauer was some rugged all American truck driver!
We will be (99% sure), in Texas, funnily enough, very possibly in Plano! Is there a good car dealer in Plano that you would recommend?
Where are you from originally? How long have you been in Plano? What's it like? Do you like it there? Seem's like a pretty nice place. We have been looking at a few different places like Allen, Southlake, Flower Mound (maybe to close to DFW Airport though). Love to hear your opinions - feel free to dish the dirt!!!
PM me if you want
Dunroving...
Not too much snow in Texas from what I have heard and by what you have said it sound's like a 2wd would be fine. No point in spending extra just for gas.
Thanks for the explaination. Think we'll give the gun rack a miss! There was us thinking that Eddie Bauer was some rugged all American truck driver!
We will be (99% sure), in Texas, funnily enough, very possibly in Plano! Is there a good car dealer in Plano that you would recommend?
Where are you from originally? How long have you been in Plano? What's it like? Do you like it there? Seem's like a pretty nice place. We have been looking at a few different places like Allen, Southlake, Flower Mound (maybe to close to DFW Airport though). Love to hear your opinions - feel free to dish the dirt!!!
PM me if you want
Dunroving...
Not too much snow in Texas from what I have heard and by what you have said it sound's like a 2wd would be fine. No point in spending extra just for gas.
Apr 11th 2004, 11:17 am
#5
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
Eddie Bauer is sort of an American Austin Reed.
Switchable 4 wheel drive would be the way to go, my other half's Ford Ranger has this, do not use it often but it snowed Saturday, enough to bring the UK to a halt, but not a big deal here. Back to t shirt weather today.
A Ranger would be considered a big truck in UK, quite titchy here.
No gun racks in Colorado, quite disappointed!
Switchable 4 wheel drive would be the way to go, my other half's Ford Ranger has this, do not use it often but it snowed Saturday, enough to bring the UK to a halt, but not a big deal here. Back to t shirt weather today.
A Ranger would be considered a big truck in UK, quite titchy here.
No gun racks in Colorado, quite disappointed!
Apr 11th 2004, 1:37 pm
#6
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Joined: May 2002
Location: Living in Oblivion
Posts: 3,668
Originally posted by whatever
DBJ1000... okay I know I said once or twice a year but I was probably grossly exagerating Thanks for the explaination. Think we'll give the gun rack a miss!
There was us thinking that Eddie Bauer was some rugged all American truck driver!
We will be (99% sure), in Texas, funnily enough, very possibly in Plano! Is there a good car dealer in Plano that you would recommend?
Where are you from originally? How long have you been in Plano? What's it like? Do you like it there? Seem's like a pretty nice place. We have been looking at a few different places like Allen, Southlake, Flower Mound (maybe to close to DFW Airport though). Love to hear your opinions - feel free to dish the dirt!!!
PM me if you want
Dunroving...
Not too much snow in Texas from what I have heard and by what you have said it sound's like a 2wd would be fine. No point in spending extra just for gas.
DBJ1000... okay I know I said once or twice a year but I was probably grossly exagerating
Thanks for the explaination. Think we'll give the gun rack a miss! There was us thinking that Eddie Bauer was some rugged all American truck driver!
We will be (99% sure), in Texas, funnily enough, very possibly in Plano! Is there a good car dealer in Plano that you would recommend?
Where are you from originally? How long have you been in Plano? What's it like? Do you like it there? Seem's like a pretty nice place. We have been looking at a few different places like Allen, Southlake, Flower Mound (maybe to close to DFW Airport though). Love to hear your opinions - feel free to dish the dirt!!!
PM me if you want
Dunroving...
Not too much snow in Texas from what I have heard and by what you have said it sound's like a 2wd would be fine. No point in spending extra just for gas.
Patrick
Apr 11th 2004, 1:42 pm
#7
Howling at the Moon
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: Incline Village, NV
Posts: 3,742
Re: Eddie Bauer
Originally posted by dunroving
Where in the US are you going? If it's somewhere that gets a lot of snow. 4WD might be useful.
4WD cars tend to have worse gas mileage than 2WD - worth considering the way gas prices are going (I think it's typically about 1 or 2 mpg worse).
Where in the US are you going? If it's somewhere that gets a lot of snow. 4WD might be useful.
4WD cars tend to have worse gas mileage than 2WD - worth considering the way gas prices are going (I think it's typically about 1 or 2 mpg worse).
If it was switchable I'd go for manual selection rather than "on the fly", inho 2WD is preferable to this as it can cause someone to flip out when it switches. More harm than good in icy conditions.
