An Expedition for any Expedition: A Review of the 2020 Ford Expedition

If the pandemic of 2020 taught us anything, it’s to appreciate and value time together. For those of us who appreciate the open road, time spent together with those we care about often entails the majesty of the road trip. Living in Texas, I’ve found that no two road trips are the same and thus a selection of a road-trip vehicle can be as important as the trip itself. So when I decided to take my family for a weekend getaway to a remote farmhouse in the beautiful rolling hills outside of Bryan, Texas, I was confident I would need a large vehicle with plenty of space, and the power to do some lite off-roading. Enter the 2020 Ford Expedition.

It looks every bit the part of road tripper and with the new King Ranch trim level available this year, Ford’s Expedition appears to be all but ready for a Texas road trip. The large SUV segment of the automobile market is competitive and with more travelers resorting to road trips versus air travel, the Expedition had lots of potential to prove itself capable. Not to mention, could a Dad like me, who does the majority of the driving during long hauls, find themselves comfortably enjoying this beast of an SUV? Only the open road had answers.

Prepping for the Road Trip – Space Galore

The week before we left on our road trip, I had to spend a few hours repairing a fence in my backyard, so I took the Expedition with me to the hardware store. I figured it would be my first true test of utilizing the cargo space. I knew I only needed a few pieces of lumber—the longest being only 8 feet long—so the Expedition would suffice. As the photo below shows, the lumber fit perfectly and I was even able to leave one of the second row seats up. Even more convenient were the push button controls that automatically flatten the second and third rows; the control buttons were easily accessible from the rear cargo door, meaning I could flatten seats and load the vehicle entirely from the rear.

With the second and third row seats down, the Expedition offers 73.3 feet of cubic space. That’s enough for most any road trip but I was taking my two year old daughter with me which meant at least one of the second row seats would have to remain up. With just the third row row seats down the Expedition offers 49 of cubic feet, which is still plenty of room to work with. And work with it, we did. My wife absolutely jam packed the cargo area of the Expedition with all our weekend necessities—mostly food. I was pleasantly surprised at how much luggage and extracurricular gear I was able to load in. This is where the Expedition shines. With plenty of available cargo room, it allows for road trippers like us to bring as much creature comforts as we need.

Aside from luggage, there was plenty of space throughout the cabin to fit the peripherally cargo that goes along with road trips. Slots for phones, a spacious console cabin to hide snacks and plenty of leg room to stash purses, diaper bags, and backpacks. But even with all the extra cargo nooks and crannies, the overall narrowness of the cabin becomes more apparent as you spend time in it. From the outside, the Expedition is deceiving because its size hints at a cavernous interior but with all the seats down, it becomes starkly evident that the Expedition isn’t as wide as it appears on the outside.

Hitting the Open Road – Confident Performance

Once we packed in the luggage and the kid into the Expedition, we set out southbound on Interstate Highway 45 towards Houston from Dallas. With nothing but an open road, I was able to get a feel for the Expedition’s highway prowess and I was impressed with how comfortable and smooth the drive was. The 3.5 L Ecoboost V6 engine under the hood isn’t the most powerful flavor that Ford offers in the 2020 Expedition lineup but it was more than capable on the highway. Revving up to swing around larger trucks was a breeze and handling was buttery smooth. For a vehicle of this size, I was expecting to stop frequently for gas but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was averaging around 24 miles per gallon on the highway—some of that fuel economy is no doubt thanks to the Ecoboost engine. On city streets and in stop-and-go traffic you’ll get somewhere closer to 17 miles per gallon but even that’s on the higher end for large SUVs.

The majority of our drive towards the farmhouse was highway, but once we exited and headed towards Bryan, smaller farm roads became the norm. Winding pavement and inconsistent road conditions followed but you could barely feel any of that sitting in the Expedition. The vehicle’s suspension dampered most of the bumps and a super quiet cabin made the journey comfortable. The interior of the expedition, particularly the driver and front passenger area, is designed similarly to a truck but softened just enough that gives an air of elegance to the vehicle. It’s a clean dash design, allowing for a sense of spaciousness. The 8-inch infotainment touch screen was small enough to not be a distraction but large enough that it was easy to reach and use.

