1987 Ford Ranger from North America - Comments

I wrote this review. The point of fact is that Ford makes junk and this truck is a perfect example of that. You Ford guys don't have a leg to stand on. There can be no defending this miserable piece of crap Ford that I owned. Like most people, I owned one Ford and almost instantly realized that it was a mistake and will never own another one. The only people that drive them are people too dim to realize that a Toyota will run twice as long with about 5% of the repairs that you'd make on the Ford in half as many miles. Junk, junk, junk. That's all that anyone needs to know about Ford.

I have owned more than 28 pickups in my life which included Chevy/GMC, Ford, Dodge, Datsun/Nissan, Toyota, Isuzu, and Mazda (before and after Ford's intervention). I have had no serious issues with any of them and they all lasted many, many miles usually exceeding 200K. The only truck I didn't like was an '87 Toyota SR5 4x4 that I bought new and had a lot of little problems. The most annoying problem was it wouldn't defrost directly in front of the driver. Toyota service couldn't fix it and they sent me a formal letter from Toyota America saying that this was a design issue and could not be fixed. I ended up trading that vehicle in and getting an '86 Ford Ranger STX 4x4 which I put over 250,000 mile on without any problems. That Ford Ranger was one of the best pickups I have owned.

Also, many of the items listed as defective are items that will need replacing sooner or later on all vehicles. Since this vehicle was obviously abused it makes sense that those items needed replacement earlier than normal. If the previous owner performed normal servicing then those items listed would have been fixed. Here is a list of the complains and my opinions on them.

1) "V-6 burned more than a quart of oil a week." Most likely engine oil was allowed to get too low or the previous owner never changed it!

2) "Transmission was hard to get into any gear at all, and loved to pop out of gear over bumps."

"Throwout bearing in clutch assembly squealed all the time."

"Clutch slipped and went bad completely." This is basic repairs and occurs to all manual transmission vehicles, earlier if not maintained properly. Replace the clutch and throw-out bearing. Transmission may just need the fluid changed or previous owner didn't know how to shift.

3) "Rear differential seized up TWICE." A Ford differential seizing is pretty much never heard about unless under extreme duress and/or improper fluids. Maybe it was just the rear brakes seizing. Did you have to have the rear-end rebuilt?

4) "The truck started in one try about half the time, then would overheat the other half of the time." Not even sure what you mean by this one. Overheating is a common problem for all vehicles, new and old and there are basic steps to troubleshoot and service.

5) "I replaced every single sensor under the hood; each went bad one at a time." Since ford doesn't make the sensors and they purchase these from contracts, many from the same suppliers as foreign auto manufacturers it is hard to fault Ford for this one. But, again, more likely due to abuse or modification.

6) "Fuel system always clogged up" - There are 2 fuel filters and both should be cleaned during regular maintenance. Sounds like only the one under the hood was being serviced. I found out this one the hard way!

7) "Windshield leaked right into my lap every time it rained."

"Factory radio worked great, but only if it wasn't raining, then, it didn't work at all." The windshield may have been replaced by the previous owner then it would be an installer issue or again physical abuse to the vehicle which caused the seal around the window to leak. It's pretty obvious why the radio didn't work when it rained.

8) " "Tailgate fell open occasionally." The tailgate is the best evidence you listed for proof of major abuse, possibly being wrecked. Many of the other items you list also are proof of that abuse.

To judge all Ford Rangers (or all Fords) based upon the ownership of this one vehicle is patently wrong. I can show you many other brands, including Toyota's and Nissan's that are in as bad or worst condition with less mileage than you stated. If you check Car Survey reviews for other pickups you will find a review similar to yours for virtually every manufacturer and model. If based upon single reviews there wouldn't be any vehicles worth owning!

By the way, most of the review ratings for the Ford Ranger on this site and others are good to excellent! How do you explain that when it's obvious that you think that ALL FORDS are pieces of junk???

The 1987 Ford Ranger is one of the best 1/4 Ton pickup's ever to come off an assembly line. It's obvious that your Ford wasn't taken care of, and that's why It was a price of rolling garbage.

PS: Maybe if you did some maintenance your self you wouldn't have to keep buying oil.