Greg In The Desert

Ford has issued a Speed Control Deactivation Switch Recall (09S09) on a number of trucks and SUVs. They sent me a letter to about my 1997 Ford Ranger and suggested I have it fixed as soon as possible.

Ford cannot be confident that over many years in service, a speed control deactivation switch installed on your vehicle will not leak brake fluid, posing the risk of a fire. This condition may occur either when the vehicle is parked or when it is being operated.

This risk exists on vehicles equipped with or without speed control.

Ford Motor Company has authorized your dealer to perform the repairs under this program and your dealer on your vehicle free of charge (parts and labor).

Your dealer may be able to perform this repair while you wait; however, due to scheduling requirements, your dealer may need your vehicle for a longer period of time.

Please call your dealer without delay and request a service date for Recall 09S09. Provide the dealer with the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of your vehicle. The VIN is printed near your name at the beginning of this letter.

Until you have the recall service performed, park your vehicle outdoors away from structures to prevent a potential fire from spreading.

I took it to the local Don Chalmers Ford who was able to get my truck in immediately. They had my truck for about 6 hours and gave me a receipt. Total cost of the repair charged to Ford was 28.89. I realize Ford has millions of these to pay for but I have never taken my truck to a Ford dealer and had such a cheap repair. If I had to pay for this myself, I wonder how much it would have cost me.

There is nothing wrong with my 1997 Ford Ranger except that it’s getting up there in age (kind of like me). Since it’s my only vehicle I am always concerned about total failure or some expensive repairs that could be more than the value of my truck. I’m very interested in what the government’s CAR Allowance Rebate System (formally known as Cash for Clunkers) could do.

Cars.gov has the requirements for the program:

• Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date
• Only purchase or lease of new vehicles qualify
• Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements)
• Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in
• You don’t need a voucher, dealers will apply a credit at purchase
• Program runs through Nov 1, 2009 or when the funds are exhausted, whichever comes first.
• The program requires the scrapping of your eligible trade-in vehicle, and that the dealer disclose to you an estimate of the scrap value of your trade-in. The scrap value, however minimal, will be in addition to the rebate, and not in place of the rebate.

According to the fueleconomy.gov website, my 1997 Ford Ranger qualifies for the gas efficiently requirements because they say it gets an combined gas miles of 16 MPG.

I was surprised to see that the EPA says my truck gets such low gas milage. I can get at least 18 MPG in town and 22 MPG on the freeway. I was also surprised when I compared my 1997 model with a 2009 Ford Ranger that the 2009 model gets 1 MPG less.

If I were to replace my vehicle under the CARS program, I wouldn’t replace it with a super fuel efficient vehicle. I would need to replace it with another truck (yes I do actually use my truck as a truck and utility vehicle). This doesn’t help me very much because nearly every new truck gets nearly the same gas mileage as mine. I compared my truck to a variety of similar trucks. I could find two that met the mileage requirements and only one actually qualified.

The 2009 Chevrolet Silverado 15 Hybrid 4 wheel drive qualifies on the gas miles requirements as it gets 20 MPG. But for some reason it is a Category 2 or Category 3 truck and I cannot trade in my truck for own of those. I don’t know what they category requirements are but seems kind of silly on the surface.

The second possibility is the 2009 Toyota Tacoma 4 wheel drive. It barely gets 2 MPG more than my current truck netting me $3500 in rebate. Is it really worth it for me to trade in my perfectly good working truck for a new one?

Kelly Blue Book says it’s worth about $3000 in trade in value. CARS is not saving me much on the trade in. A new Toyota pickup will be about $26,000 leaving me for about $23,000. That runs just under $400 a month depending on financing.

I just don’t think it’s worth it to trade in a perfectly good pickup that may or may not have problems in the immediate future for a $400 a month payment.

• Risk of mad cow disease from farmed fish? | Science | Reuters – Three U.S. scientists are concern about the potential of people contracting Creutzfeldt Jakob disease — the human form of "mad cow disease" — from eating farmed fish who are fed byproducts rendered from cows.
• Tucson rainwater harvesting law drawing interest – Under the nation's first municipal rainwater harvesting ordinance for commercial projects, Tucson developers building new business, corporate or commercial structures will have to supply half of the water needed for landscaping from harvested rainwater starting next year.
• N.M. teenager shot in head with Taserby town’s top cop – The Denver Post – TUCUMCARI, N.M. — Authorities say a teenage girl is recovering at an Albuquerque hospital after being shot in the head with a Taser dart by Tucumcari's police chief.
• Gizmodo – CatGenie Litter Box: The Clean Fresh Smell of Civilization’s Discontents – Catgenie review – We all know there are plenty of products that cause more problems than they solve. As a professional technologian, my job is to sift through innovations to see which ones make for an improved life, and which ones are too troublesome for their own good.

