Buying a Cheap Truck in 2023: 1990 Ford Ranger 

$1500 for an old ranger with no body cancer? As someone who lives in the rust belt, I feel very jealous haha.

100% agree. These little trucks are all most of us really need. Dependable, well-built and fun to drive (especially manual). I have a 98 Mazda B2500 5-speed that I wouldn't trade for any new plastic pavement princess filled with electronic nonsense.

I just bought a 1988 ford ranger XLT with only 79,000 miles! Just for $500 dollars! Feels a brand new truck 🥹

This is called going GREEN! 30+year old truck still reliable and useful. There is nothing GREEN about buying a brand new $70k Tesla, only losing Green $$$. I drive a 89' Toyota pickup for the 10 years :)

You have really fixed the Ranger to look exceptionally nice. Kudos on purchasing reliable transportation for a great price.

Just bought an 88 Ranger 2.9L manual transmission. Loving it.

150% agree. Mine (1994 2.3L) has 440K miles, still going strong.

This era of Rangers are really good little trucks. I have been driving an 1987 regular cab long box XLT with the 2.3 and a manual transmission for many many years now and I love my little truck. It does everything I need it to, and it keeps on going. The looseness with the shifter is just a common feature in these Rangers, there is really nothing wrong with it.

I got a 90’s ford ranger from my grandfather that was my first vehicle. I kept it around after getting another car and I am starting to fix it up from sitting. It has 58,000 miles on it and in perfect condition, it’s a great vehicle.

my 91 sat for over 10 years. This weekend I spent about 350 bucks, to fix all the hoses, heater core, lights all the way around and some other things. When I got back from a test drive, I just sat in the driveway like a kid on christmas day. Im so happy I revived it and I look forward to driving it everyday to keep the miles and maintenance off my duramax.

I have a 89 ford ranger single cab short bed that was my grandpas truck he was a mechanic he bought it new in 89 and drove it till hes death December 26th 2017 its also a 4 speed with overdrive that truck has a lot of memories in it im hopping for more when i fix it

Welcome to the club! My daily is a ‘89 ranger single cab. My wife’s grandpa bought it for his ranch and now I use it for construction and with a little care and love it works just as good as the day he got it.

I have a 2003 Ranger, basic little truck. Regular cab, short bed, 2.3L 5 speed manual, rubber floors, taxicab quality seats, manual windows... it does have power steering and brakes but I think those were standard by 2003. The only option is AC. I bought it in 2015 for $2800 with 38k miles on it. I search for months before I found it. I wanted a basic little truck for light duty things like bringing mulch home, or big purchases like furniture, but being able to afford to daily drive it to work. It's been great. When I was driving 45 miles a day to and from work, I regularly got 32 mpg. I recently retired and it's still doing light duty work for me, preparing my house to sell, getting the other house ready, starting moving stuff to the other house... it's been damn dependable.

Putting a new motor in a mint 94. A real fun project that I will drive forever

I rarely comment on here but I have to. Excellent video. My cousin had a '91 in this color, single cab. Kept running and running. Don't remember what he did with it but you're right. The seats are very comfortable and there's something about these older trucks. Crank windows, bench seat, optional cruise/AC, etc. You are also speaking my language about not worrying about if someone dings your truck in a parking lot or if you scratch the bed with a bicycle or some firewood for camping. It's a truck, it's meant to be used. So many folks have these big giant 4-door monster trucks and they are only for show. They have mood lighting, massaging seats, and power everything but yet they never use the truck for its intended purpose. I see a late 80's Ranger not far from me. I might ask if he's willing to sell it. Fantastic stuff and I hope you still have this truck.

