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2019 Ford Ranger First Drive Review


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2 minutes ago, 351cid said:

I think I dropped MT back in the mid 90's.

Car and Driver was a lot better.  I remember when they did a Beretta comparison test (Chevy vs. a handgun) and tested beer keg capacity in pickup trucks vs. a Ferrari.

But they also went downhill the last decade or so.

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I have never owned a truck, so for what it's worth when I saw it last friday in person at the Ford Dealer I thought it looked good and unlike the Fiesta's 10+ year old interior,  it did not look dated.     Makes sense to not spend a lot of time re-doing the sheet metal on this placeholder vehicle since most have not seen this  truck before.    Particularly for urban and suburban areas it certainly is a much more manageable size for finding places to park. 

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Yeah, MT seems to always trash Fords, if Ford is paying advert dollars.

For a more honest comparison of the Taco vs Ranger, TFL Trucks did a towing review.  But it also reviewed all aspects.  Hint, they gave the slight edge to the Ford in the end.  Their niggles were appropriate.  But their praise points were as well.

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3 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Well I saw the proof of that.  I'm northbound on I-495 the other day about 10 miles from Lowell Mass.  I pass a flatbed loaded with new frames!  I thinking I thought Toyota was done with that.  Guess not.

Bob I use to see them going up north on RT 3 a lot a few years back heading towards Nashua. A guy at work had his replaced in 2018.

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3 hours ago, rperez817 said:

2019 U.S. Ford Ranger is a refreshed version of a 10 year old truck. People who do their research know that. Ford's hack job approach with 2019 Ranger allows them to participate in the hot U.S. midsize pickup truck market now.

And that should be good enough for existing U.S. Ranger owners. It is for me, that's why I pre-ordered one. I'm happy Ford didn't wait until 2022 to give American buyers a midsize truck offering. Look forward to taking delivery of my 2019 Ranger XLT 4x2 Supercab in a few months.

lot more done to the truck than you know...color me impressed, and Im not easily impressed in the slightest...itll take a hell of a lot more abuse than the Colorado and Tacoma put together. Did you know Chevy requires the removal of the front lower valance if you go off roading?....10 screws...and then it has to be re-installed for everyday driving and otherwise mileage and cooling both suffer?.....and the Tacos chassis is STILL C section cab back, and upper control arms ( forged in ranger ) are ALSO stamped C section!!!!!!!!!!!!

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46 minutes ago, Deanh said:

 Did you know Chevy requires the removal of the front lower valance if you go off roading?....10 screws...and then it has to be re-installed for everyday driving and otherwise mileage and cooling both suffer?.....and the Tacos chassis is STILL C section cab back, and upper control arms ( forged in ranger ) are ALSO stamped C section!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes indeed, you are correct Deanh sir. The GM midsize trucks use an air deflector attached to the front bumper/valence. I think it's for aerodynamics. But it's a silly design for off road capable vehicles. Their full size pickups and SUVs have that too. Only certain high end, off road optimized versions like Colorado ZR2 and Tahoe Z71 get rid of the deflector.

Tacoma was the first truck that I crossed off my shopping list. Not only is the suspension tuning too firm for on-road use, the driver's seat still doesn't have a height adjustment!

I narrowed down my choices to 2019 Ford Ranger and 2019 Honda Ridgeline. I went with Ranger because it's familiar. I have an '04 Ranger now, and had several Rangers and a Courier prior to that. Guess I'm one of those "sheeple" who will buy a new Ford because they already own a Ford. So be it. :)

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4 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

Yes indeed, you are correct Deanh sir. The GM midsize trucks use an air deflector attached to the front bumper/valence. I think it's for aerodynamics. But it's a silly design for off road capable vehicles. Their full size pickups and SUVs have that too. Only certain high end, off road optimized versions like Colorado ZR2 and Tahoe Z71 get rid of the deflector.

Tacoma was the first truck that I crossed off my shopping list. Not only is the suspension tuning too firm for on-road use, the driver's seat still doesn't have a height adjustment!

I narrowed down my choices to 2019 Ford Ranger and 2019 Honda Ridgeline. I went with Ranger because it's familiar. I have an '04 Ranger now, and had several Rangers and a Courier prior to that. Guess I'm one of those "sheeple" who will buy a new Ford because they already own a Ford. So be it. :)

heres a crazy tidbit...to get the feature we call BLIS, in a Tacoma, requires a $6000 package......I think what impressed me the most about the Ranger, was how aware they were of the competitions weakness's.....enjoy the truck buddy, Im jealous...

 

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2 hours ago, coupe3w said:

Bob I use to see them going up north on RT 3 a lot a few years back heading towards Nashua. A guy at work had his replaced in 2018.

Last load I saw previous to this 495 sighting was at the 'yota dealer that is at Rt 70 and Rt 2 (Lancaster)-on west side of 2.  Probably a year or two ago.  Flatbed had just pulled in and they hadn't started to off load.  The lesson here?  Toyota stepped up to the plate-no questions asked.  Ford pays a lot of customer service people to tell you "sorry-out of warranty".  Neighbor of mine had a Taco with like 80,000 miles.  I don't think it had ever been washed.  Had the truck in for service and dealer called him up to tell him "sorry" we csn't let the truck go-gave him 13,000 on a regular cab-don't recall how old it was but my guess more than 5 years.

