1987 Ford Ranger from North America - All Comments

Everything. I'll try and list everything I can remember:

- V-6 burned more than a quart of oil a week

- Transmission was hard to get into any gear at all, and loved to pop out of gear over bumps

- Rear differential seized up TWICE

- I replaced every single sensor under the hood; each went bad one at a time

- The truck started in one try about half the time, then would overheat the other half of the time

- Windshield leaked right into my lap every time it rained

- Throwout bearing in clutch assembly squealed all the time

- Clutch slipped and went bad completely

- THREE out of 4 wheels needed wheel bearings replaced during the time I owned this nightmare of a truck

- Emergency brake and hood release stuck in cold weather

- Factory radio worked great, but only if it wasn't raining, then, it didn't work at all

- Manual lock-in hubs for 4 wheel drive never worked right unless I moved the truck back and forth

- Fuel system always clogged up, despite using fuel additives to clean it

- Tailgate fell open occasionally

- I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but I'm tired of listing this stuff

This Ford piece of junk is a prime example of why they are nearly out of business today. I was 18 and a little naive when I bought this pile of junk. It even failed to start when I tried to test drive it; I should have walked away right then. Actually, I would have been further ahead to have bought either a bicycle, or a good pair of running shoes, because I walked home, or some of the way home, at least 6 or 7 times in a couple of years.

Finally, I wrecked this truck, which was the best thing that could have happened to it. A blessing in disguise. I bought a Toyota truck that same year, and have never had ONE thing go wrong. I wouldn't buy a Ford if they dropped the price of everything they make to $10 per vehicle, which is still more than they're worth.

Hey dude you do notice it is 20 years old, umm duh it will have damn problems, what were you thinking... I would love for you to get in a new ford and tell me what you think OK?

UHHH, it's not 20 years old... because it's been in the junkyard since about 1994. Read the review. It was about 4 or 5 years off of the assembly line when I bought it used, and it was already complete junk. The only time I sit in a Ford now, after owning one, is if I am the passenger, and I don't even like doing that. I'll never consider buying another one if I live to be 150. They burned me once. Once is shame on them, if I were stupid enough to buy another one and get burnt twice, shame on me. I drive Toyotas now, so I can only laugh when someone suggests I should buy another Ford.

I would agree that small Fords of the 1980's were junk, like the Fairmont, Escort, Bronco II, and Ranger. Any time you saw a cloud of oil smoke, there was sure to be a 4- or 6-cylinder Ford underneath it. Funny how things have changed in 20 years.

Now Toyota is going downhill and Ford is making great cars. My '02 Ford truck is great, nothing like the previous generation Fords that I used to look down on.

16:16 Things haven't changed much at all. Toyota STILL makes the best automobiles out there, and at best, Ford makes slightly better cars than they used to.

I guess in your world, Toyota, being the #1 seller in the world, and having a sterling reputation for quality means 'going downhill', and Ford's loss of 13 billion dollars and reputation for making trash means they're improving.

The last thing I would ever buy is a Toyota. they are junk! Everyone I know who has owned a Toyota couldn't wait to sell it. I guess there OK as long as you don't mind putting the extra money you save on gas into parts. I own a 79 ford f150 ranger and have never had a problem. its pulled a lot of trucks out of the mud, including Toyota's.

The truth is every rig out there has its problems. someone has a bad experience with one brand, or in your case 6 or 7. and the other swears by it. I'm not saying ford is the greatest machine out there. trust me I've seen some junker fords. but I have never seen anything good come from a Toyota. I personally say go with a Dodge Cummins.

01:13 You say you've never seen anything good come from a Toyota?! Well I say I flew a kite to Mars yesterday. One statement is as ridiculous as the other. No, I don't want a big, loud, gas slurping Dodge diesel either. For one, I couldn't stand driving something that smells like a 50 year old farm tractor when it's running, and have no inclination to cut my fuel mileage by 75% either.

Original reviewer here. You guys seem to be missing the major points here: this was a Ford truck, and this Ford truck was a piece of junk, as are most Fords. It's just too bad I found out AFTER I bought one. My last one of course.

I am fanatical about maintenance, and like every vehicle I own, this one had every fluid in it changed by the numbers, using only Mobil 1 or Castrol fluids wherever possible. Apparently, strict maintenance is not enough to keep a Ford running for much longer than a month or two without breaking. That should settle the argument.

In my experience, and just about every other sorry one-time Ford owners' experience that I know of, Ford = JUNK. Good riddance. I hope they go under, and it sure looks like they're well on their way.

Hmm...

I own a 87 Ranger XLT, 2.9L, 2wd, 5sp.

Bought it when it was brand new, with 1\2 mile. It now has over 300,000 on it and still running as strong as it did in 87.

Its been hit, by cars, and deers, pulled and hauled things that I shoulda used my dads's 3\4ton for, rolled into a pond (long story), pulled out a stuck 68 Bronco, and STILL fires right up with every crank of the key. It burns no oil, leaks it everywhere though... as do all Fords... Never had a water pump, starter, alternator, anything. All the sensors are orignial, etc.

Yes its rusted out... but I will never give this truck up. Its like an old dog, you know its time, but you just can't bring yourself to do it.

Oh, and you do realize that the Ford 4x4 systems back then had to be rolled a minute to engage\disengage?

An 87 Toyota? If you can find one that still runs... is usually rusted tottally out because of the paper thin sheetmetal, and usually are in junkyards because the cheap frames made from scrap iron that are about 1 inch thick are rusted clean through.

