I bought a 2000 Ford Ranger. I have kept the all the upkeeps for this car and more according to the Ford dealers instruction manual for the Ford Ranger truck. It has about 81000 miles on it. I recently had to pay $2300 to the kearny mesa Ford to fix my car. I do have the cruise control on it. One day, I smelled antifreeze. My heat gadget did not go off. There was no indication that the truck was overheating, but I chose to bring it in. I thought it was probably a leak in a hose. It turned out the a heating element was "probably the culprit", but they found through their computers that the engine had to basically be rebuilt because the engine had overheated. My concern was that not once did my heating gauge tell me that the truck was overheating. That is dangerous. I do not know if this is connected to the cruise control problem, but for a heating gauge to not go off when there is sever heat going on in the engine is dangerous. I could have gotten stranded in a dangerous place or the engine may have exploded on the freeway with the enormous damage that took place. I thought this needed to be reported. Ford couldn't tell me why the heating gauge did not work. They told me that now and then even trucks that are kept up go wrong. That is not a good answer when this could have caused a serious accident.

- San Diego, CA, USA

XLT 4X4 4.0L with only 38,500 sat for 2 days. When heading to work (1.7 miles away) noticed no heat out of blower..noticed temperature gauge near top. Finsihed driving to work and temperature hit maximum, just before shutting off.found steam coming out of oil filler cap.dipstick was foamy. After tow to dealership, found out the intake manifold gasket had blown! the next day, dealership told me I need a new engine due to coolant in oil contamination. Ford/dealership is paying for 75% and I have to pay 25% ($1000) out of my pocket. This is because the extended warranty (4 year/60,000) ran out in July. Only 38,500 on odometer and this never should have happened! I cannot afford this! the loan was for 5 years ( July 2005).

- South Burlington, VT, USA

Vehicle is exhibiting intermittent power loss and / or no throttle response from the position of one half thru full throttle at a ground speed of 28 to 70 mph. Vehicle is also exhibiting intermittent problems of drive line clunking upon coast down of 30 to 5 mph as well as vibration felt thru the drivers seat and dashboard at 2000 RPM.

- Coopersburg, PA, USA

The vehicle lost power while driving in third gear, the dealer was unable to duplicate the problem.ts

- Coopersburg, PA, USA

There was a rattling noise coming from the engine, consumer was informed it was a characteristic of the vehicle.ts

- Bayville, NJ, USA

I noticed a fairly large patch of oil beneath my truck when vehicle had been idle for a day or so. I crawled beneath vehicle and determined that a leak of some magnitude was occurring somewhere on the engine. Notified dealership where vehicle serviced, but not purchased from. All service has been conducted at listed dealership. They determined that I had blown the rear main seal of the engine, and would require substantial repair. During the course of that repair, it was further detemined that the oil pan gasket was also in need of replacement. This more than doubled the repair cost to this vehicle. I am not particlulary mechanically inclined toward cars or trucks, but do consistantly maintain those that I am responsible for, and I have the documentation to verify that.. I drive my truck hard, but I don't abuse it. I feel that the amount of repair required for a vehicle that is less than three years old is way out of line. Thank you.

- Monroe, WA, USA

Consumer had transmission replaced in November 2001. Her husband found transmission fluid all over the garage. After checking carefully discovered that oil pan gasket was leaking. Consumer complained that oil gasket kept popping out.

- Moreno Valley, CA, USA

Oil is leaking from gasket while driving. Dealer notified.

- Moreno Valley, CA, USA

There is a loud pinging noise coming from engine at all times, at any speed. Dealer replaced computer module, and pinging noise was still there, just not as loud as before. Consumer was told by mechanic this problem would ruin pistons.

- Nollensville, TN, USA

While traveling 55mph or more steering wheel shakes and vibrates to point that driver's hands and arms go numb. Dealer has replaced the motor mounts and transmission mounts, and problem still occurs.

- Noga, IL, USA