So I got my first ever truck this week. Always liked cars. Never owned any other types of cars until little over four years ago when I bought a Certified Preowned 2013 Ford Edge. They got me good on that one. I've always liked Edge, but I also knew it wasn't a reliable crossover. Since Ford advertised 7-year powertrain warranty on those, I figured this was great opportunity.... NOT. What those advertising scumbags left out was that 7-year warranty started when the vehicle was new. Not when I bought it. I think they told me I had about 1.5 year of warranty or something like that in reality. As expected, huge repair bill came & I was ready to shop for new car.
Fast forward to 2022. New cars are extremely hard to come by. Computer chip shortage in auto industry has caused a shortage of new vehicles. All of sudden, dealer lots are close to empty & used car values has soared.... SCORE. I can get a lot for trade-in, if I can wait for new vehicle to arrive.
December 31st, I put $500 down to order the new Ford Bronco. When you get the base 3-door model, it was unbelievably cheap 4WD rig. Problem: It'll take tad over a year for it to arrive, even for base model. Base Bronco had stick shift, too. 😛
February, news of another wave of chip shortage. At this point, I had exhausted Bronco videos on youtube. I asked my salesman if I could switch the order to Ford Ranger instead. I always thought Ranger was kind of lame-o & too expensive. Was really interested in Toyota Tacoma, but 1) Saleslady at my local Toyota dealer showed close to zero interest in what I wanted + it was difficult to build the Tacoma on budget. With Tacomas, you have to buy up to certain grade or level of build before you can add something specific like locking rear end, etc. Wasn't a fan of Ford Rangers, but with this truck, I can order the base XL, and somehow add decent wheels, SYNC 3(entertainment/communication system), and most importantly, off-road package on the cheap.
So, order was switched to Ranger in mid February. Truck was delivered late May. Little over 3 months. Not bad at all, considering.
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| Garbage looking tires, but I was going to give 'em a chance. |
Again, with used car value being crazy high, I got private sale type money for my trade-in. Truck came in when Ford had $1,000 rebate + another $500 discount for people who custom ordered vehicles. Finance manager at the dealer went to bat for me, and he got my decent APR offer lowered not once, but twice. I was stoked. 😇
Trucks are expensive. I had to go with the base XL Supercab(smaller cab), so I can have money for the accessories. First item I bought was Diamondback tonneau cover, back I think in April? My buddy let me store it at his warehouse. It's the best tonneau I found, but MSRP of $1,799. I stalked their outlet page & was able to get one for $1,440. This is just the beginning. 😬
What you see in here are all official Ford accessories: Bed tray, tailgate liner, console safe(box on left), Ford Performance grille(big box). 💲💲💲
Diamondback tonneau cover's installed. Kind of. Installation was much harder than expected. I saw countless videos on this, but there wasn't one for Ranger. There were additional weatherstripping required for this truck I didn't know about. I'll also have to trim few pieces next week to make it fit & seal right. What a pain in the ass. ðŸ˜
Ford Performance grille install actually went as smoothly as advertised. It looks cool. I also added aftermarket LED lights from Stage 3 Motorsports.
That night, I tried to install LED headlight bulbs, but more pain in the ass! Passenger side bulb is jammed stuck in the headlight assembly. Why. 😠I'll have to regroup on that one.
Finally today, I was going to take the new truck into the woods. One of the kids from work, who also go shooting with us, he recently got new Subaru Crosstrek & he's been wanting to take it off pavement. I texted him, he's onboard & we are off!
AWD is so perfect for logging/service roads. My Ford Edge was so good to drive here. When road got real rough, options were very limited to none though. Subaru's probably way better, especially with the lift kit. I was driving in 2WD mode here, but right around when this pic was taken, effing around with the camera, I lost control, it started fishtailing & I switched on the 4WD immediately. 😱
Foggy AF.
Looks little narrow. Some suggested new wheels/tires(couple grand), or maybe even spacers(few hundred bucks?). I'm undecided. These factory Hankook tires are garbage though. I'm surprised Ford calls these "off-road" tires. It's suitable for crossovers & country road driving, but I can't believe anyone would consider these off-road tires. 👀
Got to the final destination. One of our shooting spots. This color "Cactus Gray" looks greener in pics than to naked eye? Interesting paint.
Diamonback covers great man. Drove through hard rain on highway, bumpy logging roads, but there were just handful drops of water inside on the bed. I haven't even completely installed all the seals yet.
Love this song... Next week, more accessories planned. Swing case tool boxes, bed cargo organizer, etc.
The End.
