My last COAL touched on the rise and demise of my 1996 F-150 and a year or so would pass before I’d own another truck.
I did buy a used Honda Ruckus scooter in the interim but I only had that for a few months in late 2005 before it was stolen from outside my job. I eventually got it back with minimal damage so I fixed and promptly sold it so that wouldn’t happen again!
I continued to look for another Ranger or F-150 but again, money was a factor as a full-time college student. I did have a better job at the grocery store by then and my dad was also very generous about passing on my late mother’s inheritance on to me but I still felt being financially conservative was the best route to take.
Perhaps the biggest impetus for getting another truck was my dad having bought a different truck. He wanted 4 wheel drive since we lived out in the country (see my last COAL about geographic challenges in our area). In early 2006 he bought a low mile, rebuilt title 2003 Ranger from a guy who specialized in these vehicles and no longer needed his ‘98. The timing could not have been better – I was reaching a point in school where my major/college was at a different campus, 30 miles east of Tempe, so something needed to be done. After my summer classes wrapped up, I planned to fly home and drive my dad’s old Ranger back to Arizona.
This same white Ranger continues to serve him well to this day but he has been rumbling about getting a ’21 Ranger on order…
My dad was super nice about getting a host of front end/suspension work done to ensure it would be a good vehicle for me. He also did not charge me for it and this was all so generous of him. I was to spend a week in Iowa before returning back to Arizona for work and in that week I needed to learn how to drive a manual transmission – no pressure, right! But I needn’t worry, the Ranger’s torquey 2.5 liter twin-spark 4 cylinder engine and light clutch were far from intimidating and smooth to operate. I was so comfortable driving it that I went out of my way to visit family in Illinois while I was in the Midwest.
It had about 120,000 miles on it when I got it from my dad and compared to my other trucks, the XLT trim level was quite the step up! I liked the sliding rear window, comfy bucket seats with armrest, cruise control and the tan/black interior was laid out nicely. The autumn orange metallic was a unique color and the chrome wheels and grille were a sharp and attractive contrast. In those days of higher fuel costs, I also appreciated its small size and efficiency. It was a great truck and I was very happy with it!
Back in Arizona I found myself driving quite a bit. I moved to far east Gilbert to be close to campus but my transfer at the grocery store lagged until they could find me a closer opening. This meant frequent commutes back to Tempe. On days off I’d often hike Camelback with friends and I also crisscrossed the valley buying and selling bicycles on the side thanks to Craigslist. The Ranger handled all of this with aplomb. I do not recall any/many issues with the truck due to the relatively low miles and how my dad takes good care of his vehicles. There did get to be a weird idle hunt sometimes and I took it into the dealer for a tune-up because the two rearmost spark plugs are known to be very difficult to reach on the 2.5.
The only photo I could find of the actual truck. Pretty sure this was taken at San Tan Regional Mountain Park near Queen Creek, AZ, I must’ve been hiking or mountain biking.
I was only at this campus for about a year before I felt it wasn’t meeting my needs – the curriculum was not focused enough on my major. The next summer (2007) I temporarily moved to Ames, Iowa to take summer classes and to get a feel for a different university – one that would also give me in-state tuition. The Ranger hauled my minimal belongings there for the summer and I returned back to Arizona in the fall with a plan – next summer I’d transfer to ISU for good. Since I was gone for three months I lost my second-shift position at the grocery store. The only openings they had now were third shift but I was able to get a better paying position as a Receiver. Ugh, third sure took some getting used to and some days I’d leave work to head directly for school. I only mention the whole third shift deal because I feel it might have had a role in the Ranger’s end…
That particular day I did not have school and was lazily resting, still not accustomed to this schedule and finding it difficult to sleep during the middle of the day. I had a spare part lying around that I forgot to include with a bike I sold, so a nice leisurely drive to north Phoenix was in order. I had my timing off as I was headed back south and east right as the early stages of rush hour set in. In the Phoenix metro, most secondary roads are four lane roads but as one gets further south and east in the valley, with spotty alfalfa fields and dairy farms, there are still some old two lane holdouts. I was on one when it happened. Busy traffic had just funneled from four lanes to two but still kept moving briskly. Way up ahead a light changed but I was behind a minivan and could not see that. In hindsight, I was probably following too closely but we were all being packed in all of the sudden at the time. It was all so abrupt that the car behind me saw all this and smartly swerved unto the gravel shoulder to avoid an accident but not me. I slammed into the back of the Kia Sedona at probably 30 MPH.
