Buying a Cheap Truck in 2023: 1990 Ford Ranger

$1500 for an old ranger with no body cancer? As someone who lives in the rust belt, I feel very jealous haha.

I just bought a 1988 ford ranger XLT with only 79,000 miles! Just for $500 dollars! Feels a brand new truck 🥹

100% agree. These little trucks are all most of us really need. Dependable, well-built and fun to drive (especially manual). I have a 98 Mazda B2500 5-speed that I wouldn't trade for any new plastic pavement princess filled with electronic nonsense.

This is called going GREEN! 30+year old truck still reliable and useful. There is nothing GREEN about buying a brand new $70k Tesla, only losing Green $$$. I drive a 89' Toyota pickup for the 10 years :)

150% agree. Mine (1994 2.3L) has 440K miles, still going strong.

I have a 2003 Ranger, basic little truck. Regular cab, short bed, 2.3L 5 speed manual, rubber floors, taxicab quality seats, manual windows... it does have power steering and brakes but I think those were standard by 2003. The only option is AC. I bought it in 2015 for $2800 with 38k miles on it. I search for months before I found it. I wanted a basic little truck for light duty things like bringing mulch home, or big purchases like furniture, but being able to afford to daily drive it to work. It's been great. When I was driving 45 miles a day to and from work, I regularly got 32 mpg. I recently retired and it's still doing light duty work for me, preparing my house to sell, getting the other house ready, starting moving stuff to the other house... it's been damn dependable.

Just bought an 88 Ranger 2.9L manual transmission. Loving it.

I have a 89 ford ranger single cab short bed that was my grandpas truck he was a mechanic he bought it new in 89 and drove it till hes death December 26th 2017 its also a 4 speed with overdrive that truck has a lot of memories in it im hopping for more when i fix it

Putting a new motor in a mint 94. A real fun project that I will drive forever

Welcome to the club! My daily is a ‘89 ranger single cab. My wife’s grandpa bought it for his ranch and now I use it for construction and with a little care and love it works just as good as the day he got it.

Picking mine up next month for $1500. 92 4.0 extended cab 4x4. All new gaskets in the engine, new interior, runs great, drives great. 180k miles. Little bit of rust and no AC but I’ll live. I enjoyed your video!

This era of Rangers are really good little trucks. I have been driving an 1987 regular cab long box XLT with the 2.3 and a manual transmission for many many years now and I love my little truck. It does everything I need it to, and it keeps on going. The looseness with the shifter is just a common feature in these Rangers, there is really nothing wrong with it.

I remember going to the Ford dealership with my dad back in the early 1990s in Phoenix Arizona and we test drove your exact truck except in white. I remember it had a V6 engine and we punched it off the light and it left about 10 feet of rubber! Lol it was a great truck!

Have me a 94 f150 xlt...no rust, rebuilt the engine. In nice shape. Love it

I had a 91 XLT. Loved that truck. It had a 2.9 V6 5 speed.I used to go up over snowy mountains in 4 low. It would just chew and dig. It would go anywhere effortlessly. I miss that thing

I had a 94 Ford Ranger, I sorely miss it. I need a working truck. The price of new trucks nowadays makes me sick because they aren't worth the money. Good buy on your truck 👍🏻

my 91 sat for over 10 years. This weekend I spent about 350 bucks, to fix all the hoses, heater core, lights all the way around and some other things. When I got back from a test drive, I just sat in the driveway like a kid on christmas day. Im so happy I revived it and I look forward to driving it everyday to keep the miles and maintenance off my duramax.

Your vid almost made me cry seeing the unrusted body of your great little truck. I still have the 1990 Ranger I bought in Texas '95 for $4600. 2WD manual 5-speed. Camper top. So many great road trips, camping sleeping cozy in the back, rain on the roof. But Wisconsin winters parked outside, salty streets, and my neglect ate holes in the floor. The engine still runs great at 300,000 miles, so I haven't wanted to let it go, even with a dented tailgate that doesn't open, from a deer encounter when I braked quick and the neighbor behind me couldn't stop in time. His newer pickup was completely smashed in. I've loved having a ride so simple I could learn to repair it myself, and have good honest mechanics when I need them. Now we're at a crossroads because the throttle is stuck wide open and the tires are wearing. Your video makes me want another Ranger from that engine era. Wishing you many comfortable miles with your beauty, Idaho brother.

The kind of video I’ve been looking for… cheers

I've got a 2006 Ranger 4.0 4x4 one previous owner. Perfect truck in this market. I had a 2016 F150 and had some major issues that developed. I decided to trade her in. Got a hell of a deal. Two years now and only changed the front shocks, rear leaf spring shackles and brake line. It's been the perfect truck for my needs. I've owned a 1986, 2003 and now a 2006. In this market and as I get older. I now realize why my dad never bought new cars and ran them to the ground. I was always worried what the neighbors had and now I could careless.