This is my first post here at ranger-forums (already did an intro post).
I would like a little validation on my purchase, so I will give you the details and let you estimate a price you would be willing to pay for this truck. If you have special knowledge about this year and series of trucks, please share as it will help me know how to maintain my truck.

First you need to know what I bought a truck for, I used to fish a lot in So.Calif had 20' ocean center console, and when moved to N.Calif due to money and time practically gave up fishing. I want to buy 16-18' alum fishing boat and fish. So towing a boat, hauling for home projects, and driving to work.

Here is the vehicle specs.
2002 Ford Ranger Edge, 2WD, 4.0L Man/T, 52,046 (verified) miles, Stepside bed. A/C, Tinted windows, 6 CD/MP3 Audio system, pwr steer, man windows & locks. I think it has magnaflow exhaust system. Super Clean, Body Super Clean except marks on tail gate. Truck was taken to shop and gone over by professional mechanic who said he couldn't find a thing wrong with the truck, it had been well taken care of and maintained by previous owner.
I found the truck 200 miles from home, drove home, and immediately popped hood, usually on older vehicles you can smell something that may be leaking or burning, NOTHING no smell just a warm engine. This truck drives and feels almost new, everything is tight and clean.

Below is some pics, what would you pay for this truck?

click on pic for larger & more pics


If you see spots it is most likely dirt on my camera lens.
The pontoon boat is the neighbors.
I am sorry for the shadows, I took these photos yest. morning before the sun was really up.

 

5,000 at the most since it is 2wd

 

I would say around 6500-7

 

I'm with Casey on this one 5k.

 

what does kbb say go off that + or - a grand depending on how nice it is

 

$7000 or $8000 in Ohio

 

Personally I wouldn't buy that truck for towing a boat, for 2 reasons. It's a 5 spd, and its a 2 wheel drive. A 2 wheel drive is not a good idea for launching a boat IMO and the 5 spd in the rangers have next to no towing capacity

 

It'll be fine, especially for a small boat like that.

Otherwise I'd guess around 5-6K?

 

that truck would tow a 16-18' aluminum boat with the trailer upside down. would i buy it to tow a toy hauler though no. 2wd is fine for boat launches imo.

ima guestimate 6.3k

 

This.

 

man, ain't nothin wrong with launchin a boat with a 2wd... we have never had any problems with our trucks... so why you say that man?

 

Not all boat launches are alike. The launch i launch my jetski at I have to be in 4wd the whole time it's so steep and dirt. But otherwise yah most launches are just fine for 2wd.

 

just be two wheel drive smart when you launch it. only use concrete launches and don't think "oh its a truck it can do anything!". i have seen dodge 2500 cummins turbo diesels pulled into the water by a big enough boat.

you should be fine with yours though. i pull my dads 14 foot aluminum all the time with my 4 cylinder 5 speed.

 

x2

you can launch all day with a 2wd just have to know what your ramps are like and how low the water is ect...

if the lake is low and the concrete ramp doesn't go far enough and you coming off the edge into the gravel or rocks I would be weary of launching with a 2wd.

 

6-7k

 

It'll launch fine on a decent ramp. My grandpa has the 2wd four banger mazda and he pulls his 16' aluminum out the water w/no problem. Just be careful and think smart. Andi would pay 6500 at the most.

 

2wd/4wd is almost irrelavant for launching a boat, at least up in Wisco.. What you did good on there is the 4.0.

Which brings me to another question.. A 2wd 4.0? That has got to be rare right?

 

I paid $9,950 for my 2003 Ranger XLT 3.5 years ago. I thought that was a good price considering it only had 31.500 miles on it. New it would have cost me $20,000+, so I jumped on it. I was looking in the $5,000 range but all I found was junk or really old Rangers, or they would be sold by the time I got there. My truck is not for sale, as it would be too expensive to replace it.

Your truck looks like a very nice one, and should last you a good long while if you take care of it.

 

$5,200

I spent a month looking for a Ranger with the criteria I mentioned above, except I left out one important criteria, it had to be salvage or so exceptional deal I couldn't pass.

I know that some will say Oh a Salvage then it isn't worth what you gave. Here is the history on the truck. It was owned by one owner a sheriff, who drove it to work and then jumped in a squad car I guess. Apparently he lived fairly close to where he worked thus the low miles. He wrecked the truck this summer, the insurance company offered a buy-out verses repair and due to age of the vehicle took the cash. When a vehicle is declared Salvage the license plate has to be destroyed (so it has to be recorded at DMV as salvage to get new plates). The company that bought it have some talented people who restored the truck, replacing the right front fender, the hood, and bumper. The independent mechanic I used to go through the truck looked for damage especially if the frame had been cut or straightened and couldn't find anything. I had to get the new plates meaning the first to own the vehicle since it was junked. Thus I'm really the 2nd owner of the vehicle. As I said I looked and saw 3 other Rangers that were also low miles, excellent condition, etc. Each of those the owner misrepresented their vehicle, they absolutely were NOT in excellent shape. I didn't want a step side, but after I saw the truck, drove it, had the mechanic go through it, I couldn't pass. I have seen dealers selling 2002 Ranger Edge with 130K+ miles for $6500 and they are not in the excellent condition my Ranger is.

