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Anyone else notice Edmund's dislike for the Ranger

Mokume

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Most of the people who review vehicles don't even have the comprehension of mechanical operations and functional diagnostics to formulate an educated opinion. They simply use buzz words they read from other reviews and briefly touch on specs that are given to them on a nice print out. Its impossible to consider anything they say as informative.
Touche sir!
You are absolutely correct, they should stick to rating microwave ovens or garden hoses, even then I would not believe them...
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Mokume

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Hi Folk,

Being inside the company for 30 years or so, you have to develop a somewhat thick skin to this one person opinionated articles where there is a hidden agenda. In the end the market place dictates the success or failure of a product, regardless of one POS author of an article. I know...they gored your OX and you do not like it..I do not either, but the best approach is to squash these damning articles is sales volumes and sound engineering that results in positive experiences. In my tenure as head of Ranger Vehicle Engineering, my volume was 430,000 vehicles a year. We blew away the competition. Edumnds and who ever else the competition contracted meant diddily squat. The 5G Ranger will sink or swim on its own merits based on the numbers sold...If it was a Trud, like the the Fiat 500...it shows... Taco and such are selling...Ranger has to meet or exceed. So far I am impressed with the Ranger, of which I had zero input... I think it is a worthy offering...sure there things I would have done differently like a two piece driveline, but it is a solid state of the art competitor... Let the cards fall where they are dealt. I believe Ford Ranger will be in the mix. I was fortunate to be on board when Ranger was tops

To hear of Ranger owners that have incredible high mileage during my tenure at the helm of Vehicle Engineering makes me proud. No accolades from the press can do as much as to know the number of folks that loved their old previous generation Ranger... It makes this "old fart,s" day!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co.Retired
Aloha Phil,

I intend to 'make your day' with the following.
The very first Ranger I owned was a '91 S/Cab with a 4.0 mated to an automatic, when I bought this truck used in 1995 it had already accumulated almost 80K of Honolulu driving, the previous owner was an estimator for a fairly large construction company here.
Any vehicle which has been driven that far here is the equivalent of almost twice that of mainland driving. I was drawn to the 4.0 because of my experiences with the 2.8 in Mercury Capri's, that little Cologne engine had amazing low end 'grunt'.

Fast forward to Aug. 1999 when I placed an order on a 2000 XLT S/Cab 4.0 which I took delivery of in November of '99, it was my dream vehicle, yes I pampered her, but I never let her forget her purpose in life. I did abuse it at times, but like her predecessor, she never whimpered nor faltered.

In the meantime, I gave my Dad the '91, he used it for a couple of years then gave it to my cousin who used it for his landscaping business hauling sod, until it met its demise in 2010 or so, my cousin claims the odometer stopped working some time before reading 200K miles or so.

I sold my 2000 last month with just 94K on the clock, the second respondent to my C/List posting paid cash on the spot for it, no haggling whatsoever, the buyer was amazed that a 20-year-old truck was still solid. I kinda shed a tear to see her drive away.

The fact of the matter is that Ford knew they had some very high customer expectations when they introduced the Ranger way back when, as it turns out, they did not disappoint.

True, I was meticulous with maintenance on both trucks, but the underlying fact of durability lies with their design and construction, what's the sense of putting lipstick on a pig?

Your team's work on the Ranger project is beyond commendable, my soon to be delivered 2020 has very big shoes to fill...

Respectably sir,

Jeff Lee
 
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uthunter

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I'm sure grateful to live in a part of the country where I've never had a salesperson accompany me on a test drive and I've never even thought about the idea of a locking gas cap.

As to the reviewers, most of them are east coast media types that couldn't hook up a fifth wheel and tow it to a lake or campsite to save their lives. Let alone unhook it, get it leveled, open the slides, split some wood and get some cobbler on the coals. That's the way I use my trucks so I want the reviewers to look at them the same way.

