Well, had a guy who heard I might want to sell my Ranger stop buy and take a look at it today. He looked at it for about 5 minutes and offered me the full asking price that was listed on the flyer I had made up for it last winter. I had taken it off the market and had decided to keep it because the only things I was getting on it were tire-kickers and people who wanted a meticulously maintained, low-mileage vehicle for the price of a beat-up work truck.....

So now I have to make a decision -- pass on his offer and keep the Ranger (37,000 miles and spotless inside-and-out) as part of my long term collection, or sell it and put the money I get towards a low-mileage '02-'05 Thunderbird around the end of this year.

I told the guy I would him let him know this weekend -- any thoughts.....??? I am usually a decisive decision maker, but for some reason this one is kicking my butt.....

 

you know you are going to keep the ranger

 

I wish I was as confident as you in saying that -- so far the consensus I have been getting from my car buddies is "DUMP THE RANGER" since it is an extended cab and I am more of a regular cab kind of guy.......

 

Although I have a tremendous amount of respect for meticulously maintained vehicles in pristine factory condition - regardless of make and model - I honestly have no use for a Ranger. I've always completely disregarded them. I'd ditch it and get that T-bird you've always talked about.

Just don't ever get rid of the 150.

 

I would keep it! Unless it was a great offer. Its hard to find low mile well kept rangers and they go for a pretty penny. Imagine what you would get for it in another few years when it will be harder to find one. I wish I was in the position to get it.

 

Hold everything! I am looking for a ranger for my son! Where are you and what do you need to get for it?????

 

I'm in Houston and the guy has already offered me the asking price that was listed on the flyer I had put together back in January -- $13,750.00.....

 

You'd have nowhere to park it, Coy.....

That was kind of the "method to my madness" in keeping it as part of my "fun car" collection -- in 10-15 years how many pristine Rangers will you see? NONE! Let's face it -- I wax the bed of this truck.....

When the guy was looking at it today he said, "My son is going to flip out if he gets this truck!" And then he said he was glad it had vinyl floors, since they would be good for muddy boots! That didn't sit well with me -- ain't never been no muddy boots in my baby without newspapers put down on the floor.....

 

Do you need the money? No.
Is it a daily driver? No.
Do you have room for it if you get more cars? Yes.

Then keep it if those are all 3 of your answers.

 

Well, technically I need the money if I want to get the Thunderbird, as all I am doing is rolling one car into the other.

I would also need to find extra storage if I kept the Ranger and added another collector vehicle somewhere down the line.

So I guess the real question is what would be a neater collector car to have in the garage 10-15 years from now -- a low mileage, pristine Thunderbird or a low-ish mileage, pristine Ranger?

 

To answer your question the T-Bird would be the neater car in 15 years but still cant beat a 09 Ranger with low 40k miles in showroom condition either.


keep the Ranger and buy a T-bird.. Problem Solved

 

Right now I am leaning slightly towards keeping the Ranger. The reason is that I think a perfectly preserved Ranger will be a rarer sight in 15 years than a perfectly preserved Thunderbird -- primarily because the Rangers were largely purchased to be worked into the ground.

That would leave me with two "mainline" collector cars in my stable (Mustang & F-150) as well as two "under the radar" vehicles (Ranger & Crown Victoria) that combined would give me a nice variety of different driving experiences that I could enjoy throughout the year.

However, the one obvious thing the Thunderbird would bring to the collection that the other cars couldn't offer is "top down" cruising.....

 

I suppose I can see your point. And especially now that the Ranger has been discontinued, you're never going to get another one like this. If you're having so many doubts, it's probably best not to do it.

Can you post a picture of it? I don't think I've ever seen this thing.

 

Exactly how the Ranger sits today -- if I keep it I'll do a 4" lift and put on some bigger BFG All Terrain tires on black rims:



Yes, the bed really IS this clean:




And here's a link to a stock photo of a Thunderbird as I would probably look for it:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...D2%3B640%3B426

 

The Ranger fits you better.