Not a Ford Guy

[Joeiconic]

I’ve had 5 ford trucks and one Ford Mustang, 3 BMW’s, two Toyotas, one Nissan, one Jeep, one Datsun. Not too many for 40 years of driving, especially considering that I owned several of these at the same time. Honestly, they have all been reliable vehicles that mostly just required routine maintenance.

Sponsored

 

[brroberts]

I’m probably a minority here. I’m not a car guy. I follow forums to help me keep my vehicles going for the long haul. I have a 1998 Chevy 2500 with the heavy duty rear and tranny. I have a 2016 Corolla. It’s pretty cheap to both buy and drive. Both have been solid vehicles. I wanted a newer truck for our long trips. My requirements were 1800lbs payload and 7000lbs towing with a GCVW to fully use both. Guess what the lowest cost, and only non full size truck to do this is. It’s a Ford Ranger. So far it’s been good. It does flash intermittent loss of traction control when towing, and I mostly tow with it. I hope to someday find an answer to that. I also don’t like the small bed, but I still have the ‘98, so it’s not the end of the world.

 

[CF6-mech]

I have been a VW/Audi fan. I have even converted my Wife. She has been driving Audi for about 30 years with a one year period of driving a Lexus RX. The Ranger is my first Ford, but I have always liked Ford better than GM.

 

[halligan1201]

Who else wasn't a huge Ford fan before the Ranger? I have a one ton GM sitting in the Driveway and a big Kia. My project/race car is going to be a Hyundai (yes I am nuts). My last Ford was an 87 LTD more than 20 years ago.

That 2.3 won me over and back to the blue oval. Super happy with it now that the initial bullshit is sorted out.

Who else liked other makes but the Ranger got you sucked into the Ford brand?

I wouldn't say I was a fan before or even now; Ranger just rang all the right bells when looking at the options out there. I'm a pretty big Ranger fan now though. I sometimes go to the window at work and just look at her parked out there waiting to go for the next drive.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

Cars, I have very little brand loyalty. I've owned almost everything, and would buy almost any brand moving forward.

As a young man, I preferred GM fast cars. Off-road toys Cherokees or SWB Jeeps. Overlanding SUV (fk I hate that term, lol) Toyota 4runners or landcruisers.

Trucks in 2 ton or less category, I have driven every brand and motor/build combo available in N. America, and most in a hard working service vehicle capacity. Ford has performed better, and failed less often than the others. Not by a dramatic margin, but consistently better IME, and less catastrophic/expensive failures when they do happen.

 

[NOVA_Ranger]

Zero brand loyalty here and I buy what I view as the best vehicle that fits my needs. Vehicles before the Ranger include Toyota, BMW, Chevy, Nissan, and Jeep. Next vehicle might be a Gladiator 4xE, in a few years.

 

[Dereku]

Been a Ford guy since my dad had a late 80s f150 with the inline 6. 350k miles and still ran strong. My first Ford was a blue bigfoot power wheels. Been hooked ever since. I was an early electric adopter.

 

[RANGER_MARC]

I’m probably a minority here. I’m not a car guy. I follow forums to help me keep my vehicles going for the long haul. I have a 1998 Chevy 2500 with the heavy duty rear and tranny. I have a 2016 Corolla. It’s pretty cheap to both buy and drive. Both have been solid vehicles. I wanted a newer truck for our long trips. My requirements were 1800lbs payload and 7000lbs towing with a GCVW to fully use both. Guess what the lowest cost, and only non full size truck to do this is. It’s a Ford Ranger. So far it’s been good. It does flash intermittent loss of traction control when towing, and I mostly tow with it. I hope to someday find an answer to that. I also don’t like the small bed, but I still have the ‘98, so it’s not the end of the world.

Funny, you sound like a car guy to me...

 

[JesseS]

This is my first Ford, did have a Mercury Capri back in the day but I never thought of it as a Ford. Being in the Military for 20 years I moved a lot, and made crap for $$$ so not many cars. Audi, BMW, Chevy, Oldsmobile, Pontiac GTO, ('65 with the 421, can you say Fast) SAAB turbo drop top. So far am happy with the Ranger, got it because I needed a mid-sized 4X4 truck that would fit in my garage and that I could tow behind my MH.

