2002 Ford Ranger XLT
Ok, sticker was $25,270. Gave them $18k and the Dodge Neon. Has Off road and towing packages. Limited slip with 4:10 gears. Six disc in dash CD player. Bed Liner and a receiver hitch. Transfer case went out at 2000 miles. Got it replaced and now it's going out again at 8000 miles. Ford tough? Quality is job one? yeah right. Fuel mileage started out at about what ford stated but steadily went down as I put miles on it finally bottomed at a little over 12 mpg town and 14 hwy. Put on a K&N drop in filter and got about a 1 mpg gain. Put on a Dynomax cat back exhaust and got about a 2 mpg gain, it looks really good and got rid of the nasty vibration from a badly welded original muffler. So the mpg now is at least somewhat acceptable. No thanks to ford on that one though.
Update on the mileage. Back down to 14 in town and 16 on the highway. I know I should have gotten a full size Chevy. Would have saved me a fortune since gas prices seem to keep going up.
Now we have transfer case contestant number 3. Any bets on how long this one will last? Went in at 9800 miles, so we will see I guess. Anderson Ford in Lincoln NE is the dealer that I bought this truck from and is also doing the service work. At this point I wouldn't really recommend letting them work on your vehicle unless of course it is under warranty and free. But at some point it might be better to pay a real mechanic and have it fixed right.
12,000 miles and transfer case is making bad noises again. Took it in and noises mysteriously go away. Hmm.. making same noise for two months and goes away when they look at it? go figure. I guess we'll see how long it lasts. This has to be the biggest mistake in car buys that I've made since passing up a 72 cuda for 1500 bucks. Will have the Chevelle back on the road shortly so at least I'll have one reliable car. Albeit a 1968 model. I guess there is some truth to the old saying that it is better to push a chevy than drive a ford.
