Here's Where Our Ford Ranger Could Use Some Work

• We've been living with a 2024 Ford Ranger for more than a year.
• The Ranger was named Edmunds Top Rated Truck for 2025.
• In general, we love this truck, but there are a few things that need improvement.

On the other hand, the Ranger easily has the most spacious rear seat of any midsize truck currently on sale, with decent head- and legroom for most passengers. We do wish there was more storage back there, but nevertheless appreciate the USB ports and seat pockets.

High-tech … to a fault?

Most of the Ranger’s primary controls are handled through its central touchscreen; our Lariat has the available 12-inch unit. The display is bright and crisp and certainly looks sleek, but operating it often leaves a lot to be desired.

"The system too frequently takes too long to respond to prompts," wrote senior news editor Nick Yekikian. On top of that, "Apple CarPlay failed to work on multiple occasions over the course of three days — or, it would load, but no audio from any media player would come through." Other staffers have echoed Nick's issues.

Stop!

This message has been brought to you by the Ford Ranger’s rear automatic emergency braking system, which slams on the brakes and flashes its warning lights when you are still several feet away from the closest object. The system is oversensitive; I personally experienced this multiple times over the course of one weekend.

But it’s not just the emergency braking system that’s oversensitive. We’ve had trouble with the Ranger’s lane keeping assistance system, too. The tech works well enough at keeping the vehicle in its lane, but its sensitivity of detecting hands on the wheel could use some fine-tuning.

"Invariably if I'm driving in a straight line for a while, a warning to keep my hands on the wheel appears," said managing editor Keith Buglewicz. Yes, getting rid of the warning just requires a small jiggle of the wheel, but after enough infractions, it becomes annoying. Most of us just end up turning the system off.

She’s thirsty

When equipped with the standard 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the EPA rates the Ranger’s fuel economy at 22 mpg combined. However, over the course of more than 15,000 miles, we’re averaging just 18.8 mpg. To be fair, our truck is equipped with the FX4 off-road package, which adds knobby all-terrain tires that certainly have a negative impact on fuel economy. But even taking that into account, the real-world fuel economy we’ve experienced has been lackluster to say the least. The other midsize trucks in our fleet aren't doing much better.

This is still a great truck

Don’t get us wrong — by our measure, the Ranger is still king when it comes to midsize trucks. But after living with it for a year, it’s clear that a few minor tweaks could make this already excellent truck even better.