Specific things to look for on a used Ranger?

A

Aran

New Member
Hey guys,

One of my fiancee's coworkers apparently fell in love with my Cherokee she's been driving and wants to trade me his '04 Ranger extended cab for it. I don't know anything about it beyond it's higher mileage (180k), blue, and 2WD.

I'm going to meet him after he gets off work today to discuss it further.


That said, what should I be looking for as far as model-specific oddities and failure points?

I know my Cherokee from bumper to bumper and will be showing him every little paint ding and annoyance point, but it doesn't sound like he knows his Ranger very well and has only owned it for a short time, so I don't know if he'll be aware of what to look for to point out to me even if he were planning on being up front about it.

I'm not exactly all-in on the idea of the trade, but I've been wanting a pickup anyhow so I figure I may as well go in armed with knowledge.

Thanks in advance :)
 
how many miles are on your cherokee? look to see if the truck has a 4.0 in it. those engines are known to go 250k+ with proper care. also look for rust on the rocker panels, frame, and bumpers. look at the shocks to make sure they arent rusted or leaking. if it has a plastic drop in bedliner lift it up and look under it to see if there is any major rust under it.
 
Oops, went out before you replied. My Cherokee is of similar mileage, at about 188k.

Anyhow, I saw it.

B1iTC.jpg


2004 XLT, I checked under the bedliner and it looks good, the only rust I saw on it was a little surface rust on a scrape on the bumper. Which is... less than the Cherokee has.

I didn't even think about the fact that it had two V6 options, crap (Wasn't paying any attention to that either). At any rate, it runs fine. I'll get my fiancee to ask him later which engine it has.

He's interested in making the trade after looking at my Cherokee, he just wants me to fix a few minor things. I'm probably going to go ahead and go for it once I take care of them. My fiancee likes the Ranger and she'll probably be the one to drive it more anyhow (my Forester is a manual and she.. uh... probably shouldn't drive stick without supervision.)
 
They will say the 4.0 is the better motor, but a 3.0 is just as good, especially in just a 2wd truck that will be a daily driver.
The 4.0 has a tad more power and torque, both motors are solid motors, if taken care of. They get about the same gas mileage too.
People will say both motors will run 200K plus miles, if well taken care of....but that can be said of any engine!

The 3.0 Vulcan has a Camshaft Synchronizer that tends to go out and can cause major issues, but its a cheap $50 replacement, and about an hour to do. On the other hand the 4.0 has a similar issue, but it has timing chains, and when it goes, its much much more costly and time consuming to replace.
The 4.0 also has been known for bad head/intake gaskets, that can lead to a blown motor.

They are both V6 motors, they are both good choices, they both have their problems.


Replace this on a 4.0,

9-0398S.jpg


Or....

Replace this on a 3.0,
689-114-007.jpg
 
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Hooligan said:
I'd like to see pics of the cherokee too. That IS a nice looking ranger though
Click to expand...
78hlB.jpg


The guy seems to be in love with it. He told me he looks at it every day and wonders who owns it, and just happened to see my fiancee get out of it today and went to ask her if I'd be willing to trade for it.

He's 20 and his biggest concern about it is insurance rate differences.
 
going from 4 whd to a 2 whd in winter you might get pissed, but the truck looks good
but again only 2whd... if you never use 4x4 then no big deal
 
Down the road. I don't have money to buy a vehicle at the moment, and can't sell the Cherokee before I have another vehicle ready to drive because my fiancee and I both work and regularly have overlapping hours.

I wasn't even in the market for a vehicle, he approached us with the trade offer, which is the only reason I was even thinking about it. Though in retrospect, if I do get a pickup it might be something with a slightly wider bed since hauling drywall is on my list of reasons I want to move from a Jeep to a pickup.

I guess that's a concern for the future though.
 
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