Hive, teach me 2006-2010 Mountaineer

So I'm looking for an AWD tow/family hauler in the <10K range. The 2006-2010 Mercury Mountaineer Premium V8 with 6 speed auto and tow package seem to be quite excellent values. Towing is 7100lbs and I've seen many with >200k miles. They seem to be new enough that the terrible late 90s Ford interior has been removed.
The 4.6l doesn't seem to have any major issues. I like the size as being a bit smaller than a full size while having no problem with 4 adults plus two littles in the 3rd row (family is only 4 so the 3rd row would only be low use). Gas mileage seems typical of this type of vehicle. I've found many for 7-9k with <100k miles which seems like a value for the features/capabilities.

What's wrong with them?

Were those the ones that had the super sweet landing gear running boards? (I assume so, didn't merc die around then?) If so, a friend had one. Damn fine place to spend some time and it didn't feel down on power despite its size.

The Mountaineer is a Ford Explorer with a Mercury grill and interior.
The Lincoln Aviator is a Ford Explorer with a Lincoln grill and interior.

Both the Mercury nameplate and the Lincoln nameplate suffer from greater depreciation than the Ford which leads to some good values on the used market.

I bought a 07 limited Explorer with 18k miles and at close to half of the new price. I traded it in for a 2015 Explorer at 150K miles with a trade value on the 07 and a purchase price on the 15 that I couldn't pass up. That 4.6 seems to eat coils fairly often and I always kept a spare in the truck. The good thing is one bolt or screw and 5 minutes and it is replaced. One other expensive repair was replacement of the rear AC lines due to rust and corrosion. I had similar needs to you and it served us well, hence the 2015. I liked the 4.6 when towing or w 4+ in the truck. That vintage Explorer finally got the upgraded interior from the F-150 redesign a few years earlier and ditched the 90s look. It served us well.

JohnRW1621 wrote: The Lincoln Aviator is a Ford Explorer with a Lincoln grill and interior. Both the Mercury nameplate and the Lincoln nameplate suffer from greater depreciation than the Ford which leads to some good values on the used market.

Not quite. Aviator also got a different 4.6.

I must be shopping wrong or something but everytime I look at the triplets, Lincolns are always more then the F/M twins with the Merc being marginally higher priced.

Are these on the Uhall no rent list? I stepped up to an expedition because of that when I was purchasing an suv/tow vehicle back around 2006.

In reply to dean1484:

The Exploders were; the others, no.

My wife leased an 06 Eddie Bauer Exploder from 06-08 and my son just recently acquired an 02 Exploder XLT. Both V8s. So I have some familiarity with these. The later ones are more or less a mid-cycle refresh of the one that came out in 2002. They have IRS and are quite different from the 90s version, though that doesn't stop Uhaul from being idiots and banning them.

I did some towing with my wife's. I towed my Fox body Mustang on an open steel-and-wood trailer to Grattan a couple of times for track days. Probably around 4500-5000 lbs. Perfectly safe, handled just fine, but you are not going to win any drag races with the 4.6 hauling that load. It's a decent engine, plenty peppy around town, but under any kind of load, you feel the lack of torque. Also, the mileage is not great, mid-to-low teens around town. It was capable of 20 on the freeway, but you needed to stay under 70.

All in all, a decent vehicle overall, and a pretty good value as a used car.

I understand that some of the Explorers had transmission issues. May have been the V6 versions. Make sure to check the transmission operation.

The Mercs and Lincolns are not banned by Uhaul. In fact, it was suggested to me that I just tell Uhaul that I had a Mountaineer instead of an Explorer, when I wanted to rent.

Trans issues were common, as well as rear diff bearing and rear wheel bearing failures in the third gens (02-05), I'm not sure how much better the 4th gens are. I know gen 3 cost ford a pile of money in warranty claims.