2014 Escape -> 2023 Ranger.. right move?

[Kevan]

I sort of figure the car seats will be a tight squeeze. I'd wondered what the difference would be in space between the ranger's SuperCrew and the f150 SuperCab. I've been comparing XLT+ Ranger vs F150 XL but keep looking at the V6 until I learn it can be a problematic engine. The overall size of the F150 might be a bit of a shock to get used to as well..

I remember growing up with my dad's S10 with the old drop-down back seats that faced in.. we were cramped but it worked for short trips. Ideally it'll be close to another year before kid 2 comes along, and another 2/3 years after that for kid 3, so that's time to purchase a larger SUV as a second and/or trade up to an F150 for space.

Never thought I'd like Ford growing up.. family was too loyal to the Chevy brand. I take a more logical approach with cars and despite not being a huge fan of turbos, I've loved my 1.6 and do maintenance before scheduled dates to keep things running good. I'm guessing that if you do the same with a 2.3l that's nearly a decade newer, results will be better.

Also sounds like the 10-speed pairs with the 2.3 better than it does with the F150 powertrain options so it might be best to wait that out..

Main 'luxury' I want on the truck is heated seats. We're returning to Indiana from years overseas in West Africa, so we need all the warmth we can get! Remote start would be nice for the same reason.. stop/start is the first thing I delete from the build page ?

Sponsored

 

[Frenchy]

A tune will take care of start stop for you. As for remote start, as long as it hasnt been taken away the XLT will have that through Ford Pass APP. I used it a lot and I didnt feel the need for heated seats. Thay said it is nice if the remote start didnt work through the app

 

[Kevan]

A tune will take care of start stop for you. As for remote start, as long as it hasnt been taken away the XLT will have that through Ford Pass APP. I used it a lot and I didnt feel the need for heated seats. Thay said it is nice if the remote start didnt work through the app

I prefer any solution that doesn't have a server logging my engine start preferences.. lol

As a software engineer I try to separate things as much as possible: mechanical should remain as such, and same with software. Not a fan of all the over-the-air communications and software in most vehicles now anyway. Too much margin for error, increases attack surface, and diversifies the possible problem source (now you get computer problems in a mechanical invention yet its called advancement..).

My two cents on "car tech" haha..

 

[dmeyer302]

Ranger back seat is just slightly larger than the Escape that you're familiar with, mostly by width. Can you live with that?

If we ever get kid #2 my Ranger will be on the way out. It is tight, and I'm not willing to put the front seats on the dash.

Swallow your pride and look seriously at minivans. You(r wife) won't regret it.

 

[Kevan]

Ranger back seat is just slightly larger than the Escape that you're familiar with, mostly by width. Can you live with that?

If we ever get kid #2 my Ranger will be on the way out. It is tight, and I'm not willing to put the front seats on the dash.

Swallow your pride and look seriously at minivans. You(r wife) won't regret it.

A van may be in the future, but it doesn't fit our immediate criteria. I don't need offroading but I've got two rather heavy trailers (one built on a Model T rear axle) that I need to haul. As we're just moving back I'm going to have a crapload of stuff to get out of storage and a van isn't ideal..

Also Ford doesn't make minivans anymore..

And getting the day's hunt into a van wouldn't be ideal..

For the wife we'd either be looking at Explorer (or Lincoln version) or a Mazda CX-9. I've driven Chrysler Town & Countries in the Winter.. not a fan.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

[ControlNode]

Welcome, while the family is young it will likely do will, as the kids get older, and weigh more, you may find the payload limits are impacting how much gear you carry and/or which trailers you can tow while the whole family is in there. If you have the wife's SUV by then perhaps it could be a 2-vehicle trip with the kids split to prevent road nick-picking between them too. 5,000lb trailer the Ranger does great with. But going to the F150 to me doesn't give enough more of payload/towing over the Ranger for me to consider it at that price difference. If I go over the Ranger, I'm looking at Super Duty trucks and that price point is too high since the Ranger does meet my towing needs.