Your vid almost made me cry seeing the unrusted body of your great little truck. I still have the 1990 Ranger I bought in Texas '95 for $4600. 2WD manual 5-speed. Camper top. So many great road trips, camping sleeping cozy in the back, rain on the roof. But Wisconsin winters parked outside, salty streets, and my neglect ate holes in the floor. The engine still runs great at 300,000 miles, so I haven't wanted to let it go, even with a dented tailgate that doesn't open, from a deer encounter when I braked quick and the neighbor behind me couldn't stop in time. His newer pickup was completely smashed in. I've loved having a ride so simple I could learn to repair it myself, and have good honest mechanics when I need them. Now we're at a crossroads because the throttle is stuck wide open and the tires are wearing. Your video makes me want another Ranger from that engine era. Wishing you many comfortable miles with your beauty, Idaho brother.

I remember going to the Ford dealership with my dad back in the early 1990s in Phoenix Arizona and we test drove your exact truck except in white. I remember it had a V6 engine and we punched it off the light and it left about 10 feet of rubber! Lol it was a great truck!

I had a 94 Ford Ranger, I sorely miss it. I need a working truck. The price of new trucks nowadays makes me sick because they aren't worth the money. Good buy on your truck 👍🏻

Have me a 94 f150 xlt...no rust, rebuilt the engine. In nice shape. Love it

The kind of video I’ve been looking for… cheers

I had a 91 XLT. Loved that truck. It had a 2.9 V6 5 speed.I used to go up over snowy mountains in 4 low. It would just chew and dig. It would go anywhere effortlessly. I miss that thing

I've got a 2006 Ranger 4.0 4x4 one previous owner. Perfect truck in this market. I had a 2016 F150 and had some major issues that developed. I decided to trade her in. Got a hell of a deal. Two years now and only changed the front shocks, rear leaf spring shackles and brake line. It's been the perfect truck for my needs. I've owned a 1986, 2003 and now a 2006. In this market and as I get older. I now realize why my dad never bought new cars and ran them to the ground. I was always worried what the neighbors had and now I could careless.

My 1991 2.3 Ranger was to Date the best vehicle i ever owned.

I just bought myself one for $500 and its sat for years but looks to be in almost perfect condition and you are right, this is all i need as a farm kid living in the great state of texas! Hopefully I get it running! God bless!

Whole lotta words of wisdom in this video. I am very glad my dad had very similar views on vehicles to you!

I have a 91 single cab long bed 2wd w/4.0L 5spd and a limited slip differential w/180k and it still drives great. I bought it about 6 years ago and paid $2300 for it. I've had offers of $3k for it and just laugh and say No Thanks, I'm keeping it. Going to take out a couple of small dents and a tiny rust spot or two next spring and repaint it. Good as new...and a lot cheaper.

I have an 86 ranger and can agree with everything you said. Loved the video.

Picking mine up next month for $1500. 92 4.0 extended cab 4x4. All new gaskets in the engine, new interior, runs great, drives great. 180k miles. Little bit of rust and no AC but I’ll live. I enjoyed your video!

I had a 88’ Toyota Pickup and a 93’ S10 that I used for my daily drivers. And I loved driving both of them. 93’ had the 4.3L but the 88’ Toyota was just fun to drive.

I had one in high school and I wish my parents never got rid of it, she was pristine

Rangers are awesome trucks!

I can't get over how cool the headliner is that is such a vibe

There’s something endearing about a vehicle that’s clearly earning its keep and the Ranger of this age is perfect for it’s intended purpose.

Just bought a 1990 f150 XLT Lariat for 900 bucks. I spent too much money on it, I have around 2k invested in it, but I've recently started daily driving it. Really all I need, just something basic and cheap to putt around in and haul stuff. Wish it was a little smaller like this ranger. Enjoy it man, they are great vehicles!

I had a '91 4wd 4 liter ranger when I was in highschool. I loved it. Mine had the electric controlled transfer case. The T- case never gave me any trouble. The automatic hubs that Ford used to use are junk, but I converted the hub's to manual hubs.