Rangers are tough little trucks. Oh, and if you see a cloud of smoke from oil its usually a 4 or 6 cyl mopar.

Your ranger must have be drivin hard before you got it... and there are bad apples in every bunch.

Foreign vehicles, espically trucks, even today are junk. They are fine for running to the grocery store or the once in a while trip to get a bonsai plant, but you start using them hard they fall apart like wet toilet paper.

How many yota's do you see on construction sites? On Farms? In search and rescue teams? People who really use there truck? The only people who buy toyotas are the ones who are trying to make a statement.

Yeah, original reviewer, you bought the truck when it was already 5 years old and had 90K miles. Who knows whether the person or persons who had it before ever bothered to maintain it, even if you were "fanatical about maintenance" as you claim.

Too many posters on this site announce that all vehicles from a particular brand, whether its Ford or something else, are "junk" just because they bought a high-mileage example and then, surprise, had to have repairs made to it!

09:36 Sounds like you got extremely lucky with yours. Mine was garbage. My Toyota will do everything you've done with your Ranger, but it DOESN'T leak oil.

Toyota changed the way they build their truck bodies in 1989. Since then, they are at least as good, and most likely better, than anything else out there as far as resisting rust.

As far as off-road, forget it. Your Ranger, any Ranger, can't touch a Toyota. No comparison. I don't know where you guys get the idea that Toyota's can't be used for work. Mine will do anything a Ford of the same size will do, and will stay straight and tight while the Ford falls apart and rattles. I've loaded it down with everything, you name it, bricks, rocks, gravel, scrap metal, everything. And the bed, fenders, and tailgate have NO flex in them yet, unlike a Ford, where you can shake the fender and it moves even when the truck is new.

Contractors don't generally use them for the same reason cabbies don't drive BMW's; why beat the crap out of a nice vehicle when a piece of junk will do the job for a while. You guys have this 'built Ford tough' slogan stuck in your head, and it's funny.

As far as the drivetrains go, again, forget it. Toyota's are so much better, there's no point in mentioning it. Engines especially. Toyota's 22re 4-cylinder will (under abuse) outlast any two Ford engines of the same size. The 3.4 V-6 Toyota puts in the Tacoma's has proven itself to be one of the most reliable V-6's ever made, if not THE best. They do not break. The V-6 in the Ranger I had in no way compares. Not even in the same ballpark.

Now, to be fair, I HAVE seen a Ranger or two get upwards of 200,000 and still run okay (not 300,000 or even close to it). Meanwhile, EVERY Toyota truck I've ever seen seems to never break, and they ALL go upwards of 275 or 300,000 miles. And I'm talking about trucks that were off-roaded HARD. I have a lot of experience off road, and the Toyota's are the only ones that stood up to our abuse. Drive fast through 3 feet of water, the Toyota makes it, the Ford stalls. Run the engine everywhere at 4 grand, the Toyota seems to like it, the Ranger blows up before too long.

It can't be coincidence that practically ALL of the Rangers I've ever seen in serious off road situations needed fixed all the time, and NONE of the Toyota's needed work, or VERY little, and not once have I seen one of these Toyota trucks ever need the engine, manual transmission, or differentials touched.

Sorry, but I KNOW that Toyota trucks are far and above Fords. I've seen it proven far too many times for too many years to believe otherwise.

I think one of the previous posters nailed it: just look at this single page of comments, and you find people swearing by or condemning the exact same car!

One guy says that Toyota is the best and American is junk; the next guy says Toyota is crap and Fords are the best, but Mopars suck.

It all comes down to personal experience, which is all different because it depends on so many things. Some models even of the same make are better or worse, and then how people take care of them influences that, so one person can't condemn a whole company based on one car.

And no, the owner's experience with their car has nothing to do with whether the company made or lost hundreds of millions of dollars (the guy who keeps saying "Ford lost 13 billion dollars" has no credibility, and is just a Toyota mouthpiece).

Personally, I think many Fords of the 1980's and Mopars of the 1990s are as crappy as Toyotas and Hondas of every year, and I wouldn't want any of them. Who cares about a 1990 anything? For cars of THIS decade, I'll take a Jeep or Ford. Who cares about Toyota or Honda?

20:43 It has nothing to do with personal experience. They all make machines. Ford builds a machine. Honda builds a machine. It's just that when Honda builds a machine, they are concerned about things like balancing the weight of the pushrods in the engine, so that it runs more smoothly, in turn wears out more slowly, and (bingo!), lasts longer. That's a fact, and it's just one example of many details that makes a Honda superior.

Yeah, if you absolutely baby the Ford all the time, and drive the Honda like most Honda owners seem to (hard and fast), the Ford MIGHT get almost as many miles (still not likely). But under equal treatment, forget it; the Honda engine will last longer practically every time.

Same goes for Toyota; they make the only other 4-cylinder on the planet that might equal the quality of a Honda 4.

Of course the Honda engine will last a long time. The engine doesn't have much work to do when the car is sitting on the lawn with a blown transmission. Honda quality!

Do you honestly believe that all the engine manufacturers don't install weighed piston and rod assemblies? Please! The rod and piston assemblies for each crankshaft journal are each weighed within a gram of each other. That's an industry norm.

11:35 Yeah, as if it's not ALWAYS a Ford or Chevy in the yard with the engine hanging out of a tree or something. The people at Ford couldn't build an engine to match any of Honda's if their lives depended on it. They don't know how, and wouldn't care enough to do it right if they did know how.