Why did you pick Ranger

[Jrye22]

Picked ranger lariat cause an f-150 was way too much

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[Snorebaby]

I have a '96 Ranger XLT Supercab 5-Speed (240k+ on the odometer). I love it. Bought it new (actually ordered it). When I bought it, I was looking for a small truck and tried every model out there even though I was raised in a Ford family. The Ranger won. Fast forward to 2013. Wife was wanting a new truck (our first vehicle together was a '86 F-150 regular cab). She was driving the '96 a lot as I was riding my 1990 Goldwing as a daily driver (now I ride the 2015) when it wasn't raining. Then she had knee surgery on her left knee. Out went her driving a stick. She wanted an F-150 to drive. As we were ordering her truck, I told the salesman that if they ever brought back the Ranger, I was gonna buy one. And I did. Pre-ordered it 12/10/18 and took delivery 4/8/19. Sure I could have waited a little while and got some rebate's, but I got a good deal on mine (less than invoice) and I am happy. Copperhead is a great truck! No complaints! For various reasons, the only other mid-size truck I would consider is the Tacoma, but my daughter has a 2017 Tacoma and I wasn't too impressed with the seats and layout of the instruments. Ford always has comfortable seats, even she said so!

If this truck lasts as long as my other Ranger, I will have gotten another great truck.

The wife said when we pay off Copperhead, she wants a new Bronco if they still look like the prototype (or similar).

 

[One Ranger]

For me, it boils down to three things:

1. I like the looks of the Ranger better than the competition:

• I think the Tacos are flat out ugly
• to me, the driver position of the Taco is like staring at the hood
• I really dislike the rake and interior of the GMC Canyon or Chevy Colorado

2. I believe the Ranger is a better truck:

• looking at all the specs, the Ranger is best in class in almost every way
• to me, the ride of the Taco is very uncomfortable
• Honda Ridgeline and Nissan Frontier were not even considered:
  • Ridgeline is a glorified car with a beer cooler trunk (could be appealing to some, but not me)
  • Frontier is old and ugly
  • Specs on both pale in comparison the the Ranger

3. My experience with Fords has been the best (and I've owned several other Brands over the years):

• my 2000 Ranger XLT and 2001 Expedition XLT had least overall repairs/warranty work of any of the Chevys, Toyotas, or GMCs I've owned
• my Fords have been good, consistent, reliable vehicles and I drove them a lot

 

[rang19ca]

I have been waiting to see what the Rangers would be like for a couple years now. I last owned a 2002 Ranger XLT supercab that i traded in to get the wife a new Escape in 2011. We have since moved her up to a 2017 Escape and gave our old one to our son. I have been driving a series of Mustang GT's since 2009. The current one is a 2015 Mustang GT that has been a daily driver for about 4 years now. Now don't get me wrong, the Mustang is a great car but it doesn't function too well to make Home Depot runs, if you know what i mean. Since i have now retired and don't commute 200 miles a week anymore, I can treat myself to a new Ranger XLT. I first saw them at the LA Auto Show and knew that i would get one soon. I ordered one thru a local dealer who is working with me on a good price, below MSRP. It has now been 5 weeks but i do not have a VIN number yet. As much as i would like to receive my new truck, today, i will continue to suffer while driving the Mustang, He He.

 

[jsphlynch]

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!

Man, I would LOVE to be able to have both an F-150 (or equivalent) and a separate daily driver. But until that day comes, I'll just compromise with the Ranger with 8-ft 2x4s sticking out way further than they should.

 

[tugger]

I had Two Rangers before they discontinued production. Glad to be back in the Ford family!!!!

 

[Tommy Oberon]

Never owned a truck. Wanted a truck. Not sure I wanted a full size truck yet. GM trucks were nice. Ford announced the Ranger. I can get Z-plan on Fords. Engine HP and Torque were pretty good on 2.3L turbo with 10speed transmission. So I bought the Ford.

 

[TGinAZ]

I've owned Toyota, Chevy, Honda motorcycles, Plymouth, and a few others... so no brand loyalty. That said, our most recent models include a 2014 Vette, 2017 RAV4, and before I sold it, a 1996 Ranger.

