1997 Ford Ranger XLT SuperCab review from North America

The air-conditioning went out at around 65,000 miles. Too soon for such a new vehicle. The cause was a leak in an obscure place that was costly to fix.

The interior lights will not shut off, so I had to pull the fuse so they do not work at all! Not even the map lights!

The windshield wipers in all of these trucks have problems with spontaneous operation.

The door chime sounds whenever it wants to. It will startle you when driving.

The truck eats up tires very quickly and the front suspension suffers due to the poor weight distribution which I believe was fixed on later models. It's not even worth it to try and have the tires rotated, because the front ones wear so badly that it makes more sense just to get at least two new ones. The rear tires do not wear as quickly, but they're always leaking... even when new!!

The drive belt squeals irritatingly all the time. It has been changed, adjusted, "dressed," you name it! No fix seems possible. In fact, I believe it has been changed twice.

Overall, it is a good vehicle. It starts every time and gets you where you want to go. The front seats are very well-shaped, but the rear seats stink of course.

It handles reasonably well compared to the 4.0 model which rides like a Jeep. Neither one handles well in wet weather though. The rear drum brakes lock up dangerously when they get wet and can cause the tail to swing out. They do have ABS control, but it seems to be ineffective. The brakes have always done this, and they have been checked numerous times.

Aside from these problems, it gets you where you want to go and so far it has not left anyone stranded. It still looks new too.