Good morning. I’m Saul Reisman here at Saul’s Automotive and today we’re going to talk a little bit about one of the most reliable service vehicles still performing its duties here in the United States, the Ford Ranger.
This vehicle started production in this form in 1983. It was put on the market with a goal of being reliable, light-weight, high mileage vehicle for delivery and courier service. When Ford produced these they anticipated they would sell 50 to 100,000 a year. They sold over 300,000 a year for the past 25 years. As a result we see many, many, many Ford Rangers getting regular maintenance service to keep them on the road as long as possible.
Ford discontinued the production of this vehicle two-and-a-half years ago. As a result we found many owners coming in with the desire to keep theirs in the upmost showroom condition for as long as possible. They understand that there is physically no replacement for these vehicles at this time and they want to get the best life out of theirs they could.
In the case of this 2011 which already has 198,000 miles on the clock, it’ got a few basic maintenance concerns that we’re going to be addressing today. A few belts, an oxygen sensor in the exhaust stream to help keep everything optimal and replacing the mass airflow sensor to keep the air-fuel ratio as happy as can be.
Now while we see half-ton and three-quarter ton trucks advertised all day long here in America as it can tow this and it can pull this and it’s so big and it’s so strong the Ford Ranger didn’t need to be. It just needed to be reliable and be a cargo carrying vehicle. As a result, they were optioned with many different engines in this case a four-cylinder and a manual transmission, the most basic simplistic design allowable. Not only does this mean very easy to service down the road and very inexpensive when it does come time to service at a repair facility it also means great fuel economy.
Even with today’s modern systems where we hear about multi-displacement and cylinder deactivation and all these technologies that cost lots and lots of money and these big expensive V8s to make them get better mileage, this pickup truck gets 29 miles a gallon, exactly as it came off the showroom floor. Period.
It has no fancy sensors. It has no fancy shutting down cylinders. It doesn’t haul 10,000 pounds. It just pulls its own weight. The majority of courier and delivery services this is all they need. It’s one of the most commonly serviced fleet vehicles that we see here as a result. In this case, the owner’s complaint was a lack of performance and lack of fuel economy.
As a courier service that can be a major detriment. Fuel is a huge overlying cost for these people. From our end, we’re able to ensure that the repairs were going to be doing are not only going to be productive for the vehicle, increase its fuel economy but also be cost effective and still justifiable so that the owner can afford to do such and increase this productivity of the vehicle.
If you’ve got a fleet service vehicle that needs maintenance please give us a call at Saul’s Automotive. We’d be happy to put together a game plan for you so that we can both be on the same page to keep your investment in your vehicle as small as possible and keep your reliability factor as large as possible.
If you’ve got fleet service vehicles and you haven’t seen us yet you need to. We provide the service free of charge so that you can have the best aspect to keep your entire fleet on the road. Please give us a call seven days a week, 303-919-7769. We would be happy to help.
Schedule Your FREE diagnostic Subaru Outback Auto Repair Upkeep and Repair Appointment
Check out Our Reviews On Yelp! And Leave A Great One For Us!
Join Our Conversation on Facebook
Explore Our Exceptional Denver Auto Repair Services
- Brake Repair Service
- Suspension Repair
- Steering Repair
- Engine Repair
- Automotive Air Conditioning and Heating Repair