So you say the resale will be bad because it is salvage. NOT if I maintain it keep it looking great and sell it before it goes over 100k, At 10k miles per year, the truck should sell easily for over $3500, meaning I can drive it for about $300 a year or $25 a month.

This makes the 4th salvage vehicle I have purchased. We currently have 3,
► my daughter's, Hyundai 2001 Accent paid $2700, bought it in 2005 with only 19,000 miles, so far only tires and brakes, and we had it repainted. It runs great and is very reliable.
► my wife's, Hyundai 2003 Elantra paid $2800, bought in 2007 with 65,000 miles. The owner was unemployed and needed cash (the clutch was failing). Again only brakes and tires, and the clutch which we drove for almost 2 years before replacing it.
► now my Ranger.

In the last 12 years I have saved $$$$$ thousands, yeah they are cheap vehicles, but hey I'm over the age of seeing cars as a status symbol, more power to those that can afford them. I just want to have zero debt.

I have bought new cars and they are fun but I can't stand payments. I drove a Mercedes for several years, got it with only 40,000 miles and the money to keep that hog running could have bought both Hyundai's.

I started purchasing salvage vehicles when my daughter need a car for college. It was such a good experience I have now purchased 4 salvage, I sold the 4th to a friend and it has been ok.

My point, is salvage is a great way to save money and still get a good vehicle. Opps I bought 5 salvage a F150 I completely forgot, that one wasn't as good a deal, but still ran for 3 years before I gave it to my son, and he drove it for 2 years before cracking it up.

 

As for towing a boat, your right the manual tran may struggle a bit with a heavy boat, but 16-18' alum with 50-100hp shouldn't be much of a problem. Launching, well if you spend enough time at a ramp you will see some crazy things happen. Thinking ahead and be cautious can overcome most situations, and as already pointed out know your limitations.

When I had my 20' ocean center console heavy fiberglass boat, I not only fished ocean but would take it to the lake, once we towed it behind a motor home for trout season opener. Had to pay a guy in 4 wheel drive to launch it over the beach since the water was so low. Everyone may have thought I was crazy big boat out there on small lake fishing trout. Of course they stopped thinking that when the wind came up every afternoon about 2pm and they were all blown off the lake. I was still out there trolling till dark. Won the trout derby too.

I think I will be ok.

 

About 6k personally.

 

The truck will have NO problem launching that boat. I'm sorry, but the guys saying the manual cant do it well is just a dumb comment. My dad use to launch a boat like this one. Only difference is it had the front of the nose open for seats. It was pulled with a 95 extcab splash with the 3.0 and 5spd and it didn't sweat at all. The 5spd/4.0 will handle that boat like it was nothing. yes in ranger's the auto is better, but the 5spd will do it just fine.

 

You got an okay deal, to make it a great deal, just keep the truck fo rmany many years, drive it until the wheels fall off, then put them back on and drive it some more. You'll save a fortune on car payments, taxes, etc.....I know people who have 160,000+ miles on their Rangers.

Reselling a vehicle with a salvage title can be tricky as many wholesalers and dealers won't touch them.

I had a Ford Tempo that had one. I bought the car for $4,500, and used it for about 10 years. I finally ended up just giving it away to my sister, and they later sold it for scrap. It was a great car and got excellent gas mileage. That car turned out to be a real life saver during lean times, for me and a couple of friends.

 

I gave around $8500 after taxes and all for my '03 4x4 Supercab XLT 4.0/Auto, power everything, and 58K miles in nearly perfect condition and with brand new tires. Suprisingly enough the KBB retail (dealer) value is in the mid $12,000 range but I got it from a family friend who had taken great care of the truck since new and I knew the history of it, never been wrecked or abused so I actually would have been willing to give a little more than I did for it. Piece of mind is worth a few extra $$ to me. My bank even said they would be willing to loan up to $10,500 on it. Don't know about California vehicle values and how they compare to Ohio but as far as private party and retail prices Rangers seem to hold their value well.

As far as launching & retrieving a boat, I used to drag around my dads 17' aluminum bass boat (A Bass Tracker from Bass Pro Shops) with both my '98 2wd 3.0 and my previous '03 4.0 with no problems. Of course I always used a good concrete boat ramp. The '98 was even a 5-speed and although it's a bit trickier to pull a boat out of the water than with an automatic it can easily be done. Gotta be quick with the clutch, brake, & gas (while releasing the parking brake) all at the same time. I wouldn't want to try to do the same with a larger & heavier boat though with a 5-speed.

I assume the truck has a receiver hitch? Thats a must have for boat hauling and if it doesn't have one, you should plan on getting one soon. Suprisingly my "new" '03 doesn't have one because the previous owner never towed with it and it wasn't factory equipped with one. I'm going to fix that soon.

 

No hitch yet, will be one of the first things I do with the truck.

It's been a few years since I launched a boat, my ocean 20' was a heavy fiberglass and I used an international Scout V8 to tow. I never had to put it into 4 wheel drive to launch or retrieve. However I did use a block of wood tethered to a rope as a safety just in case. It was a 4x4 about 8" with one end cut 45º and I always had someone else when launching to wedge it under front tire if I stopped. When retrieving we would get the rig in the depth we wanted and wedge that block, as I drove away I had the rope in my hand out the window and the block comes with us. I launched and retrieved that boat on some scary steep ocean ramps, never had a problem.