Apr 11th 2004, 1:44 pm
#8
Howling at the Moon
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: Incline Village, NV
Posts: 3,742
Originally posted by dbj1000
Eddie Bauer is the name of a relatively up-market store that sells mainly clothing. As I understand, they are one of the oldest mail-order companies alongside Sears in the US.
The point of the Eddie Bauer line of Fords is that it's their way of saying that there's a full leather interior. The Eddie Bauer brand stands for quality leather tailoring, I guess.
Worth the extra $2000? That's a matter of opinion. I'd go for a good leather interior every time, but many people wouldn't bother spending the extra I guess.
If you're going to off-road once or twice a year then you'll be off-roading once or twice a year more than 99.9% of Expedition owners. That makes you an enthusiast, so you'll need to buy titanium-plate protection for the underside, four 10,000W spotlights, kevlar tyres, extra-high suspension, sat-nav, GPS and a gun rack (to help fight off the natives)... well at least that's what you'd do if you were Texan
Eddie Bauer is the name of a relatively up-market store that sells mainly clothing. As I understand, they are one of the oldest mail-order companies alongside Sears in the US.
The point of the Eddie Bauer line of Fords is that it's their way of saying that there's a full leather interior. The Eddie Bauer brand stands for quality leather tailoring, I guess.
Worth the extra $2000? That's a matter of opinion. I'd go for a good leather interior every time, but many people wouldn't bother spending the extra I guess.
If you're going to off-road once or twice a year then you'll be off-roading once or twice a year more than 99.9% of Expedition owners. That makes you an enthusiast, so you'll need to buy titanium-plate protection for the underside, four 10,000W spotlights, kevlar tyres, extra-high suspension, sat-nav, GPS and a gun rack (to help fight off the natives)... well at least that's what you'd do if you were Texan
Don't forget the dog for the back and the dead animal.
If you have children as messy as mine the leather is defintely worth it. I had to put sheepskin covers on mine though as leather gets hot and tends to burn the backs of your knees when you wear a skirt in summertime (not a problem for most men).
Last edited by lairdside; Apr 11th 2004 at 1:47 pm.
Apr 12th 2004, 12:45 am
#9
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Joined: Nov 2003
Location: FL
Posts: 273
Are you sure you can still purchase the Eddie Bauer Ford? The company filed for bankruptcy not too long ago and will soon be closing all their stores.
Apr 12th 2004, 6:00 am
#10
Carrot Cruncher
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Orbvs Terrarvm
Posts: 52
The Eddie Bauer name will still be on cars already made of course!
Exception rather than the rule with 2WD? Huh? I find that a surprising remark - I have not seen many 4WD Expeditions around here (N. Texas).
I would not waste the extra money on 4WD if you're not gonna use it, personally. But that's just my opinion. There's no beaches nor mountains in N. Texas - we live in Carrollton which is also a North Dallas suburb, west of Plano.
We have a 2000 Expedition Eddie Bauer edition - it's a nice ride, powerful Triton V8 engine, but the handling doesn't seem very sharp to me - it feels like it rolls a bit going around corners. Probably because of the "soft" suspension/air shocks. But it's the wife's car, I don't drive it much.
As for Ford dealers in Plano, there's one - Middlekauf. don't know how good they are. We got our Exp. at Payton Wright in Grapevine, out near the big airport. It wasn't the best car-buying experience in the world, either... but that's another story. However, there's tons of Ford dealers in the Dallas area, these two aren't the only ones!
p22
Exception rather than the rule with 2WD? Huh? I find that a surprising remark - I have not seen many 4WD Expeditions around here (N. Texas).
I would not waste the extra money on 4WD if you're not gonna use it, personally. But that's just my opinion. There's no beaches nor mountains in N. Texas - we live in Carrollton which is also a North Dallas suburb, west of Plano.
We have a 2000 Expedition Eddie Bauer edition - it's a nice ride, powerful Triton V8 engine, but the handling doesn't seem very sharp to me - it feels like it rolls a bit going around corners. Probably because of the "soft" suspension/air shocks. But it's the wife's car, I don't drive it much.
As for Ford dealers in Plano, there's one - Middlekauf. don't know how good they are. We got our Exp. at Payton Wright in Grapevine, out near the big airport. It wasn't the best car-buying experience in the world, either... but that's another story. However, there's tons of Ford dealers in the Dallas area, these two aren't the only ones!
p22
Last edited by pilgrim22; Apr 12th 2004 at 6:03 am.
Apr 12th 2004, 6:06 am
#11
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Originally posted by pilgrim22
I would not waste the extra money on 4WD if you're not gonna use it, personally. But that's just my opinion. There's no beaches nor mountains in N. Texas - we live in Carrollton which is also a North Dallas suburb, west of Plano.
p22
I would not waste the extra money on 4WD if you're not gonna use it, personally. But that's just my opinion. There's no beaches nor mountains in N. Texas - we live in Carrollton which is also a North Dallas suburb, west of Plano.
p22
Wouldnt the 4wd option ad to insurance costs also?. I know we are just going with the 2wd option for the xterra.
