Goodbye to the Ranger?

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
About four years ago. The Ranger was supposed to be dead over a year ago, but gas prices convinced Ford to keep making Rangers for a couple more years.
 
Yep, this has been in the cards for quite a while. The F150 is FoMoCo's bread & butter. They make a killer profit on it. That's why they're dropping both the Ranger and Sport Trac.



What does this mean for North American buyers looking for a small or fuel-efficient pickup? Kuzak reaffirmed his message from earlier this year: The Ford F-150 half-ton pickup will be that choice.



"Current Ranger buyers are using their trucks as affordable transportation," Kuzak said. "We have small cars and crossovers, the Transit Connect [van] and seven-passenger C-Max coming next year to meet their needs. For customers that still need a pickup, the F-150 has an all-new engine lineup for 2011 that will be 20 percent more fuel-efficient [than the lineup it replaces] with best-in-class torque and fuel economy."
Click to expand...



I think Ford's missing a key point in all this. Sure, buyers want a more fuel efficent vehicle, but many, (like me) want a truck that's just not as big as an F150, but not too small like a Frontier or Tacoma. An F150 would be just too damn big in my garage. I've said this before: For most "suburban" drivers, the Sport Trac is the perfect truck. Not too big, but large enough to comfortably haul the whole family (unless you're the Bradys or Duggars:cheeky:) and enough bed/cargo space and power that it's never shirked a task that I've asked it to perform. Even a crew-cab Frontier or Tacoma is too small, at least in the interior.



I hate to say it, but when I'm ready to get rid of my current Gen 1 Trac, if I can't find a decent Gen 2 Trac in the used market, I just might look at a Ridgeline, because it'll be just about the only product left in that segment.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Gee, I wouldn't want to buy an F250 because they are too big for me. :cry:I don't want to haul anything larger than what my 2001 Explorer ST can fit into it! Too bad they are giving up a market thet they owned for many years now. I like change too, but where is the logic in this decision? You want to sell the world a butt load of the new Rangers, but give us the multiple choices of F150's, and then give everyone else outside of the USA a choice and leave US hanging? Mr. Alan Mullally, where are you? Ranger outsold ALL other small/compact trucks combined for many years, and was once part of the FIVE of the TOP SELLING TEN vehicles in the USA, along with the Explorer, F150, Taurus, and the Escort. So what happened?:argue:
 
If that is the case. I will have to go to the forgien market, when my '04 wears out. Hopefully ford will have better choices by then. I expect drive my '04 another 5yrs.

I dont need an F-150. I dont care what the gas milage of it is. As many on this board, its too big for my needs.
 
I agree with TrainTrac. The F150 is WAY to big for what I need. Perhaps I'll buy another Gen 1 to keep around for parts and stick the money I would put into a new vihicle towards keeping my ST in tip top shape.



WTF Ford!?! :smack:
 
Yea totally a dumb move IMO. It seems like FORD is cutting themselves out of what will only be an increasingly popular vehicle segment. I believe people will see less & less need for the large dinosaurs, like the F150 - commercial uses aside, and more need for the smaller pick-ups.



As fuel prices increase and people demand more mileage out of their vehicles, how does it make any sense to cut their most efficient line of pick-ups and offer only the huge, boxy F150? Sure they promise the Eco Boost engine and whatever other promises come WITH that, but as many of us here believe, there is no use for a large full-size pickup in our lives (or driveways/garages).
 
Good riddance on getting rid of the Ranger. Ranger was old design 10 years ago. However, getting rid of the SportTrac or not having a great "mid-szed" pickup in the line-up seems like a dumb move to me.



F-150 is a great truck, but it won't fit in my garage, and I can't park it in the very small spaces at my employer's lot. I certainly can't feed the gas hogs any more, either.
 
The Ranger should have been updated when they produced the Gen II ST. For practical reasons, a full size pickup wouldn't fit where I live.
 
I agree too. I would definitely not buy an F-150. Its just too big and is more truck then I need.



