Our Ranger 6Gs are pretty simple for modern vehicles

[josephp732]

I love my Ranger Lariat with the 2.7L EcoBoost, but I’m also realistic about what it is. It’s a very modern and fairly complex vehicle. Is it a BMW? No, but there are a ton of modules and electronics, and the damn taillights cost over $1,000 to replace. That said, I really like the fact that I can still perform almost all of my own maintenance. The big question is long-term reliability. Will this truck make it to 250K miles? I honestly don’t know. My 2021 4Runner, on the other hand, I have very little doubt will make it to 300K miles with proper maintenance. It has significantly less technology and is much more old-school in its design than the Ranger. I love the Ranger and think Ford did a lot of things right, but if I had to bet on which one will still be running strong at 300K, I’d put my money on the 4Runner.

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[fordc51]

How do you request for Ford not to download your data?

 

[emjay24l]

I love my Ranger Lariat with the 2.7L EcoBoost, but I’m also realistic about what it is. It’s a very modern and fairly complex vehicle. Is it a BMW? No, but there are a ton of modules and electronics, and the damn taillights cost over $1,000 to replace. That said, I really like the fact that I can still perform almost all of my own maintenance. The big question is long-term reliability. Will this truck make it to 250K miles? I honestly don’t know. My 2021 4Runner, on the other hand, I have very little doubt will make it to 300K miles with proper maintenance. It has significantly less technology and is much more old-school in its design than the Ranger. I love the Ranger and think Ford did a lot of things right, but if I had to bet on which one will still be running strong at 300K, I’d put my money on the 4Runner.

When it comes to the current Ranger, I think longevity is strictly tied to driving habits and an aggressive maintenance schedule. It needs to be driven gently right after startup and before shutdown to avoid long term turbo issues. Also, keeping a "lead foot" under control is another habit to promote. Second is oil changes and type of oil used. I diligently change oil at no more than 5k miles with a full synthetic oil. With this Ranger being turbocharged I will switch to Mobil 1 and lower the change interval accordingly if I am putting the engine under severe stress for several miles like towing, hauling heavy loads, etc. I will have the transmission, and transfer case fluids serviced at 30k miles and then 60k miles thereafter unless severe duty dictates otherwise. By 80k miles all fluids with have been replaced. Brakes, etc., will be done when needed along with engine bay cleaning.

The good thing with the Ranger is the drivetrain has tried and tested components. The 2.3L turbo engine has been around for over ten years and Ford has improved it many times to make it ever more reliable. The same goes for the transmission. When it comes to trucks, I think that Ford takes reliability more seriously than they do with other vehicles which helps with longevity. Also, Ford has improved the reliability of the electronics over time. It seems that there are far fewer problems in this area than there was was 5-10 years ago. Lastly, I think the Ranger having to compete against the Toyota Hilux in foreign markets has made the US versions inherently more reliable.

 

[emjay24l]

How do you request for Ford not to download your data?

The best thing to do is a Google search. It will outline the process. It basically involves sending them notices to exclude you from their data collection efforts. I have only owned my Ranger for a week but I will be doing this soon. Especially before it goes to the Ford dealer for any reason.

 

[Gary Brantley]

Are we seriously dragging Tucket Quaralson into Ranger6G now? Nobody comes to a truck forum to listen to political grifters cosplay as blue-collar mechanics while complaining about the modern world. Take that culture war nonsense somewhere else.

Furthermore, the absolute delusion of calling a 2026 Ranger with a 2.7L twin-turbo EcoBoost "analog" is hilarious. You are driving a rolling computer. Just because you have a physical key and figured out how to hit the button to turn off lane assist doesn't make your truck a 1985 farm rig. Your 10r60 transmission needs a heavily programmed control module just to figure out what gear it wants to be in, your throttle is entirely fly-by-wire, and your engine management is running millions of calculations a second.

Pulling the modem fuse doesn't make you some off-the-grid survivalist, it just means your FordPass app is broken. Stop trying to shoehorn Tucket's paranoid political podcasts into a forum meant for truck specs and trail mods, and accept that you bought a highly computerized, modern vehicle just like the rest of us.

Well said! Thanks for that!

 

[superj]

I had to convert a few of my old bmws to carbs because I couldn't get parts of the fuel injection anymore. I would have like to keep the fi but not being able to start in cold weather, or having to crank for 3 or 4 minutes, got old.


Now the only BMW we have left has a nice easy to tune weber 32/36 on it and it actually gets better Gas mileage then before. Same thing that happened on my 81 320i when I swapped it to a weber 32/36.