Apr 12th 2004, 6:20 am
#12
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Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
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Personally I wouldn't go for the leather seats...sure they look nice but in our neck of the woods they burn ya legs in the summer and are freezing in the winter... yeah maybe you can get heated seats but thats more cost (usually) and you can buy covers but then again whats the point of leather if you are just gonna cover them up. Are they really worth the extra 2 grand?
Ash
Ash
Apr 12th 2004, 7:03 am
#13
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- we live in Carrollton which is also a North Dallas suburb, west of Plano.
p22
p22
Everyone seems to live in Plano area today! Okay slight exageration but it's nice to know that there are Brits out there who rate it (Pimpbots post).
Thanks for the info on Dallas area dealers. We think we may well end up living in Plano - currently reserching areas.
Can I ask, what was the bad experience buying your car?
Apr 12th 2004, 7:19 am
#14
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
My fiancee bought her truck through the Internet, only met the Dealer when she went to collect it.
If you do not even wish to do that, you can use someone like www.carsdirect.com
Their web site will give you a price to beat if you do not use them. Net prices vary by area so having a Zip code is a must
If you do not even wish to do that, you can use someone like www.carsdirect.com
Their web site will give you a price to beat if you do not use them. Net prices vary by area so having a Zip code is a must
Apr 12th 2004, 10:31 am
#15
Carrot Cruncher
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Orbvs Terrarvm
Posts: 52
I think that Eddie Bauers have more bells and whistles than just the leather. We haven't yet been through high summer with that car yet, but the A/C works well in it, so that should cool the seats down. Also, windshield shades help protect the dash from the intense sun, and keeps the inside a bit cooler.
The bad experience was in the financing... the dealer only gave us a 7.9% loan over 66 months, and when we told them we could probably do better with our credit union, they said "Oh we don't think you'll be able to beat this". So we called the credit union the following Monday (bought car late on a Saturday), and sure enough they gave us a 4.9% loan over 60 months, and told us that we didn't need some of the extras they tried to sell us. So we ended up with slightly lower payments in the end. Then the dealer dragged their heels in signing the paperwork to hand over the loan info to the CU. So I now call "Payton Wright Ford" "Painful Fight Ford".
The two Ford dealers we've dealt with, the other being Prestige in Garland, have these "towers" where the finance guys in sharp collars-and-ties with flashy gaudy jewelry come up with the numbers when you're working out your deal, and your salesperson goes back and forth between you and these guys until a deal is agreed. These can be intimidating, and in fact I read an article on edmunds.com (sorry, too lazy to look up the link right now) that this is deliberate, and meant to give the impression the the dealer is in control. I did not see this kind of thing at the Nissan dealer I bought my Frontier from, although the salesman did disappear after each iteration of haggling the numbers.
Anyhoo, rambling a bit here....
If you're considering Plano, you may also consider Carrollton, Frisco, The Colony, Lewisville, and like you said, Flower Mound... depends on what your criteria are for choosing a location, i.e. job, schools, shopping etc etc...
p22
The bad experience was in the financing... the dealer only gave us a 7.9% loan over 66 months, and when we told them we could probably do better with our credit union, they said "Oh we don't think you'll be able to beat this". So we called the credit union the following Monday (bought car late on a Saturday), and sure enough they gave us a 4.9% loan over 60 months, and told us that we didn't need some of the extras they tried to sell us. So we ended up with slightly lower payments in the end. Then the dealer dragged their heels in signing the paperwork to hand over the loan info to the CU. So I now call "Payton Wright Ford" "Painful Fight Ford".
The two Ford dealers we've dealt with, the other being Prestige in Garland, have these "towers" where the finance guys in sharp collars-and-ties with flashy gaudy jewelry come up with the numbers when you're working out your deal, and your salesperson goes back and forth between you and these guys until a deal is agreed. These can be intimidating, and in fact I read an article on edmunds.com (sorry, too lazy to look up the link right now) that this is deliberate, and meant to give the impression the the dealer is in control. I did not see this kind of thing at the Nissan dealer I bought my Frontier from, although the salesman did disappear after each iteration of haggling the numbers.
Anyhoo, rambling a bit here....
If you're considering Plano, you may also consider Carrollton
, Frisco, The Colony, Lewisville, and like you said, Flower Mound... depends on what your criteria are for choosing a location, i.e. job, schools, shopping etc etc...p22
