If Ford made every vehicle as good as the Rangers...

[BSU541]

They would be known as having better quality vehicles then Honda or Toyota. Seriously, I've had 3 rangers now, one of which had 300,000 miles and still had 99% original parts.

I love ford.

 

[BlackBII]

Never replaced a Slave cylinder?

 

[Mark_88]

I've had some pretty good Ford cars...and the first Ranger was pretty good once I got all the bugs worked out...and I had my Tempo for 14 years before it finally had to be put down...

I wouldn't say I "love" Fords...a strong like because they are made in North America and they are not GMC or Chevy...plus the fact that as a kid I watched Hockey Night in Canada and it was sponsored by Ford and Esso (I only buy Esso gas)...

 

[LearjetMinako]

For one fact. I can stand by my Ranger through thick & thin and still work at the end of the day. All of my family's vehicle have broken down to the point that it needed to be towed away. Not my Ranger. Its so reliable, I can trust the Ranger to make it across the US and back, without breaking down.

Score board for break-downs:
Ford Ranger: 0
Chevy Blazer: 3 (always something with the charging system)
Buick Regal: 2 (twice in one week)
Dodge Ram: 2 (and this truck gets less than a 1k miles a year)

 

[MAKG]

I'll trust ANY of my vehicles to get me cross-country both ways. That's a function of maintenance.

The Chevy wouldn't be very comfy (or cheap), but it would work just fine.

The Prizm has been on 5000 mile road trips twice. The Exploder will probably take a 3000 mile road trip in August.

 

[4x4RangerGuy]

I'll trust ANY of my vehicles to get me cross-country both ways. That's a function of maintenance.

The Chevy wouldn't be very comfy (or cheap), but it would work just fine.

The Prizm has been on 5000 mile road trips twice. The Exploder will probably take a 3000 mile road trip in August.

The Prizm should last a long time though, it's just a Toyota in disguise. I remember working on my boss' sister's Prizm and laughing when I saw the door panels had been stamped "Toyota".

 

[Will]

We had our '90 Prizm until it reached 200,000. Then we gave it to my younger brother and he commuted to law school with it until it reached 250,000. Then he gave it to my older brother who drove it to 280,000 and sold it to a kid that couldn't drive a stick and the kid wasted some important part. Then some Mexican guy obtained it, put it back in shape and it is once again plying its trade up and down the streets of Columbus. That was three years ago that it left the family. It has to be well over 300,000 as we see it all the time (it has my Columbus State Community College sticker on the rear bumper).

Ford cars are shit. Ford trucks are better than Toyota trucks, but it's not about mechanical reliability. It's like saying a lead pipe is better than a wooden dowel for hitting someone in the head. A Toyota truck might run forever, but the rest of it you can wad up like tinfoil and throw in the recycling bucket.

I don't know if that is true anymore. I suspect not. Unlike the US guys, the Japanese seem to react much more quickly to their faults. Part of that is that when you are chasing, you work much harder.

But, in essence, I agree that my Ranger based vehicle has been durable and reliable. Not perfect, but reliable.

My Honda's have all been perfect. Our '99 CR-V (my sister-in-law now owns) was here last weekend. I looked it over. Still hasn't has a dime in maintence except oil changes. Not even a bulb has burned out. It looks like it did when we first bought it. Except now it has an Ipod on the passenger seat with a wire of some type running into the tape deck (!?) and a lot of dog hair in the back.

 

[Jspafford]

Except now it has an Ipod on the passenger seat with a wire of some type running into the tape deck (!?) and a lot of dog hair in the back.

That's so they can play the Ipod through the stereo. Those were made popular before cars had CD players and everyone had a walkman CD player they wanted to listen to in the car.

Problem was, they skipped like a mofo.

What do you listen to music on? 8 tracks?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

My Ranger has had more than its share of problems, but it was 15 years old when I got it, and the previous owner put forth a noteworthy effort to muddy the waters as to what was a bad idea on Ford's part and what was his goof up.

My F-150 knocking on wood has treated me very well. Unlike Will's Honda's I did have to replace both a license plate bulb and the third brake light bulb. The oversprung ride of a normally empty half ton could make life a little tougher on them too.

I did have some rust fixed on the bottom of three doors, it was $400 to have the body shop make them like how Ford should have to start with... but then it was a much simpler fix than Toyota's frame issues. That is the only honest to god "repair" that I have had to do that cost more than $.50 at a time.

I have very little interest in cars in general, the Challenger and Mustang are the only ones in production that I have a hope of ever affording to write home about IMO. Everything else pretty much looks/feels the same, and I hate dragging my butt on the ground in a car anyway.

 

[c_note]

ive had plenty of experience with most of the 90s model chevy trucks. ill take a 94 chevy cheyenne w/ a 350 3/4 ton over any ford or dodge. they are tough as hell.

although, the ranger is the only ford ill ever drive.

 

[fixizin]

The Chevy 350 is one squared away engine (though perhaps obsolete in a $4/gal world), as is the GM 3800... but I *HATE* GM's overly-mushy, zero-road-feel power steering, their ergonomics in general (steering wheel angles w/ respect to pedals, seat angles... climate controls, basically EVERYTHING in the cockpit), and the cheesy interiors on their S-10 make you feel ripped off just taking it for a test drive, lol.

I don't live under the hood of my vehicles, I live in the driver's seat, and that's where Ford got it together on the Rangers.

PS: Is it just me, or are the Ranger factory stereos WAY above average in overall sound quality, *especially* for a truck?

 

[Shran]

I really like how a 350 (or other SBC) sounds with a cam and glasspacks. But we all know the argument about originality. My main problem with GM and Chrysler vehicles is that they make the doors so damn heavy, especially the 70's GM trucks.

I really have never had good luck with anything I've owned. Usually I'll have it for a few months and something will inevitably blow up. I wouldn't trust anything I drive to make it across the country or even the state, except maybe my fiancee's car.

 

[Maverick]

ive had plenty of experience with most of the 90s model chevy trucks. ill take a 94 chevy cheyenne w/ a 350 3/4 ton over any ford or dodge. they are tough as hell.

although, the ranger is the only ford ill ever drive.

I hate to tell you but you dont have enough experience if you'd take that chebby over any Ford or Dodge.

 

[reno]

This is no lie, Maintenance is a major factor, when I first got married, the wife had a Ford Fairmont that was a ex GTE car. Had a oil cooler and trans cooler and a power steering cooler added. It had 131,600 miles when she got it. I kept the maint up on that car and she drove it for over 3 years with no problems, final mileage....502,782 miles. Transmission went out and cost was far greater than the value of the car, plus money was not there, so we had one car to drive for a few weeks. Cost was $1,100 for repair and $1,500 up for a different (junyard or new) one. THAT was the best car we ever had.

-=Reno=-

 

[Will]

I hate to tell you but you dont have enough experience if you'd take that chebby over any Ford or Dodge.

Well, I really liked my '90 2500. I hated the TIB when towing--I loved the handling of the SLA. I like the cab a lot on those Chevys. The low cut windows make viewing easier. The interior is pretty junky compared to the Ford. I like the Ford 1/2-ton axle better than the Chevy 8.5 though mine had the 9.5. I think the motors are a wash--the 5.8 and the 5.7 are about the same in fuel and power. I liked the deep first gear on the TH700R4--and the high overdrive.

I guess I think the F150 is a better truck over-all, but I don't like the feel of it when towing or heavily loaded in the bed. It has a funky steering thing going on--just like it does offroad when the steering arms change relative length depending on the position of the axle beams.