Why did you pick Ranger

[Ric]

I was shopping for a new vehicle last summer. I’ve had sedans, suvs, minivans, vans, and trucks. I’m a tall older guy and at this point can pretty much drive whatever I want (I was given permission by my wife). I’m done with suvs and minivans. Sedans sit too low. Full size trucks are too big.

I went to a car show and they had a Ranger on display behind velvet ropes. It got me to thinking a midsized truck would be high enough for easy egress.

I wandered over to the Tacoma and it failed as at 6’3 I didn’t fit.

The Chevy and GMC seemed cheaply constructed,

The Ridgeline ain’t a truck.

The Frontier is way outdated.

A few weeks later, I got invited to a Ranger drive event. It had all the safety gadgets I like and the must have adaptive cruise control. I took it for a spin and was sold. I ordered one two days later.

I’m waiting for Ford to fix the bad #2 fuel injector and then I’ll be posting tons of pictures of my pride and joy Oxford White Lariat Ebony interior 4X2 501A tech package, spray in bed liner, Undercover Flex bed cover with tray floor mats.

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[RobertU]

I drove a 2001 Ranger XLT for 18 years. I just loved fords. my Grandfather had several F 100’s . I grew up in them. My family cars have been of various makes and models. For my own personal ride I wanted another pickup I waited for many years for the Ranger to come back. Honestly the Toyota’s, Gm’s, and nissans(rust bucket) were never even an option for me .
They always talk about Tacoma reliability . I’m sure it’s a fine vehicle. It’s just not for me.
Here is my 2001. Bought it for 18k back in the day. Still rolling. Looking good. Never had any major trouble with it.

 

[mike]

No 6' bed ruled out Jeep and Honda
Transmission (mainly), comfort (2nd), looks ruled out GM
Comfort easily ruled out Tacoma (ROW Tacoma-Revo- doesnt have that problem)
Older platform, comfort, quality (for price) ruled out Nissan.

Drove Ranger overseas and here in US. Checked all the boxes. Recent poll I did showed there is majority satisfaction thus far so we'll see. My experience after nearly 6 months wait begins around 2 weeks from now.

 

[Rp930]

Safety gadgets. GM has nothing.

 

[mike]

Safety gadgets. GM has nothing.

Really? Hmmm, maybe it's not too late to change over to GM. Kidding.. sticking with Ranger but lack of safety gadgets is a huge plus in my book.

 

[SubVet]

I owned two Rangers and 4 Tacomas .1995,2008, 2014, 2016. The Tacoma is a great truck but they are selling 10's of thousands of them. I think this is why Toyota doesn't have a state of the art Tacoma. Their fan base will buy all the Tacoma's Toyota can make blindly/ I chose not to spend $40K on an old in the tooth Tacoma.

Tacoma fanboys keep buying mediocre trucks They say the Ford is a "2012" version while the Tacoma has all the tech and comfort of a 2012 Tacoma.,.

The Tacoma is far behind in drivetrain, and tech, They are too conservative for my money. IF they had a comparable Tacoma to the ranger, I'd have bought it. But I am not giving Toyota any more of my money for more mediocre Tacomas.

Now if the Ranger proves to be a problem child, I will buy a Tacoma again. But so far I made the right choice....

 

[EcoRanger]

I've been a Ford only man all my life my dad worked at the Ford stamping plant at Waltonhills Ohio. I've owned a 86 Ranger 2wd 2.9 v6 also had a 93 F150 2wd regular cab both bought used. Wish I still had the 86 Ranger. When I decided it was time to replace my 13 Escape I new I wanted a truck. I test drove several F150's then I test drove a Ranger and I was sold. For me the F150 was more than I was wanting to pay and the Ranger I bought has Just the right amount of tech with sync3 and Ford Pass. I am well acquainted with Ecoboost engines my 13 Escape Titanium 4wd had the 2.0 and my 15 Mustang convertible has the 2.3. The ecoboost is a very strong performer and so far from my experience very reliable and the Rangers mated to the 10sp has been a dream.

 

[jsphlynch]

I haven't actually pulled the trigger yet (still need to save a few more $$$ first), but Ranger is at the top of my list.

While I'm not loyal to any car brand, I would give the Ranger the edge over any other if name was the only factor. The only vehicle I've ever owned (other than the wife's cars) is my current vehicle: a 2003 Ranger XL I bought new in high school. In 16 years I've never had a major problem with that truck. But that hasn't stopped me from looking at the alternatives:

GM Twins: I'm disinclined to purchase any GM vehicles, ever. I married into an Oldsmobile, and I was happy to be rid of it when we traded it in. That car revealed dirty things about GM as a company (had one of the faulty ignitions, and could never get a straight answer about the airbag). Plus I don't like that stance of those pickups.

Tacoma: I long thought I'd end up in one, until I started to look into them. The ride quality is disappointing, as is the powertrain. I like the look, but I'm too practical to buy on looks alone.

Ridgeline: Let's be honest here, this isn't designed to be a truck. I don't mean that as a knock; it fits a lot of people's needs, so it really is the best option for them. But it's not the best option for me. I want a truck because I want to be able to have truck capabilities.

Gladiator: That price!

Frontier: Outdated in every aspect. I'm ok with that in most respects, but not in that the engine and transmission are old and underperform, especially for the amount of gas this thing drinks. There's a chance the next gen Frontier will hit the lots before I have the cash to upgrade my truck, in which case I'll definitely revisit the model.

