Ford Excursion (2000-2005) review: still the biggest thing on Bahrain's roads, now 20+ years old
3.2/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
The Excursion earns its reputation honestly: nothing else this size and this simple mechanically has ever been sold new in the Gulf, and the V10 is nearly unkillable if it has been maintained. The problem in 2026 is that every surviving car is at least two decades old, riding on suspension and cooling components that were never designed to last this long in 45°C heat. Buy the best-documented example you can find, budget for a full suspension and cooling-system refresh on arrival, and accept single-digit fuel economy as the price of admission.
Pros
- Nothing else this size or this mechanically simple has ever been sold new in the Gulf
- 6.8L V10 is famously durable when maintained
- Genuine three-row, nine-seat interior with real cargo and towing capability
- Loyal enthusiast following makes finding a well-cared-for example possible
Cons
- Every surviving example is now 20+ years old with age-related risk on rubber and cooling parts
- Fuel economy well north of 20 L/100 km in mixed driving
- Body and trim parts are genuinely scarce and often US-sourced on request
- Four-speed automatic and unassisted-feeling steering feel their age
There is no modern equivalent to the Excursion. Ford stretched the F-250 Super Duty chassis, wrapped it in a body wider and taller than a Suburban, and offered a 6.8-litre V10 that most Gulf buyers chose over the North American diesel because petrol servicing was simpler locally. The result is a genuinely unstoppable desert truck: three-row seating for nine, a part-time transfer case with real low range, and enough torque at low revs to pull a boat trailer out of soft sand without drama.
What it is not is refined. The four-speed automatic feels its age next to anything from the last fifteen years, the steering is trucklike rather than car-like, and fuel economy sits in territory that makes a modern Land Cruiser look frugal by comparison — expect figures well north of 20 L/100 km in mixed use.
The age problem
Every Excursion on Bahrain's roads today is at minimum a 2005 model, which means 20-plus years of sun, salt air and 45°C summers on rubber bushings, cooling hoses and electrical connectors that were never engineered for this climate long-term. The V10 itself is famously durable, but the ancillary systems around it are usually what fails first — leaking radiators, tired transmission coolers, degraded wiring insulation.
Parts supply is workable but not simple: this generation shares enough with the contemporary F-250 that mechanical parts are findable through American-truck specialists in Bahrain, but body and trim pieces are genuinely scarce and often sourced from the US on request.
Who should buy one
This is a car for someone who wants a specific thing — a genuine full-size, body-on-frame, three-row desert truck with a following — and who is prepared to spend on a proper pre-purchase inspection and a first-year reconditioning budget. It is not a sensible daily-driver purchase for someone shopping on price alone.