Here's Why The Ford Excursion Was Discontinued

The Excursion was Ford's answer to the ninth-generation Chevrolet Suburban, but a myriad of issues never let it catch on in popularity. Things got so bad for Ford that the vehicle's production that began in 1999 ended just a few years later in 2005. Interestingly enough, the Excursion was set up to be a big seller for the company with dealers ordering more than half the number of cars Ford hoped to move in its first year.

It didn't help that environmental groups targeted the 19-foot long, nearly 8,000-pound SUV before it even launched. The Sierra Club ran a contest on its website to rename the vehicle — the winner was the Ford Valdez, named for the oil tanker that caused an environmental disaster in Alaska. And they weren't wrong. According to the Sierra Club, the Excursion would emit more than quintuple the amount of carbon compared to a normal car.

Add to that steadily rising gas prices that proved to be a big problem for the gas guzzling Excursion. A 2005 Excursion only averages about 12 mpg, so it's easy to put the pieces together and see why this ended up being an expensive — and extremely large — vehicle to drive around. 

All that added up to a gigantic truck-posing-as-an-SUV that never caught on with consumers. In the same timeframe, annual Suburban sales were in the 100,000s while the Excursion sales fell short of the roughly 40,000 annual sales Ford needed to break even, so this was a money pit for the automaker.

The hefty vehicle wasn't popular when it was in production, but it's become a collector's item of sorts and people are still driving it around today. There are still people fueling up their Excursion daily according to Fuelly, proving it can last quite a while if proper care is taken of it. While the size was a big part of its early advertisement, it's no longer the juggernaut it was thanks to other vehicles getting larger as the years went by. The gas mileage is still abysmal, especially when compared to the fuel-efficient SUVs we see today.

The space offered by the Excursion is nice, especially if you're able to find one at a low price. Despite being first released over two decades ago, Excursions hold their value well. Depending on the trim and model year, don't be shocked to see them commanding more than $10,000. 

Prices could continue to grow as the years go on and these get rarer to find, so if you feel the pull toward one, it's best to jump on the bandwagon while you can. People have been clamoring for a return of the Excursion for years now, and while there's no guarantee it would be a hit today, it's easy to see how it'd fit in a lot better with modern vehicles than it did more than 20 years ago. Perhaps it could take the Bronco's spot as Ford's best SUV if it made a comeback.