16th Mar 2009, 20:07

I'm not aware of ANY 20 year old vehicle (at time of original post) that is not problematic. That is beyond the designed life expectancy of any light duty vehicle, regardless of manufacturer.

I drove an 82 Ranger that was very beat, but got me where I was going. But that was 15 years ago and the truck only cost a few hundred bucks. Today an 87 is only worth that, a few hundred or less.

1st Apr 2009, 11:06

Fords rock, I own one and I love it!!! But the auto tranny takes a bit to go into gear, but other than that, I love it.

1st Apr 2009, 11:55

Actually, my family's company has kept some of the early Rangers (used for light duty hauling) as long as 20 years and 300,000+ miles. These little trucks are very reliable.

1st Apr 2009, 21:24

This is my review. The problems I had were not my fault, they were the fault of Ford, for making a truck as pathetic as this.

Yes, I changed oil. Rather, I started just ADDING oil, because this junk Ford engine burned about a quart a week.

NO, it wasn't my rear brakes that locked the rear wheels up twice. It was the differential. Like a few days after a nightmare, I can laugh about it now, because I switched to Toyota shortly after this and these kind of problems became non-existent.

The funny part is, I put my Toyota's through the kind of abuse that I get accused of putting this Ford through... but I didn't do so. All I wanted from this Ford was a ride to work, and that is too much to ask of a Ford apparently. I DID abuse the Toyota's on and off road, and they still never broke.

2nd Apr 2009, 11:09

A review on a used truck that is 22 years old and probably had a history of abuse is hardly credible. We've owned Fords that made over 300,000 miles with virtually nothing beyond routine maintenance. Our two companies use Rangers for light duty work and 300,000 miles out of the base 4-cylinder 5-speed Ranger is pretty typical. The heavy hauling is primarily done by full size Ford, Chevy and Dodge trucks and vans. Here again, ALL THREE of these brands serve well as work vehicles. We've had examples of all three that easily exceeded a quarter of a million miles with no problems.

When we see reviews and comments by people who have bought one used and abused 20-year-old vehicle with 100,000 miles on it and condemn ALL domestics, that makes no credible argument at all. This Ranger may indeed have used oil. It may never have had the oil changed prior to this reviewer buying it. At least it did not have a flawed frame that rusted so badly the Tacoma BROKE IN HALF. Toyota had to buy back hundreds of thousands of these "half and half Tacomas". I'll take a little oil use over half a truck any day.

2nd Apr 2009, 22:33

Why is it I wonder that the only Fords and Chevy's I've ever seen that get over 100,000 miles without breaking down are in online comments? I guess it's easy to type in anything you like. In reality, Ford' and Chevy's don't approach anything close to 250 or 300,000 miles with no trouble. Usually, it's far less than half of that at best. Toyota's do it regularly though.

2nd Apr 2009, 23:40

Yet another person who buys a very used truck and blames the manufacturer when it breaks.

Perhaps he would've been happy with a lifetime warranty.

3rd Apr 2009, 13:16

Was your Tacoma bought used with 90000 miles and same price condition as the 87 you picked up? I have owned some 400 dollar imports real creampuffs they were more crap.

3rd Apr 2009, 20:07

"Yet another person who buys a very used truck and blames the manufacturer when it breaks."

Very true. We've owned 17 domestic vehicles that were purchased brand new (not used and abused). Not a one from ANY of the Big Three auto makers ever required a single repair before 100,000 miles. I don't even KNOW anyone who has had problems with any new domestic in the past 10 years. If I don't get 200,000 miles out of any vehicle without a problem I don't buy another one of the brand. That is why I will NEVER buy another Honda (ours blew up at under 100,000 miles) or Mazda (totally fell apart by 150,000 miles) or VW (disintegrated at 85,000 miles). We did have a Toyota but it bored us to death and was sold at 100,000 miles. It wasn't one iota more reliable than the very worst of our domestics.

3rd Apr 2009, 23:04

23:40 I bought all 3 of my Toyota's used also. Didn't have to blame anyone because they never broke. Just the Fords and Chevy's. See, if something is built right, someone else can use it, the YOU can buy it and it still works.

4th Apr 2009, 11:06

Two of my friends bought used Camrys because of all the false hype about imports being more reliable. One was out $2000 in repairs within 2 months, and the other had the transmission fail in 6 months and was told the car (which had 80,000 miles on it) wasn't worth the $3000+ to repair. He sold it for scrap and bought a 14-year-old Chevy Celebrity with over 200,000 miles for $400. It ran flawlessly for 5 years.

None of my Rangers EVER required one single repair. I'll stick with proven reliability instead of imports that break in half due to rusted out frames after 2 years. Not data supports the claims that imports are any more reliable. Even the biased Consumer Reports rates Ford and Toyota dead even and chooses the EXACT SAME PERCENTAGE (75%) of each makers models as "recommended buys". The Fusion outranks the Camry in predicted reliability by TWO FULL LEVELS.

5th Apr 2009, 11:34

OK... I have a 1987 Ford Ranger... this thing WILL NOT DIE! Piece of junk you say?? Mine I bought just 2 months ago (2009) and did a tune up, u-joints, and fuel filter... That's IT!!! And I wheel the hell out of this little truck, it is lifted 5" with 31's on it, and this thing goes almost everywhere in 2x4 and goes EVERYWHERE in 4x4. So you just got a bad noodle little buddy :)

I am having a problem with the tranny dipstick tube, it comes loose, leaks on the exhaust causing smoke, so it looks like I'm on fire...

8th May 2009, 00:17

I owned a 1985 Ford Ranger. It was trashed when I got it, but I put a freeze plug in it and a radiator, and it fired right up on the first try. Never leaked anything or used any oil.

I later traded it for a 1987 Ranger 4x4, and it's the best truck I have ever owned. I only had to replace the rearend once because I dropped the clutch several times, and with a poy traction rearend, something is going to give, but other than that, I love the Rangers, and Ford is all I will drive.