After 22 years with the Ranger, I felt it was time for a new one. I looked at the Colorado and Tacoma and just couldn't warm up to the Colorado and seriously considered the Tacoma, but the history of my Ranger and the pre-production reviews made me want a Ranger.

Add that to the fact that Ford didn't accept the bailout years ago, and I'd rather have a new model.

 

[SRAces]

My first truck was a 1983 Toyota Hilux 4X4. Good little truck. Bought it because I was being stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska and wanted something with 4-wheel drive. Put 140,000 miles on that truck in 7 years all over Alaska. It was durable and dependable even in the -50 below weather.

After 7 years in Alaska, they transferred me to a HQ job in San Antonio. Traded the Toyota in as it had no factory A/C. Got a 1991 Chevy Silverado extended cab. Nothing but issues with everything from door jams that had to be rewelded, climate controls with a mind of its own, and on and on. After 20 months of frustration, I traded in the Silverado for a 1993 F-150 Supercab 4X2. Zero issues.

Retired from the USAF and moved back to southwest VA. Sold the 93 F-150 so we could buy a new home. Drove a new vehicle as a demo as I worked at a major automotive group that sold Toyota, Ford, Chevy and Dodge. Bought the 1997 F-150 SuperCab 4X4 when that new body style came out. Put 105,000 miles on it. Sold it as my teenage son was complaining about the rear legroom. Sold it in 2 days for what I wanted.

Purchased a 2004 F-150 SuperCrew Lariat 4X4 when that body style came out. Put 226,000 miles on that truck in 15.5 years before I decided it was time to get a replacement and pay off the new truck before I permanently retire. While I thought about an F-150 and always stated "if I am going to own a truck, its going to be an F-150", the Ranger fit better. Better gas mileage, covers my hauling needs and has the features my 2004 truck never had. I expect this new Ranger to last me another 15 years or more.

Sold my 2004 F-150 in under 24 hours for the price I wanted. The track record of my last 3 F-150s over 25 plus years tells me to stick with a Ford pickup and I couldn't be happier with the Ranger.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

First, no need to apologize, if you can't find it, post it. Someone will respond or point you in the right direction.

For me it was pretty easy. I have been a lifelong Ford guy, although I have owned other brands. I owned a 1990 F-150, a 1994 Ranger and a 2000 F-250. Loved all of them and the other Fords we have owned. At this point in my life I need a 4 door vehicle and really wanted to get back in a truck (sold my last truck in 2012). I didn't want a full size so I started looking at the midsize. My lease was up in February so I started looking in early 2018. Speaking to the Ford Rep at Daytona last February I was not confident I could wait for the Ranger release so I was leaning toward the Colorado/Canyon. Never cared much for the Toyota whenever I rode in one, and never even considered the Frontier or Honda. In December I was rear ended and my Focus was totaled. At the same time my wife's Fusion lease was up and she got an Explorer. While explaining my situation to the dealer, they said if my car was fixable I could order a Ranger and they would extend the lease so I ordered one. The car was totaled so I drove rental for a few weeks and then bought a $350 POS to drive until my Ranger came in.

So in my case it was what I wanted all along, but I was lucky the timing worked out as it did, otherwise I would be a semi happy GM owner instead of an extremely happy Ranger owner.

One other thing that sold me on the Ranger is I am going to tow it behind my motor-home. The Ranger is easily flat tow-able and met the weight requirements I had for my motor-home.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

For me the decision was easy....I get the Corporate Z plan which makes the price I paid about $3k below dealer invoice price. I had seen this Ranger a year ago in New Zealand when we toured NZ and Australia over a two month period. It was a much bigger truck than my little base model Ranger Regular cab but would fit in the garage. To boot...as the former head of Ranger Vehicle Engineering before retiring in Dec of 2002 after a 30 year career in Light Truck Engineering, I tracked down an early production Lariat 4x4, and am very pleased with the Truck.... Aussie design and development engineers did an excellent job on this truck...