I've had 2 seats in the back for my grandkids, I think a third would fit, would have to plan the install and removal of them carefully to make the best use of the anchor points. I will note that top anchor point can be a trap. If you adjustment is on the clip side it will be behind the seat against the rear cab, so if you leave some out to pull tight after the child seat is in and the rear seat back is locked against the cab again, if you pull it tight you may find that when you unlock the seat back from the cab the child seat upper tether is still holding it secure to the cab, if you can't get the child seats to move and allow the seat back to move you may have to cut and replace the upper tethers at that point to remove the child seats. If you have several child seats I would also highly consider relocating the jack and such accessories to another location as removing all the seats road side to swap the spare on would be more stress than you want. I have a tonneau cover so I can easily secure them in the bed in a small waterproof box.

I have a Super Crew XLT mid (301A) with tech , tow and black appearance packages, 4x4 and locking rear diff. For those long drives I would recommend the tech package, those Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and lane keep assist features are really nice to have on a long drive. I don't really feel the need to pass slightly slower traffic since the truck will gently match their speed as I approach. When I've driving normal cruise control because I've had to manually intervene to slow down and not get too close, I was more aware they were holding me up and that made me what to pass to resume my set speed. Also, if you happen to get distracted at the wrong moment by spouse or kid, the cruise will brake down to about 10mph to prevent hitting anything the system can see. If that braking was aggressive, your attention will very likely be back to the road before you reach 10mph.

With mine the spray in bed liner is part of the black appearance package, so I can't speak to the aftermarket options.

I've driven mine from NC (coast to TN boarder) to FL, PA. I have the Ford Performance tune on mine, and it does great. I think this 2.3l turbo engine is better than most V6, there are more powerful V6 [twin] turbo engines, but they likely consume more gas too. But as you can see from my vehicle list, I really like this 2.3l EcoBoost engine.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

For the utility you’ve described, a truck seems best. The Ranger has a lot going for it - size, payload, towing capacity, power, gas mileage, styling, price, reliability, and comfort.

• I recently completed a 2,500 mile road trip - the last leg was 17 hours in one shot - very comfortable and for a loaded up, modified truck, the gas mileage was fine.
• My 4x4 XLT gets a bit of 4 Hi use in winter and on the occasional rutted backroad but I’ve had no strong need for a terrain management system or a rear locker.
• I don’t tow but I haul a ton of tools and building materials often and it’s never felt “weighed down”.
• It’s easily roomy enough for a kid or two, three might leave you wondering where to put all their “stuff”, but by then, you should have the SUV and when that becomes the primary kid shuttle, you’ll always have your truck for truck stuff.

Now, what’s with all the rational thinking? This is a truck purchase decision - it’s supposed to be made based on pure emotion and impulse, isn’t it?

Good luck figuring it all out Kevan.

 

[jsphlynch]

Hello all!

Stumbled on this forum doing a bunch of midsize truck research and I'm glad I did!

My 2014 Escape SE 1.6l was/is my first Ford (despite my cousin leading their engineering department for years, my family has been filled with GM diehards). I've liked basically everything about it despite my own families issues, but now we look to make a move (internationally) and need to sell it to purchase a new vehicle back home in Indiana.

It's just my wife and I with the almost 3 year old. Wife wants more kids.. probably 3 total. Need something that can tow (I have 3 trailers, all under 5,000lbs fully loaded) as well as carry the family as it grows. The plan is to get a functional vehicle (new, to build credit), and later add a more spacious/comfortable SUV for the wife's primary. So I guess my main points of concern/query to this forum would be:

1. Is it big enough for 3 small kids in the back seat (car seats/boosters)? My wife and I are both around 5'10.
2. Does this realistically get better mileage than the v6 alternatives?
3. My 1.6l experiences rather annoying turbo lag - is the 2.3l a smoother experience with less lag?
4. I'd be buying XLT/Lariat 4x4 but w/o offroad package - probably XLT (as I prefer a physical key). How well can I expect it to do mileage wise without all the extra suspension? Everything I watch online is FX4 or Tremor which doesn't really fit my use case.
5. Ordering with the spray in liner seems to be a point of delay on build process, can anyone recommend a good aftermarket liner?
6. How does it do long distance? From IN I'll need to visit (at least): MI, OH, MN, MD, TX, CA and FL to catch up with family. Is it a good distance truck?

