Cross post from off topic
I am so done with my 2018 expedition. I use it for my daily driver and to tow my saddle fitting trailer less than 4000 pounds. I am planning on downsizing the trailer.
What Suvs/ trucks are the most reliable? I hope for used, but the market is insane right now. Also what make/years to avoid?
I put 180k miles on my Acura MDX, including towing my Brenderup, and nothing ever went wrong with it.
I am knocking on wood furiously, but I have a no frills 2015 Ram 1500 that has done towing/daily driver duty with no more maintenance than oil changes and a set of new tires. I have put over 100,000 miles on it and it’s still as good as the day I got it new to me.
Never had any issue with our Tundra and easily hauled a 2 horse BP (with one horse - never had the opportunity to take 2 anywhere!).
I have a 98 1500 suburban that had a new engine put in in 2014, when we bought it. It’s never needed more than routine maintenance and it pulls a 22ft camper, 2bp and a dump trailer just fine. (Not all at once!)
I love the older trucks. I have a '96 Dodge 3/4 ton V-10 (gas) with just over 120k miles on it, and very little maintenance required since I bought it in 2007 (knock on wood). Hauls like a beast and doesn’t seem to have lost any power over time.
My only complaint is that it’s silver, and apparently, for a few years the silver paint and the clear coat didn’t get along, so the clear coat has been peeling for years, and I can’t find anyone interested in painting it.
I have a 2013 3/4 ton Suburban that has 145,000 miles on it and I actually need to take it in to get a faulty air sensor replaced. It will be the first time it has been put in the shop.
OP, what’s wrong with your Expedition?
Wow that’s good to hear, I have one with only 120k miles. Love it. Never towed with mine although I have it outfitted to tow a small trailer. I average 24 mpg which I think is pretty good for the size of the car.
They have no idea this time. It was in the shop for 2 days as they tried to figure it out. I didn’t notice any issues other than a really weird noise. However, I am getting ready for a saddle fitting trip of 1500+ miles and need to trust my SUV. It almost sounded like something was being dragged under the SUV, but there was nothing. Intermittent with no discernible reason or rhythm. The noise was about 4 or 5 times in 30 mins. I do have it on video. It was not during a gear shift. Might only be while accelerating, but can’t say that for certain. The only thing that they think it might be (which I am not sure I believe) is the catalytic converter. The check engine light for that came on maybe a month and half ago and then went away after a few days. Then a week or 2 later it came back. It has been on at least a couple of weeks before this issue. They think something might have broken off inside of it and it rattling around. However they can’t check and they can’t get a replacement for who knows how long.
It will be about 4 year old in nov and I do have 120K miles on it with about 50K in towing.
I’ve got a 2002 Dodge cummins turbo 3/4 ton with 260,000 miles on it and it never fails to start. Had the tranny worked on once and new tires and brakes but other than that has been maintenance free (excepting oil changes). I tow a fairly hefty 3 horse GN and it does fine.
We got our 2016 3/4 dodge diesel used in 2017 with only 4,000 miles on it. The farmer who owned it was known to buy a new truck every year. It was far below sticker price (if it had been on the lot) and has been a fantastic truck. Of course, we had to fly out to Iowa to pick it up and drive it home but in 2017 that was a small fee to get such a great deal. I’ve got 50,000 miles on it now and so far, no issues. My son still has my 1996 3/4 Ford diesel and it still hauls with 240,000 miles on it. That truck has only had minor repairs on it all these years.
I’m a diehard diesel person and I love my Cummins. We had an old '96 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins that was going on 300,000 miles, and everything under the hood was still good, but the rest of the truck was falling apart. It just got too expensive to fix.
We had a misfire with a GMC Sierra diesel that was ok but seemed underpowered compared to the Ram. And, the dealer had painted the extremely rusted undercarriage with metallic paint so it actually rusted out from under me over time (our bad for not being more diligent in the pre-purchase examination).
We eventually ended up with another Cummins, this time a 2016 with low miles, and I’m in love. It pulls anything (I have a 2+1 but it’s pulled my friend’s 4H with no issues), gets surprisingly low miles, and is perfect.
We are a Ford truck family when towing. So I recommend those. We have an F-250 and an F-350 but for a lighter trailer an F-150 would be fine and save you in gas.
I am obsessed with a 2017 Nissan Titan we got last November. Obsessed!
It might be worth inquiring at any of your area high schools with vocational programs re: painting. One of those local to me happened to have some sort of auto body/paint class that took on privately owned vehicles for teaching purposes. They did an excellent job on my 1997 jeep wrangler body! Cost was $500 donation to cover the cost of the paint purchase etc.
Of course, I had to wait until they had a slot and were at the correct place in the semester to do the project. And from there it took even more time to complete the project at the class/teaching pace of things. It also happened to snow epically several times while my jeep was submitted, so it was many weeks from the time I handed it over until it was done. Those kids were happy to have me hand over the keys to my old jeep wrangler. Fun was had by all, I am sure. Jeep looked great at the end of it, so I never asked them (or my jeep) if it participated in any extracurricular activities outside of the course syllabus during that time 
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