For the majority of the time the ST is an everyday driver (car) and the F-150 is just not able to fill that role. Especially in a big crowded city like NYC. I already get pretty bad gas mileage with the ST because of the traffic and stop and go traffic, not to forget parking something that is 17' long. I don't care what engines they put in an F-150 in a stop and go driving situation and traffic like in NYC the gas mileage will be horrendous!
 
I am sad to see the Ranger go and no Mid-Size replacement. I am trying real hard to get a Sport Trac before I can't find one anymore, and its more important than ever now that I don't even have a future Ranger to fall back on.



I had a 2004 Ranger 4.0 with 4.10 rear, that truck was a monster, I burned through the rear tires in a year, and most of that wasn't even intentional. It was a dated design, but it was a hell of a workhorse.



My wife thinks an F-150 is too big and doesn't want to get one, and I mostly agree, I don't need a truck that big, even if its fuel mileage is on par. They could have put the 3.7 in a new Ranger, or an 4 Cyl Ecoboost and it would have been better fuel mileage I am willing to bet.



So yeah, need to get that Sport Trac...
 


Maybe too many people are die-hard full-size bed fans, like my myriad coworkers who drive rangers, for Ford to consider it a Ranger suitable replacement. Many times they've mocked my ST for its "small" bed, despite the fact that they've seen my bed outperform theirs, and considering how shallow the ranger's bed is, and the lack of rangers with bed extenders (from my observations), I'd say that the ST's bed, with extender, actually holds more.



...and the plastic bed owns the old-fashioned metal rust-magnet bed.



Could not they have left a plant to make the ST on the explorer platform? If it supplanted the Ranger, the numbers should have supported such a move. Also, why couldn't they then have put the vaunted EcoBoost into the ST? That would, allegedly, give power and MPG which would kill competition like the Ridgeline that too many of us here are seeing a switch to.



So, unless I'm looking for a new car, Ford doesn't have anything for me...and I'm less than impressed with their new car offerings :banghead:
 
I had a 2002 & and 2003 Ranger, and i loved them both. We still have another 2003 Ranger, and it is the right size for the driver who has it. I moved up to a 2007 Sport Trac and now to a 2010 Sport Trac. It is the perfect size for me and my needs.
 
I had two Rangers and only moved up to a Trac because my kids got too big to fit in the back of a Ranger Supercab. Ford was making something like 200,000 Rangers a year 10 years ago and now they make about 30,000. Of course it's the same damn truck it was 10 years ago too. A Trac with a bed extender is about the same as a short-box Ranger.



I'm in the same boat as a lot of you. I need a truck but not necessarily a full size, and a full size wouldn't fit in my garage or a lot of the streets around here.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I can't believe that Ford hasn't considered extending the life of the ST based on consumer response to the 2nd Gen Adrenalin ALONE! You see them ALL over the freakin' place here in London, ON and thats not to mention the huge number of people I see who have a non-adren 2nd Gen.



It just seems to me like the ST is more popular than ever these days.
 
For a "Goldie Locks" kind of story, I had...



Ford Courier -- Too small

Ford F250 -- Too Big

Ford Sport Trac -- Just Right



(Had a Chevy Silverado in there too, but I dont count that one) :grin:



Side question: Since the Ranger is about 1000 lb. lighter, will it get better mileage than the ST? (4.0L / 4:10 gears, etc..)



 
Side question: Since the Ranger is about 1000 lb. lighter, will it get better mileage than the ST? (4.0L / 4:10 gears, etc..).
Click to expand...

My last Ranger was a 2002 4x4 with a 4.0 and 4.10 gears and it was pretty horrible on gas. As I recall, the city mpg may have been slightly better than my first Trac, highway mpg was no different.
 
I'm certainly not interested in a full size pickup.



Word has it that Jeep is going to build a truck based off the Gladiator concept as a 2012 model.
 
wow.. that thing looks so utilitarian. I'm sure all the displaced Hummer lovers will be all over it.



As for me, I really like it, but especially like the "old-schoolness" of the spare wheel on the side of the bed.
 
But it's a fricking Dodge! I'm sure the plastic will rattle in a week and the screws will all loosen up in six months.
 

Latest posts

Top