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Ford F-150 still most popular

frozentripper

frozentripper

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With the F-150 being America's most popular pickup truck for 30 or 40 years now, Ford must be doing something right to bring in all those buyers... many being repeat buyers, maybe a bold assumption but my gut tells me they are.

Sales numbers for 2016 and 2015 show the F-150 being #1...

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2017/01...rer-brand.html

Sales numbers for January 2017, show the trend still in place, with F-150 sales beating out the competition by a wide margin.

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2017/02...-by-model.html

Kelly's Blue Book points out that it was Ford's decision to upgrade the model-year 2015 F-150 that helped Ford boost resale value recently (an all-aluminum rust-resistant body, lighter weight and improved mileage may have helped).

Anyway, reviews may be biased, numbers don't lie, the F-150 remains the best-selling vehicle today -- truck or car... something's being done right. Found while googling around for info on the reintroduction of the Ford Ranger, which will be interesting to at least watch and see how sales take off (or don't take off, depending on the market demand out there).
 
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Another thing that keeps ford headed in the right direction is the use of the Eco boost engine. Providing better power along with increased mileage in a lightweight package. I'm sure the re introduced Ranger will have an Eco boost option to squeeze out some more miles per gallon.
 
All aluminum eh? Marty and the Professor can retire the DeLorean and get a new F150
 
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I'm a Ford guy.
 

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I used to be a Ford guy. My first two vehicles were Ford Rangers. Then they no longer offered any extra-cab options with a 4-cylinder engine. I couldn't find anything in a 4 cylinder that suited my purpose. I was willing to look at a hybrid Escape, but no one would sell me one for anything less than 2K above sticker. So Ford lost me as a customer and I became a Subaru man.

That was about 8 years ago, and I will be looking for a new vehicle sometime in the next couple years. I'm following the return of the Ranger with some interest. The F-150 is far more vehicle than I need. Far more vehicle than most people who own one need, IMHO.

-rs
 
RS, the new Rangers will come into production next year and will be sold at dealerships 2019... IIRC there will a four-cylinder Ecoboost engine. The 4WDs, probably something larger.

This is an interesting story since originally, Ford Rangers were going to be made in Mexico but with Trump's threatening heavy taxation with the Border Adjustment Tax resulting in higher and probably uncompetitive prices, Ford cancelled the Mexican production and shifted to Michigan. This could still result in higher prices than pre-BAT since American production will probably cost more.

Ford has created a 2019 Ranger page, still no real info on it except for the home page photo which includes a camp stove, trekking poles, top map, cook kit, hiking boots, so the outdoors recreation market might be a target.


http://www.ford.com/trucks/ranger/2019/#overview
 
i always figured it was because Chev/GMC diluted their market share with very similar product...silverado/sierra
 
I had a series of bad cars & trucks (Sunbeam Alpine, Willies Jeep, VW Bugs (2) Chevy (2) and a Ford all always broke down or just plain died. Since then I have worn out two Nisson's and a Toyota and am currently working on wearing out another Toyota all of which have never given me any major or very few minor problems. The same goes for my wife's Toyota and Subaru cars. I will watch with interest in the next few years to see how many dead and dying new Ford Rangers I see on the roads around Fairbanks in the winter. Old joke from when I was a boy FORD.....Found On Road Dead.
Forgot to mention the 1988 Volvo Wagon that I used for a work car. Bought used from a friend when his wife outgrew it. I then put another 250,000 miles on it, I sold it this past summer. A nice guy stopped by the house one day wanting to buy it. I told him it wasn't for sale. My wife being smarter than me thought having a Toyota truck and Subaru car were enough rolling stock for a retired couple. I asked the guy what he thought it was worth to him, he offered $200 less than what I had paid for it, so I sold it. The old Volvo was a great camping and canoe hauling car also. Real easy to load a canoe onto and with the back seats folded flat a wonderful flat spot to roll out a bed roll. Any of you young guy's looking to get by cheap should go to Arizona where us old guys go to die and pick up a used Volvo wagon. Hey, if I out live my current Toyota truck I might even do that myself. Get a pretty dark green one to match my Seliga canoe.
 
Well, i really can't comment on individual preference except to say (again), in the bigger picture Ford trucks are selling well, in America and internationally by the millions and there must be a reason for this. In America, Rangers stopped being produced and sold in 2011, but in Europe where marketing has carried on, Ranger sales have been good enough to make it the best-selling pickup there. Again, it'll be interesting to watch how popular the 2019 Ranger will be here... the news reports say that the American version will be different.

I bought a 2010 Ranger new because the reliability ratings at the time were good and commercial fleet vehicle reports were showing some good numbers for maintenance and high mileage. I'm not a car expert by any means but those bigger-picture numbers do show something... my own bias is that the quality is good enough to make those high sales numbers a reality, but that's all it is, my individual bias. Someone once said, reality is something that, once you stop believing in it, shows up again and again to remind you that it really exists.
 
