2001 Ford Ranger - good buy?

[mobilaltima]

I'll be buying a 2001 Ford Ranger this week. I wanted to get yall opinions on it. The guy wants $1000 for it simply for the fact that he doesnt use it and it needs a few things. It has the 3.0 Vulcan V6, which i hear is not a powerhouse but pretty bulletproof. Its a 5 speed stick, 132k miles. Inside is mint, an old man owned it before this guy so the outside has a few dings and scratches nothing major. It needs a new driver side outside door handle ($15 at Napa $40 from Ford) ball joints, and the A/C only blows out the vents on top of the dash, someone told me it could be a vacuum line. Also the radiator and cooling system will need to be flushed out, it has been run on hosepipe (term us Cajuns use for a water hose) water for a while, mostly rust colored water in the radiator. Ill flush it and put the proper mix in it. I figured for $1000 it could be fixed up into a nice work truck. It runs great.

 

[simple_gifts]

L I K E, H O W M A N Y W H E E L D R I V E?

Regardless, snap it up.

 

[meborder]

I'd use motorcraft 5w30 in it.

Oh wait, what was the question?

 

[donnyj08]

you should have already bought it, and you better get on it quick.

That truck being from the south and likely rust free will bring $3-5k up here. Maybe more if it is 4x4.

 

[mobilaltima]

2 wheel drive, sorry i forgot to mention that.

 

[zach1900]

$1,000 bucks, how cheap are you?

 

[Bud_One]

Buy it , now !

 

[mobilaltima]

its not about the money. I just wanted some opinions.

 

[Chris142]

look for a broken vacuum line between the engine and firewall

 

[tomcat27]

as long as you can do the repairs yourself, (and it sounds like you can) I'd snap it up. they are a nice, long-lasting truck. besides, $1000 does not buy much around here: only beater cars. trucks get much more coin.

 

[Lyman]

I just sold my 99 4x4 4.0 for $3,700 with 160k and it needed tires. Snap it up!

 

[WiskyBadger]

Here that truck would be $4,000-$5,000. Good little truck.

 

[joegreen]

I would take it. I have a 1998 ranger auto with the 3.0. The oil pan is rusting out but I don't think you have that problem. One injector was replaced and so were the front ball joints. It has close to 160,000 and its been very reliable. One thing is that the brushes and ring the brushes ride on in the alternator may be nearing its end. I replaced mine recently because the brushes were worn out and the ring they ride on was worn out. It's pretty much had whatever oil its whole life and a recent compression test yielded around 180 psi on all cylinders. The 5 speed is sweet because 4-6 grand is where they make their power and you can keep it thier. Also the gas mileage is pretty good. I think its in the low 20s on my 4x4 4:10 gear model. Also brake lines like to rust out.

 

[cptbarkey]

agreed, you should have already purchased that truck at that price. in fact, it might already be gone. good luck.