1997 Ford Ranger consumer reviews

This car was perfect for me. I love driving it and being able to haul things is really important to me. It holds up on longer trips and is also perfect for when my dad needs me to bring him things.

I have a Mazda b2300 which is the same thing as a ford ranger. My little truck has over 258k miles and is still running strong. I love my truck! I have used my truck for everything from hauling heavy trailers to driving around the USA. I do maintenance for a living all over the country and my truck handles it all like a dream.

This was my 1st new vehicle and was steal for the time at $13K. The 4cyl engine was efficient but very sluggish, even with the 5-speed manual. I could barely keep 70MPH on the highway. The ride and handling were good for a small truck. The styling was also nice and I think it has held up well over the years. The interior was tiny and very cramped (my '88 Ranger had more room) but the quality was good. I never had any issues with reliability in over 12 years of having this truck in my family (I sold it to my dad after 8 years of ownership). The truck sat for long periods of time in my father's driveway and eventually the frame rusted out in the Alabama rains. We had to salvage it several years ago.

This is a great truck with the versatility of a daily driver as well as a weekend project solver. Very reliable, solid truck!!

Real value...The car drives really well...Has four wheel drive..Rear jump seatsare a little cramped...OK for adults for very short trips only...Smaller children are OK for longer trips...Gas mileage is excellent...Overall, a very good smaller alternative to the monster pick-ups that are so popular.

This was my work truck for the first ten years I owned it, then I changed careers and put more unloaded freeway miles on it (as opposed to heavily-loaded city miles). Also used it to haul gear for our Scout troop, put a decent number of rough offroad miles on it: my son and I even took it on a couple of jeep trails, even though this is the 2.3L rear-drive manual-tranny model. I have some offroad experience & was able to keep us out of trouble, and was once again impressed at the way my little truck rose to the occasion. Our kids are grown now, I work at an office not a jobsite, and we are downsizing, so we don't need a truck anymore: we have to sell it. I'm afraid my Ranger is pretty beat up now: the seat seams are starting to rip, it's got scratches and body-panel damage I never bothered to fix, and a 3" hole punched clean through the passenger-side floorboard when I ran over someone else's broken axle on a dark deserted highway in Nevada? we've had a lot of adventures, and they have left their mark on this baby. I've had to replace the heater core a couple of times, and the power steering pump once (a friend of mine burned it out while panicking on a steep icy mountain road), and I finally replaced the clutch too, but aside from that, she's held up admirably. The odometer reads deceptively low, just 127,000-ish, but a lot of those miles were very rough miles... and she's still going strong. I looked up these used-car value estimates and reviews to see if I could get a decent price, and was delighted to see that others had had similar experiences to mine: the '97 Ranger really is a kind of Energizer Bunny. Certainly no hot rod? I've spent the better part of two decades climbing the 395 north of Lee Vining at 40mph in third gear, so that hasn't changed since the truck was new. ;-) But if you just need a truck that will handle daily life, plus any added abuse you might throw at it (like accidentally exceeding the load rating by 600lbs, and hauling that load 10 bumpy miles), you can't do better than this baby.

I love my 1997 Ford Ranger. It's fun to drive and handles good. It's a nice size truck that easy to see out of and park. It has a big enough bed the haul the things I need to haul. It's good on gas with the 2.3L and 5 speed. The truck is easy to work on and I've had few problems with it. It has 131K on it now. I have seen the 2.3L go a lot of miles with few problems. That is why I bought a Ranger with the good old American cast iron engine.

Have owned some Fords in the past and all have been really good vehicles. My '97 Ranger has been an excelent performer, although with the 4 cylinder it's no speed demon so I don't drive it like I'm trying out for the NASCAR truck series. It came with an optional handling package and that little truck handles as good as most sports cars. A great everyday driver that I will hopefully keep for another 15 years. Great truck!

These are the best little trucks there is. I had a 1997 ford ranger, 4 cylinder, 5 speed. i sold it for $1750. (almost what I bought it for) they keep their value even with 144,000 miles on it. And it still ran like new. I bought another 1997 ranger and just finished a 900 mile trip straight through with no resting. And it never missed a lick. Ranger is a awesome truck. I would recommend it to anyone.

I HAVE OFTEN HEARD FORD BE CRITICIZED AND DEGRADED HOWEVER AS THE FIRST FORD I HAVE OWNED I HAVE TO SAY THAT IT HAS BEEN AN EXTREMLEY RELIABLE VEHICLE OVER 115,000 MILES AND STILL NO MECHANICAL MALFUNCIONS FOR THE MONEY YOU JUST CAN'T BEAT IT.