1998 Ford Ranger XLT review from North America

The serpentine belt squeaks. It was replaced by the dealer before I bought it. The clutch makes this weird squeal noise sometimes when I take off slowly or when cold. Dome light stays on sometimes after the door is closed longer than it should.

Love the handling of this truck. Takes curves like a car. Is quicker than it feels. Very comfortable ride.

Roomy interior for a compact truck. The seats are comfortable and my regular cab has good leg room for being almost 6 ft tall.

Not too impressed by the climate controls. The fan needs five speeds, instead of four. Due to the fan is either barely on, to noticeably on, to full blast. You also cannot manually turn off the A/C so you can run the cold air from outside on all settings, instead of only two. There is no in between on the temperature settings either.

The 3.0 feels a little under powered. Just feels like it wants to go faster, but can't. As far as I know the truck is purely stock. I have looked for upgrade parts, but have found little for the 3.0 engine.

For as popular as the Ranger is you sure can't find any performance parts for it. Had the same problem with my old 1991 2.3 Ranger. That's another posting in the works.

Overall, if you are looking for a truck that you can beat the snot out of, the Ranger is your best bet. Many can attest to that.