That's all for now.. sorry for the 'dump' but .. I got questions.

As a bonus (and you can ignore everything else and just answer this if you want: why did you buy a ranger over (any) n/a V6 offerings?)

Thanks everyone!

Looks like you've gotten some good input, but here my two cents:

1. We had 3 kids (oldest was 7) when I got my Ranger. Yes, the crew cab fits three kids in the back, with caveats. We were using 2 carseats and a booster, and the carseats were the very basic Cosco Sceneras. It would not have fit if we were using bulkier carseats. One of the carseats was in the rear-facing position, and I could have only pushed my driver seat a little further back than my optimal driving position. I'm 5'8", so I think it would fit for you, but no guarantee on that.
2. Realistically yes, as long as you're not constantly relying on the turbo.
3. This is my first turbo, so I can't make a good comparison to anything else, but I will say that the lag is minimal to nonexistent in most cases.
4. I have an XL 4x4. I typically get 24-25 on the highway as long as I stick to speed limits. A couple of times I've had extra time on highway drives so I decided to see how high I could push the MPGs by sticking to 60 mph or lower, and I can get the truck to flirt with 30 MPGs.
5. I got LineX in my previous Ranger, and it was by far the best thing I did with that truck. I still need to get a liner for this one, and was thinking of trying Bullet for this to get the UV protection without an upcharge.
6. It does well enough that we without hesitation planned a 4000 mile road trip using the truck instead of the family-hauling SUV. Unfortunately, the road trip was planned for summer 2020, and ended up being a COVID casualty, so I can't speak to how it really does on a trip like that. I really like it on the long drives (hundreds of miles) I have taken.

Bonus: I chose the Ranger because it was more fun, peppy, comfortable, and fuel-conserving than the other offerings. Plus my previous vehicle was a previous gen Ranger that gave me 16 1/2 years of mostly trouble-free driving (biggest problem during that time was a broken leaf spring shackle).

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Can you wait until the next gen Ranger comes out? It's supposed to have a bit more interior room.

 

[Muddy Fenders]

Just depressed now.
Wondering where I went wrong in life.

New Ranger, Wife, Kid, more kids on the way, Mods planned, maybe trade up to a 150, time to hunt, second vehicle forthcoming for wife....etc.

I've clearly dropped the ball on life somewhere. There is no way I could have 3 kids and do mods on my truck. I had one kid at one point years ago and had to use my line of credit to buy new brakes.

 

[Dereku]

Just depressed now.
Wondering where I went wrong in life.

New Ranger, Wife, Kid, more kids on the way, Mods planned, maybe trade up to a 150, time to hunt, second vehicle forthcoming for wife....etc.

I've clearly dropped the ball on life somewhere. There is no way I could have 3 kids and do mods on my truck. I had one kid at one point years ago and had to use my line of credit to buy new brakes.

Its ok bud, ill be in my late 40s when my kids graduate college. Figure by then I can act like a child again and buy stuff. Ive been there and well still am there at times. Kids each money and then still require food, makes no sense some days.

 

[EJH]

I cannot comment on car seats in the rear, but that was covered a bunch earlier. My Ranger is my first Ford. I had no brand loyalty prior to this truck.

1. Is it big enough for 3 small kids in the back seat (car seats/boosters)? My wife and I are both around 5'10. Probably going to be tight and annoying based on the above comments.
2. Does this realistically get better mileage than the v6 alternatives? Yes, if you don't have a heavy foot, on stock suspension, expect over 20MPG around town and 25MPG at 65mph on interstates. Faster than that and it drops off.
3. My 1.6l experiences rather annoying turbo lag - is the 2.3l a smoother experience with less lag? No (noticable) lag. I have a 2.0L turbo in my 2016 Forester, which has minimal lag.
4. I'd be buying XLT/Lariat 4x4 but w/o offroad package - probably XLT (as I prefer a physical key). How well can I expect it to do mileage wise without all the extra suspension? Everything I watch online is FX4 or Tremor which doesn't really fit my use case. Stock and FX4 are about the same with millage. Tremor would be worse due to higher lift and more aggressive tires.
5. Ordering with the spray in liner seems to be a point of delay on build process, can anyone recommend a good aftermarket liner? Line-X spray in. You should be able to find a place locally.
6. How does it do long distance? From IN I'll need to visit (at least): MI, OH, MN, MD, TX, CA and FL to catch up with family. Is it a good distance truck? Awesome. The seats (for us) are very comfy. Most of my 24k miles on the Ranger are road trips, many towing a trailer.