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Can't understand what the debate is here.  Forget about Motor Trend.  We have been reading for how long about how great T-6 has been.  Best small truck out there blah blah.  Ford spends a good amount of money on it and finally offers it here.  Go to You Tube.  All kinds of reviews and I do believe I have not found one that has any serious negative other than some think plastic could be a bit better on interior.

Bottom line-it is still "pick of the litter".

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Interesting reading through all the comments here. Seems like the only real 'hack job' was by our friends at MT.

I'll share a little story on those folks. As a young guy getting started in the business I was working for a certain small European manufacturer and got to tag along to a meeting with the M/T staff. Did they want to talk about the option mix, colors, transmissions, etc they wanted to use in the COTY test vehicle? Nope. Didn't care even a little bit. All they wanted to talk about was what the advertising budget was and the corresponding marketing plan.

To top it off, when we picked up the press car after the COTY test we found the vehicle test log book the MT staff mistakenly left behind. Within it read a note. "Are we still supposed to be extra picky on this car because it's an [name withheld] ?  Eye opening experience and funny MT hasn't bothered to change their ways.

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2 hours ago, marksboss said:

Interesting reading through all the comments here. Seems like the only real 'hack job' was by our friends at MT.

I'll share a little story on those folks. As a young guy getting started in the business I was working for a certain small European manufacturer and got to tag along to a meeting with the M/T staff. Did they want to talk about the option mix, colors, transmissions, etc they wanted to use in the COTY test vehicle? Nope. Didn't care even a little bit. All they wanted to talk about was what the advertising budget was and the corresponding marketing plan.

To top it off, when we picked up the press car after the COTY test we found the vehicle test log book the MT staff mistakenly left behind. Within it read a note. "Are we still supposed to be extra picky on this car because it's an [name withheld] ?  Eye opening experience and funny MT hasn't bothered to change their ways.

You be quiet with your conspiracy theories :hysterical:

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19 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Well I saw the proof of that.  I'm northbound on I-495 the other day about 10 miles from Lowell Mass.  I pass a flatbed loaded with new frames!  I thinking I thought Toyota was done with that.  Guess not.

My stepfather just had his frame replaced last summer so it definitely is still going on.

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10 hours ago, marksboss said:

Interesting reading through all the comments here. Seems like the only real 'hack job' was by our friends at MT.

I'll share a little story on those folks. As a young guy getting started in the business I was working for a certain small European manufacturer and got to tag along to a meeting with the M/T staff. Did they want to talk about the option mix, colors, transmissions, etc they wanted to use in the COTY test vehicle? Nope. Didn't care even a little bit. All they wanted to talk about was what the advertising budget was and the corresponding marketing plan.

To top it off, when we picked up the press car after the COTY test we found the vehicle test log book the MT staff mistakenly left behind. Within it read a note. "Are we still supposed to be extra picky on this car because it's an [name withheld] ?  Eye opening experience and funny MT hasn't bothered to change their ways.

Even if you had NOT found the log book, the focus of their conversation with your team said it all..."show us the money"!!

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33 minutes ago, akirby said:

I love Motorweek - most of their reviews are honest and seem less biased.   But Pat Goss needs to retire.

Here's the MotorWeek Ranger Road Test.

MotorWeek is great but as a TV show, their reviews are not as detailed as the best car magazines like Motor Trend and Car and Driver.

Pat Goss owns a couple repair shops in Maryland. I actually got to meet him in person at one of those shops. Very knowledgeable guy.

Edited by rperez817
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1 hour ago, akirby said:

Pat Goss is great but he's run out of material and seems burned out on the presentation.  His early years on the show were great.

My favorite Goss' Garage segments on MotorWeek were from the early years. I particularly like this one on turbochargers that Pat Goss did about 27 years ago.

 

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Dang - MT trashed the Ranger hard!  Deep into the article after they completely dissed the truck - they commented:  "put it to work and it all makes sense..."

As if a truck should not make 'work' its priority.   What are the expectations anymore?  A truck that performs well at work and towing -but does not drive a like a sports car is trashed like this example?  You would think a 'truck' review would tout the fact that this baby can get the work done better than the competition would be the headline and highly complementary! 

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Two things......  is the new Ranger nearly a half second slower to 60 than the Colorado as Motor Trend states?  Everything that I have found suggests that they are about equal in acceleration.  Second, does the ecoboost 4 have balance shafts to smooth out vibration?  

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2 hours ago, rperez817 said:

Here's the MotorWeek Ranger Road Test.

MotorWeek is great but as a TV show, their reviews are not as detailed as the best car magazines like Motor Trend and Car and Driver.

Pat Goss owns a couple repair shops in Maryland. I actually got to meet him in person at one of those shops. Very knowledgeable guy.

this Motor Week is a much better review - with the narrator adding information like:  "...as typical for the segment..." with his comments when there is an obvious compromise.  

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