  CatGenie—pardon the pun—gives me pause.

• The Recession and the American Airline Industry – Here is a handy guide to each airline’s pricing for additional services to help you know for what you are going to have to pay, before you buy your ticket.
• One Confirmed Shot at Arlington Apple Store|ABC 7 News – ARLINGTON, Va. – Police in Arlington are on the scene of a shooting at an Apple Store on Clarendon Boulevard. It happened shortly after 10 a.m. at 2700 Clarendon Blvd. One person was shot and transported to a local hospital, police say.
• www.KOB.com – Scorpions out for ‘09-10 – The Central Hockey League announced the New Mexico Scorpions will not play in the 2009-2010 season.
• Evidence mounts that Mars was once habitable – Scientists with the University of Arizona-led Phoenix Mars Mission are publishing research today that advances the theory that water once flowed and the Red Planet was once habitable. Researchers found a lot of the basic ingredients that life needs to survive, including water in the form of ice, various minerals and a salt called perchlorate that microbes on Earth use as an energy source.
• Ford Ranger sales are up for June – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The Ford Motor Co. sold 8.8 percent more Ford Ranger pickup trucks in June than in the same month a year ago, according to data released by the automobile manufacturer Wednesday.
• Evidence mounts that Mars was once habitable – Scientists with the University of Arizona-led Phoenix Mars Mission are publishing research today that advances the theory that water once flowed and the Red Planet was once habitable. Researchers found a lot of the basic ingredients that life needs to survive, including water in the form of ice, various minerals and a salt called perchlorate that microbes on Earth use as an energy source.

• Ford Ranger sales are up for June – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The Ford Motor Co. sold 8.8 percent more Ford Ranger pickup trucks in June than in the same month a year ago, according to data released by the automobile manufacturer Wednesday.
• ‘Asteroids’ lands at Universal – Universal has won a four-studio bidding war to pick up the film rights to the classic Atari video game "Asteroids." Matthew Lopez will write the script for the feature adaptation, which will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura.
• www.KOB.com – Naked man diverts flight to Sunport – ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A US Airways flight to Los Angeles was diverted to Albuquerque after a passenger removed all of his clothing mid-flight, forcing flight attendants to cover him with a blanket before he was arrested.
• Revenge of the Fallen is messy, unfunny, and way too long – Ars Technica – The story makes very little sense, and introduces so many strands and subplots that by the end it's nearly impossible to care about anything. The humans pepper everyone with machine gun rounds for very little reason, as it never seems to do anything to anyone. The human characters have very little to do, and no reason to be near each other; there isn't a single relationship that is used for dramatic purposes in a believable way. Megan Fox reprises her role so she can stand around and look hot, jiggling in the appropriate ways when she runs endlessly in slow motion. During one scene, her new pet Decepticon humps her leg as she smiles at him. I guess we know where those egg sacs come from now.
• Intel China fab to use 65nm process, produce notebook chips – Ars Technica – Now, Intel has announced that by a rule change, it will be allowed to produce 65nm silicon at Fab 68, and will abandon the 90nm process. This makes a qualitative difference in the meaning of the new fab, since 65nm will be only two nodes behind the cutting edge in 2010. Current chipsets are produced at the 65nm node, and 65nm processors included the first generation of Core 2 processors, Merom, Conroe, and Kentsfield. If Intel continues to be allowed to produce 2-nodes-behind silicon in China, Santa Clara may drastically expand fab activity in China. Earlier this month, the Taiwanese government announced it was considering allowing TSMC and UMC to operate more sophisticated fabs in mainland China.
• Meltdown 101: Where are the renewable energy jobs? – The Denver Post – Everywhere you turn there is talk of a shift to renewable energy, of building wind farms and solar plants, of making buildings more efficient, of developing biofuels. And of billions in federal funding to help make it all happen. This should mean a whole lot of new energy jobs. So where are they—and how do I get one?
• NM woman hoards 334 hopping bunnies – Rio Rancho Police Officer and Spokesperson John Francis said Monday the county's animal control division discovered 334 hopping bunnies in one woman's backyard.

