New Member and in need of help
 

Hello everyone, I'm Stephen and I am a sophmore Mechanical Engineering major from Baltimore. I am new to this, but I am looking for a reliable truck that can haul my stuff back and forth between Baltimore and North Carolina. My plymouth neon is at the end of its run, and at 205,000+ miles, its done its job. My friend recently bought a 96 ranger and I have become fond of them since we started working on it, so now I am looking for a low mileage, 99-03 ford ranger extended cab for a cheap price (I do not have a lot of money because of college, but I can promise a seller that the truck would be well taken care of). This would be my first vehicle that I have completely bought on my own so If you have a deal I would love to hear it.

Thanks,
Stephen

Check craigslist for sure as well as autotrader. What are you looking for specifically? 2wd 4wd? 4 banger 6 cyl? With the extended cab, just make sure to get the 4 door version.

well a 4X4 would be great, but im open to both options. as for the engine, I am looking for the V6(doesn't matter which one). I found a 2000 ford ranger xlt extended cab with only 67,000 miles at a car auction, but a dealship doubled my $1,500 bid right before it was sold, so i'm hoping(its a big hope) that I could find something similar to that condition

In all honesty get a 4.0 the 3.0 is horrible

And if your wanting good MPG get a 2.3 5 speed

cool, thanks for the advice

With the 6 cyl. the 3.0 is definitely lacking in power. The 4.0 in the 01+ is a lot quicker then the earlier OHV 4.0s. 01+ ext cab 4x4s all have the 4.0.

Wow a 9 year old car and only 67K...

yea someone took good care of it, the engine was awsome and it ran great when they started it. I just wish that dealer didnt come in.

And those OHV engines are known to last and last and last...

welcome from the uk steve o

Welcome to the forum, Steve. Be patient and keep an eye out, and you'll find a great deal on a great Ranger.

Hey Steve, I am a single dad and I also needed a cheap and reliable truck. I kept my eyes peeled on craigslist for about 8 weeks, and finally found what I was looking for. I know it may be tedious to have to always keep checking on craigslist, but it will pay off. When you see something you like, jump on it!! Good luck!

When I was looking for my truck on craigslist I set up RSS feeds. Super easy and convenient, especially when I was looking for a shell too.

That's a great idea. I'm going to have to learn more about setting them up and use them to monitor some items I'm looking for.

Super easy.
go to your local craigslist.
then type in your search, for me i typed in ranger shell
then on the results page scroll to the bottom and click on the orange RSS on the bottom right.
it will link to another page and you click subscribe now
it will have you save somewhere, i just use the default. I use firefox, so i would then just click on my bookmarks otpion at the top and it has been added as the last option.