Why did you choose a Ranger over another Truck

[Mokume]

I was in the market because of end of lease on my Canyon. Market was limited due to the fact that we wanted to stay midsize....I had more full size than mid size trucks in the past and we determined mid size was what wanted to stay with. I've had lots of vehicles, more than 45 and I am not brand specific...I would have most likely stayed with the canyon had they had any decent incentives but they didn't. The truck was fine but it I never was overly fond of the looks but otherwise it was good....

The incentives got me looking at the Ranger, but the truck itself made the sale. It is by far the best looking mid size out there... and I am mr unbiased when it comes to Ford but there is no doubt this truck is a looker. I also liked the incentives and the drive train though its missing a couple things it should have...

I can say after a tank and a half of gas in my Ranger I am going to enjoy the truck...It its smoother, more quiet, has all the power the canyon has and gets at lease 2.5 miles per gallon better mileage and that is comparing a truck with 15 miles verses a well broken in truck mileages with the same driver and track... I even purchased this one as opposed to lease cause I am about done with buying trucks so this one has to be good.


To me Ram still has the best looking and best riding truck with fabulous electronics and interior and if it was full size I was looking for that would be what I would have purchased.

The lack of cooled seats, AWD and even the lack of screens to view engine functions is bad though because other than the cooled seats all the other is in the truck already....or very inexpensive to add with programming. A few other things too but I won't pile on...I still like the truck. so far.

Isn't the Ram considered a full-size pickup akin to the F series and Silverado?

A cousin of mine who works as a shop foreman for a large electrical contractor in Phoenix, AZ told me that they had leased 40 2018 Ram trucks ranging from half to 1-ton models (a move he vehemently opposed). He also told me that 90% of the drivers wished they still had their fleet of 2015 Ford's back.
To date 28 of those trucks have had their transmissions replaced, mind you these are not "pooled" vehicles, each one is assigned to a certain driver.
Presumably, the driver can enjoy the "fabulous electronics" onboard these vehicles, as he waits for the tow truck.

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[jsphlynch]

I'd spent the last ~18 months narrowing it down to the Ranger and the Colorado. After test driving a couple of each, it was clear that the Ranger edged the Colorado in almost every aspect. I preferred the ride quality, the way the seat fit me, the view over the hood, the sportiness at low speeds, and (at least on paper...we'll see how it pans out) the gas mileage. And subjectively, I think the Ranger looks better both inside and out. However, in each of those categories, the V-6 Colorado was not far behind (the 4-cyl version got ruled out almost as soon as I hit the road on the test drive), and were satisfactory. I was a little anxious about the transmission on the Colorado, but for me it performed quite admirably. And the Colorado had one thing going for it that the Ranger hasn't got: the crew cab/6-fit bed combination.

Decided I would let the money do the talking, and spent the past couple days bouncing back and forth between the Ford and Chevy dealers, hoping one of them would come up with a deal that would just blow the other away. I got a soft estimate from Chevy that was below what the Ford folks were offering. Showed that to Ford, and they smashed it with a written offer. Took that back to Chevy, and you could see the sales guy's heart sink when he saw how far below them it was. He trudged over to the manager's office, then came back a few minutes later with a big grin on his face and an offer that was only a couple hundred off from the Ranger.

Ultimately decided that all those things I liked better about the Ranger are the things I will use every day, whereas the extra foot on the bed was something I would use only rarely. Plus the Ranger I had the offer on was 4x4, and even though that wasn't something that was on my wish list, there's no doubt that it is a perk.

 

[AnimeRanger87]

I have been a Ranger fan my whole life my parents help me buy my first vehicle which was 1989 Ford Ranger 4x4 5 speed in 2005 when I was a junior in high school although I wasn't a big fan of the manual transmission but I still had plenty of fun it unfortunately the repairs cost were adding up really quick and small jobs I was doing at the time wasn't enough to keep it going so I had to sell it. My dad bought his 2000 Supercab stepside 2wd Ranger w/ 3.0 auto tranny brand new bone stock no power anything except steering now that truck is passed on to me now. Then my 2nd Ranger is a XLT Regular cab 2x4 w/ 3.0 auto bought it in 2010 w/204,434 miles on him. He is most mileage vehicle but he is the most reliable today he as 253,968 miles and he still runs like a top. My 19 Ranger was worth almost 10 years of waiting!!! I love everything about it from the Terrain Management System to the Sync 3 and the comforts of the truck and power of the 2.3 EcoBoost and 10 speed. Well you could say I grew up with a RANGER FAMILY!!!

