Casey has a point i habve looked at expeditions around the carolinas and they are dirt cheap, 3-5k for a rust free 4x4 that will nearly lay a 4'x8' sheet of plywood in the back when the seats are folded down.
They have made millions of 4.6L and 5.4L motors and i have owned 11 of them, i have only seen 1 have a spark plug issue. overall they are super reliable. Lucky you, they don't hold their resale for crap. Also our 2000 expedition was a beast in bad weather, it was boring driving through snow. Untill the big girl needed to stop fast on ice.
the biggest issue we had with that truck was the CV boots needed replaced and a brakeline rusted through . . . that was a truck that spent alot of it's life in cleveland, a southern truck won't have that issue.
IMO stick to the 98-04 body style, they are dead nuts reliable and dirt cheap.
this december we are taking the family to florida and i plan on picking something like this up on our way home.
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/5095024745.html
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/5092018527.html
around here. . .
http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/5100481761.html
i would buy this if i had the cash now http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/5096716922.html