Talk me out of getting a Ranger!

I’m happy with mine.

 

My truck is rad as hell. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

 

Couldn't agree more, I love this truck more and more every day, I foresee many many miles of fun times!

 

Yep, I most likely wouldn't have had to replace the clutch, except for the fact that it was used as a delivery vehicle for my auto parts stores for the first 6 years of it's life and about a 1/2 dozen kids learned how to drive a manual trans on it. So that obviously didn't do it's clutch any good.
When I sold my autos stores it had been such a good truck I kept it and have been driving it ever since.

 

If that isn’t a testament to these trucks I don’t know what is.

Don’t worry though, the detractors will be along any minute to tell you how “every other company has trucks that’ll do that” or some such similar thing...

 

The Ranger outsells the Hilux in Australia. It’s a proven design that been on the road since 2011 in other parts of the world. It’s a personal choice that only you can make. New ones must be collecting dust on dealer lots because I have only seen a few of them on the road here in car crazy CA. Mid size truck buyers around my neck of the woods love Tacoma pickups. They seem to be more popular than Colorado’s, Frontier’s, etc.

Ford sold 3,140 Rangers in March of this year. Toyota sold 22,798 Tacoma’s in March.

 

One of the things I've seen too was that Ford actually showed videos of it testing the Ranger with the 2.3L/10 speed powertrain being tested in the harsh Australian environment before it being released in North America. Toyota hadn't put out testing videos of the 3rd gen being tested anywhere before it was released in 2016.

 

https://youtu.be/DimK18XfrkA

https://media.ford.com/content/ford...5/04/how-ford-is-testing-the-2019-ranger.html

"HOW FORD IS TESTING THE 2019 RANGER TO ENSURE IT’S BUILT FORD TOUGH AND READY FOR ADVENTURE

DEARBORN, Mich., May 3, 2018 – From grueling lab tests to robotic testing too harsh for humans to endure, from jagged trails in the Australian Outback to the Arizona desert, Ford is torturing its 2019 Ranger to make sure the all-new truck is up to Built Ford Tough durability standards and ready for adventure.

Ranger testing is based on the same proven standards of the legendary Ford F-150.

“We torture every component – from its high-strength steel frame to its EcoBoost® engine to its cloth and leather-trimmed seats – to ensure Ranger is ready for any season and nearly any terrain,” said Rick Bolt, Ford Ranger chief engineer.

Ford’s rigorous approach to ensuring Ranger quality and capability starts in the lab, progresses to the proving grounds then is confirmed through intense real-world challenges in locations near and far.

At Ford’s Michigan Proving Grounds, a fully loaded Ranger hits the brutal Silver Creek track with impacts so severe robotic drivers are used so humans don’t get injured. In the lab, a four-post shaker table abuses Ranger for days to check against squeaks and rattles. In the real world, Ranger towing capability is tested in high temperatures on the unforgiving long steep grades of Davis Dam in Arizona, while the Australian Outback treats the truck to more heat and choking dust over harsh off-road terrain.

Offering purpose-built features like a Terrain Management System™, Trail Control and blind spot monitoring with trailer support, plus a host of available adventure-ready features, the all-new Built Ford Tough Ranger makes its exciting return to the United States in early 2019."

 

Yeah but you can’t get the Premium or Tech package with it.

 

Cousin works at a ford dealership. Tell's me every day how there are people trading in their tacos for Fords. Not sure if I believe him, speaks like a true salesman. Pretty insufferable on the whole Tacoma vs Ranger debate which makes me hate Ford even more.

I need to own my 2018 4x4 trd sport for at least 10-12+ years. If I only wanted to drive a truck for 6 months - 2 years and then trade it,I probably would of bought a ranger.

So yes OP, please go buy the shitty refresh. If you are trying to base your $38K+ purchase off of opinions of Tacoma enthusiasts and want people to talk you out of your decision, you probably aren't very bright to begin with.

 

Damn dude. How can you call someone not bright when he's asking opinions on both vehicles? Is that how you want to treat new prospective Tacoma owners simply looking for info?

 

You're right, that was kind of harsh. My point is I would assume most people on TW are biased towards the Tacoma out right anyway. I just thought it kind of silly that he wants us to talk him out of buying a Ranger, especially on here. He should really just focus on his needs and wants out of a truck and buy whatever fits that.

 

Go for it.

 

Here is how a Ford F150 EcoBoost help up after 200,000 miles:

http://jalopnik.com/heres-how-a-ford-f-150-ecoboost-held-up-after-200-000-m-1790602670/amp

 

200k miles really isn't all that impressive relative to how well many Toyotas hold up though, and the owner of that truck was really on top of maintenance. I know people who are absolutely terrible with maintenance on their Toyotas with 300k+ miles on the original engine and transmission and still running strong.

 

That may be true, but the way the Ranger is configured for overseas use (suspension, engine options) makes it a somewhat different truck from the current ecoboost offering which seems to have limited articulation in stock form.

 

Limited articulation on the Ranger is due to a stronger, fully boxed frame. The Tacoma’s frame is not boxed towards the rear of the truck (C-channel design).

 

While I have no doubt that a C-channel frame will have more flex than a boxed frame, that is mostly irrelevant to this discussion.

Suspension tuning is what primarily dictates articulation. My point is that the Ranger, even the 4x4 offroad variant (Ford's equivalent to the TRD offroad) has seemingly limited suspension flex for offroad situations.

I really get the feeling that Ford set up the base Ranger primarily for road-going daily drivers, whereas the Toyota designed the Tacoma to be an off-roader and then made tweaks to certain road-focused variants (Sport, Limited).

 

Not really that harsh, just take a look at the others threads that the OP started along a similar vein.