 

[Kevan]

Looks like you've gotten some good input, but here my two cents:

1. We had 3 kids (oldest was 7) when I got my Ranger. Yes, the crew cab fits three kids in the back, with caveats. We were using 2 carseats and a booster, and the carseats were the very basic Cosco Sceneras. It would not have fit if we were using bulkier carseats. One of the carseats was in the rear-facing position, and I could have only pushed my driver seat a little further back than my optimal driving position. I'm 5'8", so I think it would fit for you, but no guarantee on that.


6. It does well enough that we without hesitation planned a 4000 mile road trip using the truck instead of the family-hauling SUV. Unfortunately, the road trip was planned for summer 2020, and ended up being a COVID casualty, so I can't speak to how it really does on a trip like that. I really like it on the long drives (hundreds of miles) I have taken.

Bonus: I chose the Ranger because it was more fun, peppy, comfortable, and fuel-conserving than the other offerings. Plus my previous vehicle was a previous gen Ranger that gave me 16 1/2 years of mostly trouble-free driving (biggest problem during that time was a broken leaf spring shackle).

Very good to know! Thanks for the info..

16.5 years is impressive for any vehicle. Its almost a blow to the face because that's well within the period that I held a rather negative view of Ford in general.. that is almost unprecedented with any Chevy I've had!

I'll be honest I tend to drive fast when able, but I'm going to do that only when driving alone and working the turbo. With the family in the car I'm obviously slower but regardless I do not take unneeded risks in either case and tend to stick to 5mph within the speed limits.. with that said, I'm hoping that ordering without a FX4/Tremor package will get me a more comfortable and economical ride.

Thinking a Ranger could do me good for a few years at least and if needed I could always trade it in for an F150. The problem I'm trying to solve with buying a new vehicle is my lack of credit (not bad - none), so I'm building up to doing a big deposit and financing on a new Ranger. My APR is probably going to be atrocious so I'm thinking Ranger might be the better option for now as the family is small and the interest is high! Haha..

 

[Dr_Strangelove]

@Kevan - If you are relocating to Indiana and do not yet have a primary bank selected; consider looking at local credit unions. With lack of credit they may be willing to write you a loan if you are a member with "enough" money in your accounts and proof of good employment via paystubs being deposited to your account, there is a chance they will take a chance on you and offer you a loan on decent terms.

The "big boys" will say "sure, 9%," but Credit unions tend to be more local and interested in serving their members. My two.

 

[Friday yet?]

Ranger back seat is just slightly larger than the Escape that you're familiar with, mostly by width. Can you live with that?

If we ever get kid #2 my Ranger will be on the way out. It is tight, and I'm not willing to put the front seats on the dash.

Swallow your pride and look seriously at minivans. You(r wife) won't regret it.

Hate to promote minivans... but you are SO right. When you have curtain climbers, crumb snatchers, and/or turdlers just suck it up and get the mini van. It will be the best money you've ever spent. I'd highly recommend the Honda. (Yea, Ford guy just said that. Yuck. Think I vomited in my mouth a bit. ) Even though every time you look at it you'll have a moment of "what happened to my life?" ... but as soon as you start loading those little jokers up and/or making a road trip you will realize the van was a VERY smart decision.

Sorry but the ranger is not a good choice for you at this stage of life. IMHO. While my kids are grown and gone, I vividly remember those days.

On the bright side, driving that soccer mom mobile will get you attention from hot women! They'll be giggling at you getting out of your van!

Sponsored