Greg In The Desert

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!