Made a mistake bought a ranger.
Got a new ranger that has done about 4000km.
First problem I put the aluminium tradies body and tools on it and the springs were bent backwards.this the same setup that lived on the back of a hilux for 9 years without a problem. I have had it on a weighbridge and it weighs 2560 kg which means it is carrying about half of its rated payload. Had to put new springs on it.
Next there was a drama with the electronics module installed for the trailer lights.Why the hell do you need car with electronics involved in turning a few lights on.
A couple of weeks ago the engine started to stop at times and sometimes refuse to start. It always did start again if I waited 5 to 10 minutes. It spent a couple of days at the dealer and they said they suspect a crankshaft position sensor but fords policy is not to replace any parts until they have died completely. This leaves me with a car that randomly stops and they will do nothing. This is comforting when I am going to coral bay next week with a boat. I have had to purchase my own sensor for $444 and they told me they were great people because they put it in for free [10 minute job] while the car was already there while they looked at the next problem.
Next problem was I heard a lot of relays clicking in the dash and the radio went off so I went to switch off the engine to try and reset the radio and the engine kept going,I took the key out and it still kept going and only stopped when I opened the door. It logged 13 error codes that were all to do with one computer talking to another computer and they upgraded some software. I hope that is the end of that problem.
The dash display sometimes shows stupid messages that are not relevant with the most common being hillstart assist not available.
The car would often hesitate for a few seconds before accelerating again. This showed up going through intersection and at about 500km it caused another vehicle to have to slow down to avod me. At 300km it started another problem where at about 70 kmh on really light throttle the transmition would givea big bang. The first time I thought I must have run over something. These two issues seem to have been resolved after software upgrade to the gearbox.
All this after having a another vehicle andthe only thing I did to it in 9 years was replace the front pads.
Going to be a great trip to coral bay wondering if I am goingto break down.
Learn from my mistake.
scotto
Posts: 2470
Date Joined: 21/04/08
jeesarz..
take that mofo back, and don't take no for an answer! annoy the shit out of them. call them every hour, and pop in every day until they sort it. threaten them that if your car breaks down in any way on your trip, that recovery will be at their expense.
also, consumer affairs are actually very quick to deal with new automotive claims. make a list (as you've done above), and hit up consumer affairs ombudsman with everything.
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Warranty work, all of it, maybe apart from the springs. Go to consumer protection if you have no joy. They love getting stuck into car yards.
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
scottnofish
Posts: 1621
Date Joined: 28/08/07
my last ranger was the same
could only have a couple of hundred kilo in the back and the springs were past straight and almost on the stoppers ,had many a time where the car just would not start when turned off then back on within a minute ,great when you just pop into the lunch bar then have to wait 40 min before it would start again , always had engine warning light coming up for no apparent reason , the turbo lag when you back off coming to an intersection then accelerate there would be a 2 second delay before it would go which on many occasions put me in danger of being t boned, I have a Colorado now and never been happier tows my 3+tonne boat heaps better and uses shit loads less fuel
Brock O
Posts: 3222
Date Joined: 11/01/08
Ill admit I'm not a ford
Ill admit I'm not a ford man.....but that sounds like a complete lemon to me...cut your loses now and start again!
It wont end!!
Swompa
Posts: 3871
Date Joined: 14/10/12
I am in the process of
I am in the process of upgrading my Navara Springs to Medium weight, ie 350kg springs.
I am amazed how soft factory springs on utes are.
scotto
Posts: 2470
Date Joined: 21/04/08
springs
for what its worth, just get extra heavy duty.
Ive just gone through a full replacement under warranty, when my $2,000 suspension upgrade failed on my brand new hilux.
I went from factory springs, to heavy duty with a 2' lift. I originally wanted extra HD, but the salesman told me the ride would be too hard, and I wouldn't like it, so took his advice, and got the HD. the rear leaf springs failed (both sagged, but one side collapsed completely) after 8 months, so they gave me extra HD. another 3 months later, I looked at the front coil clearance, and it didn't look right. I measured it, and my 50mm lift, had sagged nearly 40mm! after a bit of tooing and froing with the supplier of the springs, I mangaged to get those replaced and upgraded (to extra HD) under warranty as well.
to be honest, the ride with extra heavy duty springs is actually better than the heavy duty. the car car is a lot firmer on and off the road, plus it sits higher.
my advice is: if youre paying for a suspension upgrade, go the whole hog, and get heavy, or extra heavy duty all round.
