OT: Thinking about a new 4wd pickup. Experienced views invited :)

[Cynic-al]

I've been looking, I agree the Ford looks better as the Limited than the Wildtrak and it's huge! From my previous ownership of Ford pickups the warranty and dealers are both useless but hopefully you will have more luck! I like the Isuzu and they will do me a new Blade with a hard top +5 year 125,000 warranty for £23,700 +vat. I can get a Nissan tenka? pre-registered with 5yr 100,000 warranty for £21,600+vat. The L200 is lovely inside & can be run in 4wd on the road but I would have to park it around the corner as it's just too ugly and it's a 5 year but only 60,000 warranty?!?! so it's out. However September sees the facelift Amarok lauched, now I don't like VWs or autos but they are dumping the 2.0 diesel and replacing it with a commercially tuned version of the 3.0 V6 from the Q7 etc + permanent 4 motion + 8 speed auto so I'm waiting to look at that

The Ford is really nice I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

[Ed Poore]

OT but on the subject of towing I was genuinely surprised on Monday.

Dad asked for my help picking up his new toy (a 2 tonne Cunliffe horizontal + vertical mill). Borrowed a friends plant trailer, bought a load of sleepers to spread the load and headed up to Birmingham to pick it up. On the journey from Birmingham down the M50 to M4 and onto West Wales the RR averaged 19mpg.

Going up the big hills on the M4 she kicked down to 4th but you could still comfortably accelerate up the hills. Because of the braked trailer stopping wasn't bad either - in fact had to do an emergency stop on the M4 by Port Talbot when what looked like conveyor belts appeared in the middle of the motorway and BMWs to my right were getting in the way of going around it.

[Happyoldgit]

Actual vehicle specs aside a big part in the decision was that I could get £5000 discount off the price of the Ford whereas I could not get anywhere near that reduction on any other mainstream make.

I'd stress again that having umpteen dealerships really is a big factor in terms of convenience and potential downtime - talking of which my past experience of obtaining parts for some of the Isuzu & Mitsu stuff, albeit a few years back now, was not entirely problem free and sometimes involved some long waits for things to be ordered from afar. TBH I really don't want the hassle of having to take a morning out just to deliver a vehicle for a service / warranty work into the next county or all the way to Norwich for example.

[Cynic-al]

Both good reasons, that's why I prefer an older car and don't use dealers

[Happyoldgit]

I picked up the Ranger today, not bad, not bad at all.

[Bowie69]

Maybe it is coincidence, but seeing a lot of new, large Japanese/German/Ford pickups the last couple of months, all being driven by farmers.

[Happyoldgit]

Maybe it is coincidence, but seeing a lot of new, large Japanese/German/Ford pickups the last couple of months, all being driven by farmers.

Similar situation around here, our neighbouring farm has a 2002 and 2015 Ranger, the rest run a mix of other pickups too.

[Ed Poore]

Funnily enough Mum and I commented on the drive south from Scotland that most of the Scottish areas were overrun with Land Rovers. Both Defenders and Range Rovers.

[Cynic-al]

There are a lot of farmers with Japanese pickups around here, you tend to find they have a pickup for every day farm duties which generally gets used and abused and kept until it's dead and a range rover or similar for the weekend / wife to use on school run or horsey things which is generally kept nice.

[Arjan]

Interesting to hear how the Ford does in every day's use.

Will be replacing the V70 with a year or 2 and need something that tows well, too..

[Mo Murphy]

Good luck with it MOG, it's got to be more practical than a Defender.

Mo

[Cynic-al]

Started my search. Looked at the vw and nissan today, the Nissan isn't for me...

[Happyoldgit]

While the VW gets reasonable reviews there is just something about it looks wise that doesn't hit the spot with me.

[reb78]

While the VW gets reasonable reviews there is just something about it looks wise that doesn't hit the spot with me.

IMO, you've bought the best looking pickup easily available in the UK at the moment. The Ranger now looks (externally) like a mini F150. I just wish they'd offer the American engines in the Ranger!

[Happyoldgit]

I've put a canopy on it now, there are plenty to choose from until you discover most of the suppliers won't have the one you want in stock until the container arrives some time in the next few weeks - probably.

[landroversforever]

Which one did you go for Steve? Friend of mine with the ranger has a Eko one which seems good!

[Happyoldgit]

3.2 auto double cab Limited 1 which appears well finished and drives predictably despite no weight being carried over the cart springs on the back. There are plenty of tie down points in the load bed which comes with a liner as standard. The cabin is sensible and remarkably quiet on the move, leather seats comfortable, dash easy to navigate, brakes good and nicely progressive. There's a fair bit of slip in the box in low gears compared to some but the take up is smooth, 4wd low and high selection on the fly is easy.

All in all I like it, it's a great pity that JLR have not [yet] come up with a Defender that is as useable on a day to day basis.

[landroversforever]

Sorry Steve, I meant which Hard top

[Cynic-al]

I have had exactly the same problem regarding getting a hard top. I found truckman to be the best regarding after sales service, I've had spare parts off them etc no problem. Other companies don't seem to be able to offer that which is great if someone breaks in or you need a lock or a light or something.

So far Nissan is out as... well, just don't get me started on it.

Mitsubishi is out as it was so awful looking I didn't even bother driving it, it might be able to fly for all I know but i still couldn't stand looking at it out the window.

