If Buying Today, Would You Still Buy the Ranger?

D Fresh

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Does that platinum match your hair and murse? :lipssealed:
EXCUSE me.

Proud member of the resistance here. No damper=no murse.

As far as the hair, maybe the carpet. ;)

Really though, big fan of white Fords here. Just like the bit of sparkle on my 2 White Platinums. The 5 times a year they're clean that is.
 

ScrappyLaptop

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My only actual complaint is that the climate system doesn't have a physical button to switch between face/feet/windshield. Not a huge deal, but if AppleCar is on, there is also no climate control touchscreen, so you have to unplug to switch from face to feet. 90% of the time I just use blue tooth, but yesterday head a dead phone and plugged it in, then had to change music and appleplay took over.

The one feature I wanted, but now don't really like is the push button start, or aspects of the key-less fob. I would happily go back to switch blade key given the option now.
In my perfect world, all vehicles would have mechanical, tactile controls for all climate functions so I don't have to take my eyes off the road, or refocus my attention to flip through screens. It's something I find I adjust more than I realized.
 


wintech

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My only actual complaint is that the climate system doesn't have a physical button to switch between face/feet/windshield. Not a huge deal, but if AppleCar is on, there is also no climate control touchscreen, so you have to unplug to switch from face to feet. 90% of the time I just use blue tooth, but yesterday head a dead phone and plugged it in, then had to change music and appleplay took over.

The one feature I wanted, but now don't really like is the push button start, or aspects of the key-less fob. I would happily go back to switch blade key given the option now.
You don't have to unplug your phone to get back to the sync screen. When carplay is active, there is an app on the screen that says ford sync. When you tap that, it takes you back to the main sync screen. If you are playing music, it will still be playing. Then you can change your climate settings and hit the carplay button to go back to carplay if you use it. The other alternative if you need to charge but don't want carplay to be active, just have a cord plugged into the ports for the backseat passengers. That is what I do since I have a wireless carplay adapter and don't want the system to be confused seeing two carplay devices plugged in.
 

ScrappyLaptop

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My 2 cents

This is my first truck (only rented or rode in other people‘s prior).

The FX4 I test-drove was good but felt a little bouncy especially in the turns; the Sport was good too.
I test-drove Tacos: TRD Pro and a TRD Off-Road too (made me wish I had a sunroof and electric rear window). By the way I live in the Bay Area and it seems that everyone's got these bloody Tacos - I actually feel good about having a truck made in America, that I rarely see on the road.
Never considered the Chevy.
I love the external look of the Ranger (especially the Tremor; I've added a few more red-accented accessories); I don't find the other brands as attractive (especially the Jeeps).

After a few weeks of intense research before the purchase, I was going to buy an FX4 and came across this forum - read that a few current owners of FX4 wished they had gotten a Tremor. I don't have a proper garage to tinker and do complex upgrades, and wanted something that was quite capable out of the factory - decided to get a Tremor, but it sounded like they were super difficult to get. So when I turned up at another dealership and there was one on the parking lot in the color I wanted I thought to myself "I think this might be coming home with us".

It’s been just over 2 months and I absolutely love it ❤
I’ve driven about 4,000 miles and pretty much every time I get at the wheel, within five minutes I think to myself: “gosh I love my truck ?”... It’s tragic.

I’ve been off-roading a few times and I’m so impressed with all the bells & whistles of my Lariat Tremor.

I’m reasonably happy with the seating position and comfort of the front seats. It’s comfortable for passengers at the back too, based on feedback they gave me.

Memory seats would have been nice for the price (dare I wish for cooling too? My Dodge Charger had this).
I also wish there was more console space (currently looking into roof consoles for a ham radio).
And honestly: the center console storage box should have come with USB ports and a 12v socket!
6-ft bed would have been awesome too...

Last, I have the feeling the paint and coating might not be super resistant... Time will tell.
Hi, from the Bay Area! It's a bit of a drive but as you mentioned a lack of proper garage space, I highly recommend TruckSmart in Rocklin for aftermarket installs.

