Faults:

Usual stuff: Battery, Windshield Wiper Pump, brake pads.

Transmission blew at 55000 Miles!

General Comments:

I was Irate! The Transmision should last at least a 120,000 Miles. I got this truck from my grandpa, I wouldn't actually have bought it myself. It does well off-road and the suspension is awesome, but it totally and completely unreliable. Driver returns on foot is right. After I went on a GENTLE dirt ROAD (not trail or off road) my transmission lost power slowly, but surely (almost imperceptable at first). The tranny fluid had all drained out of the vehicle, ruining the.

Faults:

Fuel tank indicator failed at 18,000 miles. Fixed by dealer and never had another problem with it.

Had problems with door locks sticking - fixed myself with WD40.

Windshield wipers would come on for no apparent reason at full blast. Never fixed this problem, but I could reliably turn them off by first turning the wipers onto the lowest setting, and then turning them off after a few seconds.

Vinyl seats started to wear at about 70,000 miles.

Had the clutch changed at 82,500 miles, which is a little early, but I learned to drive manual on it.

General Comments:

A great first pick-up - I really loved it and would've had it much longer, but it was totaled when someone crashed into it at 50 mph while it was parked on the street. Looking at the accident, though, I'm sure I would've walked away just fine if I'd been in it.

It got great gas mileage - 29 mpg average with tonneau cover (sometimes as high as 32 mpg), 26 mpg without anything, and 28 mpg with canopy.

It was a little weak on the highway, but not too bad overall, and handled well in the lower gears.

I bought the baseline model, so no real special features. Thus, there wasn't too much room in the cab and the seat really didn't move back much. No cup holders so I added one that attached to a vent. Also, no power steering was tough at times for others, but I got used to it.

I probably would've bought another one, but Chevy came out with the Colorado to replace the S-10. The Colorado is so much more roomy than the Ranger, so I went with it.

Faults:

Brakes have been replaced multiple times. Rear Wheel cylinders went bad at around 180k.

Rear end went out at 215k.

Clutch replaced twice.

Front wheel bearing replaced twice.

General Comments:

I do not actually own this truck however my best friend does. I know the vehicle as well as if it was my own though. It was bought new in 1996 and has 223000 on the clock and still ticking. The only serious thing that has gone wrong was the truck is the rear end went out. Otherwise, it has been start up and go it's entire life. Not only that, but it has survived and driven away from four front end accidents. The same could not be said for the other cars involved. The only complaint that I (or my friend) has with the vehicle is that it is underpowered. The 3.0l doesn't have enough grunt for a 4000 pound four wheel drive vehicle. Although underpowered the truck always delivered when asked with its towing capacity being exceeded on numerous occasions. Overall it's a great truck. The only other problem is typical of Fords. There are several lights illuminated on the dash including service engine soon, ABS, and air bags (which are disconnected purposely).