Ordering a Ranger.....

[HenryMac]

Any reason not to order specifically what we want? Anybody had any bad experiences?

We spent some time at the local Ford/Chevy/Ram dealer today. We looked at Colorado's and Rangers... pretty sure we've settled on a Ranger. The Colorado, especially the interior, just seems cheap. And the exterior is just boring.. I guess because we've all seen them on the road for so long now.

It appears we're going to order the truck we want. I don't want all the sensing and auto correcting technology that seems so prevalent today... and we like the " "Saber" color.

So I've configured an XL with the features we want.

Any thoughts or advice would be sincerely appreciated.

John

 

[adsm08]

My first thought is "the simpler the better". Keep all that fancy pants crap out of it, it will make the truck cheaper and more reliable.

 

[wildbill23c]

My first thought is "the simpler the better". Keep all that fancy pants crap out of it, it will make the truck cheaper and more reliable.

Not sure how you'd order it without all the fancy stuff, they're all like that now regardless which emblems you get on them, way too much electronic shit to fail and the whole center dash area is a massive distracting touch screen, great job automakers build in the distractions as if cell phones weren't enough.

 

[HenryMac]

Not sure how you'd order it without all the fancy stuff, they're all like that now regardless which emblems you get on them, way too much electronic shit to fail and the whole center dash area is a massive distracting touch screen, great job automakers build in the distractions as if cell phones weren't enough.

If you get a Ranger in the XL trim, then add the features you want, you avoid the technology that attempts to drive the vehicle for you. And the touch screen is about half the size.

The sales guy told us about his friend who was driving a full size truck in snow. It started to fish tale so the guy steered in the correct direction to avoid a spin... the onboard "technology" steered the truck back in the wrong direction, and the truck spun out.

 

[wildbill23c]

If you get a Ranger in the XL trim, then add the features you want, you avoid the technology that attempts to drive the vehicle for you. And the touch screen is about half the size.

The sales guy told us about his friend who was driving a full size truck in snow. It started to fish tale so the guy steered in the correct direction to avoid a spin... the onboard "technology" steered the truck back in the wrong direction, and the truck spun out.

I don't want the touchscreen at all LOL. Nor the power windows, power locks and automatic transmission, I want a work truck so I'd want a bare bones truck, no carpet, no touch screen, no power windows/locks, etc.

Yep that cool sounding electronic safety nannies are anything but, they'll get you into more trouble as they give you a false sense of security and in many cases leave you stuck until you figure out how to disable them as it just plain cuts power when a wheel spins leaving not able to get out of your own way let alone out of the way of the large truck headed right towards you that you pulled out in front of....see that happen a lot in the winter with people and their new vehicles full of electronic safety nannies not being able to get going as soon as a tire spins they're done. That's why I keep my older vehicles they move when I tell them to. The only thing a couple of them have are anti-lock brakes, I think my 2005 Toyota Tundra has some sort of rollover protection system but no traction control no stability control, it moves when I put my foot down unlike my 2008 Toyota Tundra which would just cut all power as soon as a wheel would slip, you had to turn all that shit off if you wanted to get out of your own way totally defeats the purpose of those systems and makes the vehicle 100% more dangerous.

 

[Lord Corn]

...Leaving not able to get out of your own way let alone out of the way of the large truck headed right towards you that you pulled out in front of....see that happen a lot in the winter with people and their new vehicles full of electronic safety nannies not being able to get going as soon as a tire spins they're done.

had an '02 crown vic with "traction control", all it did was cut throttle when the rear broke loose. Easy to disable, just a push button, but it came back every startup. Left me halfway up a snowy hill more than once...

 

[wildbill23c]

had an '02 crown vic with "traction control", all it did was cut throttle when the rear broke loose. Easy to disable, just a push button, but it came back every startup. Left me halfway up a snowy hill more than once...

I just avoid vehicles with that crap to begin with, there's no need for it, its just another way of keeping stupid people alive, let Darwin do his job.

 

[sgtsandman]

I ordered mine. Outside if the SNAFU with a bad transmission part stopping the line for a little bit, the experience wasn’t bad.

You might have to go through the commercial truck side of the dealership to do it. I have a friend who is and I worked through him. So, I don’t know if the regular retail side gives you the same flexibility as the commercial side.

 

[JohnnyO]

Any reason not to order specifically what we want? Anybody had any bad experiences?

Typically the dealer and the salesman want to sell you a vehicle out of their stock because then they get paid now and not 6 weeks down the road. That said, Rangers are in short supply or so I've heard, so they may not give you any resistance about it. They will give you a better deal on something in stock, but again most dealers do not have many in stock.

I special ordered my first Ranger in '99 for similar reasons, most of the ones at the dealer were too loaded and out of my budget, most were automatics and I wanted a stick to save money and gas. I was recently divorced and my kids were in upstate NY so the truck's main purpose was to be good in snow and good on gas. Supercab 4x4, 3.0, stick, XLT, only options were a limited-slip, 4 doors (it was a option at that time), tilt/cruise, and a CD player.