F-150 (and full-size pickups in general): I'd love to have the payload capabilities, but I just don't want my daily driver to be as big as full sized pickups have gotten.

Ranger: Love that the engine/tranny pairing is so affordable and manages to provide power when it's needed, but great overall fuel economy. I'm still getting hung up about the short bed (part of the reason for buying a new truck is to have seats for my kids, so the crew cab is non-negotiable), but I'm getting used to the idea.

 

[RedlandRanger]

I'm still getting hung up about the short bed (part of the reason for buying a new truck is to have seats for my kids, so the crew cab is non-negotiable), but I'm getting used to the idea.

This was one of my big things as well. I'm still waiting on a bed extender which I'm hoping will help make up for the short bed. One other thing that I think helps make up for it - the bed is very deep, so if you are piling things in, you have more room within the bed walls. Doesn't help for everything, but it does for some things.

 

[TacoHawkRanger]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only over-analyzer here! I'm also glad this didn't turn into "Ford good. All others bad." type of thread. Please not, that I'm not dissing on those who are are Ford people, more commenting on how y'all ain't bashing other makes because they aren't Ford.

It seems that a lot of us kinda went through the same motions. I will add another consideration I took into account:

Gen 2 Tacomas are great trucks. BUT, you can't do much to the engine. Tuning is prohibitively difficult, and making any serious power gains requires a supercharger. When the Gen 3s were announced, with the higher horsepower and torque numbers, I was excited. Then the real-world numbers came in. Gotta hand it to Toyota marketing, they sure put a good spin on that 3.5.

As a side note, there's a video on youtube where they drag race a stock gen 2 vs a stock gen 3... Spoiler alert: Gen 3 loses.

I'm still getting hung up about the short bed (part of the reason for buying a new truck is to have seats for my kids, so the crew cab is non-negotiable), but I'm getting used to the idea.

I feel you there, brother! I especially hate when I go pick up a bunch of wood for a project and it sticks out for several feet! I figure that once I retire and can through down stakes, I'll hopefully have enough space for a shop. I"ll throw an old F-150 in it and use it when I need bed space! In fact, I'll park the 150 right next to the '72 Gran Torino... Ahhhh... daydreams!

 

[Mark W]

All very similar experiences.

I had an older Ranger many years ago, I think it was an STX (did they make one of these). It was purple in color and was only going to be my winter vehicle. Loved that truck. When my kids got older I needed a truck with more room in the back and posted up a Dakota. That was a very sharp vehicle and never had any issues with it. Hates the horrible gas mileage though. Sold it with well over 200k miles and decided at that time there wasn’t a pick up I liked. Late in 2011 I bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. Loved everything about the SUV except not having a bed to throw stuff in.

I’ve been talking about getting a pick up again as I hunt and fish and recently purchased a cabin. I need something with a bed I can haul stuff in. Started looking tow years ago.

Nissan - hate the brand ever since I owned a Pathfinder that was a pice of junk. Have never owned another Nissan since.

Ridge line was the old version when I started looking and had a buddy with one. Wasn’t for me.

Tacoma - loves the looks but when I went to drive one I just didn’t like how it felt. The seating position put me low to the floor and I didn’t like it. It also didn’t drive right.

GM - this was the trick I was going to buy and I was waiting to see what the Canyon Denali was going to have. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the squared off wheel wells in the GM and I really thought the crease on the GMC fender flares was butt ugly but I needed a pick up and it was down to either the Colorado or Canyon.

As fate has it, while waiting to hear about the Denali, Ford announced it was bringing back the Ranger and it was going to be a mid sized truck just what I was looking for. I scoured the interweb for info and pics. Finally saw some pics of the Saber Ranger that everyone else did.

Called the local Autoshow and learned the Ranger was going to be displayed. Got right down there and fell in love with the design of it. I prefer rounded smoother vehicles and the Ranger has all of this. The stances, the lines, everything just worked.

Then I found out it would be a year before it was available. Tough decision as I really needed a pickup bed right now.

Decided to wait for the Ranger and I will be picking it up tomorrow evening at 5:00. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I have been having issues with the Jeep of late and throwing more money at it was not too appealing.

Already have a huge pile of leaves waiting for the Ranger. Have a ton of wood to haul and so on. Towed the boat with the Jeep yesterday and while the Jeep does fine with it, the towing capabilities of the Ranger are much better.

Long enough rant. Tomorrow I’ll be in the Ranger club

 

[RedlandRanger]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only over-analyzer here!

I probably did WAY over analyze this purchase, but I knew I was going to be spending a lot of money and keeping it for quite some time (I had my prior Ranger for 14 years), so I wanted to make sure I bought something I was happy with. I can say with certainty that I'm very happy with all my analyzing! I guess maybe it was worth all the work!

This is an interesting thread. I'm glad you posted it.

 

[RedlandRanger]

Long enough rant. Tomorrow I’ll be in the Ranger club

Please post your initial experiences when you get it. I'm sure you will LOVE it.

 

[jsphlynch]

I will be picking it up tomorrow evening at 5:00

Awesome! Congrats!

 

[foulmouf]

I won't buy a GM or Chrysler product, the Ridgeline isn't a truck, and the Frontier is very old so it came down to Tacoma and Ranger. I like the looks of the Ranger better and, from virtually every comparison between them I could find, they are very comparable in capabilities but the Ranger was consistently considered to be more comfortable. I also learned to drive in a 1996 Mazda B4000 so I have a softspot for the Ranger family.

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