This is my third Ranger pickup. All three have had 4-cyl and 5-spds, and were intented for commutation and occasional light hauling. This is an excellent vehicle for these purposes, extremely reliable and economical. It is also fun and easy to drive, as long as it's not pushed.

Handles kind of strangely in the rain, which of course, improves with a load on the bed. Seems to go through tires faster than most vehicles. Anything shaped like a box with four cylinders is going to be slow.

My last Ranger, a used 1996 with 112,000 miles, was a fantastic deal at $3600 cash. I strongly recommend this car for first time buyers, or anyone with a tight budget in need of sound transportation. Anything that may go wrong with the truck is easily fixed. Parts and service are readily available.

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Much better than larger trucks, which are more difficult to drive, not to mention manuever into and out of.

-Comfortable Interior
-Quiet Ride - (for a truck)
-Decent looking truck
-CAN TAKE THE BEATS - Seems to be very durable
-excellent heat + A/C

-Cheap tires
-Cheap looking rims
-Ford reputation that
-3.0 V6 , not quite enough power (160 hp)
-looses any power that it has when towing anything
-little bit too loose of suspension

Got this truck new, 2wd 3.0 V6 automatic. This truck can take the beats , we have put this truck through soooo much crap , no problems what so ever. We tow a full size ride on tractor with it , no problem. This truck is a good work horse , it does everything that you generally need to do with a truck while at the same time getting you decent gas milage. We have taken this truck off road in fields at 100km/h , hit curbs with it in the winter time blown two tires, ford replaced them for free !!!. The bottom line is that this truck is a work horse , it has proven itself so far, we shall see in the future. The truck is on lease so I dont think we have too much to worry about. I would recommend it to someone looking for a good work truck but I also would sujest looking at the Tacoma, it costs more but I think its worth the money!.

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1997 - Ford F150 2WD - Loads more power, way worse gas milage.

The 4.0 is a strong engine. My loaded 4x4 truck shines well with only 30000 miles! The truck looks sharp, plenty of extended-super cab space, and has a great engine. The factory installed bed liner, tauna cover, & security alarm make this a super great little truck. The 15" tires give it a nice ride.

I wish my wife had one of her own

We looked around the local area for a nice little truck and when we found this great truck, we had to buy it for $16.5k. This truck has AT, power windows, power locks, cruise, tilt, sliding rear window, bed liner, tauna cover, alloy wheels with raised white letter tires, & 4x4 on the fly. I would strongly recommend the XLT Ranger to anyone looking for a truck! She has nice looks, strong muscles, & a good attitude.

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97' S10 - The S10 just isn't the truck the Ranger is.

it is a fun truck to drive, bought it as a play truck. and it is working out great. been to the dealer twice for a tranny problem, they said they could not duplicate the problem so i said oh well. it breaks...AKA warranty..but its got almost 9k on it and its running just fine. power is a little low, i got the 3.0 liter v-6. i also traded in a 94 T-Bird with the 4.6 v-8 with lots of horsepower goodies and that car spoiled me, but when gas got to about 1.89 gal for premium, she had to go. the truck is a tight little truck. i can see that i will own this truck for many miles, its ok on gas. all i have owned are v-8's so this v-6 is great! its got a great radio/tape/cd.

i thik the 3.0 could use some more power, not much but maybe about 30 more would be nice. its bouncy but i bought a truck not a lexus! the engine has to rev high to go after its power, again this is the v-8 syndrome!! used to power down at about 2k rpms. this engine likes to be revved up to about 4 or 5k.

i paid right at 20K for this truck. i think i got a good deal payments are right wherer i think they should be for this type of truck. my roomate bought a dakota and for the money he paid for it i could of got a base F-150. got good power. dont know if i would recommend the ranger to anyone yet, ask me in a few years and i will tell you!!

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never owned a truck before, but had a 94 T-Bird 4.6 and a 90 T-Bird 3.8

quiet
smooth
reliable engine
decent low end torque for 3 liter
fairly inexpensive
ok gas mileage (18 mpg)
very very nice looking inside
pretty good off road (even with sorry tires)

weak at high RPMs
pretty slow
only average 4x4 system
CRAPPY tires
don't much like the gearshifter
windshield wipers go off at random times (this is a recall, and can be fixed for free by the dealer)

19,500 for nice XLT, V6, 4x4
would recommend it for anyone in the market for this size; perfect middle-of-the-road truck (no pun intended)
but look at the Tacoma, too.