They're outside of their league even reviewing trucks... so I just smile and give them a pass. They can stick to the pavement and reviewing electric passenger cars with maximum ranges that aren't even high enough to get from one airport to the next where I live :tumbleweed:

Having a lanyard around your neck doesn't make you an expert ;)
 

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Hi Folk,

Being inside the company for 30 years or so, you have to develop a somewhat thick skin to this one person opinionated articles where there is a hidden agenda. In the end the market place dictates the success or failure of a product, regardless of one POS author of an article. I know...they gored your OX and you do not like it..I do not either, but the best approach is to squash these damning articles is sales volumes and sound engineering that results in positive experiences. In my tenure as head of Ranger Vehicle Engineering, my volume was 430,000 vehicles a year. We blew away the competition. Edumnds and who ever else the competition contracted meant diddily squat. The 5G Ranger will sink or swim on its own merits based on the numbers sold...If it was a Trud, like the the Fiat 500...it shows... Taco and such are selling...Ranger has to meet or exceed. So far I am impressed with the Ranger, of which I had zero input... I think it is a worthy offering...sure there things I would have done differently like a two piece driveline, but it is a solid state of the art competitor... Let the cards fall where they are dealt. I believe Ford Ranger will be in the mix. I was fortunate to be on board when Ranger was tops

To hear of Ranger owners that have incredible high mileage during my tenure at the helm of Vehicle Engineering makes me proud. No accolades from the press can do as much as to know the number of folks that loved their old previous generation Ranger... It makes this "old fart,s" day!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co.Retired
I learned to drive in a 1996 Mazda B4000. That was a great truck. Was that your era?
 

jsphlynch

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To hear of Ranger owners that have incredible high mileage during my tenure at the helm of Vehicle Engineering makes me proud. No accolades from the press can do as much as to know the number of folks that loved their old previous generation Ranger... It makes this "old fart,s" day!
Phil, you and your team have every right to be proud.

My '03 Ranger was my first vehicle. I was able to afford it brand new as a high school kid working part time at the local grocery store. According to a friend on the Yearbook committee, I came in second in the voting for "Best Car," getting beat out by a kid who periodically was allowed to drive his dad's classic convertible to school. That truck was pretty bare-bones (example, how well the "air-conditioning" worked depended on how fast I was going and how far I hand-cranked the windows down), but it did pretty much everything I needed it to do for sixteen and a half years (to the day!).

A couple years ago I started dropping by various car dealerships looking for a replacement for my wife's car. When I'd explain that I had an Alero I was interested in trading in, the response I usually got what something along the lines of "you sure you don't want to trade in that Ranger you drove up in?"

If I have any regrets about getting my new truck, it's that I had to let go of that old Ranger.
 


r1ch999999

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I had an 89 my dad bought new and sold to me, 196k when I traded it in 97 for a 95. I drove that for a few years and then switched to a car before I went back to a new 03 and then when my wife was pregnant I traded it for an 03 Sport Trac. In 2012 I had to part ways. I’ve been waiting for the Ranger to come back and now I have a 19. I know my previous experience with Rangers led me to get another.
 
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John Lyman

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Ha! I gotta tell my brother that he drives a 2019 El Camino by Honda, his previous 'Camino was an '07. Truth be told, I've driven his 2019 RTL-E, its a solid and competent vehicle, but it's styling comes off as being too "dainty" for me...notice that I stated "vehicle"!
I had an '06 Ridgeline and loved it and was the one car I wish I had not sold. I passed on the new Ridgeline (didn't even test drive one) for two main reasons 1 - I call it the new el camino because they just (the chopped off the back end of the pilot/odyssey) and I just couldn't get pass the look. The other issue is I wanted car play and you had to go up three trim levels to get that in the El Ridgeline and put it way out of the price range
 

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The ridgeline is a decent option for a lot of midsize truck buyers that gets passed over too often for silly reasons like "it's not a truck". (Who cares whether some guy on the internet thinks it's "a truck"? The only relevant question is whether it does what you need it to do.) I didn't consider it for three reasons: 1) I wanted a 6 foot bed 2) I wanted more ground clearance for non-paved use 3) I'm still pissed over my last honda. For people not holding a grudge and looking for a crew cab to drive on pavement it's definitely worth considering.
 

doug910

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The ridgeline is a decent option for a lot of midsize truck buyers that gets passed over too often for silly reasons like "it's not a truck". (Who cares whether some guy on the internet thinks it's "a truck"? The only relevant question is whether it does what you need it to do.) I didn't consider it for three reasons: 1) I wanted a 6 foot bed 2) I wanted more ground clearance for non-paved use 3) I'm still pissed over my last honda. For people not holding a grudge and looking for a crew cab to drive on pavement it's definitely worth considering.
My biggest issue with the Ridgeline is that it doesn't really showcase its unibody benefits. It's not like it gets any better fuel economy than the body on frame trucks, it's interior isn't any more spacious, and ride/handling doesn't seem to be far superior either. It has some cool features with extra storage options in the bed and cool tailgate, but it doesn't do well off road, and it doesn't tow nearly as well as the BoF trucks do.
 
