before you run out to order your new ranger get ready for sticker shock. probably can't get a 4x4 crew cab below $35,000. Dave

 

Look at prices for the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon and you'll be really close, but with fewer discounts and incentives on the Ranger... Local GMC dealer has 11 2019 Canyons in stock and Crew Cab 4x4's range from $39.3-45.4k on the sticker. The $45.4k is for the "All Terrain" package. If you want cheap, you can buy almost 3 new Focuses for that price

 

thats entering super duty territory (lower end, but noneless SD)

 

A loaded Escape has a sticker price of $39k and a loaded Edge has a sticker price of $50k. People buy these, and Ford is aiming the Ranger at the "daily driver" and "sport user" types who want a pickup as status, to carry bicycles and kayaks and stuff. This is the same reason F150's have gone so far upmarket compared, to say, the 1970's when pickups had one bench seat, rubber mats on the floor, and cost barely more than a Pinto. Trucks and SUV's are Ford's cash cows and Ford's purpose is to make money with vehicles it builds in the US, not to make the cheapest vehicles possible. Which is also why the Focus is moving to China for production.

Stripper 2WD Rangers will be available for $24k (or less after discounts) and those will be what auto parts stores use for cheap and reliable delivery vehicles, and what fleets will buy for exterminators, etc...and they will be the best deal if cost per mile is important.

 

 

Used vs new depends on the vehicle. A dependable and inexpensive vehicle like a Honda Civic or Subaru is best to buy new because there is very little depreciation in the first couple years.

A luxury car or SUV where value drops like a rock is a great buy 2 years old, off lease, still under warranty--CPO Lincolns, Caddys, Lexuses fall into this category and there are a lot of pampered 2-year old lease vehicles out there. You can get a 2 year old Lincoln MKZ right now around Detroit, under 20k miles, for HALF the sticker price. (Nobody wants cars...) A 2 year old MKX is more desirable but is still about 40% off sticker price.

Back in 2007, you could get a 1-year old Taurus fleet car for half of sticker price (again in the Detroit area) because there was a huge glut of them.

2-year old Expeditions have 80% been in rental fleets because private buyers keep them for many years (I shopped used Expys for about 3 years but never hit one I wanted). I have not shopped used pickup trucks enough to know what 2-year old prices look like. So although buying used *can* make sense, like any other rule, "it depends"...

With employee and dealer connections, I got my new 2016 Grand Caravan for $27k on a sticker of $34k in February 2016. Might have saved 2-3 grand tops if I bought a 2-year old one and that would NOT have been a deal IMO.

 

Sounds like the smart move on the Ranger is to wait til the market on them settles a bit.

We're definitely not getting anything in the next 12 months since our 2004 expy is running to dang good. But, she keeps flip floppng with a RAV4, no an Escape, but I really like the Explorers but wouldn't it be cool to wait til the Rangers come out?

Just waiting for her to make a decision already.

 

By this very time next year, high volume dealers will be knocking 10% off the MSRP and Ford will have $2,000 rebates by the second half of the year. That will mean a mid range $38k Ranger Screw 4x4 will be able to be purchased for under $33k. I am confident in this because of two things: 1.) Ford wants to get market share and 2.) Ford has a new 2020 F-150 coming so 2019 F-150's will be getting blown out with huge dealer incentives and factory rebates which will force them (dealers & Ford) to be flexible on the Ranger. My F-150 lease is up next September so I am licking my chops.........

 

 

One thing to consider is that when the F-150 changes, so does the superduty. That wasn't the case until recently when the cabs merged.

 

 

There's already spy shots out of a SD in camo. Probably new sheet metal and grill with some interior upgrades.

 

Something else just occurred to me. Right now the Ranger is a stand alone chassis and drive train built exclusively for North America. I'll bet that once the Bronco gets out and more of these chassis's are being sold, Ford can spread the cost a bit better. Maybe I'm wrong and that's OK.

 

Something interesting: I live near the Wayne assembly plant where the Ranger will be built and know a few people who work there....and not a peep about whats going on. No word on if the assembly lines are ready to roll or if materials have been in place to start up..nothing.

 

New guy and Tacoma owner here. I'm starting to look for a new truck and thought I'd add the New Ranger to my list. Disappointed that there isn't a manual transmission option and an aluminum body. For the prices I'm seeing it seems I could have an F150, which I've also started researching now that I may end up with an automatic.