I am fine with carbs. I had then in many vehicles when I was younger and have changed some fuel injected vehicles to carbs and got better performance and gas mileage.

But, I really like carbs. I used to collect them. I love taking them apart and cleaning them up. I love how they look when freshly cleaned and working perfectly. I love the sound of the engine when the throats open fully, the air screaming and the intake getting icy cold. But modern fuel injection is very hard to beat. It works so well and never requires work till it's really got some time on it.

 

[NOT_RAPTOR]

There are like 1000 computer chips in the modern Ranger, in what world is that simple? It's literally computers stacked upon computers put on wheels.

There's a million lines of code to make it do what it does and it won't work right if even one 1 or 0 is out of place.

That old style key you say is simple also has a computer chip in it. Fry the chip and your key won't work no matter how perfectly the old fashioned metal key is cut.

 

[alrashid2]

I think everyone is missing my point. No modern car is simple. But compared to other 2024-2026 models, across all brands, these Rangers are one of the simplest.

 

[stemplar]

The 2.3L turbo engine has been around for over ten years

True for 2024 model year, but in 2025 it got the new mpc 2.3l. I think that new 2.3 debuted the year prior in a different model so it wasn’t all new for the Ranger, but it doesn’t yet have the track record of the engine it replaces or the 2.7 that’s been around for a long time.

 

[emjay24l]

True for 2024 model year, but in 2025 it got the new mpc 2.3l. I think that new 2.3 debuted the year prior in a different model so it wasn’t all new for the Ranger, but it doesn’t yet have the track record of the engine it replaces or the 2.7 that’s been around for a long time.

Yes. The current 2.3L came about around 2015. The improvements made to it for the 2025 MY were substantial. Dual port injection was a big one along with a lot of other revisions. I tried to find a 2025 model with the options and price I wanted but it wasn't possible. The main reason I wanted the 2025 2.3L was to get duel port injection. For the thousands and thousands of dollars I saved buying a 2024 model I can pay for a lot of walnut blasting.

 

[HighDesertRanger]

Every single modern vehicle is spying on you. To one extent or another.

Your car is a smartphone on wheels. Here's who's listening.

Stuff like this is why the (proposed) REO Runabout is so appealing to a lot of people.

 

[Sharpie223]

I love my Ranger Lariat with the 2.7L EcoBoost, but I’m also realistic about what it is. It’s a very modern and fairly complex vehicle. Is it a BMW? No, but there are a ton of modules and electronics, and the damn taillights cost over $1,000 to replace. That said, I really like the fact that I can still perform almost all of my own maintenance. The big question is long-term reliability. Will this truck make it to 250K miles? I honestly don’t know. My 2021 4Runner, on the other hand, I have very little doubt will make it to 300K miles with proper maintenance. It has significantly less technology and is much more old-school in its design than the Ranger. I love the Ranger and think Ford did a lot of things right, but if I had to bet on which one will still be running strong at 300K, I’d put my money on the 4Runner.

2.7 was built stout. It's also been well proven, it should make it to 300k, easily. Whether the rest of the vehicle will or not remains to be seen...

 

[emjay24l]

2.7 was built stout. It's also been well proven, it should make it to 300k, easily. Whether the rest of the vehicle will or not remains to be seen...

I agree but I wouldn't risk running the wet belt out to 300k miles. I would probably change it at 200k.

 

[Bear376]

Getting paranoid about the constant battle between those who abuse consumers privacy for gain, and the public interest is not worth it. If they are really interested in sticking it to you, it will take more effort and money than you would like to stop it. As for the reliability and repairability of cars nowadays, it is a two edge sword. I no longer change oil and adjust points at 3000 miles, spark plugs at 5000 miles, and lube joints. However, the cost of niceties and longer life, is less ability of self diagnosis and repairs. A few years ago, it would be frustrating for me, but lately, it is just as well. My body is not 20 years old and crawling under cars is no longer fun. And getting out from under cars is a real trip. I expect that in a few years, they will develop diagnostic methods that will simplify finding problems, but will probably require replacing modules that combine functions. Plug and play and more expensive.

 

[Bear376]

When I first heard about the wet belt issues, I was not happy. I had a Ford Flex with the 3.5 Mazda designed engine and the water pump went out. Unfortunately that engine has the water pump integrated into the block and notorious for failing at 100k. The entire front had to be pulled. After doing research, I found that the wet belts are more reliable, but good oil change practices must be followed. And while the replacement cost is higher, it is only half as often on dry belt design. Considering the bulletproof reputation of the 2.7, I am not going to lose sleep over the matter.

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