Tacoma -vs Ranger 2019 sales figures...it aint pretty

FJ cruiser could be one of the Bronco's rivals.

 

The FJ is not sold here any longer so it would probably be hard to call it a rival.

 

I would say it was the same concept. A mostly useless, but fun vehicle preying on people’s nostalgia. That might be a bit harsh, but certainly the 2-Door SUV died for good reason. It’s like half a 4-door SUV, which is mostly useless to begin with.

 

Sorry if this has been posted in here; it's been a bit since I read this thread. They must have mentioned 'if you're considering a Tacoma' at least 1/2 a dozen times in this YouTube ad. They are seriously chasing the Tacoma market.

Well fudge.... it was one of the commercials in another YouTube I was watching. Ford literally said 'Tacoma' at least a dozen times in that ad. Saying how much better the Ranger was.

 

Ranger is weak sauce!

 

On that note. We have a ranger with just a few bolt ons and a tune on the verge of hitting 12’s 1/4 mile

 

Uh, isn’t that the point of advertising? Go after the segment leader and hopefully gain market share?

 

Here ya go, TURN IT UP!


https://youtu.be/7zKAS7XOWaQ


Cause that's what pickup trucks are really built for- lol and thanks...

 

The problem is they can say whatever they want in their commercials but buyers are still going to go for the truck they feel is proven, dependable, and is a known quantity.

Ford *should* have kept the Ranger going all these years, refining it over time, like they have the F-150, keeping it relevant, keeping it simple, and focusing heavily on improving reliability and quality to stay competitive with the Tacoma. That would have made the Ranger a more compelling alternative to many buyers IMO.

 

Without cycling through all 17 pages, has anyone actually ridden in or driven the new Ranger? I have, and let me start by saying that I love my Toyota. This is my 4th Tacoma, and I've owned one FJ Cruiser, and I would never trade my 3rd gen for the current Ranger. But I got some wheel time on my buddy's Lariat FX4 (with EVERY available option), and I have to admit that it was better in nearly every conceivable way.

The Good: Bottom end torque, thanks to the turbo. The 10-speed transmission had no issues finding and maintaining gears. It was quiet... the engine, the road noise, everything. It drove like a car on the highway, even with the Hankook Dynapro ATMs. The interior was a big win with the seats being more comfortable, the radio was louder and clearer (Bang & Olufsen), better head unit, infotainment system, better button placement... a lot of thought went into designing the interior, and it shows. 26 MPG ON THE HIGHWAY CONFIRMED.

The Bad: Long-term ownership, quality, and reliability is still questionable. Previous Rangers have proven that Ford has struggled in the mid-size segment in the states. I'm not thrilled with the looks. Too much rake and an angled bed make the tailgate look a foot higher than the grill. The current "new" ranger is built on the current global platform, which is several years old. It drives like a car... yes, I know that I placed that in the good category, as well. Sometimes I just want a truck to drive like one. I didn't get to tow anything, and my Tacoma is also horrible in this category, but I didn't get the feeling that the Ranger would be up to the challenge of pulling my SxS.

The Verdict: I'll take quality and reliability over bells and whistles any day of the week, so it's going to be the Tacoma for me. I've made plenty of modifications to make mine better than factory, and I'm very pleased with the exception of highway mileage. However, the 4th gen Tacoma with the shared Tundra platform and the "new" new Ranger should be released in the same time frame. By that time, there should be a lot of long-term ownership data for the Ranger, and Ford will likely be ready to pull the trigger on the Ranger Raptor AND possibly offering a turbo diesel. I plan on waiting until the mid-cycle refresh on the 4th gen Tacoma before purchasing another vehicle, and if Ford can stay competitive, it may be a tough decision.


TL/DR:

Looks aside, the new Ranger is actually a nice truck.

 

Ultimately, the Ranger is never going to be good. Ford is far to scared of cannibalizing the higher profit margin of the F150.

 

wonder what the mpg is with tires and wheels.

 

I agree. Similar to what you mentioned, the known resale is what pushed me to tacoma, especially when I was comparing 2019 TRD OR to 2019 XLT FX4 and getting similar options made the ranger about $4-5k more. They didn’t seem to be doing model year end pricing and definitely don’t discount the rangers like they do the (significantly higher volume) F-150s.

My only real complaint on the ranger is that it felt (based on the interior and how you mentioned of the drive) a lot like Ford’s other SUVs. I haven’t really liked the Escape/Edge/Explorers interiors and infotainment stuff, and the ranger felt like more of the same.

 

Why the fuck would you buy a $40K truck that has been only mildly rehashed and rewarmed for the American market, when an all new Ranger is less than two years away that is a pretty much a clean sheet design?

 

It is, but you have to be confident that your arguments will resonate and convince. If not, it’s a bit risky to make such a repeated direct comparison. But my perspective is Toyota-skewed, so there’s that to consider.

 

Ford's Ranger execution was lazy. They don't deserve high sales numbers IMO.

They wanted to throw something on the market quickly and cheaply to regain their midsize truck foothold while they develop the new Ranger, and the current Ranger reflects this. Is it a "bad" truck? No. Is it mindnumblingly mediocre? Without a doubt.

 

Chances are the next gen ranger ‘could’ rock.

 

It could.

Ford needs to go bold with it and give it a high end feel though, not dip their toes in and play it safe. They don't have the reliability/dependability trait on their side so they need to compensate by making it appear and feel like a high quality truck.

IMHO of course.

 

https://youtu.be/z-Z2aq5pSUw

First time I've ever seen a Toyota's crawl control fail.

 

Hankook ATMs are all terrain tires, but I can't recall the exact size. Maybe 265/60R18, which is the same OD as the factory 265/65R17 and 265/70R16 tires on our Tacomas. I imagine a more aggressive AT in a larger size would drop a MPG or two. Still though, 24 real world MPG would be far better than the 17-18 that I'm getting now with my 265/70R17 General Grabbers. Even with the factory ATAs, I never saw above 20.