Thankfully no one was hurt but I was pretty shaken up. The rear hatch was dented in on the van but the truck seemed disproportionately worse. The radiator was ruptured so coolant was leaking out. The hood buckled, headlights busted out and airbags deployed – given the age, damage and odometer I knew this was the Ranger’s last mile – which was sad. Here was a truck that my dad and I enjoyed for years, he lovingly gave me and I couldn’t even take care of it is how I felt. The accident really sucked but in hindsight I should not have succumbed to the pressure of other drivers crowding/tailgating me, I should have slowed down and allowed for a greater distance ahead of me – lesson learned. Oh, and on top of it all I still had to work that night and I got a ticket for the accident – which was fair but still felt like adding insult to injury.
If you’ve read these last two posts and felt I’ve been pretty hard on my trucks (I’d agree) then I’m thankful to report – as of writing – this was my last accident! This COAL will also signal the end of my American marque ownership as all my next COALs will entail Japanese and German marques. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!
I had a 99 Ranger 4 cylinder that lasted 240k miles, currently driving a 08 Ranger 6 cylinder that just passed 240K miles, stone reliable with very few problems
Agreed! The Rangers are excellent trucks but as a whole, it seems, the compact truck segment has very few bad apples. Pretty much all the brands built really reliable small trucks it, which is why you’ll see many more of these in my COALS.
I like this COAL, and this post reminds me why – it’s honest.
Too many folk, possibly including me, like to attribute their crashes to others – or simply don’t mention the ones that were their fault – which I suspect is driven a bit by ego and a lot by sheer embarrassment, depending on the personality. But you’re without any guile in describing this one, and deserve credit accordingly. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
That said, I don’t actually blame you, not in a bigger context.
We live in a world where employment is lots of exciting things like “deregulated”, and “self-driven”, and “twenty-four seven”, and, oh, name the buzzword, and add it. But truth is, working odd hours has risks, risks at least once-upon-a-time compensated by (often inadequate) extra reward. There’s oodles of research to show that sleep disturbance can end up as bad as intoxication, and surprisingly quickly.
Anyway, I’ve distractedly climbed half way up a soapbox, which wasn’t intended. Only meant to say, the coup-de-grace for the Ranger was your fault, but also not.
Wait with interest to see what you don’t crash next week. (Which sounds rude, but I reckon you know what I mean).
Thanks for the kind words and for reading. Honesty is something I strive for and by getting to the root of what happened, you can improve upon it. Today I follow further and have a better awareness of traffic around me.
Inadequate is the word. I remember getting an extra .25 cents over minimum wage for working a convenience store from 11pm to 7am. At least the cops would check on me every hour or so, they’d shine their spotlight in if they didn’t see me ’cause I was stocking the cooler, I’d step out and wave at them.
@ SAM: I, too, suffered the loss of my first car in an accident (partly) attributable undoubtedly to working a third shift, and driving while less than alert! The car swerving in front of me didn’t help, either! Lot’s to said of small trucks, which is still why I’m hanging onto my S-10! I’ll bet you got a 5 speed Honda next?! 🙂
Thanks for reading @Moparman! Yeah, it was a bummer and recovering fully off third shift when the time came was even hard. Bless those that do it! I have a lot of respect for those folks after doing it for even 3/4 of a year.
Nope, I’ll stick with trucks for now so no Honda next…
Had a very similar accident during a stressful exam week. Distracted by other thoughts, I was staring at the stopped traffic ahead, but not actually seeing it until it was too late.
Nice truck, I had a short cab 2WD 98 Tacoma for awhile, also with a stick shift. They’re fun, youthful, useful. Good vehicle for the time.
Yeah, unfortunate it happened but could’ve been worse. Lesson learned.
Agreed, the compact trucks are so perfect for a young guy. Versatile, affordable, fun. You’ll be seeing MANY more of them in my future COALs!