 

[John Lyman]

What a great story - hoping these new rangers mary as long

 

[Jake596]

It was time to replace my huntin rig a '92 single cab Yota. Couldn't do another season in a single cab. Tried like hell to get a low mileage Taco for a reasonable price and that turned out to be impossible, I looked at Rangers earlier in 2019 and couldn't stomach the MSRP on a base model mid-size truck, Then i got serious about buying and started reading/watching reviews about the same time the December incentives came out, so then prices started to drop so low it would be foolish to purchase a Taco when I can get a new Ranger exactly how I want it for 25k. Basically beat the depreciation out of the gate with a truck that has zero miles on it. So far Ive been very impressed by the little eco boost. I hope the long term reliability is what it should be, gonna be hard to compete with Toyota if there are consistent issues.

 

[tugger]

Wife was ready to give up on the 2011 MKS ecoboost. Fast, fun and comfortable but getting old in every way. I have my 2019 JL Rubicon 4 cyl turbo on 37s. It’s pretty darn powerful and damn comfortable for a 2 door. But no room and at 80 can be a bit loud with a headwind. We wanted a rear drive based vehicle. We started out looking at the Gladiator, grand Cherokee, charger, challenger , mustang etc. We also didn’t want to spend a boat load. All the FCA stuff was out. If they would have offered the Gladiator with the turbo 4, I might have looked a bit closer.

The Ranger was the best deal out there. Many more options for a really cheap price, for everything you get. It won out. Mainly price and the power train is terrific. The Gladiator is probably a bit better off-road but I didn’t really care about that. It’s my wife’s truck and she loves it. We will be able to buy a camper and still have fun out in the woods with it.

 

[tugger]

This is my third Ranger.This Ranger blows away my other two. I had one Ranger 10 years the other 12years.Its larger, rides like an F 150 and offers all the technology and performance.I love it!!!

 

[hawk43]

Isn't the Ram considered a full-size pickup akin to the F series and Silverado?

A cousin of mine who works as a shop foreman for a large electrical contractor in Phoenix, AZ told me that they had leased 40 2018 Ram trucks ranging from half to 1-ton models (a move he vehemently opposed). He also told me that 90% of the drivers wished they still had their fleet of 2015 Ford's back.
To date 28 of those trucks have had their transmissions replaced, mind you these are not "pooled" vehicles, each one is assigned to a certain driver.
Presumably, the driver can enjoy the "fabulous electronics" onboard these vehicles, as he waits for the tow truck.

Meh, go look in any Ford dealers garage lol....or any ford forum. Tiny sample size too . All of my Rams and Dodges have been great. Never had a transmission problem either except Chevy. As a matter of fact the Chrysler 8 speed is better than any of the 8 speeds out there and has been since it was introduced about five years before anyone else had one in a pickup truck....My cousins uncles brothers aunts daddy said so.


That transmission is also in all the automatic v8 and 392 V8 Challengers and Chargers....It is very good piece.

 

[hawk43]

I'd spent the last ~18 months narrowing it down to the Ranger and the Colorado. After test driving a couple of each, it was clear that the Ranger edged the Colorado in almost every aspect. I preferred the ride quality, the way the seat fit me, the view over the hood, the sportiness at low speeds, and (at least on paper...we'll see how it pans out) the gas mileage. And subjectively, I think the Ranger looks better both inside and out. However, in each of those categories, the V-6 Colorado was not far behind (the 4-cyl version got ruled out almost as soon as I hit the road on the test drive), and were satisfactory. I was a little anxious about the transmission on the Colorado, but for me it performed quite admirably. And the Colorado had one thing going for it that the Ranger hasn't got: the crew cab/6-fit bed combination.

Decided I would let the money do the talking, and spent the past couple days bouncing back and forth between the Ford and Chevy dealers, hoping one of them would come up with a deal that would just blow the other away. I got a soft estimate from Chevy that was below what the Ford folks were offering. Showed that to Ford, and they smashed it with a written offer. Took that back to Chevy, and you could see the sales guy's heart sink when he saw how far below them it was. He trudged over to the manager's office, then came back a few minutes later with a big grin on his face and an offer that was only a couple hundred off from the Ranger.

Ultimately decided that all those things I liked better about the Ranger are the things I will use every day, whereas the extra foot on the bed was something I would use only rarely. Plus the Ranger I had the offer on was 4x4, and even though that wasn't something that was on my wish list, there's no doubt that it is a perk.

I failed to mention the seat specifically in my reasons lol...The Ranger's seat is about double more comfortable than the Twins truck...That is coming form someone who just put 32k miles on a Canyon.. I will also say the seat heaters work better on the ford...one is two and two is three on the ranger so 3 will cook a butt in the Ranger in a minute...