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Have loved all my Honda's (2 pilots, element, Ridgeline and accord) I just really don't like the current design flavor of honda these days - its hard to tell if the Honda come towards you is A. the Odyssey B. Pilot or C. Ridgeline - Also, it doesn't give cofindence that it could go pretty much anywhere like the old ones. Is it a mid-size truck sure, but till reminds of the old El Caminos of the day.

Now saying that again the biggest reason I didn't look at the Ridgeline was due to the cost - the one feature that I love in all my cars is CarPlay its a must have for me. To get that on the Honda is only in there upper trim starting at $37,000
 
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@Phil
Hi Folk,


To hear of Ranger owners that have incredible high mileage during my tenure at the helm of Vehicle Engineering makes me proud. No accolades from the press can do as much as to know the number of folks that loved their old previous generation Ranger... It makes this "old fart,s" day!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co.Retired
Phil -

Its because of the Ranger longevity and F150 - that backup Ford Tough is why when I decided to buy a truck I went to a ford dealership first - You should be very happy of you and your teams legacy.
 

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My biggest issue with the Ridgeline is that it doesn't really showcase its unibody benefits. It's not like it gets any better fuel economy than the body on frame trucks,
It beats all the other V6s in the class...

it's interior isn't any more spacious
about 110 cubic feet to the ranger's 98...

ride/handling doesn't seem to be far superior either.
Well, you seem fairly unique in thinking that the ride/handling are the same as the other midsize trucks. That's what they focused on, and they pretty much seem to have hit their target. Most of what makes something like a ranger have a "trucky" ride are tradeoffs to improve other characteristics cheaply. You could avoid the tradeoffs, but it will cost more. Or you can pull back on requirements like towing and ground clearance...and end up with something more like the ridgeline. Notice how they used the weight savings from the unibody to add features like their fancy tailgate and still provide more payload than either the tacoma or the frontier without having to beef up the suspension...

It has some cool features with extra storage options in the bed and cool tailgate, but it doesn't do well off road, and it doesn't tow nearly as well as the BoF trucks do.
Sure, if you need to tow and offroad it isn't the right choice--but, most people who buy midsize trucks don't do either of those things. Look at all the people who run out and lift the front of their ranger as soon as they bring it home--if they were to tow 7500 pounds they'd be pointing at the sky. But they aren't planning to haul that much so it doesn't matter. And yeah, the ridgeline lacks the ground clearance and other attributes to make it good off road, but a lot of people who never go offroad might be happier with a truck that's lower to the ground. Look at the people wondering how to lower their ranger! At the end of the day this is often a fashion decision, rather than something based on actual needs. If you don't like the ridgeline because of how it looks, that's cool--I don't particularly either. (Of course, I think the GMC Denali styling is even more hideous--this is why there's room for more than one style of truck.) People should just own that, and not make up BS about how it isn't trucky enough for their (fantasy) lifestyle (at the mall). :)
 

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It beats all the other V6s in the class...


about 110 cubic feet to the ranger's 98...


Well, you seem fairly unique in thinking that the ride/handling are the same as the other midsize trucks. That's what they focused on, and they pretty much seem to have hit their target. Most of what makes something like a ranger have a "trucky" ride are tradeoffs to improve other characteristics cheaply. You could avoid the tradeoffs, but it will cost more. Or you can pull back on requirements like towing and ground clearance...and end up with something more like the ridgeline. Notice how they used the weight savings from the unibody to add features like their fancy tailgate and still provide more payload than either the tacoma or the frontier without having to beef up the suspension...


Sure, if you need to tow and offroad it isn't the right choice--but, most people who buy midsize trucks don't do either of those things. Look at all the people who run out and lift the front of their ranger as soon as they bring it home--if they were to tow 7500 pounds they'd be pointing at the sky. But they aren't planning to haul that much so it doesn't matter. And yeah, the ridgeline lacks the ground clearance and other attributes to make it good off road, but a lot of people who never go offroad might be happier with a truck that's lower to the ground. Look at the people wondering how to lower their ranger! At the end of the day this is often a fashion decision, rather than something based on actual needs. If you don't like the ridgeline because of how it looks, that's cool--I don't particularly either. (Of course, I think the GMC Denali styling is even more hideous--this is why there's room for more than one style of truck.) People should just own that, and not make up BS about how it isn't trucky enough for their (fantasy) lifestyle (at the mall). :)
Nono, I completely agree with you! Looks like I didn't explain myself fully. I agree that 90% of truck owners don't need all that capability, so it makes sense to hop off the "truck bro" bandwagon, and get the unibody Ridgeline. But only if the unibody alternative is going to have amazing benefits over the traditional trucks. My opinion is that the Ridgeline doesn't...

