New Ranger

[Black_Splash]

Well you all make good points. I'd still rather buy whatever they replace the Ranger with than get a full-size. But then again I really don't see me getting rid of my current truck. We'll have to see what happens.

 

[James86]

For one Ford isn't Chrysler. Second The Wrangler has a niche market where as the Ranger is a truck and used for dozens of functions besides off roading. The current F series in the V6 platform gets as good MPG as the Ranger with the same equipment and is larger ( personally my Ranger's size is right for me) and costs are similar. That's why the Ranger died. I don't need and will not buy a full size truck. Ford may someday make a small truck again but it will be to meet mileage requirements set by the government to offset the larger vehicles they offer and more than likely be a uni-body. The Global Ranger is a uni-body if I'm not mistaken.

And most of us can't afford a weekend vehicle these days. Ford will have to recoup their investment to produce it. By the time they design a small truck to meet the needs of most buyers it will be well over 20 grand and have to get well above the MPG of the F series to make it desirable. Look at all the crap Mahindra is going through just to get a small truck to the US market and they blew it with the gas milage it offers which is worse than my 93 4x4.

Read posts #4 and #12. I already mentioned CAFE and as a niche product, the Ranger is the only compact pickup offered in the US. I still see plenty of VW Rabbit pickups tooling around my town, and even a Dodge Rampage or two. Not all people want a Wrangler just like not all people want a Ranger, but the poeple who do, want them badly, as evidenced by people still using their Rampages and VW trucks 30+ years later. If a 30+ mpg compact pickup was made, I'd buy it. By weekend vehicle, I meant I only haul the occasional load of dirt or leaves, so I don't need a full size truck - perhaps weekend warrior would have ben a more apt description, as it's my DD. Mileage isn't as crucial as size to me, and I like the small dimensions of my vehicle, and I am perfectly satisfied with the 16mpg I averaged chasing 150+ miles this weekend on E85, mixed city and hiway with the A/C blowin. If people writing in got the Aerostar to last another couple years, and helped prevent the Mustang from going FWD in the 80's, I don't see why popular opinion can't make Ford receptive to the idea of a truck smaller than an F-150.