Value ?of a PW Excel TS

Atlee

Senior Member
Joined
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1,752
Location
Central Virginia
Question for any one familiar with the resell market for a 2003 PW Excell TS.

It has 86K miles, 5.4 Triton engine, all the normal items like a 3 cf 3-way fridge, A/C, 19"+ TV, Awning and generator. Generator has 542 hours on it.

It's being sold by a small dealer that specializes in B's and "B+'s"..

Thanks for any replies.
 
Question for any one familiar with the resell market for a 2003 PW Excell TS.

It has 86K miles, 5.4 Triton engine, all the normal items like a 3 cf 3-way fridge, A/C, 19"+ TV, Awning and generator. Generator has 542 hours on it.

It's being sold by a small dealer that specializes in B's and "B+'s"..

Thanks for any replies.


Not much pricing out there for them it appears, and very few for sale that I saw, and that would probably predict a fairly high price. Probably high $30s? Don't know.

Be aware that the Ford Excels are known for a lot of them being very ill handling, especially if they haven't been modified with rear air bags and swaybar, and aligned to a new set of Pleasure-way specs.

A common comment made is "a used Ford Excel with low miles can be a warning the the previous owners were scared to drive it". Possibly kind of accurate for some of them, I think, based on what we have heard.


Do a search on the topic and you will get a lot of hits.
 
Not much pricing out there for them it appears, and very few for sale that I saw, and that would probably predict a fairly high price. Probably high $30s? Don't know.

Be aware that the Ford Excels are known for a lot of them being very ill handling, especially if they haven't been modified with rear air bags and swaybar, and aligned to a new set of Pleasure-way specs.

A common comment made is "a used Ford Excel with low miles can be a warning the the previous owners were scared to drive it". Possibly kind of accurate for some of them, I think, based on what we have heard.


Do a search on the topic and you will get a lot of hits.

Thanks for your reply.

I do know that PW put air bags on all Excels. PW also put wheel spacers on the Ford Excel chassis'. The Excel I asked about does have sway bars front and back. I do not know yet if the rear sway bar is a heavy, thick one. It appears to have OEM shocks.

What would you consider low miles? For me, on a 2003 model, 40k to 50k+ would begin to raise my eyebrow. 85k+ to 100k would not.

After studying the Excel and 210 widebody, IMO, the Excel is much better than the 210. Inside, I find the wet bath superior. It doesn't have a sink protruding into the shower pan space.

Outside, the generator is mounted on the side behind the driver's door, and not behind the axle. Much easier to service. The propane tank is on the side next to the generator, and not just in front of the rear bumper.

The location of those items allows the spare tire to be mounter under the excel body behind the rear axle where it is on most trucks.

This in turn allows the length to be 20' 6" for the Excel while the 210 is 21' 11", plus 10" more if it has the Continental kit.

The only drawback on the outside is the Excel only has space for one battery.
 
Thanks for your reply.

I do know that PW put air bags on all Excels. PW also put wheel spacers on the Ford Excel chassis'. The Excel I asked about does have sway bars front and back. I do not know yet if the rear sway bar is a heavy, thick one. It appears to have OEM shocks.

What would you consider low miles? For me, on a 2003 model, 40k to 50k+ would begin to raise my eyebrow. 85k+ to 100k would not.

After studying the Excel and 210 widebody, IMO, the Excel is much better than the 210. Inside, I find the wet bath superior. It doesn't have a sink protruding into the shower pan space.

Outside, the generator is mounted on the side behind the driver's door, and not behind the axle. Much easier to service. The propane tank is on the side next to the generator, and not just in front of the rear bumper.

The location of those items allows the spare tire to be mounter under the excel body behind the rear axle where it is on most trucks.

This in turn allows the length to be 20' 6" for the Excel while the 210 is 21' 11", plus 10" more if it has the Continental kit.

The only drawback on the outside is the Excel only has space for one battery.