Maccas
Posts: 24
Date Joined: 14/08/09
I have a Ford ranger and
I have a Ford ranger and have had no problems with it. Best 4wd ute I have owned so if I were you I would be getting the dealer to fix the problems as they all sound like they should be fixed under warranty. Sounds like the dealer is bullshitting to you.Don't take no for an answer and put your complainsts in writing to both the dealer and Ford Australia. Then go to consumer affairs.
sea-kem
Posts: 14960
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Yeah I have a Wildtrak and
Yeah I have a Wildtrak and have had no issues yet and love the beast. I guess there are lemons in every make. Just stand your ground and don't let up as mentioned above like I did with my last piece of shit Triton, these dealers will feed you any shit shit to get out of responsibillity. They certainly got the message from me one day in the showroom when it had been two weeks with my car in bits and still no diagnosis as to why it had boiled it guts out towing my boat. Finally the admitted the factory head machining was the fault. Gear box issues, warning light issues it went on and on. Guy in the business next door to me bought a new Triton and has had the same issues and a couretsy car parked in his carpark for about a month. So it wasn't just limited to mine, hope you get sorted.
Love the West!
chris raff
Posts: 3257
Date Joined: 09/02/10
Ford’s policy lol .. nice
Ford’s policy lol .. nice guys get pharrked over all the time being a complete arsehole works much better in these circumstances .
Sounds like your going to take a punt that she’s all good now ( hopefully it is ) but keep a email /paper trail of all correspondence and work done etc in your back pocket .
“Intelligence is like a four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8140
Date Joined: 07/05/12
I swapped over from Hilux to
I swapped over from Hilux to Ranger for my work ute due to Hilux (at the time) falling behind with key safety features like ESC and curtain air bags and couldn't be happier. It's now up to 60,000km in 2 years towing a 1600kg boat and hasn't missed a beat. Our fleet coordinator has said we aren't getting Rangers anymore and I have to go to Navara, DMax or Colarado so I am trying to hold onto this one for as long as possible
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
out wide
Posts: 1535
Date Joined: 30/12/08
Yep there is good and bad in
Yep there is good and bad in most vehicles but you have struck a real piece of shit crano..here's hoping you have a trouble free trip.
z00m
Posts: 1086
Date Joined: 10/05/14
Wiring
Not to be alarmist but there are a few stories like this in relation to wiring near the battery box chaffing through. Sorry to say it but if you also read the stories of the rangers that catch fire this is also the type of symptoms they experience in the lead up to the fire.
tim-o
Posts: 4657
Date Joined: 24/05/11
Downgrade
From Hilux to Ranger, hopefully lesson learnt.....could be worse, you coulda bought a jeep
I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8140
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Yeah awesome lesson.
Yeah awesome lesson. Enjoying the electronic stability control and side and curtain airbags for the safety of family over the deathtrap Hilux.
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
Paj man
Posts: 360
Date Joined: 16/09/12
Friend has one
Continuous gearbox issues, went back to his 4.2 patrol ute with 400k kms on it in the mean time. It serve as his work car so he's not impressed with it.
aka Nick
Cruise Control
Posts: 973
Date Joined: 03/11/10
As others have said, not that
As others have said, not that its any comfort for you, sometimes you get a bad one. I don't think that any car maker is excluded from this. Modern cars these days should be ultra reliable, if not, maybe time to pass the luck (bad) on.
Hope you go OK to Coral Bay and I look forward to good luck stories about fish and not horror stories about cars !
tadpole
Posts: 387
Date Joined: 28/01/13
Fella from work had similar
Fella from work had similar issues with his Ranger. Spent more time in the workshop than his driveway. Eventually he scored a new Territory as a warranty swap, which hasn't missed a beat