If you go on fuelly.com, the Ridgeline doesn't have huge improvements in fuel economy, if any, compared to the Colorado and Ranger (Tacoma and Frontier are another story...).

The Colorado has great on-road handling and ride characteristics, probably better than the Ranger if I'm honest. I'm not sure if the Ridgeline is THAT much more comfortable on-road, especially when you give up the capability. The most you ever tow is 4500 pounds, you say? I would much rather tow 4500 lb with something that's rated for 7500 lb rather than 5000 lb if I'm honest. Towing near max capacity is fatiguing and it sucks. Don't haul or tow? Then get a Pilot.

I'll admit I had no idea that the Ridgeline has that much more interior space than the Ranger on paper. I only said what I said because of what I felt when I was in a Ridgeline. Second row felt cramped and head room seemed lacking so I didn't feel like there was any unibody benefit there. Perhaps I'm wrong and I'll just have to get in a new Ridgeline again.

Finally, price. If the Ridgeline was cheaper than the rest of the trucks, I would forgive it a bit more. But they're just as expensive as the competition.
 

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Nono, I completely agree with you! Looks like I didn't explain myself fully. I agree that 90% of truck owners don't need all that capability, so it makes sense to hop off the "truck bro" bandwagon, and get the unibody Ridgeline. But only if the unibody alternative is going to have amazing benefits over the traditional trucks. My opinion is that the Ridgeline doesn't...
That's because you presumably don't value things like "don't have to climb up as high to get in" or "can easily reach over the side and get stuff out of the bed". Put another way, does the world actually need a honda ridgeline that's exactly like all the other trucks, or does the ridgeline offer things that the other trucks don't--even if they're things that people buying other trucks have decided aren't important to them? I think of the gladiator the same way: for me it's a stupid combination of features I don't need for way too much money, but if someone wants to rock climb with 3 other people in a convertible with an open bed full of small empty boxes (;)) it's the perfect truck for them.

If you go on fuelly.com, the Ridgeline doesn't have huge improvements in fuel economy, if any, compared to the Colorado and Ranger (Tacoma and Frontier are another story...).
Well, the ranger is a paradigm shift in the segment with a turbo 4. For the colorado, make sure you filter out the diesels and four cylinders and compare apples to apples. Doing that, I see about 20MPG on fuelly for the ridgeline and 18MPG for the colorado for 2018 & 2019 model years. All of the midsize trucks have about the same curb weight, so a lot of that difference is probably the aerodynamics of sitting lower. I'd guess that they could lighten the ridgeline more with lighter materials and get even better fuel economy, but they (were) beating the competition on fuel economy and clocking in about the same weight, so why spend the money on exotic materials if you already hit your target?

Don't haul or tow? Then get a Pilot.
So someone wants an open bed, and you tell them that if they don't tow they have to buy a pilot? This the problem with telling people what they need based on what you need. :) IMO, most of the people buying a crew cab pickup to haul their family should really just buy a minivan, but people have their own needs and want what they want without checking on my opinion.

If the Ridgeline was cheaper than the rest of the trucks, I would forgive it a bit more. But they're just as expensive as the competition.
It's not obvious to me why they should be cheaper--the parts and labor to build them should be about the same.
 

doug910

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That's because you presumably don't value things like "don't have to climb up as high to get in" or "can easily reach over the side and get stuff out of the bed". Put another way, does the world actually need a honda ridgeline that's exactly like all the other trucks, or does the ridgeline offer things that the other trucks don't--even if they're things that people buying other trucks have decided aren't important to them? I think of the gladiator the same way: for me it's a stupid combination of features I don't need for way too much money, but if someone wants to rock climb with 3 other people in a convertible with an open bed full of small empty boxes (;)) it's the perfect truck for them.
You're right, I'm probably being a little biased and not really considering other people's needs. A mid-sized BoF truck is perfect for me with my needs, as I do enjoy off roading and I do tow semi-regularly with my project car. Other people will have other needs that I don't think of.

It's not obvious to me why they should be cheaper--the parts and labor to build them should be about the same.
I do, however, disagree with this. That could be said for almost any car - the number of parts and labor that goes into assembly is about the same for any car/truck. That doesn't mean that a small car should cost the same as a big car. The needs that you mentioned that are perfect for the Ridgeline is pretty niche and a small market imo, hence the lackluster Ridgeline sales. If Honda tried to appeal to a larger market of people, they should lower the price.
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