We took delivery of our long term Ranger in late February as a lease vehicle. Our agreement limits us to only 12,000 miles per year. After our first 9 months of driving we see no problems staying well under our agreed limit. In those 9 months we’ve managed to put just 8,000 miles on our Ranger and it has performed admirably thus far.
Inside, the Ranger features significant amenities including shift-on-the-fly 4-wheel drive, AM/FM stereo with cassette and CD player, automatic transmission, anti-lock brakes, power windows, power locks, remote keyless entry, air conditioning and two small, but usable, jump seats in the extended cab.
The 4-wheel drive system has worked very well to date providing us with some fun off-roading experiences and confidence for the coming winter. The stereo system is excellent with large easy to use and read buttons and sound that is surprisingly strong. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, with three large dials; one each for fan speed, temperature and direction, has provided both heat and comfort from the elements with nary a problem. The extended cab is, in my opinion a necessity when you purchase a truck these days. It provides extra storage space and a place for the occasional friend to travel. In our case, the most frequent passengers back there are the family dogs, who love to stick their heads out the sliding rear window.
The engine in our test vehicle is the 3.0L V6, while not as powerful as the optional 4.0L, it has improved significantly since taking delivery of our truck. Initially we found the engine to be sluggish especially merging onto the freeway and any attempts at passing. Fuel mileage also seemed to be low on delivery but since then has markedly improved. The engine and transmission have been broken-in and now provide decent merging power and passing isn’t a scary project. The fuel mileage has gone from 200- 225 miles per tank to a whopping 275-300 miles per tank.
On the outside our Ranger features a chrome front grille and the popular flare-side box option. Early on we decided we wanted more lockable storage so we had a foldable-lockable hard-plastic tonneau cover installed. This cover, at about $500, has greatly enhanced the versatility of the Ranger adding storage for our camping gear to be safely locked out of sight while we’re off hiking in the woods.
Competition in the compact pickup market is tough with seemingly everyone looking for a piece of the pie. The Ford Ranger competes with the Chevy S10/GMC Sonoma, Dodge Dakota, Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier. With manufacturers looking for more market share you can always expect to find a deal on any one of these compact trucks. Our Ranger had a base price of $19,375 and an as-tested price of $21,770, a typical pricing profile for a well-equipped compact pickup.
We’ve had a good experience so far with the 1999 Ford Ranger XLT Super Cab 4x4, midway through winter will try to give you another update and let you know just how our little truck is doing.