Talk to me about Ford's 3.5 Duratec

[Alfisti]

I'm half kicking tyres on a few cars to replace my ageing Saab as my DD, I do about 3K miles per year, so not a lot of driving. One of my potential vehicles (Ford Edge) switches from the Duratec to the 2T Ecoboost in 2019. Whilst I like the torque of turbo charged cars when puttering around town, I figured the V6 would make more sense given it is simpler and I do a shit ton of extremely short trips in extremely cold weather, not ideal for low compression turbo charged engines that are DI.

However some reading suggests the Duratec has an internal water pump, if it fails it is some $2,500 to fix and that is IF it doesn't leak all over the engine itself and cause a massive failure.

I know nothing of Ford engines, is this a legit issue or a million to one thing because the only solution to the problem was frequent coolant flushes/replacement but finding this is used car service history is a million to one.

THoughts, feelings, emotions?

[BlkGS]

My dad had the Lincoln version of this after he bought it for my teenage sister. Drove it for like 220k miles, and it just kept ticking no problems ever. Eventually the trans started to shift weird and he would throw zmax in it and that'd fix it for a few months (he never serviced the transmission because the dealer told him it was sealed).

He only got rid of it because he ran out of space. At the time he had 2 Porsche 911s, an Explorer Sport Trac, the MKX, and I think he had just gotten an Explorer Sport (the 3 row 3.5 Ecoboost one). I think you'll be fine.

That said, check out the Sport or ST models. They came with the 3.7L or the 2.7t V6 and drive great. Just ditch the like 22" wheels for something with some sidewall.

[BlkGS]

One other thing to note... I have not hated driving a car more than that MKX (though that Explorer Sport came close). The MKX was just SOOOO floaty and softly sprung and damped. To be fair, that's exactly what it's intent was, a soft riding luxury crossover. But I despised it.

I nearly bought The Edge ST and the Sport before that and didn't have that issue at all. Just a little grumpy about the 22s (they were like, absurdly heavy and really hurt performance on those cars).

[Alfisti]

Hhaahahaha i am your dad apparently! THanks for the feedback, I read about it a bit more and seems by 2015 Ford somewhat got on top of the issue but there's still a very small chance the water pump can let go at higher mileage. I do like the idea of a simple large 6 cylinder engine for the next 10 years or so.

The MKX doesn't work, looks goofy. I actually really, really like the MKC but the Saab carries a LOT of shit and I need to decide with the wife if we really need that capability anymore and will she one day swap out her Stelvio for a larger car or despite my lower mileage do I drive the larger one that "carries shit"? Kids are 14 and 10, oldest is 6ft so the extra space in the Edge may be welcome. Right now we use her car as the "Family car" and the kids say they are fine in the back seat, even the MKC has more rear seat room than the Stelvio.

I want to keep this under $20K CDN and as low on miles and as new as possible. I am leaning towards these two vehicles for a few reasons but one is Ford's Sync 3 which is mercifully non-invasive and still has buttons or knobs for HVAC/Audio and as long as the mega super "safety" package is not optioned, there's no infuriating lane assist or self drive or other such BS. Also the screens are integrated in the dash, took a look at CX-5 and dear jesus that tacked on screen is absolutely terrible.

I live around horrendous roads, just horrendous, and the MKC ride is welcome, the MKX is a step floatier/cumbersome for sure. If we went Edge it'd be the Titanium trim, Sport and ST ride suffers too much.

[BlkGS]

I think MKX got the 3.7L when they refreshed them, I don't recall what year it was, but they switched from the kinda awkward first gen my dad had to the waterfall grille and updated the whole car. His generation just had a standalone double DIN radio you could replace with whatever modern one you wanted, and a basic HVAC. It also had a real.keyband all that kinda stuff too.

It was honestly a great car. Just so floaty. His had like 20" wheels on it too, so if you got one with 18s it'd rode even better.

The biggest issue it had was headlights. They were fancy headlights that would swivel and all that, but used HIR bulbs instead of HID or even regular halogen. It was an attempt to almost hit HID headlight performance, but it didn't. They're fairly rare as a bulb now, but I bet you could find a LED replacement for it. Or an HID. They were already projectors so you wouldn't have to worry about glare.

[Alfisti]

One thing that irks me about American luxury cars is the shiny, shitty looking leather seats. The Edge Sport had the leather/suede blend.... i may try and get a test drive to see if the ride is ok.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

One thing that irks me about American luxury cars is the shiny, shitty looking leather seats. The Edge Sport had the leather/suede blend.... i may try and get a test drive to see if the ride is ok.

That's shitty dealer prep. Dealers love to slather cars in glossy dressings. The leather isn't that shiny when cared for properly.

[Alfisti]

Naaaaaah they always have this loook ... hard to describe... see it all the time in Vettes, caddies and lincolns .... i think it's just cheap leather

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Naaaaaah they always have this loook ... hard to describe... see it all the time in Vettes, caddies and lincolns .... i think it's just cheap leather

GM has t used a like "nice leather" almost ever, lol. The new CT5 you can get decent leather, but most don't come with it. Corvettes pretty much only have beer used bonded leather, which is basically leather dust and glue with paint on it. It usually looks kinda rough.

Ford and Lincoln usually have a bit nicer leathers, as does Dodge/Jeep. Mopar actually has some leathers that rival or beat any of the high end German leather.

That all said,y TBSS has typically shitty GM bonded leather. It isn't shiny, because I don't dress it to be shiny. I prefer a matte finish on my leather.