Regarding this, "6-ft bed would have been awesome too..."

I can't tell you how many times I've wondered what Ranger engineers were thinking when they measured out the bed so that if I take out the cargo cross bar (just a 2x6, really) it won't fit in the bed parallel to the vehicle length. Where, exactly, did they expect us to put it? Diagonally often won't work because it was removed specifically to put in cargo!
 

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You don't have to unplug your phone to get back to the sync screen. When carplay is active, there is an app on the screen that says ford sync. When you tap that, it takes you back to the main sync screen. If you are playing music, it will still be playing. Then you can change your climate settings and hit the carplay button to go back to carplay if you use it. The other alternative if you need to charge but don't want carplay to be active, just have a cord plugged into the ports for the backseat passengers. That is what I do since I have a wireless carplay adapter and don't want the system to be confused seeing two carplay devices plugged in.
Thank you.

You're late to the game though, D Fresh has been slapping me around for days on that already, lol.
 

wintech

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Thank you.

You're late to the game though, D Fresh has been slapping me around for days on that already, lol.
I thought maybe someone had mentioned it based on the length of the thread but was too lazy to look through all the replies. It confounded me too when I first got it and had to have my salesman show me.
 

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In my perfect world, all vehicles would have mechanical, tactile controls for all climate functions so I don't have to take my eyes off the road, or refocus my attention to flip through screens. It's something I find I adjust more than I realized.
What gets me is some are there some are not. Some buttons are cyclic like the seat heat, but AC and Defrost, both have a 2nd with MAX options for both instead of using the same cyclic button as seat heat. Remove those redundant and add a cyclic vent selector, and maybe a temp sync button.

Yes all these are redundant as they can all be done with sync, but so can every function. Putting in buttons for 95% of the functions, while leaving out a primary function of the system seems like a ridiculous cut.
 

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* If you were buying today, would you still choose the Ranger? Why?
No, Ford cannot seem to resolve the take-off shudder
* If not, why? What would you buy instead? Why?
Don't know. Would like my Ranger to be smooth
* What problems have you had that disappointed you in the Ranger?
Take-off shudder
* Were these issues significant enough to cause you to doubt the reliability of the truck?
Yes
* What other trucks did you look at before buying the Ranger?
Nissan Frontier, Chevy Colorado, Toyota Tacoma
* What did you like & dislike about them?
Nissan was outdated interior and lack of driver legroom for me. Local dealership is high volume, crap service.
Chevy ride was see-saw like over bumps and exterior looked unfinished around wheelwells, salesman was more interested in selling me truck I test drove than what I wanted.
Toyota seating position was very odd and uncomfortable.
 
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wintech

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What gets me is some are there some are not. Some buttons are cyclic like the seat heat, but AC and Defrost, both have a 2nd with MAX options for both instead of using the same cyclic button as seat heat. Remove those redundant and add a cyclic vent selector, and maybe a temp sync button.

Yes all these are redundant as they can all be done with sync, but so can every function. Putting in buttons for 95% of the functions, while leaving out a primary function of the system seems like a ridiculous cut.
The climate controls in sync is probably the only thing I really don't like about my Ranger. It was especially annoying when the sync 3.4 update took away the climate controls and most of the winter I was at the mercy of the automatic controls as far as how the air was directed. My previous vehicle was a 2018 civic and it was similar in that some controls were hard buttons and others including the fan speed that were controlled only on the touch screen.
 

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Nope - luv it but would have bought a Maverick instead .....I commute alot and 40 mpg with a little loss of bed / capability would have been be fine with me . But again I love my truck so far .....
 

aslusers

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Yes. I would buy it again. We purchased it basically for our travel trailer towing. We have put over 10,700 miles with our trailer. Whenever we are not towing, it gives us best MPG. Total miles on this truck is 18,166. We are very happy with this. Our is loaded XLT. We love the adaptive cruise control; automatically turn on high beam light whenever we need it; and it’s engine brake is awesome.
Yes, we would buy it again. We have test drive Colorado, Tacoma and Gladiator. Ranger ride is much better
 
 



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