  Nancy Haseman has been cited for violating a city ordinance that allows five pets per household, and for failing to restrain her animals.

• ABQNews: Some Bad Apples Have Impact on N.M. Film Industry – Film crews are jerks, and small towns are saying, "Enough already, go back to L.A. – we don't want you here anymore."First, it was a moratorium on filming in the village of Los Ranchos that's been going on for a year. Then later this week, the Las Vegas, N.M. City Council passed new restrictions on filming that could seriously impact movies there.
• The Official Site of Rio Rancho, NM – Stimulus Funding for Rio Rancho – Via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the city of Rio Rancho has received confirmation that it will receive the following either directly from the federal government or other government agencies that have received stimulus funding.
• News : Scorpions still looking for owner – Rio Rancho Observer – Will the New Mexico Scorpions play at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho next season? That question still hasn’t been answered. The hockey club is still searching for a new owner, after claiming a $1 million loss in its first three seasons of playing in Rio Rancho. The Central Hockey League gave the New Mexico Scorpions until Friday to find a new owner, but as of press time the team hadn’t been sold.

• Cleansing toxic waste — with vinegar | Science Blog – Engineers and environmental scientists at the University of Leeds are developing methods of helping contaminated water to clean itself by adding simple organic chemicals such as vinegar.

  Current environmental regulations mean that before the team can test out its research findings in the field, they need water-tight proof that their methods can work, as it is illegal to introduce any substance into groundwater – even where it is contaminated – unless it has been shown to be beneficial.

• Geneva 2009: Euro Ford Ranger taunts American light-truck buyers – The U.S. edition of the Ford Ranger has gotten by with little more than cosmetic changes and minor mechanical upgrades since its last redesign in 1993. In Europe, there is another Ford Ranger all together with four full-sized doors, a choice of 2.5L or 3.0L Duratorq diesel engines and styling that comes from the 21st century. We caught a glimpse of the Winning Blue Ranger four-door at the Geneva Motor Show, and we're guessing this mid-size pickup would look much better in a Ford showroom than what we have today. Fortunately, Ford is looking to introduce an all-new U.S. market Ford Ranger in 2011 and the Euro model could be an indicator of things to come.
• STUDY: Median age of cars in U.S. increases to record high – That old clunker in your driveway is not looking so bad right about now, huh? As borne out in the last few month's set of sales figures, Americans are purchasing fewer cars today than in previous years, meaning that the current fleet of vehicles on the road is older than ever before. According to data compiled by R. L. Polk & Co., the average vehicle in use today is 9.4 years old, up a few points from last year's 9.2-year average.
• Motorola site on Price Road back on the block – Motorola, which put the site up for sale in 2007, has evacuated the 510,000-square foot building, in which usable space totals 465,000.

  There are certain restrictions in the Price Road Corridor, where the city wants big campuses developed, not small parcels.

  Potential buyers have various ideas for the site, Ponticiello said.

  "I think anybody that puts a successful plan together is clearly going to have to work within the parameters of what the city wants to see there," he said.

• KOB.com – Senate OKs liquor law changes – The Senate voted Saturday for a package of liquor law changes that includes reducing the penalty for servers who unintentionally sell to underage buyers.
  The legislation also creates a new, less expensive and nontransferable liquor license for restaurants in rural communities. And it lets bars stay open an extra hour — until 3 a.m. — on weekends if they serve food and only nonalcoholic beverages.
  That's aimed at giving patrons some sobering-up time before closing. The bill's sponsor, Senator Phil Griego — a San Jose Democrat — says the bill enhances public safety and gives a boost to the struggling hospitality industry.
• Cover Story: Is Dish Broken? – 2009-03-07 07:00:00 – Multichannel News – After years of defying expectations to build the nation’s No. 2 satellite-TV provider, Dish Network chairman, president and CEO Charlie Ergen faces what could be his greatest challenge ever: How to dig his company — and his reputation as a successful maverick — out of a black hole.

