Looking at used trucks trying to decide.

[OLDNEWBIE]

I've been seeing a lot of clean 2wd Ford Rangers with the small cab 2001-2004 with 100k miles to 120k in my price range under 8,000. Why are they so prevalent compared to other domestics of the same era for sale? Is it because they crap out around 100k and people don't want to hang on to them or did they just make a lot more of them than Dakotas or S10s I wonder? I can't afford an overpriced used Toyota now and wouldn't pay what they are asking if I could. Anybody own a Ranger that keeps going and going and going...........? Or a Dakota or S10.

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[nwo]

I own a 1990 Dodge Dakota that has 110,000 miles on it.
I bought it brand new, and no matter what kind of neglect, or abuse I put it through I cannot kill that thing. It continues to run, and run.

 

[Blaylocke]

Yes, they are widely produced and so there are a lot of them. My uncle had one (close to that year if I remember) that had 120k miles on it. The thing about Fords at that mileage is that the transmissions can start to slip if they weren't well taken care of. Also beware of the wheel bearings. Not sure how you're going to beware of that without getting a serious look at it, but those were the two things my uncle had problems with, and we had as an issue on our Ford Explorer (granted that was a 98).

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Buy Toyota.

 

[orygun]

Ford made a ton of Rangers of all years. One of the best little trucks. If properly maintained 200K + is nothing. My 92 has 218K on it now. I drive it every day and I have no inclination to get rid of it. Buy the nicest one you can find, take good care of it and you'll be pleased.

 

[Papercidal]

There is a reason the toyotas cost so much more than a ranger,but if you can find one with a manual trans (and can deal with the worst clutch out there) they can be a good value. but they started out at 2/3 the cost of a toyota for the simple reason that they are 1/2 the truck.

 

[FA9]

Toyota with 22r never let's you down.

 

[Panther]

Is a toyota really overpriced? I have owned a ranger and an s-10. Then I picked up a 90 toyota 4x4 5yrs ago had 50k then. I had to beat the other buyers and paid asking price of 5200.00 now it has 115k with continued maint. I am looking at another 5-10 yrs out this truck. I think I could sell fairly fast at around 4k. So 1200 for 65k over 5 yrs seems like a good deal to me. My ranger ran fine but wasn't half the truck the toy has been.

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

I used to own a 92 s10 manual transmission I bought new. Sold it at over 110,000k miles. Around 90,000 I replaced the heater core, clutch and the cheap plastic fan switch messed up twice due to baking in the hot Florida sun every day. That little sucker was crazy expensive for what it was! The Engine ran strong till I sold it. The Inside looked bad by 75,000, again Florida sun did a number. The vehicles here in Oregon Age so much better and when I see a shiny 11 year old truck It's easy to forget It's ready for all the little problems to start like water pumps, radiator leaks etc. I'm getting where I don't want to work on that stuff anymore myself and hoping to get lucky and find an owner who already had those problems a few thousand miles prior. Toyotas that I've looked at are waaaay over my budget and haven't seen many Nissans either.

 

[WhyteCheddar]

Whatever Toyota you can get for $8k is going to be a better rig than any Ranger in that price range.
As far as being "over priced", you have to calculate value when you are done with it. Toyota's hold their value (with good reason). So when you are ready to sell or trade this truck in it will be worth much more than the Ranger. You get it out on the other side and you ha e a better ownership experience in between. IMHO

 

[Vektus]

Chevy nuff said

 

[notazombie]

The Ranger with a 4cyl is tough to beat.

 

[U201491]

Whatever Toyota you can get for $8k is going to be a better rig than any Ranger in that price range.
As far as being "over priced", you have to calculate value when you are done with it. Toyota's hold their value (with good reason). So when you are ready to sell or trade this truck in it will be worth much more than the Ranger. You get it out on the other side and you ha e a better ownership experience in between. IMHO

The best thing with Toyotas is the repair ease, availability of parts, and the Tax structure in Japan is such they put a new engine in or get a new vehicle every year, so you can buy a complete low mileage engine for anywhere from 700 to a thousand dollars.

 

[WhyteCheddar]

I'd look at a few Toyota's that are in your budget.
Would also look at Nissan. The Nissan isn't as refined as the yota but they are every bit as bullet proof. Prices might be more attractive too.
As far as the compact Chevy S10 goes, I've never talked to anyone who had any luck with them over 100k miles. YMMV

 

[notazombie]

I work on all of these regularly. I mentioned the Ranger 4cyl since that was the OP's specific question. They really are a great little truck. The Toyota is better but will cost a bit more for same age and mileage. As mentioned earlier, it will have better resale. I'm not much of a Nissan fan though. Their minor problems seem to get really expensive quickly. The S10s and Dakotas don't age well. By the time they get 100k on them most are in need of quite a bit of work. There are always exceptions and regular maintenance makes all the difference. These are just my personal observation from the last 20 years of working on other people's junk.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I owned a 98 Ranger (V-6, AT, 4X4 supercab) for over 14 years, it had 109,000 miles when sold it to upgrade to an F350 for the new camper. If you do the maintenance and don't abuse them, Fords will last a lifetime!!! I don't and never will own Jap crap. Just me so Flame on if you must!!!!