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

 

[khyros]

For me it was a bit different of a story. I knew I was getting a Ford, but the question was which one. I currently have a 2013 Escape with 109k miles, and I've started to notice a few things that are "off" with it, so I don't have full faith in driving it 1500+ miles for our family vacations anymore... I loved the Escape, and in all honesty, my needs haven't changed to the point that I couldn't get a new Escape and be fine. Before my Escape though, I had a F-250, and absolutely loved driving a truck (and everything before that was a BoF SUV)... So I spent about 2 years debating between F-150, Explorer, Expedition, Escape, and MKC. I wasn't overly happy with any of them. The Expedition and F150 were both too big to fit in my garage, which means that it has to get parked on the street (my driveway wouldn't fit it and allow the lady to get her car in/out of the garage). They also are just so large that my every day driving is compromised in order to have the cargo capacity they provide. The MKC didn't have a real roof rack, which annoyed the heck out of me... and getting another Escape both seemed boring to me, and left me with the same minor issues that I didn't like about my current vehicle, not to mention that I'm pretty tapped out on toy space in the Escape. I think I had pretty much decided on an Explorer, and removing the 3rd row seats to increase the storage capacity of the vehicle for toys. It wasn't ideal as I wasn't a huge fan on how it rode, but it provided me with a very comfortable interior, with all sorts of tech, expanded cargo space for all of my toys, roof rack access for the kayaks, and enough towing capacity to pull some future toys.

Enter the Ranger. First, the Ranger fits in the garage, which is a huge plus to me. Second, upon sitting in it and getting familiar with the cockpit, I realized that a ton of the things I like about the Escape cockpit are common with the Ranger, and I attribute that to being a rest of world design instead of a USA design. Third, it fits the sweet spot of not being awkward as an everyday vehicle, while still being well geared towards a weekend warrior. And Fourth, it doesn't hurt that the real world fuel economy seems to be higher than my Escape's.

All of that said, there are plenty of compromises I'm making with the Ranger. But every vehicle I've investigated has compromises, and the balance of wants/needs compared to lacks/hurts weighs very positively for the Ranger.

 

[REDWM]

I've had Fords all my life and had a 2003 Ranger FX4 Super Cab I just sold to my daughter to replace the 1991 F-150 Super Cab I had sold her 8 years ago. She just sold that F-150 to a family with a 16 year old son. "Old Fords never die, they just get sold to another Ford enthusiast". When I started hearing about the new Ranger, I looked into it closer, even going to Lake Havasu to an outdoor recreation show to drive several new Rangers. I like every thing about my crew cab, FX4 Ranger. I just wish they had made them with manual transmission and in green like my 2003 Ranger. My list of Fords I've owned include 1965 Ford Falcon, 1970 Ford Maverick, 1975 Pinto Wagon, 1979 F-150 Super Cab, 1991 F-150 Super Cab, 2000 Ford Explorer, 2003 Ford Ranger, 2011 F-150 Super Cab (still own), 2012 Ford Escape (still own) and now a 2019 Ranger. All my Fords never let me down and the dealer I deal with (Hellman Ford) is great to work with. My daughter thinks I'll sell her the new Ranger in 10 years but only if they make one with manual transmission and in green. Ha!

 

[REDWM]

I've had Fords all my life and had a 2003 Ranger FX4 Super Cab I just sold to my daughter to replace the 1991 F-150 Super Cab I had sold her 8 years ago. She just sold that F-150 to a family with a 16 year old son. "Old Fords never die, they just get sold to another Ford enthusiast". When I started hearing about the new Ranger, I looked into it closer, even going to Lake Havasu to an outdoor recreation show to drive several new Rangers. I like every thing about my crew cab, FX4 Ranger. I just wish they had made them with manual transmission and in green like my 2003 Ranger. My list of Fords I've owned include 1965 Ford Falcon, 1970 Ford Maverick, 1975 Pinto Wagon, 1979 F-150 Super Cab, 1991 F-150 Super Cab, 2000 Ford Explorer, 2003 Ford Ranger, 2011 F-150 Super Cab (still own), 2012 Ford Escape (still own) and now a 2019 Ranger. All my Fords never let me down and the dealer I deal with (Hellman Ford) is great to work with. My daughter thinks I'll sell her the new Ranger in 10 years but only if they make one with manual transmission and in green. Ha!

 

[Robert Jay]

I have always had good luck with f150s but I hated the gas mileage. When I saw the stats for the Ranger I just had to have it.. That said I really did not get said mileage. I do however love the look But am suffering the comfort versus the F150.

If I had to pick one I would go for the mileage and even though I am only getting 17 around town, it is better than 12MPG that my F150 got.

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