Talk me out of getting a Ranger!

Interesting. Do you have link for the correct data?

Still, it is pretty damning for the Ranger.

 

The data is the data. Of course, we are assuming that these sales reports are accurate but I have no reason to doubt them at this point as auto sales reports have been going on for quite some time.

The article is not wrong. Saying it doesn't make it so. Consider this link. Scroll down to the monthly sales table at the bottom of the page:
http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/us-pickup-truck-sales-figures-by-model/

From January to June:

Total Ranger sales: 24,301
Total Frontier sales: 39,322

Q2 2019:

Total Ranger sales: 14,880
Total Frontier sales: 19,101

I don't know why they are only reporting 264 Rangers sold in June. Doesn't seem right. Also, check my math -- I did it quickly on the fly.

Finally, I really don't have a dog in this fight. Drive a Tacoma. Drive a Ranger. Be happy with your truck. I don't feel strongly one way or another. I have a 2005 Tacoma that I like. I've seen the new Ranger and like it.

But I do find the market, the strategy, the sales and the business part of the truck business intriguing. I have to think that Ford is disappointed in the Ranger sales thus far. Doesn't mean they can't turn it around but they should be taking half or more of that Nissan Frontier business at this point.

 

Leases are garbage financial choices anyways.

 

Ford just announced an FX2 Baja option for the 2020 Rangers. It’s a $595 option but no mention of official 2020 pricing yet.

 

So you going to pay more for 2wd?? ooooohhhh, but maybe you get some decals, neat-o wheels

 

Plus some skid plate protection!

 

Neat-o wheels in a $595 option package? I think not

 

Since the Ranger came out I’ve seen maybe 3 on the road? I see 3 third gen Tacoma’s on a 1 mile trip to the grocery store.

 

I was going off the link that was posted earlier.

http://fordauthority.com/2019/08/ford-ranger-sales-numbers-figures-results-second-quarter-q2-2019/

This is the article that shows the Ranger with 20k sales for Q2.



Compared to the article you posted which shows a meager 264 sales in June, and completely eliminated July, both of which show sales in the thousands for the Frontier. It seems to me like this second one is missing some data.



Not that this is all that relevant since you'd have to be nuts to think the Frontier is a better truck than anything on that list. I'm just saying the Frontier didn't outsell the Ranger in Q2, and if it did, it certainly wasn't a difference of nearly 20k trucks.

I used to think that as well until I discovered that nearly every dollar I pay during the lease goes toward the purchase price if I buy it out at the end of the lease. By the end of my lease, I'll have paid $18k. My purchase price at the end of my lease is right around $22k. 41k-19k=22k. Doesn't seem that bad to me.

 

It's pretty much the same exact package for the 2wd Ranger as it is for the 4x4. Skids, tires, shocks, electronic stuff, e-locker, and of course, stickers. Considering some people convert their Raptor to 2wd for desert running, I'd say this might be more popular than you think. Not my bag of chips, but if you don't care for 4x4, that's a hell of a bargain for what you get.

 

I’m genuinely curious, if you love the Ranger so much why on earth did you get a Tacoma?

A quick look shows that most of your posts, including your first, are talking about how great you think the Ranger is. I don’t mean this in a “if you don’t like it get lost” sort of way, I just don’t understand why you would buy a Tacoma and join a Tacoma forum just to talk about how great you think a different truck is.

The weird subculture of Ford fanboi’s that hang around TW just to talk sh%t on the Tacoma is something I will never understand. I loved my F150 for the first 59,000 miles aside from the garbage electronics. After the 60,000 mile mark it started falling apart, I had $6000 worth of repairs, and Ford’s service department was horrible to deal with.

Obviously I wasn’t going to buy another one and I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t ever own another Ford product, but you won’t catch me on an F150 forum talking about what a piece of garbage my F150 turned out to be and how the Tundra is a better truck in every single way unless you require fancy electronics that are slow as f%ck and work like sh%t anyway.

