A Ranger guy entering a Tacoma World.

To my knowledge the Ranger is just as bullet proof and reliable as Toyota. I have a buddy of mine with a '96 as his daily driver with umpteen miles on it, and I see tons of them old ones still on the road.
The Ranger lost sales to Toyota as the Tacoma listen to ppl bitching about it being too small as their waistline got bigger, and Toyota made the Tacoma as big as the first Gen Tundra.
But the Ranger was not really a Ford, it was a joint venture with Mazda. The Mazda B series truck was the same as the Ranger, they were both bullet proof products.
IDK if the '18 Ranger will be a Mazda joint venture, but if it is, I would expect a good product, if a sole Ford venture not so much. But I would expect a Fix Or Repair Daily scenario in that case. The '18 does seem to have great styling and size, so far going for it though.
Also IDK why so many ppl on this here forum are reporting so many complaints with their transmissions, I have non, and I get nothing but compliments on mine. I drove my taco to my fitness center for the first time three weeks ago, and yesterday to my surprise there were three brand new Tacos in the parking lot lolo!
I have no issues with mine, over 5k on the clock, the truck is solid, but the drive train is a learner and I felt improvement till 1800 miles and still see very minute improvements now & then.
Hope that helps, stay safe
Cheers!

 

Welcome to TW, I had an 83 ranger, 4cyl, 4sp. That's the truck that got me into, "Truck Camping". All my buddys with jeeps sleeped in tents, I stayed high and dry in my red ranger. On my 3rd taco , great rigs, great aftermarket support.

 

I don't know if the Ranger will be a joint venture with Mazda I think Ford sold their interest in Mazda years ago. I'm hoping the new Ranger will offer a small diesel like they offer everywhere else on the planet. I'm not a big fan of Ford cars but I think that they build a decent truck. My Tacoma rides better than my Ranger and is easier to work on (oil change, plugs etc) and if it's as reliable as my Ranger I'll be good with that.

 

I'm not so sure the new Taco will be as easy to replace the spark plugs on as the 2nd Gen...But it's not looking good so far. But it is good I won't have to worry about it for a 100k lolo!
Cheers!

 

Another prior ranger owner here. Got rid of my 2003 ranger FX4 Level 2 due to the birth of my first child (gotta have room for a car seat). Gonna miss that truck. 13 years of dependable service. Rust was starting to take its toll though. (Damn Pittsburgh winters).

 

I had a ranger too! You will love how different Toyota does things. And you will break it less if you bag the piss out of it

 

Too bad..Ranger is a good truck, when you need to fix something the parts are readily available and cheap. Most are very reliable and almost as bulletproof as Tacoma from what I see. No truck is perfect whether it's a Ranger, Frontier, Tacoma or whatever.There's a Rangers Forum still going strong, most are probably chomping at the bit waiting for the new Ranger.

 

I have a been a Tacoma guy for the past 5 years.
I also am not exactly happy with the CVT that they have started to put in them.. Seems to not know what gear ratio to be in. I currently have about 1800 miles on it and hasn't seem to get to much better.
I have read that tranny fluid could be a qt low? Besides that all and all I love the new Tacoma with all the new amenities that they have put in them. Enjoy!

 

Welcome to the Tacoma world. I too have had two rangers, a 1994 and a 2003. Both were tough trucks and would do anything and go anywhere I needed them to but they seem to wear out faster than Toyotas. Plus you're right on with them being like a jeep. No lumbar support and I could feel every bump in the road plus they had horrible fuel mileage even compared to the Taco. After ~150,000 miles the ranger is making a great farm truck for my aunt but I would not daily drive it. Anyways hope you enjoy your truck, I know I do!

 

Thank you for that info. I see lots of Rangers on the road (old ones), and lots of utility company have them. However, because they don't have the high resale, i didn't know if they were good old trucks or not

 

If it happens ever.

They have floated this rumor since like 4 hours after they stopped Ranger production.

 

At 121k for new trans, isn't that kinda low miles?

 

That is really low, I wonder if it was an auto or manual and what kind of strain it may have been out under?

 

Auto, reverse went, not uncommon on these trucks

 

It's confirmed, they already set a contract up with the UAW for the production. also they are supposedly making a new bronco as well. Not sure if that if fully confirmed

 

I owned a Ranger for 5 years and never had a problem with it. Love the Taco far more, this is my second Taco, but the Ranger was a solid truck too.

 

Welcome to Tacoma world, you're correct ford did leave us, Ford Rangers were very popular. you made the best decision by coming over to Toyota and you probably won't ever go back !

 

Congrats and welcome! I was never fond of our Ranger but it was the wife's vehicle.

 

I sure like the 4.0 engine. My sister bought an 04 new and still has it with 150K, no issues. However, the 3.0's we never had good luck with.

 

I have the 3.0 V6 and have had no issues. There is a problem with the camshaft sync sensor and when this goes the engine is toast. I replaced mine at 75k and will probably replace it again in the near future. I use my Ranger as my farm truck now, she needs brake lines so for the time being she's a driveway queen. My Ranger is otherwise rock solid, not as smooth as the Taco but it will haul shit all day without a hiccup.