1996 Ford Ranger XLT 2.3

Summary:

Awesome

Faults:

The air conditioner never worked in any of my rangers (3, 2 94s and a 96). I'm not going to nit-pick every little thing that went wrong on a 20+ year old truck. But most of the things that went wrong were my fault. With basic maintenance the 93 to 96 Rangers are outstanding trucks.

General Comments:

Every Ranger I had came with a 2.3L engine and a manual transmission. They're not fast but won't die. I've loaded them up past the roof with firewood, loaded down with drywall and tiles, and they don't give up. They're simple and cheap to work on, and great on gas.

Inside they're as comfortable as a small mid 90s truck is gonna be, but I always had the XLT. The XL package is pretty basic and doesn't offer much, but I'm sure it's just as good of a truck.

Overall they have always been good, reliable transportation and ready to work.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd February, 2019

8th Feb 2019, 12:37

A 10/10 rating in "performance" for a 4-cyl Ranger?

1996 Ford Ranger XL 2.3

Summary:

A great, reliable, and inexpensive ride

Faults:

Needs a tune up, and the dome light doesn't work. But great truck for travel or in-town transport.

General Comments:

Reliable, comfortable, and economic. Great for a first car. Easy to learn the manual; I wouldn't ever go with an automatic.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th March, 2015

1996 Ford Ranger XL 2.3

Summary:

FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC

Faults:

Driver's side bench seat started tearing, and got way worse.

Rear brake cylinder cracked off roading at 234,000.

Catalytic converter went bad/had holes at 224,000.

O2 sensors went bad around the same time.

Cylinders 2 and 3 started losing compression.

General Comments:

I escaped a nasty wreck in this thing with not even a scratch. The impact was so powerful, it cracked the engine block and wrinkled the tailgate (it was a head on collision BTW). I was going about 50-55.

Seats are really comfortable. They keep you in the best position for a truck, with an upright/straight back.

The Mazda M50D-R1 always shifts very smooth; synchros never went out. I'm pretty confident that the tranny would have gone 500,000 or more.

Really quick for being a 4 cylinder. For about 130HP, you really get more than what you pay for. That thing was the little engine that could. Handles like a horse off road. The I-beam suspension in the front definitely defined the quality of the truck.

I will never regret anything about it, except for that the base model came as standard without power steering or A/C.

Believe it or not, it got about 25 MPG city.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 26th February, 2013

27th Feb 2013, 19:59

The 1990s Ford Rangers were borderline bulletproof. It's sad that Ford stopped making them and opted for a much less durable restyling in 1998. Believe me, the 1998-2012 models were nothing but trouble for the most part.

28th Feb 2013, 20:04

There was no 2012 Ranger for public sale. Only a small number of 2012's were built for fleet sales only, likely most, if not all, bare-bones XL models.

17th Mar 2024, 04:19

There were most definitely 2012 Rangers. You may want to check your sources.

17th Mar 2024, 18:33

There was a 2012 Ranger, but it was for fleet sales only, not retail. Production ended Dec. 16, 2011.

20th Mar 2024, 06:23

Interesting, would you call this a fleet vehicle?

https://youtu.be/RLgI4SoHivs?si=LGlfw2cws0DTnTbw

20th Mar 2024, 21:45

That's not a North American model.

20th Mar 2024, 22:55

Obviously not, but neither is it the same Ranger version as the one reviewed, and the one to which all the other comments (except your incorrect ones) refer, which is the Ranger manufactured for the N American market 1983-2011. The one you are attempting to prove your argument is the Ranger T6, a completely different model which did not even start production until 2011 and was NOT sold in N America until 2019. So, failed again.

22nd Mar 2024, 20:09

The one reviewed is 1996, neither 2011 nor 2012.

30th Mar 2024, 21:34

Yes, that is quite obvious.