Faults:

* Ride height was misadjusted from the factory. Bed was also misaligned. Dealer corrected both problems under warranty.

* Drivers side seat material is wearing abnormally. Ford will not cover seat materials under warranty.

* Most seriously (so far), the front brakes failed to engage while I was slowing to make a right turn. This happened at 9,200 miles. Even though I was driving at low speed and had begun braking early for the turn, the rear brakes were unable to keep me from entering the intersection. The dealer was not able to find a mechanical problem and theorizes the ABS system erroneously removed pressure from the front brakes, but unless something stays broken, it is very hard to fix. The problem has not recurred in 500 miles of in-town driving since then, but I am not letting my guard down.

General Comments:

Overall, I like the truck. Fast it is not, but acceleration is adequate. The 5-speed automatic shifts smoothly most of the time, although cutting out overdrive when decelerating can lead to a rough downshift. Fuel economy is fair, but I am averaging about 19mpg, so I am not too unhappy.

Creature comfort is where the truck shines. The fast-wearing seat notwithstanding, the ergonomics are excellent, with plenty of headroom and legroom. Indeed, the primary reason I chose this truck was its vastly better driver and passenger comfort than that of the 2002 Dakota Club Cab I would otherwise have purchased.

As for the sound system, I'm sure it's fine, but I don't listen to music or the radio much when I'm driving, so I'm afraid the Tremor package wasn't a sales plus for me. My girlfriend, though, loves it.

The best feature of the truck is the four-door arrangement. At first, I viewed that as a useless feature, but having lived with it for a year now, I have to say that having the twin rear-opening doors behind the seats has made this truck much easier to live with on a day-to-day basis than my Dodge Club Cab. Nothing beats having better access to the area behind the front seats, and even my die-hard friends with S-10 LS models concede that the extra door Ford adds above Chevy's three-door truck makes for a more versatile and useful arrangement. If you are considering a Ranger Supercab, splurge if you can for the four-door option.

I shopped around for more than a year before buying. The Ranger is not perfect, but to me it is a better value than anything else out there, including the Nissans and Toyotas.

Faults:

I have been very pleased with my Ford Ranger so far. The only issue that has come up was at 12000 miles, the windshield wiper fluid line leaked. This was a very minor repair that took the dealer 30 minutes to fix.

General Comments:

Overall the truck has a very smooth ride, especially with a little weight in the bed of the truck.

The engine is very responsive at all speeds and has plenty of power in 5th gear at 75mph.

The interior is very basic, but very well laid out. The heat and AC work very well. The upgraded stereo is well worth the money considering there seems to be some wind noise in the cab of the truck.

In four wheel drive the truck sticks to the road in the snow, I feel very comfortable driving it in any weather situation.

Faults:

4x4 Ranger purchased in March 2002. It currently has 70,000km.

So far.

Noise in transmission. First noticed ~6500km. After 5 visits and 8 days in the shop, they tell me they finally have it figured out.

First time, they heard no noise and tried to bill me for looking.

Second time in, they heard the noise, but could not fix it at the time, and once again tried to bill me for looking.

Third time, they had it for 3 days and still did not fix the problem. Apparently ordered a recalled shifter. Lost the clutch slave cylinder shortly after. Asked them to fix the transmission noise and install the recalled part at that time. They could not find the part, so no go.

Fifth time in, they replaced the rubber shifter boot, can you believe that? Of course that was not the problem, so they ordered more parts. Currently it is sitting in the shop for the sixth time for the same problem. Hopefully they get it right this time.

Wind noises both doors. Warranty.

Rock/chip guard coming off. Warranty.

Rattling/movement driver's seat. Warranty once, but it is back again.

Shimmy/vibration 135km/hr and up when new. The garage would not even look at this when it was still under warranty. Apparently their technicians cannot drive that fast. Now it starts at 90km/hr. Funny thing is I just had two tires replaced and balanced. So I know it is not a wheel balance problem.

Front brakes and rotors @ 37000 km. Would not warranty them. I was told there were hot spots on the rotors and they could not be machined. 400 bucks later, fixed. I took the old rotors to another shop, and they machined them no problem. They were a few thousand of an inch under spec, but it should have been covered under warranty. I brought this to Ford's attention, but all I heard was excuses.

As I type this, it is in the shop again with the same problem. Pads under warranty this time, however still have to foot the bill for labour. And if the rotors are gone, of course that is my problem.

Transfer case sticks. I now have to accelerate hard in order to get the truck out of 4x4. I was told twice by the local oil change shop that the transfer case fluid looked really dirty. Replaced it, and 10,000km later it looked terrible again. I brought this to Ford's attention, and was simply told it was normal. Now the warranty is off, and I have to foot the bill to fix it.

Check engine light is on. Who knows? I will find out tomorrow. For your info, Ford charges 100 bucks to run the diagnostic test. You can find a local place that well do the same for half.

General Comments:

I purchased this Ranger based on my previous experience. 1994 4 cylinder 2x4. It was a great truck. 400,000km. Replaced the clutch slave cylinder, rear wheel and diff bearings, and the front brakes pads twice. Still has the same rotors.

Both vehicles are driven in the exact same fashion by the same driver. After the unfortunate experience with the new Ranger, this is my last Ford product.