2007 Ford Ranger XLT from UK and Ireland - Comments

I was reversing up my driveway, which is on a incline, and was slippery at the time, when the clutch pedal dropped to the floor and there was a burning smell.

On investigation the clutch was burnt out and the fly wheel was damaged. All of this was not covered on the warranty, and I was told by Ford that it was my fault for being a bad driver.

The garage bill came to £2000 and I had absolutely no help from Ford whatsoever, indeed it took a month to fix the vehicle (awaiting parts) and had no courtesy vehicle.

It is only when something goes wrong and you need help you realise how truly bad that Ford customer service is. I would never ever buy a Ford vehicle again after my experience with them, and am in the process of changing my vehicle with another manufacturer.

Good for you. If you don't get good service, go elsewhere.

You burned out your clutch. Maybe you should try an automatic.

I agree with ford learn how to drive stick.

It must be noted that the original poster was from the UK. Over in the UK, MOST cars are manual (we learned to drive manual well before the Americans). I have never seen an automatic Ranger over here. Probably was a fault with the car.

You "learned to drive manual well before the Americans", eh?

Bully for you.

Another common misconception of Europeans is that all the cars over here are automatics because Americans don't know how to drive stick shift, which has no more validity than claiming that all UK drivers know how to drive stick shift properly just because automatics are a (supposedly) a rarity there.

"we learned to drive manual well before the Americans"

Are you kidding me? Automatic transmissions didn't start appearing in America until the 1950's in any volume. The Ford Model T of the early 1900's, which brought automobiles to the masses, was manual, as were the Fords, Chevies, and Dodge's of the 1920's and 1930's. There was hardly an automatic transmission option until the 1941 Dodge came out.

When I got my learner's permit in 1984, one of the first cars that I drove was my dad's 1929 Model A Ford, which needless to say (hopefully) was a 3-speed manual. I was still driving that off and on up until a few years ago when he sold it.

I next drove my dad's 1950 Chevy DeLuxe, which was a 3-speed manual mounted on the column, during my junior year of high school, and then I drove my parents' 1976 Plymouth Volarè, which had a 4-speed manual, during my senior year.

My first car was a 1964 Dodge 440 with a 3-speed manual mounted on the column.

By the time I came home to visit from college, my parents had a 1983 Chevy Cavalier, which was a 4-speed manual, and that car was replaced with a 1984 Plymouth Reliant with a 4-speed manual.

More recently, I've driven the two Toyota motorhomes that my parents picked up, which both had manual transmissions.

And then there is the 1984 Ford Explorer pickup with manual transmission, and the several Jeep Wranglers that I drove for my grandfather, not to mention the 1938 Allis Chalmers tractor, 1950 Ford tractor, etc...

Americans can't drive stick-shifts? Uh-huh. Just keep up those broad generalizations, because they really hold true...

How about in the 70's and 80's America? Most of those appear to be automatic? I understand that most of America appears to have low speed limits for long straight roads - which would explain the love for Automatics (especially with huge engines that appear to do nothing except drink fuel). I am not on about cars from 100 years ago! It may be a misconception but all the American programs seen to feature huge, saloons (sedans) that are all automatic? Can you buy manual Ford Crown Vic's for example?

The comments about whom learned to drive standards first, misses the point. Why did this gentleman fry his clutch?

When you back up a hill in two wheel drive, most of the vehicle weight is off the drive axle, so it will spin the wheels easily. If you then stomp on the gas, and push in the clutch often to try and get some 'bite' on the surface, guess what? You will fry your clutch! Clutch rotors don't just routinely burn out these days. That takes some real effort.

22:17 is correct. As a mechanic I can assure you that YES, it DOES take some real effort to destroy a clutch these days. Usually 150,000-250,000 miles is typical for a Ranger. Our family's companies use these little trucks and up until last year there were still some 1993 Rangers in the fleet. 300,000 miles out of a base 5-speed, 4 cylinder Ranger is not uncommon. They are some of the best little work trucks made.

I have a 2007 ranger thunder and have had several problems, its been to the deeler x7 times yes 7 times for faulty reverse sensers, touch wood they have been working now for about 3 months. and the jack broke which they would not replace under warranty its got to be said ford customer service is shocking, the worst I have come accross. but overall I do like the vehicle shame about fuel prices thou.