 

[Mokume]

I have been a Ranger fan my whole life my parents help me buy my first vehicle which was 1989 Ford Ranger 4x4 5 speed in 2005 when I was a junior in high school although I wasn't a big fan of the manual transmission but I still had plenty of fun it unfortunately the repairs cost were adding up really quick and small jobs I was doing at the time wasn't enough to keep it going so I had to sell it. My dad bought his 2000 Supercab stepside 2wd Ranger w/ 3.0 auto tranny brand new bone stock no power anything except steering now that truck is passed on to me now. Then my 2nd Ranger is a XLT Regular cab 2x4 w/ 3.0 auto bought it in 2010 w/204,434 miles on him. He is most mileage vehicle but he is the most reliable today he as 253,968 miles and he still runs like a top. My 19 Ranger was worth almost 10 years of waiting!!! I love everything about it from the Terrain Management System to the Sync 3 and the comforts of the truck and power of the 2.3 EcoBoost and 10 speed. Well you could say I grew up with a RANGER FAMILY!!!

Looks as though the guy in the middle got some big shoes to fill,

Meh, go look in any Ford dealers garage lol....or any ford forum. Tiny sample size too . All of my Rams and Dodges have been great. Never had a transmission problem either except Chevy. As a matter of fact the Chrysler 8 speed is better than any of the 8 speeds out there and has been since it was introduced about five years before anyone else had one in a pickup truck....My cousins uncles brothers aunts daddy said so.


That transmission is also in all the automatic v8 and 392 V8 Challengers and Chargers....It is very good piece.

To each his own, if you were even able to GIVE me a FCA product, I'd promptly dump it on C/list or FB marketplace.

 

[sLiVeRwOrM]

The Ranger for me ticked all the boxes except for 1.. COOLED seats. Only offered in the Denali trim on a Canyon.

Other than the seats, I also wanted a quick truck. I had just ended a lease on a BMW 340M which had 0-60 times of 4.5s (I confirmed it).

All the other trucks in the segment were SLOW, After the tune on the truck I can consistently get 5s 0-60s. The truck is only a truck for me sometimes, most of the time it's just a commuter, so I wanted something comfy, easy to park and have some utility. Having folding mirrors is nice when parking in tight spots, along with FRONT parking sensors.. another feature that chevy/gmc seem'd to opt out of.

 

[EsGee]

Can be flat towed behind RV
Lariat CC had everything I wanted
Already have two Fords in the stable, figured what's one more

 

[Mokume]

This is my third Ranger.This Ranger blows away my other two. I had one Ranger 10 years the other 12years.Its larger, rides like an F 150 and offers all the technology and performance.I love it!!!

Indeed, if you were to compare the present Rangers exterior dimensions to the early 80's F series you'll probably find them very similar.
I also owned 2 Rangers previously, a '91 and a '00, both 4x2's, automatics with the 4.0 OHV V6, both were reliable vehicles. The 2000's achilles heel, however, was it's front end design, the ball joints wore out prematurely. Then again, their failures could be attributed to Hawaii's road surfaces, we've some roads here that would make a 3rd. world road engineer cringe. The '91 had Ford's Twin-I-Beam design, a front end configuration that was way stouter than it needed to be.

 

[DavidR]

We were wanting a new truck for a year or two, and waited for the new ranger to compare it with the Colorado/canyon and Tacoma. We needed a 6' bed so that ruled out some others like the Ridgeline and Gladiator. We went with the Ranger mostly for the following reasons:

1. Our last '93 Ranger has run for 260,000 miles with only one significant repair, and that repair occurred after 200,000 miles. I admit this item biased us a bit right from the beginning.

2. Better overall driveline refinement. So far we have lucked out and haven't had the shuddering problem.

3. More desirable tech options, particularly adaptive cruise, though I'm sure the others will catch up on that soon.

4. Saber.

5. Did I mention Saber?

6. The one downside was that there is no option for a SuperCrew with a 6' bed, which the other two have. We did consider that but decided the other things were more important. In the end, the Supercab works fine for us. Our kids are grown and we have little need to carry rear seat passengers, at least not on longer trips where it would matter, and there's more than enough room for whatever gear shouldn't be tossed in the bed.

 

[DavidR]

Then again, their failures could be attributed to Hawaii's road surfaces, we've some roads here that would make a 3rd. world road engineer cringe. The '91 had Ford's Twin-I-Beam design, a front end configuration that was way stouter than it needed to be.

Our '93 still had the twin I-beam (I'm not sure what year they changed it), and in 260,000 miles all I ever needed to do was replace one control arm bushing, and only because, IMHO, it was placed to close to the exhaust system and had only a minimal heat shield. It never needed an alignment - it still drives straight and tires still wear perfectly, and we've hit some ruts pretty hard.

I can understand why they changed it at some point, since the high un-sprung weight probably became a competitive disadvantage at some point, but it was pretty bulletproof.

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