 

The reason I went with the taco is the lack of lease incentives for the ranger. I could buy a ranger for almost the same payment as a lease, and I can't afford that until I pay off some other debt.

I think the ranger is great, but that doesn't mean I don't think the taco is also great. I like my taco a lot, and I haven't talked smack on the taco at all, which you obviously know. I have a few trivial complaints about my taco like the keyless entry being exclusive to the driver door and the lack of remote start option. I think its reputation is undeserved since the third gen hasn't proven itself any more than any other truck, but that's not to say it's not reliable. It just hasn't lived long enough to prove it. The power is the ONLY legitimate complaint I have with it. Despite that, I'm still very happy with my taco. I just think that the Ranger is currently the better truck overall, mainly because Toyota is letting the taco live off how reliable people think it is, rather than keeping up with the competition in terms of technology. I mean, it has drum brakes ffs. If that's your thing, there's nothing wrong with it. I'd love to find a zero mile, pristine '78 F150 crew cab. However, if I'm paying new money, I'd rather be getting new technology. Again, I'm not talking sh%t, I'm just expressing the few things I'd have liked to see on my taco.

If I were a betting man, I'd bet the 4th gen taco will have more power at a lower rpm and disk brakes on all 4. If that were to happen, I could still be swayed away from the ranger when this lease is up. Both trucks will be next gen at that time, so who knows. Right now, however, I'm leaning toward Ranger for my next truck.

Also, if you think TW is the only forum with vocal fans of another truck, you must not spend much time on the internet.

 

Wow! This shit-fest is still going on?

Who knew?

 

What are you talking about?

the "new" ranger? What makes you think Ford is going to release an all new Ranger when they just literally introduced one to the NA market.

 

A) The 3rd gen is very much derived from the 2nd gen design; some major components have changed (rear axle, body, frame) but they are fundamentally similar to the tried-and-true components that were used on past Toyota's. Even the new components (3.5l v6) has seen extensive use with other Toyota/Lexus products. So even if the 3rd gen design is "new" the underlying components are fairly vetted at this point. That and Toyota has a reputation for deliberate and careful innovation. The company's reputation is most certainly deserved...Toyota goes to greater lengths than just about any company to earn that reputation. That doesn't mean they haven't made mistakes in years past, but the statistical surveys show that their vehicles are more reliable. That's why the Tacoma is still the #1 selling midsized truck...by a wide margin.

B) There is nothing wrong with the Tacoma's drum brakes. They work just fine for the towing/payload capacities that are normal for the midsized segment. Would I like to see Toyota put disk brakes on the next gen Tacoma? Sure. Am I going to avoid the 3rd gen Tacoma and buy a Ranger simply because of the that issue? No.

C) The Tacoma lacks some of the modern features and amenities that are common on other trucks, but it is more biased towards offroad use compared to the rest of the midsized segment. Better approach/departure angles, better shock tower placement, better ground clearance, better tire sidewall clearance...The Tacoma is first and foremost an offroad pickup, which then gets some luxury treatment for certain trims. The Ranger and Colorado start off as on-road biased vehicles, which are then heavily modified for their offroad variants (ZR2, Raptor). Different design philosophies.

 

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a26445419/ford-ranger-pickup-2022-leaked/

https://jalopnik.com/could-the-next-ford-ranger-look-like-this-1832794912

The current "new" ranger is quite old. They've been quite open that it will be replaced in 2021 or 2022.

That's the ultimately answer to the OPs question.....don't buy a Ranger because a new one will be here before you know it.

 

The next generation Ranger is due out in a couple years

 

Some people confuse reliability with refinement all too often. Like you’ve just stated, the 3rd gens are plenty reliable. There’s numbers and miles and testimony to prove that. You could show all that too, but some people simply don’t understand. I’ll ask the guy I know down the road if his 2 v6 3rd gens, both nearing 200k miles are reliable...

 

I just noticed how the Tacoma 3rd gen, and Ranger share some design cues. Mostly the fender flares (not the wheel arch shape), and how the body contours around the rockers on the doors.

Compare the two side by side.