My dad is looking for another truck. Right now he has a '93 B2200 that is pretty much dead. I'm not sure what's wrong with it, but it hasn't been running for months. Yesterday I looked at 3 trucks for him, pretty much all basically the same truck, hehe...

Truck#1 - '96 Mazda B4000 LE. It's a 4x4, which my dad wants to get. It's power everything, keyless entry, 6cd changer, auto ( ) extended cab, the works. 62,000 miles, It drove really well, the engine is very torquey, it's pretty quick. Listed: $11,900 dealer said he could probably knock $1000 off. I still think it's a bit expensive, it's even over blue book.

Truck #2 - '98 Ford Ranger 4x4 splash (or it was whatever they call the stepsides). This one was pretty much the opposite of the B4000, it didn't have power anything, which isn't a big deal, I doubt my dad would care. It was a 5-spd and had 68,000 miles. I think it must have been a 4cyl, because it had pretty good low-end, but it was sooooo slow up top. This one drove pretty good, had a small vibration above 50... Maybe the wheels need balanced or an alignment or something. Asking price was $9,495

Truck #3 - '96 Ford Ranger 4x4 Ext. cab. This one was at the same place as truck # 2. I didn't get to drive this one because I was going to be running late, so I just looked at it quick. Seemed to be in pretty good shape, it had a cap on the bed. This was also 5-spd, and had 86k on it. Asking price was $7,995. I think it's getting a little high in the miles to be too interested in, but I dunno.

I have pictures of these trucks here:

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/funkdaddy...Trucks&.view=t

I just started to look around, anyone have any preference as to what kind of truck I should be looking for? My grandpa has a '96 Ranger splash, and he likes it a lot so far. I'm hoping I can find a Tacoma or something around here to look at, they're great trucks from what I hear. My mom wants him to just buy a new truck, but he said he doesn't want to waste his money, so he'll probably by used around $10k. I'm open to all opinions

 

truck 1 seems to me to be the best bet

 

i have to agree, i had a friend who had one of those trucks and he beat the livin **** outta it and the next morn it would run fine

 

guess what... all of the 3 trucks happen to be the same thing!

Found
On
Road
Dead

 

My buddy's '92 Toyota has just under 1,000,000mi. on the original engine/tranny.(he does delivery).
I say get the Tacoma! It'll treat your dad
right.

 

Guess what, how about I said that in my post, try reading next time

That's a clever acronym, come up with that all by yourself?

 

get a toy totter or nissan

 

Probably not. I heard that one in like 1983. and it was probably around long before any of us were born. Even the oldies on here.

http://www.web-cars.com/humor/acronyms.html

 

I gotta agree with TheMan, avoid the Ford. I drove my dads '01 Ranger for about a month when I was between cars. Was the 3 L V6, and it felt strong at low speeds, but up at highway speeds it sucked. Power delivery felt mushy too. Biggest complaint I had is there's nowhere comfortable to put your left foot. Ended up with pain in my shins if I drove it too long.

Reliability on Rangers is bad too, according to Consumer Reports. The '04 F150's pretty sweet though...

 

My last car was a 95 ranger ext. cab. I didn't think it was that nice of a truck. I would never buy one again. It had 47,000mi when I got it and I sold it at 75,000 after spending way too much cash to keep it on the road. I had the transmission replaced twice, both door sensors, check engine sensor, hubs, power stearing box, and a few other things.

A friend of mine just bought a 98 ranger ext. cab and after owning it for 6 months he is trying to get rid of it because he just doesn't like it. He hasn't had any problems with it that I know of but he also has another car that he drives. He only drives the truck when he has to.

 

All the trucks you've listed thus far are Fords, including the Mazda. All Mazda B-Series trucks are Ford built, and, for all intensive purposes, don't differ at all from Ford badged models. That unfortunately translates to poor reliability. All the trucks listed below demonstrate reliability more than 20% worse than average:

Ford Ranger
Mazda B-Series
Ford Explorer Sport Trac
Chevrolet S-10
GMC Sonoma

The GM products, in fact, offer the worst reliability of all: Over 40% worse than average. GM thrives on building trucks for gullible saps who know nothing about quality and reliability, or at least they don't care about it, in my opinion.

Meanwhile, the Toyota Tacoma offers the best reliability by a wide, typical for Toyota margin: It's almost 40% better than average.

If you want the ultimate value for your money, Toyota cannot be touched by any domestic auto maker. Ford and GM just don't get it, and they haven't gotten it for 30 years.

That said, the Ford Explorer Sport Trac is the highest rated truck in terms of performance and comfort. You'll pay for that comfort, however, with constant, irritating problems.

I'd say find a Toyota and drive 'er into the 150,000's (miles). With proper care it'll easily go that far, likely a lot further.

 

Tell him with V-day coming up, to listen to your Mom... Used trucks tend to have a high re-sale, thus always seemed over-priced, even with high mileage. Often there seems not to be an advantage in buying used trucks (You can get a NEW stripped down, 2wd Ranger for around the same $10 - $11 K figure)
I'd go for a Toyota, if possible. We have a Bronco II, and while it has some good points (strong frame; 2.9l V6); the notoriously crappy transmission (rebuilt twice); and ever-problematic 4WD system certainly detracts from our enjoyment.

 

Problem. Too much money for the age's of the trucks and especially when buying in the northeast. I was just looking at a 2001 ford ranger 4.0
· 4 X 4 · 60/40 Split-Fold Rear Seat
· Adjustable Steering Wheel · Air Conditioning
· Alloy Wheels · AM/FM Cassette
· AM/FM Stereo · Anti-Lock Brakes
· CD Player · Center Arm Rest
· Climate Control · Clock
· Cloth Upholstery · Courtesy Lights
· Cruise Control · Cup Holders
· Electronic Fuel Injection · Interval Wipers
· Power Door Locks · Power Mirrors
· Power Steering · Power Windows
· Tachometer · Tilt Steering Column
· Tinted Glass · V Style Engine
· Vanity Mirror (s)

auto for $11,900.
that's more of a deal.
I have a 1999 ford ranger just like it in black. Never had a problem I had a 1995 mazda truck I traded in early 1999 with 106,000 on it that I brought new. Hope this helps

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=5350

 

Yeah I like the Rangers. Good trucks, tend to have head issues on the older ones (the pushrod 4.0L is good, the SOHC version has had head problems in the past). Stay away from the 2.5L and the 3.0L if you can, the updated flex-fuel 3.0L is a good motor.

I tend to stay away from Toyota trucks. They have never been quite manly enough to compare to the Ford/Chevrolet offerings. BTW stay away from the S10, big POS. Not too fond of the Nissan crap trucks either. Amazing that they need a supercharger to get the same output Ford gets with NA (extra crap tends to break if you are really using it). If you want something really reliable find an older Silverado (350 all the way) or an F-150 with the 5.0L, 5.4L, or 5.8L V8 and 4x4 (if you have to have it). If you don't want 4x4 you can buy brand new Silverados and F150s in Houston for around 12-13k (in the papers all the time) with a straight six and manual. Supercabs generally run about 15k and up. Damn good trucks. Always better than the compact offerings.

My favorite Ford jokes -
******* Old Recycled Dodge
-or-
Fix or Repair Daily