The main reason is price, accessories, and marketing, marketing being the more important factor... Get eh truck to sell well a few years in a row and use that as a strong marketing tool and chances are that you will have a lot of sheep following you just cause you say so!! Doesn't make them a great truck for that reason!! One other reason is put attractive # on paper and that will also sell more trucks... 1 mpg better fuel economy, 10 foot pounds of torc more, 0% interest financing etc etc etc.... Still doesn't mean much in real life situation/driving condition, at least up here!!
 
While I am somewhat of a Ford fan, I have a grudge against them over what they've done to the Explorer.

A lot of my coworkers have bought the ecoboost F150, and they're all pretty happy with it. That and the Tundra were the two at the top of my list when I was shopping for a light truck. Advantages to either, but I'm happy with the Tundra.
 
Having owned one Ford, one Chevy of similar vintage for business and being in charge of a 10 unit fleet of service vehicles for another job...it's a crap shoot to me and I do emphasize 'crap' (these would all be bought new, post 2008 vintage). Spotty quality, marginal reliability, limited braking, steering, comfort and horrible service at the dealerships, limited warranty (for commercial use) and a lot of other disappointments to me when I compared them to better built, engineered, (for direct instance) Camry's and Accords of similar vintage that we also owned concurrently.

This is another instance of a captive market and I think Toyota in particular did the whole industry proud by making the big three up their game tremendously. Consumer Reports is my bible for relevance, preference and honesty...

The current tender of trucks, nice as they are in general, are horribly overpriced, more passenger car than work truck for many...and the costs, don't get me started. I read somewhere about average sticker costs for light duty trucks...whoowhee! And the corporate profits per unit sold - insane.
That is where your 20% depreciation off the lot really stings horribly.

Would I trade any of those for my dad's old 1994 SR5... did I mention, "don't get me started."

(Sorry)...but I don't buy into that most popular argument and theory (or for the loser brands either)... by extension, that would make Budweiser or Miller the best beer, right?.

But it aint...it sure ain't!
 
Southcove,

That is where your 20% depreciation off the lot really stings horribly.
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Depreciation is a great reason why it's a bad idea to sink money into something that depreciates horribly, to the point where value gets close to zero with time. Something like land, which should increase in value as time goes on, could be a much better option. People's ideas about valuation might need to be shaken up a bit if they place a great deal of value on something that will eventually be worth nothing.

Cameras are another thing where there's a lot of overbuying... people will buy expensive high-end gear believing it will make them take better pictures, but often it doesn't. By contrast the lower-priced and wonderfully compact and lightweight point-and-shoots available today offer a great deal of freedom from the far more expensive, heavier professional cameras.

About the popular truck and the Budweiser/Miller extension.... if all you want at the end of the road is a good drink on a cold beer, then a Bud or Miller can be good enough... knowing that some cold beer is ready and waiting out there somewhere can be a really comforting thought.
 
To me if it doesn't have a 8 foot box and 3/4 ton capacity, it ain't a truck!
 
Canotrouge said:
To me if it doesn't have a 8 foot box and 3/4 ton capacity, it ain't a truck!
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At least a six foot box anyway. Many four door models have less than that.


I have a 2002 ranger and haven't had a major problem in 125000 miles. Little things like the door ajar sensor goes on for no reason and something up with the ignition that it thinks the key is in it when it is not. It is annoying with unwarrented bell ringing going on for no reason but the only problem it caused was that I left my lights on and drained the battery because the bell ringing didn't clew me in to the situation.


Bottom line is that I will still consider a Ford if I buy another truck.
 
Little things like the door ajar sensor goes on for no reason
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Open each door and spray a liberal amount of WD-40 (or equivalent) into the latch area (on the door). Use the nozzle for a more direct spray. The switch is attached to the latch, towards the top if I remember right, and you're trying to get some of that lube to hit it (you can't actually see it without pulling the door panel). Then open and close each door about 30 times.The switch is just a little plunger that sticks with grime and grit. Usually you can get by with the WD-40 treatment.

For the ignition switch dinger you'd probably need to replace the lock cylinder; which is a very easy thing to do until the tumblers fail and it won't rotate anymore. If you do so make sure you get one straight from Motorcraft. Aftermarket lock cylinders are mostly junk.

Alan
 
I have the 6 cylinder and get 15 around town and 18 highway, it's been pretty consistant. It seems like it does a little better with a canoe on the rack. In winter it goes way down as I use 4 wheel quite a bit.
 
2003 Ranger 3.0 6 cylinder with a 182,000 miles. Over the last year or so I've had several minor issues: Vacuum leaks, throttle position sensor, pcv tube, coil pack, and one big issue, the computer went out, which I swapped with a used one. Other than those issues it has been trouble free for the 100,000 miles I've put on it.

Mine gets 18 city and 20 hwy, with a big drop carrying the canoe over 70 mph.

A little trick for at least Rangers of that era, when I'm working around the farm and won't be bothered wearing my seat belt, if you push the seatbelt release button the alarm won't go off.
 
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