Recently bought a 2000 4x4 3.0 5 speed having the time of my life in the ranger and have only had it for almost 2 months now needed a lil love jus oil alternator and still needa radiator but it’s still holding strong 😂💪

if these things are treated fairly & well maintained, there easily capable of 300k.been driving my 90 since 2000.replaced water pump, starter, pushrods, rocker arms & intake gaskets at 200k.engine has never been this quiet, run better or idled smoother @ 200k+.sure i'll get another 100k out of it before i die.put shift kit & cooler on fragile a4ld as soon as i bought it.probably why it still works great at 200K+.

No way I just bought a $900 ranger xlt with 94000 miles on it in cali, need to fix the oil pump but that’s nothing, I hope it’s a nice driver!!!!

Got a single cab 89’ same color . Learning to work on. Gonna fully restore for my late Dad. Give it to my first child when they grow up

I just picked up a 1998 2 WD for $3200.00.170K and pretty solid for Minnesota (chemical snow removal means rust).Love it.Couldn't be happier.I might turn it into a camper.

I literally just today picked up an 88 ranger after my 2011 gmc threw a rod! And I’m so much happier with the ranger then I ever was with my 2011 gmc

Recently bought a 91 ranger for 800$, 400k miles, 4x4, lockers, 5 speed stick and a 4.0L, fresh motor and tranny and no rust which is rare in the rust belt

Just picked mine up yesterday, it's my first truck. '92 STX 4.0 4x4 with 170k for $2250

2000 in todays market is a great find. If the previous owners maintained the engine, you scored.

Love the truck ! I have a 1993 extended cab 3.0 v-6 5 speed with the shifter slop like yours it’s normal . I bought mine 4 years ago for $500 from a friend it was a 1-owner truck . The truck shows 88,000 an change but who knows how many miles it has because it rolls over at 100k… anyways it’s been a wonderful truck . R-12 refrigerant is hard to find for the air conditioning. I was able to charge mine with some environmentally friendly equalalternative and it works OK. Your right if your smart just drive something like these trucks . Super cheap yet super reliable and tough!

This right here is my dream truck! I noticed that the Oregon plates. On marketplace, you people have such amazing deals on these trucks! Where I’m from in lower Northern Cal, nothing rusts, and everybody seems to know what value they have. I’m taking $5500 and up for one of these similar equipped truck 😭

I just bought my 6th RBV(Ranger based vehicle). I've had two 94 extended cabs(2wd & 4wd), both 4.0 AT. The A4LD seems to last longer in pickups than Explorers. I've had two gen 1(91-94) Explorers, both 4wd 5sp. The Explorers seem to arrive rougher in my price range. I had an 89 Bronco2, 2.9, 4wd AT. I literally drove the wheels off that. It had a failing trans when I got it and I put almost 50k on it that way. I've just purchased a 90 Ext cab, very similar to yours. I've never paid more than $500 for one, but I buy them broken and fix them. It's getting a lot harder, they're not as plentiful now, and people are starting to value them. My friend had a 94 Explorer from new, and put 400k on it with basic maintenance. Of course, we put 5 automatic transmissions in that, in Explorers they fail right at 80k. The motor was still running strong at 400k when his wife was tired of looking at it and sold it when he was out of town. Lots of parts at the junkyard, very durable structure and systems. The broken one I just bought is 4.0, AT, but I have a Mazda box to put in it. I'll be on the road soon and I think I'll tell the boys to bury me in this one!

I bought a 95 Ranger for 1400$ Canadian and it's a great vehicle. Looks great drives great, pretty much never had a big problem with anything on it and that little 3.0 is going strong at 145k km.

I honestly wished they kept this body design over the newer ones. They prettied up a work truck/job to job vehicle just so suburban dads can look good in a modified truck but never use. Rant aside, your truck’s a beauty. My father’s 99 ranger is on her last ropes after 272k miles of hard work and not a single issue aside from fixing the ac.

My first truck. I had a blue extended cab with the 3.0 V6 automatic. Loved that thing regret selling it.

