So my only new vehicle was also my first vehicle, a 2000 Ranger extended cab, 3.0, 5-speed, 2wd. It was a bare bones XLT, no third door, no cruise, manual windows and locks. It had a CD player, A/C and sliding rear window with privacy glass plus the opening quarter glass on the extended cab. Loved that truck but also was a dumb kid with it. I still have it and it still has less than 100k on it, but it needs the frame straightened and front end put back together. That truck, however, was also what brought me here around 2002, possibly late 01.
My second vehicle was my 1988 Bronco II Eddie Bauer, followed shortly by the choptop, then an 86 XLT loaded parts donor and an 89 Eddie Bauer that I later sold to one of my professors for his kid. Sort of bought an 87 Bronco II XLT, I paid a flat price to strip whatever I wanted off of it so I picked it clean. Then I got an 89 Ranger XL with a bad fuel pump and bad frame that is half stripped. When my first Ranger (henceforth the blue 00) got wrecked for the last time, I had been needing a larger truck for work, so I bought my 95 F-150 XL. Totally base model, manual everything, vinyl everything, only upgrades were 4x4 and A/C. Fun fact, the A/C still blows snowflakes out the vents but 95% of warmish weather I run around with the windows open and the wing vent windows open if need be.
Then after the accident that messed up my hip (kid ran a red light and totaled my dad’s red 00 Ranger XLT Extended cab that was V-8 swapped), I needed a vehicle with an automatic so enter my Green 2000 XLT Extended cab. Dad got a 99 XLT extended cab, also red, to replace the 00, but we haven’t swapped motors. All three of these were fully loaded, 4x4, auto, A/C, cruise, power everything, third door, rear slider, privacy glass, etc. The only thing I hate is the lack of either a wing vent or the opening quarter glass, you end up running the A/C more often because of poor air flow. Then I bought dad’s 94 F-350 XL dump from him. Manual everything, no cruise, no A/C, but has the wing vents and a limited slip rear, 460 under the hood, so it has some pluses. I was traded a 92 Ranger for some electrical work, thought at first that it was an XLT until I found the original window sticker in with the owners manual and learned it was an STX extended cab. All of the upgrades except the factory lift, decals, privacy glass and rear slider. No wing vents either. I eventually fixed the broken A/C because air flow through the cab sucked. If I fix it now, it’s getting a rear slider too at minimum.
Also ended up with two Eddie Bauer Explorers. One the body is shot and the other has a perfect body. Stripped the one with the bad body as parts donor, most of it is going to my green 00. The green 00 has an aftermarket DVD player in the dash which I would like to upgrade to one that has navigation. Not that I use GPS a lot, but sometimes it’s nice to have basically an open map conveniently open on the dash with your location highlighted. Some of the EB features may find their way into my 00 Ranger, like the puddle lights on the mirrors and digital climate control and such.
I really appreciate some of the newer features, but I’m right at home in something more basic too. One thing I love about all of them is that every control is in roughly the same location and you just have to figure out in the dark if you need to turn, pull, or touch. Even things I change I try to either keep in roughly the same location on all or whatever is a logical place. My F-150 and choptop have a high middle mount for the CB, but my blue 00 has it in the dash and the green 00 is getting it in the console because that’s the most out of the way places in those vehicles while still being in easy reach of my right (shifter) hand.
Some things like the 360* cams are pretty neat, but I learned a lot of my driving at the wheel of an 89 F-350 dump and learned to use my side mirrors and always have a good approximation of exactly where everything was in the space around the truck, so for me, it’s an amusing novelty. The backup camera, however, is a different story. If you can get one in a good place to see your hitch backing up to a trailer, it is 9,000% easier to hook up a trailer by yourself. Any trailer, even an unfamiliar one. Other than hooking up a trailer, for me, amusing novelty. A/C is a must without good air flow through the cab. Even then it’s nice to have when it’s stupid humid or you catch a rainstorm. Speaking of, manual windows are a pain in a sudden rainstorm. Power locks are nice when you have more than two opening doors.
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