I understand that everyone has different ideas about what is best for the coach stuff, and the Excels are nice just like other Pleasure-ways. Be sure to take a good look at the seating position when driving, especially on the passenger side which has a tiny foot box that is far outboard. My wife is small at under 5' tall and hated the comfort of the position and seat. I found the seat bottom to be too short for comfort driving, also, and I am 5' 7".

Try not to make any predetermining of the handling before you drive it as that will tell you a lot more than any amount of reviews from other owners ever could. The 138" wheelbase of the Excel compared to the 155" of the Chevies (except for the 170) can make a big difference.

When you test drive, look for wind and "grooved" two lane roads where the wheels of heavy vehicles have the tire position lower than the surrounding pavement. A bit of wind push and the tires hit the height transition and make any vehicle a little unstable so it is a great way to test steering response in our vans. Semis passing you on the freeway from the rear will also be a good test to see if they push you sideways. Coming from the rear is often more issue than meeting them from the front for many vans. I think the worst truck stuff we ever saw was coming out of Toronto on a 5 lane(?) freeway where probably half the vehicles were semis that cut through Canada when heading west to Detroit. Talk about buffeting and push as they all were going fast.

Under 3700 miles a year is quite low as it would indicate mostly short trips or one moderate trip a year to me if it was used consistently without sitting for years at a time.
 
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I understand that everyone has different ideas about what is best for the coach stuff, and the Excels are nice just like other Pleasure-ways. Be sure to take a good look at the seating position when driving, especially on the passenger side which has a tiny foot box that is far outboard. My wife is small at under 5' tall and hated the comfort of the position and seat. I found the seat bottom to be too short for comfort driving, also, and I am 5' 7".

Try not to make any predetermining of the handling before you drive it as that will tell you a lot more than any amount of reviews from other owners ever could. The 138" wheelbase of the Excel compared to the 155" of the Chevies (except for the 170) can make a big difference.

When you test drive, look for wind and "grooved" two lane roads where the wheels of heavy vehicles have the tire position lower than the surrounding pavement. A bit of wind push and the tires hit the height transition and make any vehicle a little unstable so it is a great way to test steering response in our vans. Semis passing you on the freeway from the rear will also be a good test to see if they push you sideways. Coming from the rear is often more issue than meeting them from the front for many vans. I think the worst truck stuff we ever saw was coming out of Toronto on a 5 lane(?) freeway where probably half the vehicles were semis that cut through Canada when heading west to Detroit. Talk about buffeting and push as they all were going fast.

Under 3700 miles a year is quite low as it would indicate mostly short trips or one moderate trip a year to me if it was used consistently without sitting for years at a time.

Understand about the handling. I wish the Excel body was on the Chevy chassis. I also still have my eye on that 2008 190P.
 
I understand that everyone has different ideas about what is best for the coach stuff, and the Excels are nice just like other Pleasure-ways. Be sure to take a good look at the seating position when driving, especially on the passenger side which has a tiny foot box that is far outboard. My wife is small at under 5' tall and hated the comfort of the position and seat. I found the seat bottom to be too short for comfort driving, also, and I am 5' 7".

Try not to make any predetermining of the handling before you drive it as that will tell you a lot more than any amount of reviews from other owners ever could. The 138" wheelbase of the Excel compared to the 155" of the Chevies (except for the 170) can make a big difference.

When you test drive, look for wind and "grooved" two lane roads where the wheels of heavy vehicles have the tire position lower than the surrounding pavement. A bit of wind push and the tires hit the height transition and make any vehicle a little unstable so it is a great way to test steering response in our vans. Semis passing you on the freeway from the rear will also be a good test to see if they push you sideways. Coming from the rear is often more issue than meeting them from the front for many vans. I think the worst truck stuff we ever saw was coming out of Toronto on a 5 lane(?) freeway where probably half the vehicles were semis that cut through Canada when heading west to Detroit. Talk about buffeting and push as they all were going fast.

Under 3700 miles a year is quite low as it would indicate mostly short trips or one moderate trip a year to me if it was used consistently without sitting for years at a time.

Understand about the handling. I wish the Excel body was on the Chevy chassis. I also still have my eye on that 2008 190P.
 

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