Blue Thunder!

I just bought a 98' Ford Ranger XLT 4.0 V6 4X4 with a manual transmission. Not an easy find, at least in Virginia. There are plenty of 2WD Rangers out there, but I never really understood the point. If you are going to own a truck, it needs to be 4X4. So I looked all over the inter net, at sites like autotrader.com, to find the truck I was looking for. There was only one 4X4 manual and when I called they had just sold it. I figured I would have to settle for an automatic, I'm glad I didn't. There is a lot of power loss, I didn't really like the auto that I test drove.

I found my dream truck by chance. My friend new of a Ford dealer and we decided to stop and see if they had anything. My hopes weren't too high. But to my surprise someone had just traded it in the day before. It hadn't even been cleaned up or inspected(more on that later). The truck was obviously well taken care of by the previous owner. There were only a few scratches in the paint and minor interior problems. The main problem was the mileage, which was at the peak of my range, at 81K. The other problem was the price, they wanted $12,500, there was no way I was going to pay that.

I had done some research on bluebook.com and edmunds.com and I knew that the truck was worth more around $10K, if that. So of course the salesman gave me the "What will you buy this for today line?" I really didn't want to buy it up the same day, so I said $9K. I completely didn't expect them to go for it, but to my surprise the counter offer was $10K. Finally after about a half an hour of haggling they got me up to $9,250, which is just under the blue book value. What made it a great deal, is the fact that they hadn't inspected it yet. I had them replace the serpentine belt(which looked dry rotted) and put new tires on it. The inspection found that the truck needed new brakes and some other minor repairs. I decided to go with a one year warranty for $1K and financed at 6.25%, which I plan on refinancing through one of my banks.

I picked the Ford Ranger because a few of my friends had owned them and loved them. It is a small truck, and my friends Z71 was bigger than I needed or wanted. But I like the practicality of pickups, since I have a few moves ahead of me in the not so distant future. I also like the extended cab feature, which allows me to pack friends in an emergency, but is uncomfortable enough to keep me from being a constant taxi. I also read a lot of reviews on here and most of the comments were very positive. I didn't like the S10 and everything I heard said that the Ranger is a better buy.

I wanted to 4X4 for a few reasons. One it makes the weight ratio more balanced. FWD pickups are very heavy in the front and have almost no weight in the back. This can make the back end swing around and cause the vehicle to fishtail. RWD isn't the best in poor weather conditions. Being from NY I have a tendency to avoid it if I can. Plus bad weather situations it is nice to be able to go in 4X4 and barrel through the obstacles. And the freedom to go where I want, when I want. If that is off roading than cool, I can do that much more easily with a4X4. Not to mention the fact that I have the very illogical belief that a truck isn't a truck if it isn't 4X4.

From everything I read the only engine worth a damn is the 4.0 V6. The 4 cylinder is supposed to be under powered. From what I remember, of my friends, Rangers was that their 4 cylinders was a little on the weak side. I didn't research if they made it more powerful over the years, as theirs were older, some where around 91's I believe. I think the 3.0 V6 puts out around 180 HP, but it drinks gas at the same rate that the 4.0 does. The 4.0 is a big engine for this truck, it puts out around 207 HP which enough power to tow with. Especially with 4X4 low the Ranger can pull most anything you want. The engine does drink gas pretty quickly. Driving conservatively, which can be hard to do as it is really fun to accelerate and listen to the engine growl, on the highway I can get 20 miles to the gallon. However if I am jumping off the line, and letting the tach get to around 5 or 6 thousand RPMs, I can almost watch the needle drop. I'd say around 10 MPG in the city if I am screwing around. I'm thinking off getting a cover for the bed and see if that helps at all by making the truck a little more aerodynamic.

I wanted a manual transmission because they are far superior, in every way, to automatic. The only situation where auto is better is in heavy, slow moving traffic. Plus with 4X4 it allows you to control you RPMs in order to apply the power you need for the situation. Gas mileage is better, if you aren't stupid, like me, and drive hard. I have always been a fan of the less moving parts the better, philosophy. So auto's seem like a rather expensive accident waiting to happen. Of course the inverse to this is the rather expensive clutch that must be periodically replaced on standards. Also I find I speed less in standard's. I get bored in auto's and tend to drive fast in order to keep my mind on what I am doing. Shifting gives me something to do and keeps my need for speed to a lesser level.

The only other vehicles I was looking at were actually not trucks at all. I tend to be a fan of sports compacts. I was thinking of the new RX8, or the Lancer Evo. But they were about $10K more. I am also very tired of having no room for my stuff. I move a lot and small cars are really poor for that. Not to mention that Virginia cops tend to be a bit on the fascist side and I didn't feel like getting 50 speeding tickets. So I figured it was a get more for less situation with the Ranger, even if it isn't as sexy.

Safety, though not high on my list of priorities, is a factor. With the fleet of SUVs out there it is better to be higher off the ground. Trucks are a little safer than cars, but the Ranger isn't a tank like the F350 Super Duty.

The stereo is good for a factory system. Unfortunately it only has a cassette player. That is going to get changed very soon believe me. I will not drive from VA to NY without my CDs! The newer Ranger's all seem to have CD players though. Of all the Ranger's I looked at this was the only one without. It was also the only 98' so they might have made it standard in the newer models.

From what I have seen, and from what my friends told me, these trucks are very reliable. This is a HUGE factor for me. I hate paying for repairs and I am not the most mechanical person. That I blame on growing up with a single mother. I am slowly getting better and a pickup is pretty easy to work on. You can get under them much easier than a car. I don't trust small jacks and kind of expect them them to break and the car to fall on me any moment. Also since the truck is a domestic parts are usually cheaper. I also have the illogical belief that Japan can't make pickups. I have heard good things about Toyota, but I refuse to believe it until I actually know someone who owns one. Vehicles are too expensive, and risky, an investment to jump into blindly.