Isuzu I took a blade to Birmingham and back with a load of steel on on Wednesday and it was fine, powerful enough, handled better than mine, lovely seat, quieter than mine, ride a little hard but it's on 18" wheels so I'm sure that doesn't help and enough tech for comfort without all the awful bits beeping at you all the time.

VW was quieter and a softer ride than the Isuzu and slighlty wider in the back (I look as I have a 3rd child on the way). It has full time 4wd and an 8 speed auto which changed gear a lot but to be fair to it it was seamless and always in the right gear. I wouldn't have the 2.0 so it's a question of do I wait for the 3.0 to come out... at some point to be confirmed... and is it worth £6k more than the Isuzu Blade?

I'm yet to drive the Ford, we have the pre-facelift wildtrak at work so I will take that out next time I have a long run. What surprised me is it's narrower than most of the other trucks, it feels huge when your stood next to it. The dealer didn't seem that interested so I think it would be an internet purchase if I got one.

[Happyoldgit]

Sorry Steve, I meant which Hard top

Doh - lol

SMMR [sammitr] V4 all steel job with side windows, steel framed tailgate with heated glass, vinyl headlining, central locking via the vehicle keyfob & high level brake lamp. It's slightly heavier than some GRP jobs but will cope with more weight on the roof without requiring additional support. So far the only thing I don't like about it is purely based on aesthetics in that it has a bit of a skirt that overhangs the bed and this slopes down a bit toward the rear.

I wouldn't have minded an Aeroklas but none suitable in the UK until the next container arrives. I like Truckman and Pegasus but the latter are quite expensive for a GRP top.

[Happyoldgit]

I've read and heard comments that the VW wallows about quite a bit when it has weight in the back so I think the bias there is slightly toward people mover.

TBH given the nature of the beast most of them are similar - ish so much boils down to personal preference. As I said before dealer spread is important to me. I needed something for the Ranger this morning and it was easy to combine a trip to my local agri supplies place and then pop in to a Ford dealer just down the road in the same town. I found the sparsity of JLR dealers around here these days a royal PITA and know it would be a similar situation with the Isuzu. Toyota, Nissan & VW aren't bad but Ford are everywhere.

[BogMonster]

A bit late coming to this...

I have a 5 year old Ranger, which is my second - previously had a 2005 model. It isn't the current shape but it's been great - some bushes in the front end have been the only bits needed so far (on rough roads) and I'm about to put a new exhaust on. Hauled drums of fuel, rubbish every weekend, boat trailer in the summer and (ahem officer) on occasions my 3.5T Ifor Williams tipper with <ahem> slightly more than the rated capacity from the quarry just down the road. Mine has the old 2.5L Mazda indirect injection engine, injector pump, it's like a 300Tdi without the noise, and apart from a set of glow plugs last winter and some filters, has had no parts in five years.

It's been great, as was the last one. The new (current) model looks good, and when the time comes I will probably replace with an XLT without looking too far, though at the moment it is a lot more expensive than the L200 from the local supply network in this part of the world so I will look at both at the time.

[Happyoldgit]

Two months on and [touch wood] the Ranger has been all that I hoped it would be. At the moment I'm getting an average mpg in the high 20's but the 3.2 5 pot is still pretty tight, it's smooth and several people have commented about it sounding good, in fact the truck has attracted quite a few pleasant unprovoked comments from various folks. The autobox is silky, if I was being very picky I've noticed the vehicle being a bit lazy shifting up but is quick enough when needs be but as usual it's easy to induce a bit of rear wheel spin if you're a bit enthusiastic moving off with no weight in the back.

So far it's been fine in both high and low box 4x4 around here and what towing I've done with has been drama free and for a biggish truck it's easy enough to manoeuvre. The ride is pretty good considering it's on cart springs on the back and the cab is a comfortable and quiet place to be even when it's shuffling on a bit. SWMBO likes it and is more willing to get behind the wheel than she was with my Defenders - although the weight of the tailgate has provoked a few comments.

Everything seems to have been screwed together well enough, the whole shebang feels tight and there are no rattles, clunks, squeaks or bangs. Parking in towns can be a challenge especially if the bays are eurobox size in which case you can forget it - even in decent places the nose or back end always sticks out. So far, all in all I'm pleased with it, considering what you get think it's good value for money and judging by the number of facelift Rangers I see around others feel the same.

 

[Cynic-al]

Good choice then  I'm sure as a global product they can't afford to get anything too wrong or if they do it gets sorted quickly. Lets face it Africa and Australia will give them a much harder life than we do.

You can get tailgate dampers as a screw on accessory to stop it dropping down when opening it and even assistor springs to help get it up again if it is a problem for the mrs. (edit: just re-read that, wasn't meant to sound quite that carry on!)

http://www.pegasus4x4.com/products/ford/ford-ranger-2012/ford-tailgate-assist

 

I think compared to the price of 'urban offroaders' you get a lot for your money, do you find it's reliable going from 4wd back to 2wd and low back to high? The ones with electronic selectors I have found to be temperamental in the past, you have to take the pressure off the 4wd system to get it to release. Or have they improved the new ones?

 

They're all big and parking can be tricky, I blame the car parks for making the spaces too small  I find with the big mirrors and a reverse camera I can get it in most places though.

 

 

[reb78]

I'd love one - its top of my list of pickups. Cant afford a new one though, so I will need to wait until the current model comes down in price enough to be affordable to me secondhand.