People who had a Ranger before the Maverick

[MDmaverick]

I had three Rangers as a third vehicle. I had a 1997 reg cab (5speed / 2.3L) , a 1999 Extended cab XLT ( 3.0 /auto 4WD) and a 2010 regular cab (5speed auto/ 2.3 16v). They were as a whole great simple trucks. But they ride like trucks and feel primitive compared to my Maverick.

I’ve bought a XL hybrid as a spiritual replacement for the Ranger. The simple ethos of the Ranger lives on in my mind with a more comfortable unibody ride.

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[DrFaustus]

I've owned a 2021 Ranger, and currently own a 2024 Ranger.

The 2021 Ranger was not a pleasant car to drive. It would throw you around over the slightest bump or pot hole. The 2024 however is a completely different experience. It feels a lot more solid in the suspension. It drives like a full size truck.

Driving the Maverick is much more "car/SUV" like to me. It is very enjoyable, especially on curvy mountain roads.

As far as perceived in cabin space. The Mav's dash and seat position make it feel like it has more room than the 2021. The 2021's dash sloped downward and it felt more cramped than the Maverick. The 2024 has much more perceived cabin space due to its similar dash to the Maverick. So it defiantly feels roomier. But i wouldn't say the Ranger is larger, just similar.

 

[VetteNZMan]

Have a '87 2.0L carb'd 5 speed Ranger (lowest trim level - I think S) I purchased from a coworker in 2006 for $200. He was having engine issues that could not be resolved - turned out it was only a vac line to the heat control to the carb, carb would randomly ice up, engine would go rich and die. It's a vac line mess but generally I can keep everything running my self. The worst part is the clutch slave cylinder has failed a few times and requires you to drop the trans to replace. Most of my present driving is with the '23 or '22 XL hybrid Mavs I own. One or both will become my twin's first ride in a few years. I always find it interesting that as far as domestic old small trucks - you see by far most are Rangers.

 

[boatman]

Love all of them!

 

[DoctorWizard]

Not even two weeks ago I sold "Homer", my bright yellow 2003 Ranger Edge Supercab to my nephew and got a brand new 2024 Maverick Lariat.
Truthfully, I miss Homer. The Mav is indeed much nicer, but is it $500 a month nicer than my paid-for Ranger? I'm not sure.
Mostly I miss the 6ft bed and the UnderCover tonneau cover that hinges upward. I'm mostly retired but do some volunteer handy-man type work and the back is full of tools, screws, glue, other bits-and-bobs. The hinged cover was very convenient, but no-one appears to make one like that for the Mav. The Tri-fold is a PITA. Looked at the '24 Rangers and the competition and everything in the midrange trucks has a 5ft or less bed. The new Rangers are considerably larger overall than my '03.
The bad: I got a Lariat mostly for the infotainment and am getting very frustrated and annoyed with Sync 3's awful support of music from a USB drive. The really-old, super-cheap, Chinese-generic, Android-based head-unit in Homer had a lot of quirks but was still way better than this piece of Sync 3. I read in advance it was bad about re-indexing constantly and in attempt to mitigate that I got a NVMe drive in a small USB case with 10Mbs transfer rate. 9K songs using 73GB meticulously organized and tagged and arranged in 250 playlists is still less than what some other people are using. And complaining about. And a minor point, but it can't even do gapless playback- even the simplest most basic media players do that nowadays. Now I'm having to merge all my Pink Floyd songs back together into album files to avoid the gaps.
Last complaint is that the Mav rides much rougher than the Ranger. Potholes and road construction are much more jarring. I hope I just need time for the suspension to break in.
The good: Paid $36K for a high-end Lariat only a little below MSRP. Still feel I got a lot of features for the price. Built in navigation is nice although Homer ran Google Maps and Waze (sluggishly) on the Android head unit. Love all the connected features in the Mav! Comfort is about equal to the Ranger. Like the better all-around visibility. The Mav is soooo much quieter than the Ranger, not sure how much of that can be attributed to the "acoustic" windshield but the silence is deafening. Most of all I love the safety features especially the lane assist.