  In the past 15 months, Dish’s stock price has plunged more than 71%, to $9.10 per share on March 3, 2009. Its revenue growth cratered in the most-recent fourth quarter, to 1% compared to a year earlier. And its customer losses jumped from 25,000 in the second quarter (its first quarterly subscriber loss ever) to 102,000 in the fourth quarter.

• Mr. President – Welcome to the Technorati Top 100 – On March 2nd, 2009, Blog, more commonly known as the White House Blog, entered the Technorati Top 100 for the first time at #99.

  The blog was started January 20th, 2009. 42 days later it had rocketed into the Top 100. I pretty certain that is the fastest any blog has ever done that.

  As of this writing, it sits at #96 right between Jalopnik and delicious:days, an auto blog and a food blog.

• More Mac mini details: soldered processor, drive upgrades – Ars Technica – First is the shiny new Core 2 Duo processor, which happens to be soldered to the logic board. This, of course, means you won't be able to do processor upgrades down the road—we're not sure how much of a selling point this was in previous incarnations, but it is totally out of the picture now.
• Deep Throat: A Retrospective || kuro5hin.org – He knew this and one day before he passed on, told us as we sat around drinking a few beers and smoking cigars; "When I die I want you to come in and get this stuff out of here. Do it before any of my relatives arrive." We gave him our word that we would.

  The "stuff" he was referring to was a huge collection of porn video tapes he had collected since the late 70s and early 80s that covered one wall of his apartment.

• The High Cost of Cats and Dogs: Are Pets Worth the Money? – Under normal circumstances, our four cats cost us a total of about $750 a year, which is roughly fifty cents per animal per day. That’s a bargain! The problem, of course, comes from abnormal circumstances. Once every three years or so, one of the cats costs us a small fortune.

  Worth the cost
  Some personal-finance bloggers have written that pets don’t make economic sense. Maybe so, but neither does television — and neither do children. But not every choice is made based on the economics of the situation. Some things transcend money. For me, pet ownership is one of those things.

There is a 1999 Ford Ranger Electric for sale by a dealer in the Albuquerque Craigslist for only $27900. I’m very tempted to purchase it (I won’t).

I’ve reproduced the craigslist ad here and swiped the pictures from Flickr.

Update: I continue to get email asking if this car is still for sale. I am not the seller, I reproduced the ad from craigslist because I found it interesting. Don’t email me asking if its for sale.

1999 Ford Ranger Electric – $27900

---

Reply to: sale-1057064108@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}
Date: 2009-03-02, 12:01PM MST

Only 400
in existence!

Own
a piece of automotive history!

Operating and maintenance
costs are low….no oil changes….just plug
it in to fill it up with a charge. The car even makes its own energy
when the accelerator is released and the electric motor generates a
charge to the battery. It is powered by a rear-mounted 90-hp electric
motor with a top speed of 70 mph.

Background
story

Ford was forced to manufacture
this vehicle between 1998 and
2001 so it could meet the California Air Resource Boards Zero Emissions
Vehicle regulations. It cost over $80,000 for Ford to make this
vehicle! If you have seen the movie, Who Killed the Electric Car?, you
will know the whole story of what happened to electric vehicles like
this Ford Ranger. Most of them were crushed upon lease return!

There were only 1500 Ford Ranger EVs made between 1998-2001 and today
there are only about 400 left with only 100 that have the special
Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries. Compared to older lead-acid technology,
NiMH batteries are lighter, charge faster and increase the overall
range per charge. Lucky for you and 399 other individuals, not all of
these Ranger EV’s were crushed. These vehicles were warehoused after
lease return and finally released to Ford’s battery pack manufacturer
for testing.

Vehicle Systems

• Tires: Low-Rolling
  Resistance
• Air Bags: Driver and
  passenger side
• Equipped Air
  Conditioning/Heater: Standard
• Anti-Lock Braking System
  (ABS): 4-Wheel
• Steering: Electro-Hydraulic
  Power
• Brake Assist: Front
  & Rear – Disc
• Regenerative Braking:
  Standard
• Transmission: Automatic
• Audio System (AM/FM/CD):
  AM/FM Cassette
• Recharging Specifications:
  Conductive Charging – 240v/30
  amp
• Suspension: Front – A Arms/
  Rear – Leaf Spring

Vehicle
Specifications

• Wheel Base (in.): 112
• Overall Width (in.): 69.4
• Vehicle Size: Overall Length
  (in.): 187.8
• Payload (lbs.): 1,250 lbs.
• Max Number Occupants: 3
  passengers
• Overall Height (in.): 65.6
• Curb Weight (lbs.): 4,196

Performance

• Acceleration: 0 – 50 mph in
  12.5 seconds
• Recharging Time: 6-8 hours
• Range: avg. 60 miles
• Maximum Speed: 70 mph
• Miles: only 9k!