 

[D Fresh]

I grew up with a hotrodder for a father. He liked Ford bodies and GM powerplants.

My stepfather was into foreign cars. I really took a liking to rally as a youngster so as young adult I was more of a Subie guy.

Bought our first new Ford in 2010, I had driven a few used ones periodically before.

 

[brroberts]

Funny, you sound like a car guy to me...

To me vehicles are necessary evils. You need the tool to do what you have to do in life. I can do many things on a vehicle, but there are some I won’t do. Honestly there are only two things in life I hate. 1. Editing video. 2. Working on cars. There’s other stuff I don’t like, most stuff I do like, but only really those two things I hate. I just need certain vehicles to do jobs, and to do them with the least amount of cost and hassle. I don’t really even enjoy driving. It’s just something you have to do. So that’s why I don’t consider myself a car guy. It’s not a passion or even a hobby. It’s just something you have to do that’s not, for me, one of the better parts of life. A man’s gotta do, what a man’s gotta do…. So I usually fix what breaks, but I don’t do it as a hobby, it’s a necessity of cost saving. The cost saving helps allow me to do what I do like.

 

[oldnslow]

I was a GM guy most of my life, except for 1 Dodge Dakota, which I soon regretted buying, and a 1999 Jeep TJ that I really liked. I drove that thing for 19 years as a second vehicle.

I travelled a bit for the company in the 90's which usually meant Ford Taurus rentals. I hated them, especially that transmission that would not downshift when needed. Just as I gave up trying to pass and pulled back in line, THEN it would downshift... I had a Ranger rental once, it was a dog. I don't know what engine it had.

Then a few years ago my sister gave me a really good deal on a Transit van that we (I did the electrical) had converted to a camper when she bought it new. Its a 3.7L with the 6 speed. The engine is OK but that transmission is the best I had ever driven, by far. It downshifts when it should, upshifts when appropriate, and just generally works like an auto should. For mountain grades it has the manual mode, unlike the GMC.

When my GMC started giving me troubles (it was run at or near max load with campers most of its life) I went looking for a smaller truck (no more RVs) and the Ranger looked like the best of the bunch at the time. I am happy with the truck but not the dealer. I do worry about my driver's license at times as this thing is quite the hot rod. It is by far the nicest road trip vehicle I have ever owned. The transmission is almost as good as the 6 speed but it does get a bit confused at times with light loads and small throttle opening changes. That low 1st gear means I rarely need to go to low range when in the rocks. I like it.

As someone above said, Ford has come a long way in 30 years.

 

[scubasteve278]

I was in the same boat. Drove a Tundra for years and was a loyal Toyota/ Subaru guy. When I was shopping for a new truck I knew I wanted a midsize truck and looked at everything and spent hours upon hours researching. Within 2 minutes of driving it I knew it was my next truck. 62,000 km in and no regrets. If I don't get to drive it for a day or two, I miss it.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi Folks,

I have been reading and sitting back but though I would chime in on this thread for a brief moment. It is up to Ford to offer products to the customer that meet or exceed expectations and if we fall short we take the hit with respect to sales which are poor when we offer outdated (Read 4G Ranger) or non competitive products. We cannot make a profit banking on diehard Ford loyal customers. This is why when I created the FX4 brand, I stood in the way of Marketing as I knew we had to offer an over the top performance product, and it worked and as far as I know it it still carries that heritage with today's FX4...

Short and sweet, We have to deliver superior products or we fail...

Best,
Phil

 

[Wytchdctr]

Hi Folks,

I have been reading and sitting back but though I would chime in on this thread for a brief moment. It is up to Ford to offer products to the customer that meet or exceed expectations and if we fall short we take the hit with respect to sales which are poor when we offer outdated (Read 4G Ranger) or non competitive products. We cannot make a profit banking on diehard Ford loyal customers. This is why when I created the FX4 brand, I stood in the way of Marketing as I knew we had to offer an over the top performance product, and it worked and as far as I know it it still carries that heritage with today's FX4...

Short and sweet, We have to deliver superior products or we fail...

Best,
Phil

Worked on me. I don't know how many people asked "YOU bought a new Ford" when they saw me in the Ranger.

Sponsored