One small complaint: I wish Ford had included a traditional shifter rather than the rotating dial. I realize that a majority of higher end vehicles are moving toward this style of gear shifting and in a smaller vehicle these radial shifters feel more cohesive. But in a vehicle as large as the Expedition, a traditional shifter in the center console would have meshed well with the truck-like interior design.

The Farm House – Off Loading and Off-Roading

The picturesque farmhouse sat at the end of a long winding gravel road that went up sloping hills and across small creeks. It was a welcoming road that emphasized the fact that we were no longer in the city. We parked, disembarked, and with a simple wave of my foot under the rear lift door, the cargo area of the Expedition opened up and we unloaded all of our luggage. After we settled in, I was anxious to explore the acres of land the farm house sat on including several fishing ponds. I grabbed some fishing rods which easily fit in the now empty cargo area of the vehicle and headed out.

The fishing ponds were off the gravel road and through a wooded area where a wide path had been made. It was lite off-roading for certain but it was still a bumpy, uneven path surrounded by hills and trees. The Expedition tackled this terrain with ease and rounded tight corners through the wooded area with plenty of room . Ford gifted the Expedition with an independent rear suspension that helped in cushioning the ride, boosting my confidence and allowing me to enjoy my surroundings.

The Expedition can tow up to 9,300 pounds and everytime I passed roaming cattle on my drive, I yearned for a cattle trailer to test out this power for myself. While a cattle trailer is most likely not the ideal attachment to tow, I can certainly imagine towing a boat or a camping trailer with no difficulty. Other large SUV alternatives on the market fall short of the Expedition’s towing power, making this vehicle ideal for road trips that require large cargo.

Once I arrived at the fishing pond, I marveled at the beauty of the open land and made a point to take a photo of the Expedition against this natural backdrop. The Star White paint job our review vehicle came in turned out to be the perfect color to set against the green grass and the deep blues of the Texas sky. The photos I took inspired me to wake up early the next morning to photograph the Expedition against the morning sun before I set off again through the woods to fish.

At Home on the Farm – An Expedition for any Expedition

It’s appropriate that one day at the farmhouse we had a brief summer shower because once it quickly passed there was a beautiful rainbow that stretched across the sky towards opposing horizons. When I jumped into the Expedition and drove towards a clearing to take a photo underneath the rainbow, it occurred to me that the reason I was able to see this beautiful phenomenon so majestically was because I was out in the middle of nature, away from tall buildings. And the Expedition got me there.

The 2020 Ford Expedition feels like a vehicle for any and all kinds of expeditions, especially when those expeditions lead you and your family towards a road-trip getaway. My wife and I felt incredibly safe aboard the Expedition and with plenty of interior space, we had enough room to enjoy the ride and carry along all the things that made our trip worthwhile. The King Ranch edition that our Expedition came in was the icing on the cake, adding touches of luxury with a rustic flair—a look that was ultimately perfect for a Texas farmhouse.

This attractive package comes with a hefty price tag though, which could be hard to swallow at first glance. While the base XLT version of the 2020 Expedition starts at around $54k the King Ranch Edition we tested came to a total of $74,885 with all the various options and taxes. That’s quite a bit of money to drop on an SUV, even an SUV as large as the Expedition. However, Ford has really stepped up the curb appeal and everything the motor company is doing right in vehicle design and engineering is on display here.

Our farmhouse weekend get-away was a success and the 2020 Ford Expedition was an essential part of that. This can be the perfect SUV for any Dad Driver but forewarned: this bad boy instills its driver with a yearning for the open road. So if an Expedition is your next purchase, also buy a map, luggage, and foster your sense of exploration.