I have been driving my 2006 ford ranger xlt 3.0 since I bought it in 2013 with 100k miles - currently 225k , and it is the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned, yes they have their own problems , yes I changed water pump , ac. Compressor , alternator . infamous camshaft synchronizer, shocks and uppers abs lowers not counting brake jobs and oil changes , as it’s a regular maintenance, but it keeps going , about to throw , timing chain and a timing cover and a second water pump at it , but hell It beats 700$/months new truck payment , and it beats Toyota’s outrages price for 1998 Tacoma every one seems to want 10k$ now , great truck if your hands grow from the right place 😎

I bought my 1990 new put 350000 miles sold my to a Guy he put another 150000 more. Look up the all the history of the engine was built low end was a BMW changed to push rod, with a throttle body. Love wished I keep it. I converted it to low back pressure exhaust system help gas mileage.

This will be my next vehicle if I ever need one.

My father had a 1989 ford ranger single cab 4x4 manual with the 2.9 has 60,000 miles I now inherited the rig and currently doing a cab off restoration I want it looking cleaner than it did in 89 one day I’d like to make a video on her to post she’s gonna be minty

Great video! 👌 I have a 01 Ranger Edge ,4x4 ,4L, auto for 21 years now. Only 236,000 miles on it. I sold it one year and had to buy her back. ❤

I just picked up a 2003 ranger with the 2.3l duratec (about the same output power as the 3.slow) and a manual transmission. I paid 2k and got it with 96,000 miles.

These cheap 80's and 90's trucks are getting popular again to fix and use as daily drivers because as you proved they are cheap, you can go out buy an older/classic truck for 3 grand or less and put a couple more grand into them and have a reliable daily driver/weekend vehicle for the next 10-15 years and your not paying $1000 or more a month just to drive it back and forth to work. This past summer my Gf and I went to St. Thomas for 16 days on vacation, last year we went to Guam, and when we came back one of the mid 20 somethings asked me how I can afford to go on an expensive vacation every year, so I walked him out to parking lot and pointed to his less than a year old car and then I pointed to my 1977 Olds Cutlass and said "That's how", then walked back inside and went to work. I paid $2200 for my Cutlass, threw a battery in it and drove it home. Then I just cleaned it up, put new tires on it, changed all the fluids, did a rattle can rebuild on the engine, bought a set of bucket seats that I paid $150 dollars for on Facebook Marketplace that came out of a early 2000's Yukon, threw a cheap job on it, all in all I put another $2500 in it slowly over the next couple of months and have been driving it for the last 6 years, I have 5 grand ish, into it and have driven it everyday for the last 6 years, More and more people are figuring this out again.

About to swap my 91 extended cab with a 302 ( 3.0 still fine ) just want more power. I flipping love ford rangers

I bought a 2002 Ranger for 2800 bucks that needed a new transmission and everything else looks brand new. Its a 4.0 Auto 4x4 KC 4 door or whatever those half doors are called. Think is awesome. I cannot justify paying 40k for a driveway queen.

Getting my 87 Ranger back in driving condition after several years in storage as the fuel pump needed replacement and the breaks needed work....at the time I didn't feel like dumping $$ into an old vehicle, but now I've changed my mind for some reason....probably because I no longer wanted to be that guy who says "someday I'm going to ......"

Got same truck, not extended tho, same color, guard, roll cage, 4 wheel drive. Got it same day from a timberlogger i was working with after rolling off a cliff. Love it. Only minor pain i had with the 90, minewas techically made in july of 89, is the bearings, rotor uses that years bearings and not 90, even though its a 90. So a suble crossover Also i split my rangers axle, and heard a large crack in town, and drove into the woods 50 miles away home only to discover my rear axle split off completely at the differential, only hung on by the u joints. Cheap fix that as a used axle of its ratiowas only like 160 bucks

I LOVE VINTAGE MINI TRUCKS!!!!

Real trucks

Those Old Oregon trucks are a deal, Rust is minimal unless it lived near the coast. Anyway, That was an era of well built, easy to work on trucks.

Well done, great attitude, Happy Days.

