Faults:

15k: Check engine light comes on due to a short in the crankshaft sensor. Under warranty, but the dealer had to order the part. 3 day wait - couldn’t leave it at the dealer for that amount of time, and was told that the truck could stall and be un-start-able until the sensor could be replaced. Lucky for me, the truck ran until the repair could be made.

73k: Transmission starts to slip between first/second gear-rpm hit 5000 before dumping into second gear-O/D light flashes. Transmission shop says replacement required. Second opinion says a rebuild is needed because the error code (improper gear ratio) was caused by a faulty part within the transmission, and a replacement would include the faulty part. Warranty long since expired, $2500.00 to rebuild Ford's 5 speed auto trans - never towed anything - never hauled anything heavier than a couch - did all scheduled maintenance's - at the time I found about 2 dozen people with the same exact truck kicking out the same error code for the same problem, all under 100k mile marker.

88k: Serpentine belt starts to squeal - idler pulley bearing going out, pulley wobbles, distinctive marks made on the belt itself, tension pulley also going bad, both pulleys & belt replacement cost = $88.00.

General Comments:

Bad gas mileage = 16mpg on highway.

If driving with A/C on, I notice a huge loss of horsepower by about 30%.

Buying a manual transmitted Toyota once this lemon has bit the dust... which I'm expecting anywhere near the 100k mark.

Faults:

Serpentine belt squealed from day one.

Airbag warning light comes on frequently (usually in damp weather).

CD player failed at around 55,000 miles.

Check engine light came on at around 63,000 miles.

Difficult, if not outright impossible to keep wheels in alignment. New tires at around 55,000 miles.

General Comments:

I've owned a bunch of cars, and a few of them have been Fords, and, I have to admit, while they're not very sexy, they've been good vehicles, I've just never been able to get excited about them like I did my 300zx, BMW, or even my old death-mobile Bug.

This truck is just like the other Fords I've had: unsexy in the extreme, rather boring, but reliable and bullet proof. Like the other Fords I've had, it's the little things that go wrong, like the CD player dying, and the belt tensioner (almost every Ranger I see on the road chirps and sings the same way mine did, I put on an after market tensioner and never had another problem with noisy parts). One thing I've learned from Ford is that it is the laziest car company in the world, and if something doesn't work for 20 years they're damned if they're going to bother re-engineering it.

That being said, I'm setting at nearly 70,000 miles and I haven't had any major problems. I've yet to get the airbag warning light fixed (probably will before I sell it), the check engine light was for exactly what I thought it would be for: a dirty mass air-flow sensor (no big deal). Changing the tensioner, idler pully and serpentine belt took less than an hour. I change the oil at every 3,000 miles and try not to drive like a maniac, which you can't really do anyway because of the underpowered engine and weak brakes (another typical Ford "feature").

The Edge model looks better than the standard Ranger, as it's raised higher and has a "4x4" look, I've driven it all over some pretty harsh desert "roads" and have only ever been badly stuck once. That said, the ride is very, very harsh. Strong spinal cords and neck muscles are recommended. I've never been able to figure out the alignment problem with this truck. You get the wheels aligned and it still pulls to one side. You get equal air pressure in every tire and it pulls to one side. I don't know if there is something defective here (though I wouldn't doubt it) or if there's something I'm doing wrong. Expect to go through tires at least every year or two ($500 for four good, name-brand tires).

Gas mileage is pretty poor, I get about 220 miles on a full tank, though I once went over 300 (all highway) miles, so don't believe the Ford propaganda about the Ranger being the most "fuel efficient truck", that phrase is an oxymoron anyway.

Interior is nice, I like the vinyl floor (easy to clean all the gunk I tend to track around in) and the "Supercab" is a nice option (though really more for storage than for people).

Overall this is a pretty solid truck. Not overpriced like the F-150, but they seem to keep their value pretty well and you can get a good deal on a used one (unlike, say, Tacomas, which are ridiculously over-valued).