Rental Car Review - 2021 Ford Ranger Sport 4wd

[SC Maintenance]

I flew to the midwest and needed a rental car. Cheapest I could find was a mid size pickup from Budget which was cheaper even than a penalty box? Maybe no one wants one in the city or whatever. I was leaving the city so no matter.

Ended up with a 2021 Ford Ranger 4WD with 40K miles on it. Sharp looking truck. I put 700 miles on it - most of it highway. I never put it in 4wd. For context, I drive a 12 year old Frontier daily, so I am used to this size vehicle.

My abbreviated review.

First, here are some things I will ignore because it might be due to it being a rental - ridden hard/put away wet.

• Biggest issue - it wondered around / didn't hold the road. Not pull to one side, you just had to be on the ball to keep it between the lines. Maybe just needs alignment, but if I were buying one I would want a long highway test drive.
• It had a rattle from underneath - exhaust shield or something.
• When changing the HVAC it had a weird rattle. Like the blend door was loose or something?

OK - ignoring those,

The Bad:

• The transmission was very un-nerving while slowing down - very jerky - felt like a manual trans where your slowing down too far without downshifting - except RPM would still be around 1500 RPM. My wife's toyota locks the torque converter in every gear and its not anywhere like this. Maybe there was an issue with it??
• The controls for HVAC / radio ,etc were really small and way too low - no lit, etc. I don't think I would ever get used to them.
• The radio, even for a base radio, was pretty bad - worse than my 12 year old base Nissan Stereo. Apple car play did work fine however.
• The suspension was pretty harsh. Maybe a couple hundred pounds in the box would help?
• The handling over bumps was quite jumpy - felt like the back end was going to jump around. Way worse even than my very short wheelbase xterrra. Again, maybe it needs to be loaded?

The good:

• The seats were really, really comfortable. I even sat in the back ones for a minute and they weren't bad for this size truck.
• Mileage was excellent. I got 24mpg. Experience tells me my 12 year old Frontier in the same situation would have gotten 20.
• It was really quiet. Almost no road noise. For a truck it was really great.
• It had lots of power.
• It looks really good, IMHO.

So, would I buy one. First I would have to ignore the recent Ford Quality issues, and I would need to drive a new one to see if it held the road better. If it did, I would consider it. The transmission is greatly annoying, but it looks good and gets great mileage. I liked it overall.

Anyone here own one? Your thoughts?

 

[hemioiler]

Would I buy one, no. It's way too old at this point, it was already old when it was brought to north america and given some fresh paint.

 

[joegreen]

My biggest gripe with them is they sound like a jet taking off when first started from the fan on the front of the motor rushing air around.

 

[DuckRyder]

The new version is now in production… with an optional 2.7 coming as well…

 

[ctechbob]

The problems you have indicate a rental car I would say.

Mine is smooth as can be, tracks straight, tires wear perfectly evenly and no odd noises. I'd say that one has probably been slammed into a few things over time.

The 10R80's have to be maintained, I don't care what Ford says (150k on first oil change), but you have to change the fluid on a regular basis.

That being said. The programming can be dimwitted at times. The downshifting you describe can be normal. Over time you learn to drive around it. It doesn't require much change, but slowing down fast (panic stop) will always result in an oddly clunky trip down the box.

 

[SC Maintenance]

It doesn't require much change, but slowing down fast (panic stop) will always result in an oddly clunky trip down the box.

Mine was opposite. If I was on the brakes I didn't notice it much. When I was coasting to a stop was the most disconcerting. I use brakes to stop, not slow down - a set of pads can easily last 150K on my vehicles. So yes, it could be a rental car problem.

 

[ctechbob]

• The suspension was pretty harsh. Maybe a couple hundred pounds in the box would help?
• The handling over bumps was quite jumpy - felt like the back end was going to jump around. Way worse even than my very short wheelbase xterrra. Again, maybe it needs to be loaded?

Pretty much hit the nail on the head.

Ford Shocks are crap in almost every model.

Put some load in it and it would smooth out quite a bit.

I tow a 6000# travel trailer and the only upgrades to the truck are Bilstein rear shocks and a set of Sumo Springs that replace the rear bumpstops. The truck rides great. It is still a truck, so unloaded it can be jiggly, but that's to be expected.

Compromises they had to make to hit their 7500# tow rating. Also why the tail end sits so high in the air.