 

[Muddslinger12]

Caveman- The Only "Jap crap" you will find is in toilets! And I would hope you have no interest in owning turds

I had a 97 ranger with the 4.0 v6 and 5 speed it started goin to crap so I sold it and picked up a nice 95 Tacoma SO much happier with it! Similar configuration too 3.4 v6 5 speed just way better thought out and worth about 2000 more KBB the ext cab portion offers more room to passengers, they are just far superior in every way drives smoother, MUCH tighter shifts/shorter throw in transmission just love it!

I had the Ranger for 2 years and put a new clutch, clutch Master and Slave cylinders and it was a good truck it had over 200k + on it! And alot of its issues were from bein lifted on 33s and the axles just werent made for them (stock size for the tires is like 245/65r15 so i didnt blame the truck too much) I think if it had been left stock it would have lasted WAY longer! Also it had the 3.73 gears so it was kinda hard on it too should have been 4.10s at a minimum preferably 4.56s or 4.88s but I am so happy with the Tacoma I dont regret sellin the ranger at all.

I wish you the best of luck in finding a truck your happy with. Honesty you cant go wrong either way, well between Ford and Yota, just avoid the S10s like the plague lol jk honestly any truck could be made to accomadate your needs but I personally GREATLY prefer the Toyotas and rangers. I havent personally had good luck with Chevys (and never liked Dodge) although I know others who swear by them.

Whatever you get just take good care of it, consider switching to synthetic oil or at a minimum run Lucas Oil Stabilizer in it and it will last you along time! Also online forums help alot! If you get a Ranger check out "the rangerstation" if you get a Yota check out "yotatech" They help with advice on anything from Preventative maintnance to hardcore modification and overall just gettin the most out of your truck and most importantly optimizing its ability to suit YOUR needs!

Just dont rule out Toyotas based on price alone! They are worth every penny and it may be a bit of a challenge but I assure you it will be well worth it! Just keep your eyes peeled there ARE good deals out there! Just gotta find the right truck from the right person that is ready to sell.

 

[Dunerunner]

A 1998 Toyota Tacoma 5 passenger 4X4 will run you $3000 to $5,000. With the 2.7L I4, you can expect 17/21 MPG. Less mileage than what I currently get in my 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 5.7L Hemi V8. Hmmmmm.......

My '88 4X4 with a 2.4L I4 and 5 speed was like this one for sale on eBay Motors for les than $4,000, located in Indiana.... <broken link removed>

 

[clambo]

I agree.....Rangers are pretty good trucks, given proper maintenance...I've owned one Ranger and one Explorer. My only real complaint was that the clutch slave cylinder was located inside the bell housing on the Ranger. When the slave cylinder let go it took the clutch with it. What a dumb idea ! On the other hand...if you are a hardcore off roader, ( which I am not ) that might not be such a bad place to put a slave cylinder, as it is well protected. I dunno. I got close to 200k out of both rigs before selling them.

I am now truckless. Saving my money to buy what I feel is an overpriced Toyota...but I do believe they are the best light truck out there and hopefully this will be the last truck I ever have to buy. Before I close...I'd like to comment on an above statement that " Toyotas hold their value ". Only in an artificial sense, much like our artificial economy. My mother used to like to say that Buicks held their value too. Now she's old and broke and mean because she did not understand reality. A lifetime of mismanaging other people's money and assets into the dirt will do that to you. Oh bubblegum....got off on a mommy tangent followed by an Obammy tangent...so similar. Sorry.

Get what would make you happy. We only live once. Practical justification has to end somewhere, may as well be here. I could get by on 5 guns too, but what fun would that be ?

 

[Caveman Jim]

Caveman- The Only "Jap crap" you will find is in toilets! And I would hope you have no interest in owning turds

I had a 97 ranger with the 4.0 v6 and 5 speed it started goin to crap so I sold it and picked up a nice 95 Tacoma SO much happier with it! Similar configuration too 3.4 v6 5 speed just way better thought out and worth about 2000 more KBB the ext cab portion offers more room to passengers, they are just far superior in every way drives smoother, MUCH tighter shifts/shorter throw in transmission just love it!

I had the Ranger for 2 years and put a new clutch, clutch Master and Slave cylinders and it was a good truck it had over 200k + on it! And alot of its issues were from bein lifted on 33s and the axles just werent made for them (stock size for the tires is like 245/65r15 so i didnt blame the truck too much) I think if it had been left stock it would have lasted WAY longer! Also it had the 3.73 gears so it was kinda hard on it too should have been 4.10s at a minimum preferably 4.56s or 4.88s but I am so happy with the Tacoma I dont regret sellin the ranger at all.

I wish you the best of luck in finding a truck your happy with. Honesty you cant go wrong either way, well between Ford and Yota, just avoid the S10s like the plague lol jk honestly any truck could be made to accomadate your needs but I personally GREATLY prefer the Toyotas and rangers. I havent personally had good luck with Chevys (and never liked Dodge) although I know others who swear by them.

Whatever you get just take good care of it, consider switching to synthetic oil or at a minimum run Lucas Oil Stabilizer in it and it will last you along time! Also online forums help alot! If you get a Ranger check out "the rangerstation" if you get a Yota check out "yotatech" They help with advice on anything from Preventative maintnance to hardcore modification and overall just gettin the most out of your truck and most importantly optimizing its ability to suit YOUR needs!

Just dont rule out Toyotas based on price alone! They are worth every penny and it may be a bit of a challenge but I assure you it will be well worth it! Just keep your eyes peeled there ARE good deals out there! Just gotta find the right truck from the right person that is ready to sell.

Just proves that some people shouldn't be allowed to own Fords )