So if Ford could just bring Sync 3 into the current century, I'd be really happy with the Maverick.

(You can see my new Gray Metallic Azure Maverick just to the left. It hasn't named his/herself yet but "Marge" is a possibility)

 

[Red Pepper Maverick]

I had a 2019 Ranger and now a 2024 Maverick. I love them both. I just wanted a smaller truck. Maverick is fun to drive and very comfortable.

 

[Dochatley]

Had this a couple of years and loved it but much happier with the Mav. Space in front about the same really and back not a lot of noticeable difference. Ranger was 4 wheel drive so Mav is definitely smoother and much quieter on the road. Ranger had the power but Mavs mileage is definitely better. All in all I definitely prefer the Maverick to my old Ranger.

 

[Bill Quattlebaum]

Update to my earlier reply. After driving my 2024 Maverick XL for about 1,700 miles, I can say the handling, ride, and mileage are much better than my old Rangers. My 2010 Ranger averaged 21.6 miles per gallon. The Maverick Ecoboost is averaging 28.2 so far. Power is over 100 horsepower more in the Maverick.

 

[Scott Asheville]

As one of the few guys on this forum who owned multiple single-cab old-style Rangers, I'll say the Maverick is definitely bigger and turns like a whale in comparison. My last Ranger was 189" long (and I thought that was a bit too big when I owned it). The Maverick is almost a foot longer, and it shows when you try to make a right turn on a double-parked city street. Can't do it. The Maverick is three inches longer than a Telluride.

Other than that, the Maverick blows my old Rangers out of the water. I would never go back. But I would dump my Maverick in an eye blink for a smaller truck. But I seem to be the odd man out on MTC, as pretty much everyone else here loves the crew cab configuration. Which I find odd. Because I pass several Mavericks every day. And there is always one person in the cab. Well sometimes there are two people. Exactly once in at least a thousand sightings I saw four.

 

[deej]

there is always one person in the cab. Well sometimes there are two people. Exactly once in at least a thousand sightings I saw four.

The back seat is for the dog!

-Dj

 

[Fcnrwy]

I also had three Rangers..
1985 Ranger "S"

1994 XLT

and a 2008 XL

Enjoyed owning ALL of Them!!

Times have changed and I gotta roll with the changes...
One of the little things that I don't miss.. Was the "Ranger Roll" at high speeds...
The Mav's wider track, took care of that...

Jerry

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

1993 White extended cab Ranger XLT
4.0 v6 auto, a/c, cruise, AM/FM cassette.
Love that truck.
Rear main bearing leak was the reason I sold it.

GB
I wanted the 4 door Ranger, Ford was selling in Mexico.

 

[Zed79]

Here are the 3 my wife daily drove over the years. the 93 stx had over 300k in 2021 when my daughter had the head gasket go out and did not stop. The 2005 has 320k in my drive way.
I also had a 1998 sport dark blue with the step side bed 4cyl 5 speed sold it when I got a deal on a low mile 98 ram club cab 2500 that had a dash fire and farm smells, had to replace the interior to sort that one out but than ran it to 383k before it started burning oil at about a quart a tank of gas.

 

[Bilbo_B]

The back seat is for the dog!

-Dj

Please tell that to our two who either hang on the console or sneak to the driver's seat when I get out for ... just....one....second.

 

[Joeneonturbo]

We owned a 99 jalapeño green ranger XLT up until 2022 when I sold it for the maverick. It’s had 253k miles and we drove it everywhere. No issues, just maintenance. 3.0 flex fuel V6 that had no power, drove slow, felt like a boat in choppy waters- but I loved it. The gas mileage was terrible: 16-18mpg. I figured it was time for an upgrade before things started breaking. I was also looking for some modern conveniences.

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