Afternoon, I have come to see if I can get some good info from the general Ranger ownership. I am tempted to buy a Ranger, maybe 2022/2023, couple of years old at the oldest. What are peoples general feelings, experience etc. with living with these vehicles? Reason for this question stems from mentioning to a colleague about thinking of buying and the first words out of his mouth was something like 'omg you want to stay well clear of them, those wet belt engines are sh*te etc. etc.' anyway I'm sure you get the idea. This has really got me thinking now because obviously I don't want to buy a vehicle and have massive issues. I test drove one yesterday and really liked it, love the way they look so really wanting some honest opinion please. Also, another friend mentioned he thought they were very uncomfortable on  long journeys, is this others opinion also? Hopefully the answers prove favourable and it turns out I really just need some new friends ha ha. Thanks all.

Edited September 24, 2025Sep 24 by StormUK

23 minutes ago, StormUK said:

'omg you want to stay well clear of them, those wet belt engines are sh*te etc. etc.'

Agreed

Buy a Hilux or anything else without the dreaded Ecoblue wet belt engine

And Ford's auto boxes aren't very good either👍

Thanks @DaveT70 , I have been looking at the alternatives, Hilux, D-max, Amarok etc. etc but none of them look as good IMHO apart from maybe the Merc X-class but 2020 is the newest you can buy in these 🤔

The Ford has got the desirability factor, yes it does tickle the fancy as they say.

It'll tickle your wallet too.

The Amorak and the ranger are the same car to be fair, but the Amorak doesn't have the awful Ecoblue engine or Ford's awful automatic gearboxes

But I'd buy the 2.8 Hilux

Speaking as the owner of a 2022 Ranger Stormtrak (like the Wildtrak just with more toys), I can say that I'm very pleased with it.

Yes I bought the 2.0 Ecoblue Auto, and I knew all about the issues with the wetebelt, but then I do also own a 2019 Focus 2.0 Ecoblue Auto. As you might expect the two vehicles drive totally different and the auto gearboxes are nothing like each other. The Ranger has a 10 speed auto, which is smooth to drive. The longest drive I've done was just under 200 miles and it was very comfortable. Noise was perhaps a little louder than when in my Focus but certainly not like driving a van. I plan to have the wetbelts replaced on both of them when they are 8 years of age.

I've come to the conclusion that just about all modern vehicles have problems, almost as if they were designed to fail and force you down the EV route ?

 

58 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

The Ford has got the desirability factor, yes it does tickle the fancy as they say.

It'll tickle your wallet too.

The Amorak and the ranger are the same car to be fair, but the Amorak doesn't have the awful Ecoblue engine or Ford's awful automatic gearboxes

But I'd buy the 2.8 Hilux

Thanks Dave, I currently drive a VW T6 camper and that tickles my wallet enough so pretty used to it lol. I will seriously look at the competition though, I know the Hilux has always been held in high regard.

13 minutes ago, unofix said:

Speaking as the owner of a 2022 Ranger Stormtrak (like the Wildtrak just with more toys), I can say that I'm very pleased with it.

Yes I bought the 2.0 Ecoblue Auto, and I knew all about the issues with the wetebelt, but then I do also own a 2019 Focus 2.0 Ecoblue Auto. As you might expect the two vehicles drive totally different and the auto gearboxes are nothing like each other. The Ranger has a 10 speed auto, which is smooth to drive. The longest drive I've done was just under 200 miles and it was very comfortable. Noise was perhaps a little louder than when in my Focus but certainly not like driving a van. I plan to have the wetbelts replaced on both of them when they are 8 years of age.

I've come to the conclusion that just about all modern vehicles have problems, almost as if they were designed to fail and force you down the EV route ?

 

As mentioned above my current drive is a VW T6 camper and it really feels like I'm a builder most of the time running around in a van, the Ranger will deffo feel more car-like for me. Is an 8year belt change soon enough, since looking into this I've seen some horror stories where they are snapping after a few years, fingers crossed that doesn't happen!!!

9 minutes ago, StormUK said:

Is an 8year belt change soon enough,

The only way to be 100% sure would be to change them every year 🤣

Ford originally said the lasted a lifetime, which is technically true. When the belt snaps then the engine life has ended !! They then revised that down to 10 years, and now on the Transit they've reduced it still further to now 6 years.

How, why, and when they fail is still a total guess. It seems that annual low mileage makes them fail sooner. Also as we know the use of wrong oil and/or oil additives shortens the life. Having said that we have seen reports of some failing at 5 years and others are still working at 12 plus years.

Watch out for the VW engines, many use a wet oil pump belt which seems to fail just like the Ford ones.

 

42 minutes ago, unofix said:

The only way to be 100% sure would be to change them every year 🤣

Ford originally said the lasted a lifetime, which is technically true. When the belt snaps then the engine life has ended !! They then revised that down to 10 years, and now on the Transit they've reduced it still further to now 6 years.

How, why, and when they fail is still a total guess. It seems that annual low mileage makes them fail sooner. Also as we know the use of wrong oil and/or oil additives shortens the life. Having said that we have seen reports of some failing at 5 years and others are still working at 12 plus years.

Watch out for the VW engines, many use a wet oil pump belt which seems to fail just like the Ford ones.

 

mine field this lol thing I may just buy a bike ha ha