 

Europe will have the same model of a US car but it often has a different styling. The European version of these vehicles usually look much better. The European Ford Ranger is one such vehicles that looks better than it’s American counterpart. It has 4 doors and a “WildTrak” design package that looks a lot more like the Honda Ridgeline.

This would be the truck I would buy from Ford today, if it had an electric or hybrid power plant. Assuming it was cheaper than the Ridgeline.

Via jalopnik.

Ford has announced the 2010 Ford Ranger and it looks almost like the Ford Ranger I bought in 1997. Ford’s press release promotes safety including AdvanceTrac® with RSC® (Roll Stability Control) and side air bags. They also promotes the 21 to 26 MPG that the tiny 2.3 liter 4 cylinder engine gets.

I guess there’s some money to be saved by keeping with the same basic design of a vehicle for over a decade. The base price for a low end 2009 Ford Ranger is about $17,000. Compare that to a more innovative truck in about the same size range. The 2009 Honda Ridgeline runs about $28,000 on the low end. I’m not sure a low end Ranger and low end Ridgeline compare exactly however.

You might think that the Ranger might make a good platform for some innovation. Body styling aside, how about an electric or hybrid for Ranger? Oh wait, Ford did Make an electric Ford Ranger and killed them in 2002.

The only option is LionEV, which will offer an electric Ranger for $38,950. That’s almost the price of a hover conversion. LionEV also offers conversion kits for Rangers (electric, not hover) for about $10,000.

Autoblog discusses the Ford Ranger from this Forbes article.

Ford sold 75,673 Rangers to Nissan’s 42,229 Frontiers in the first seven months of the year. Forbes brings up the dismal crash test scores and owner satisfaction. What is the explanation for this sales volume? American loyalty for domestic trucks, deep discounts, and the Ranger name are all cited. There are some serious discounts on this truck, even before the Ford Family Plan you could get $3000 in rebates. The Ranger nameplate still has some solid value, and Ford would be wise to heavily revise this vehicle before they totally destroy its goodwill.

I have a 1996 Ford Ranger, so I read these things with interest. The Ranger is a good truck but it’s hardly changed. It would be cool if they came out with a hybrid version.

My 4×4 Ford Ranger reached a milestone today when it reached a 100,000 miles. I’m happy to say I’m the original owner, purchasing it new in 1996 (it’s a 1997 model) with something like 27 miles on it.

It’s been a good truck, disproving to me that american cars can be well built. It’s not without out it’s share of problems. For the last few years I’ve had a terrible vibration in the vehicle. I’ve taken it to Don Chalmers Ford who diagnosed it with need tires and shocks. I agree that tires can cause some bad issues with it but they weren’t the problems I was having. I could tell it was a front end problem especially since there was sever cupping in the front tires. I finally took it to Bob Turners who correctly diagnosed with needing front new springs. They weren’t even able to properly align it, it’s strange that Don Chalmers didn’t figure that out, even though they charged me $90 for a vibration analysis.

I’ve not heard of spring going bad, but since they have replaced them the tires wear properly and it rides a thousand percent better. Perhaps more people need them and don’t realize it.

I’m experiencing a breaking problem and I suspect the front right (and maybe left) rotors are warped and need replaced. It will be the first time that any such work as been done on this vehicle. Meanwhile my coworkers are telling me how their brand new Nissan need rotors right after they bought it. Other than that there’s been a few minor things, some emissions related thing need replaced a few months ago and some and a few issues with a electronic 4 wheel drive switch.

The engine runs as strong as it did the day I bought it. It doesn’t leak anything or burn anything it’s not suppose to. And the gas mileage is about 15 mpg, not great but near what it did when I got it (and not bad for a 4×4). Thanks Dad for showing me how to take proper care of a vehicle. With luck, I will have it for another 100,000 miles!