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91,96,98 Explorer
1995 Toyota Tacoma - ranger is more refined, but less power
1999 Chevy Blazer - blazers/s-10 (as far as chassis goes) are far inferior to explorer/ranger, imho
1997 Chevy S-10 - see above

Comfort. I am 6'3" and 240 lbs and I had begun to hate crawling down into cars.
While it doesn't do anything extremely well and I do have a few complaints, it really doesn' do anything wrong. That in itself is a very good quality. It is easy to find a new Ranger that will fit just about anybody's needs.
The Deep Wedgewood blue looks Soooo Goooooood.
3.0 V-6 works well. The fact that it is only a $400 upgrade makes it an excellant compromise between the 2.5 and 4.0 when you consider cost and mileage.
The dual media radio is a good upgrade.
Once you have keyless entry you won't go without again.
Bench Seat!
Limited Slip works real well.

3.0, 2wd, 5-sp combination was VERY hard for my dealer to find. Does Ford limit the production of these in 2wd version to force people to buy the 2.5 and increase their CAFE ratings?
I was unable to get 4-doors, due to the problem stated just above. Get them especially if you have the Power Package with keyless entry.
No available tailgate lock like the F-150 has.
Tachometer only available with the Sport package.
Wheel choices for 2wd are very limited.
Don't fool yourself, it still is a truck. Bouncy ride on rough pavement.
Rear slider window is VERY small and it is made smaller by the oversize latch that is on it. I know this is a theft issue, so how about giving us a power rear window like the Sport-Trac?
When sliding the seats forward to get into the back, they do not return to their origional tilt position.

MSRP: $18,325. This includes the 3.0L, Conv. Package, Power Package, sliding rear window, Chrome wheels, Limited Slip and dual media. Thankfully I paid quite a bit less due to family connections.

I would definitely reccomend it, but only as a 3.0/2wd or 4.0/4wd supercab with 4 doors and the power package. For 2001, the 4.0 SOHC should be a welcome option, but don't believe them when they say they will have a 5 spd manual for it.

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(2) '77 F-250 HD, '85 F-150 (4.9/5-spd), 98 F-150 Supercab. Those were trucks. This wants to be a car. That is good or bad, depending on your needs and wants. Gas mileage in the Ranger is WAAAYYYY better. Ride is a lot smoother.

Looks, handling, gas mileage, good AC, fun to drive

I don't have an extended cab so there's not much room in the cab. 4 cyl. is sluggish. Paint seems to scratch easy.

Paid $6k with 80k mi on it. I love driving this truck. Wish I had the 6 cyl. model and of course an extended cab. (I'll know next time!)
After swearing that I would never buy Ford again, I found this truck and fell in love with it. I plan on looking into some modifications to give me a bit more power, but overall I would recommend a Ranger especially to young drivers and people who aren't planning to do an excessive amount of heavy hauling.

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Dodge Ram

Comfort,looks and ride are fantastic. Built on a very solid frame and suspension. The anti-theft is a great idea,with the keyless entry. The sound system with AM?FM CD player sounds terrific too. Overall, I have enjoyed my new truck. The four-doors is the greatest idea in years.

A little thirsty when it comes to fuel economy,however,the overall value for the buck is worth it.

I would definitely recommend the new Ranger to anyone looking to buy a new mid-sized pickup. My friends always want me to show them its features. A real head-turner.

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98 Ranger XLT--New 2000 Ranger XLT Supercab comes out way ahead.

XLT package is very nice
smooth 4 wheelin'
powerful v-6

that I don't have two of them

paid $18,800, it came loaded, even with a matching A.R.E. bed cap. This truck is gret, good on mileage for a 4x4, a whole lot better mileage than my 5.0 f-150. Great all around truck. If you do get one, make sure it is extended cab.

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85' f-150, better gas mileage

has been very reliable. I drive it about 40,000 miles per year, and right now with 77,000 miles, it has never left me stranded. Even with a 4-cylinder engine, it has good accleration. High ground clearance (compared to similiar trucks). Very well built. Good looks. Gauges and controls are all in the right posistion. Handling is very good.

Needs bigger brakes. Gas mileage poor. On the highway w/ the 4-cylinder I get about 16-18mpg.

Overall it is the best compact pick-up. Reliable, well-built, good looks, and a greta price. I paid $11,100 new. I test drove all the other trucks and they all had something major I didn't like; 1.Chevy S-10/GMC Sonoma: cluth felt spongy, ugly, and of course Chevy has a bad reputation for unreliablity. 2.Toyota Tacoma: reliablitiy is all it's got going for it, nothing else. Biggest complaint-way to small.
3.Dodge Dakota; looks good, but also unreliable, overpriced,
poor customer service. 4. Isuzu Hombre: very similar to S-10/ Sonoma. 5. Nissan Frontier: this truck was my second truck. Very reliable, good looks, good price, but not as well rounded as the ranger.

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94 Nissan. Very reliable truck, but crude.