1994 FORD Ranger

I loved mine and wish they still made them.

Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 4 Safety Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

I bought mine new and as a young driver, really put it to the test. It was honestly driven like it was rented--it 'may' have even gone a bit airborne at one point, it was off-roaded plenty, and it really stood up. It hit a deer at highway speed and the body held up -impressively-, just needing a headlight and the grille replaced. It was also rear ended a few times and not only was I never injured, but it rarely needed repairs. It was a small tank. It had the inline 4 engine, manual transmission, and no power windows or locks and it was fun to drive. It had approximately 200K on it when one of the engine cylinders developed a problem but we kept driving it anyway with the three functioning and it did just fine. It was pretty good in weather given it was a 2WD small pickup but it was also pretty reliable. We had to put a new starter into it in later years and at about 180K I think we had to replace a couple of the gears in the transmission and the clutch. The parking brake did go out on it around 200K miles as well as the A/C. The A/C wasn't a big deal because it had the rear slider. One of the leaf springs went when it was around 15 years old and the rear differential was the final nail in the coffin at around 225K miles. It's a great starter vehicle because it takes a BEATING and keeps going. I did a lot of trips that were 3-4 hours long though and it was quite comfortable to ride in. The fuel economy was pretty good, even to the end.