Good Buy.I need to make wooden door handles too. That is the idea I had but just haven't got around to it. Watched to se if it was 4X4. Couldn't tell by the front hubs. No transfer case shifter in floor so must be 2 wheel drive. I sure would want more than $2000 for my 89 Rust free California Ranger. 260K miles daily driver.

1993 Ranger xtracab 4x4 4.0 5spd 80k no rust Wyoming truck 1400.00. Brake line and a battery got it thru inspection. Little stuff kept the total well under 2k A similar yota would have been 7k in my area. The rangers to avoid would be a 4.0 sohc. Why other than cheapness by bean counters, would you have a timing chain in the rear of an engine, as well as the front? Yes my Toyota xtracab long bed was better, but those are impossible to find. You don't feel bad with the dog in front. If only they still had vent windows.

I AGREE WITH YOU 100%.

Great video. Love that generation of the Ranger

this is such a well put together video

The 2.9 is amazing

I love my 01 ranger. Im having to replace a bunch of seals and gaskets that are starting to go bad though.

I got a manual 98 ranger with 4l back in like 2004 or so for $3000 from a guy in La Pine. It was my favorite truck ever. My second favorite is a manual 2004 Dodge Ram 3500 that gets about the same mileage as the 4.0l ranger.

Bought a 92 ranger for a grand 3 years ago and the only thing ive had to do it put a new heater core in it. Just wish it was 4x4

I bought a ‘91 with the 2.3 four banger. It had a blown head gasket, which was replaced and the head milled. Still low on power, but it has a check engine light on, and no one seems to have a reader.

My 1990 4x4 Xlt Ranger is the most enjoyable truck I’ve ever ridden in 100%.

nice truck. good buy

Not sure about new Toyotas, but some will have swappable intermittent wipers. I got mine at a junkyard and replaced the standard one in my car for cheap compared to ordering one.

Preach truck brother! :)

Those seats with no headrests aren't gonna be that comfortable on your spine if you get rear ended HARD. I have a beater 1986 ranger. It had the bench seat with no headrests. Never felt safe without the headrests. Took that bench out. Now it's got aluminum racing seats with headrests. Swapped out the original front end body work for a 1990 nose like you got, exept it has the 1990 explorer grill. Witch looks way better and directs more air to the radiator. Joking: Looks like it's worth 20 bucks more with the newer bodywork.

Best review ever!

There’s so many manuals on sale, usual problem is rust but it’s always minimal

Its the people that dont have rangers that say they suck.

I drive an '89 f150, straight six 4x4, gets about 12mpg, so i did the same thing and bought a 1500 dollar Ranger. Mine's a '99 with the 2.5 and a 5 speed. Then i stupidly lifted it and it gets like 17 mpg...

I paid $400 for my 02 ranger. Running and driving.

SUGGESTION: LMC HAS VINTAGE RANGER PARTS. GET THEIR CATALOG. I USED THEIR PARTS ON MY FORD RANGER.

Comes with a portable stereo😂

I wish i could find one with that little rust for 1500, one more paycheck at my new job and shed be mine.

Thats like 5k here in AZ. My state is being squeezed

Nice truck buddy 👍 😊

No lies detected 👍🏾

I want one!

I think these little trucks are the perfect vehicle. I'm 17-18 and getting around to buying my first car/truck on a small budget. I live away from family so I wanted something that I can use to haul and for any work, so I can rely on myself. I don't know much about cars though, as much as I admire them -- are there any things you would elaborate on to look out for and check when inspecting them? How often do you need to fix something up, how reliable is it for a 30+ year old vehicle?

Super reliable

Just bgt 97 ranger 4x4 5sp $1500. Good truck

Rangers are good trucks

I put a hurst short throw shifter on my 99 ranger much nicer then stock shorter throws an no slop in the shifter any more an it looks cool

Actually thinking about selling my 15 supercrew, tired of the payment. Going to look at an 82 5 speed tomorrow for 1400

My ranger is 34 years old

Do you wave to everyone? Where are you from?