Like others have written above, I too was involved an accident that I attribute to exhaustion from an odd schedule. I completely understand how this happened to you. Like Petrichor above, mine was after exam week, and I was driving from school in North Carolina up to my folks’ house in Pennsylvania. I was tired, and was following a car too closely when suddenly it swerved to avoid a truck tire that was lying in the highway. My own reaction time wasn’t fast enough; I too swerved, but lost control, hitting the concrete median. A terrible day for sure, but it could have been much worse.
Oh, and it seems like your father got a great deal in that Ranger with a rebuilt title. 15 years for a rebuilt-title car is excellent.
Ugh, sorry to hear about your accident as well but glad it was all OK in the end.
Yeah, the ’03 Ranger is still doing great. From what I understood, it only sustained topical sheet metal damage in its original damage, nothing related to the frame or drivetrain so my dad got a handsome discount on a contemporary, low mile truck at the time.
We’ve (my wife and me) have got onboard with rebuilt titles and 2 out of our 3 current vehicles are rebuilds that have been serving us wonderfully.
I’ve driven rebuilds for years and they’ve served us well.
My wife currently drives a rebuilt 2016 Escape Titanium with an orange exterior and some burgundy bits under the hood. The rebuilder cut some corners when he patched the washer fluid reservoir (with no sensor) rather than replace, didn’t bother with a new lower engine splash guard, and left a couple of exterior trim pieces off, but it was still worth the price of admission (about 50% off rough retail).
There is an abundance of “rebuilt status” vehicles for sale here in Calgary as many unemployed men with some mechanical skills like to buy write-off cars from the auction and patch them up using Pick ‘N’ Pull parts. Sometimes it takes some doing to get the seller to admit it’s a rebuild (“I was just a small accident, sir”, “It still runs really really well!”, “It was fully inspected by a shop”, etc.) Buyers need to beware, as some rebuilds were “passed” by buddies who share in the profits.
Rebuilt Status might be a good subject for a CC.
I hate it when an accident takes a good car off the road, no matter whose fault the wreck might have been. There is some satisfaction from selling or trading a car you have become tired of or that is no longer serving your needs. But a wreck is different – the car is sidelined and you have no say-so. And why don’t our worst cars ever get totaled? I have had more than a couple of cars that I secretly wished I could get turned into an insurance check, but do you think those ever get hit? Oh no.
Everyone’s Ranger stories kind of having me wishing I had owned one at one time or other.
Very much agreed! Thankfully, we were able to get a nice insurance payout on the truck’s value so that helped. Still…
I have mostly fond memories of 90s Rangers, we had a 93 with XLT trim a 3.0 V6 and automatic. it was a comfortable cruiser and decent hauler with the 7 1/2 foot long bed but the cab was a bit cramped, This was fixed in 98 when the regular cabs got a deeper rear panel. A friend had a 93 short bed XLT with a 2.3L 4 and manual which was both familiar, yet different because the 4 cylinder worked harder and the truck was more beat up. This truck died in 2019 was replaced by a 2010 last year.
It’s sad to see a good vehicle totaled.
I notice the ’98’s tailgate is missing in the available pictures. Did it already come like that when your dad first bought it or did something happen to it during his/your ownership? I would hold on to that ’03 for awhile longer if I were your dad.
The dilemma you had with balancing school, work & personal time is why I went to technical college first, THEN began searching for a full-time job that didn’t require odd working hours. At the time I had enough money in my bank account to last through 2 years & obtain an Associate Degree in General Engineering before funds started getting low; even scholarships don’t help you but so much. My method probably wouldn’t work for everyone but for what I wanted to achieve in life it was one of my best choices.
If you had been in the old Ranger when that wreck happened you might not even be alive now (no airbags). The F-150 may have fared better but who knows. Sometimes a wreck is what it takes for some people to become much better drivers–IF they survive that is. We’re only human.
Yeah, I recall my stepmom citing Phoenix traffic as a reason she forced me to sell the old ’87 Ranger before we left Iowa. Perhaps your reasoning is why.
It had one, I just used to remove the tailgates on my trucks for a perceived (likely incorrectly) fuel efficiency gain back in the days of $4.30 gas (2005-2006). It also helped for rearward visibility. Any cargo was strapped in.