SHOULD I BUY RANGER/BT50

Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Location: vic cockatoo

Hey all
thinking of updating the courier 4.0l dual cab 4x4 work ute
maybe to ranger or bt50 td
any problems that we have heard of of had??
were they fixed by dealer??
good buy in general??
cheers andrew

Joined: 15 Nov 2002 Location: Melbourne

Yes you should both are awesome. I loved driving both from Adelaide to Alice Springs last year. The engine/gearbox combo is awesome.

The few cons I thought were the rear leg room isn't as good as some of the other dual cabs. The intercoler front mount is a tad low and the interior is a bit dated but has everything you could want and need.

I prefered the Ranger marginally over the Mazda

Joined: 30 Dec 2002 Location: Adelaide

Have a look on the 4WD Monthly forums as there are quite a few owners on there and some issues noted in a couple of threads.

BTW a few people are not getting close to the rated fuel economy, but others get excellent figures. Confused

The inlaws have one (SDX auto dual cab) and are very happy apart from the amount of diesel it chews through.

Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Location: Not where you are

yup
go the ranger very comfy, smooth to drive, decent pay load look real tough from factory & with a lift, bar work & some decent A/Ts or Muddies are brilliant

if I were to buy a duel cab ute the deisel ranger would be first on my list

Joined: 04 Jan 2008 Location: gold coast

Andrew if you're happy with the courier, you'll be happy with the ranger, but it's still just a updated courier with a good engine.
If you want better fuel economy i'd go the manual, my auto crew cab is as thirsty as your 4ltr V6, sometime worst, but i do like the auto off road though.
Jayde

Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Location: Queensland

buy the bt50 in manual if worried about fuel usage my
single cab returns 12l/100km

Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Location: townsville

dulvari wrote:

Andrew if you're happy with the courier, you'll be happy with the ranger, but it's still just a updated courier with a good engine.
If you want better fuel economy i'd go the manual, my auto crew cab is as thirsty as your 4ltr V6, sometime worst, but i do like the auto off road though.
Jayde

can you please post a list of parts that interchange.

Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Location: townsville

brad-chevlux wrote:

dulvari wrote:

Andrew if you're happy with the courier, you'll be happy with the ranger, but it's still just a updated courier with a good engine.
If you want better fuel economy i'd go the manual, my auto crew cab is as thirsty as your 4ltr V6, sometime worst, but i do like the auto off road though.
Jayde

can you please post a list of parts that interchange.

so they're not an 'upgrade' because nothing interchanges?

So that would make them a new product, not an upgraded model.

Joined: 23 Sep 2003 Location: hornsby

My wife has a 08 ranger turbo diesel auto and it is the worst new car i have ever driven cussing

utter C R A P. I have been a mechanic for 14 years so i have driven quite a few new cars. The car make my GU wagon look like a race car thru corners. It rides like it has a solid rear end. whats suspension Rolling Eyes

It uses more diesel than our 6L VE SSV ute uses petrol Rolling Eyes

. In the wet the car is dangerous cussing

The auto is horrible and th eway they have the converter is woeful. at 60km/h you lift of the throttle the motor drops straight to idle speed as soon as you hit the throttle it goes straight to about 2500 rpm and make alot of power and the car just tries to break traction. I would hate to drive one offroad.

I would be looking at the DMAX or holden version. At least they drive well and handle.

Joined: 06 Jul 2004 Location: Noumea, New Caledonia

Well I drive an '08 Mazda BT-50 dual cab manual and I'm ABSOLUTELY BLOODY THRILLED WITH IT. Towing capacity is 3000 Kg (Hilux, for example, is only 2200) and load carrying ability is 1.2 tonnes, that's a third more than Hilux. The rear suspension is a bit hard, but hey, it's a ute, right ? Can't carry that much weight on soft suspension can you.

Anyway, I love it, wouldn't change it for the world. You do have to be a bit carefull in the wet cause when you hit the loud pedal, it rocks!

Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Location: Gloucester

We have BT50... Dual cab. Leg room is not too bad. Comfort is brilliant. 3.0ltr turbo diesel we get 7.1 ltrs per 100. We had mandrel bend exhaust done in beaudesert. Tows horses. Not the best off road as it has no travel but we love ours.

Only thing we have found that is bad....our speedo is out by 10%. We are actually doing less than speedo says...no probs with speeding tickets.

Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Location: Taree Australia

i use 1 for work and yes have a great carrying capacity great hwy 4x4 would be good for beach and such ...not too impressed by the gearing because they are capable of 160+kmh means the gearing is rather hight and even in low 4 in first is rather high and would not be real suited to climbing in my opinion but as a work ute great rig
Cheers

Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Location: townsville

My old man bought a BT-50 single cab 4x4 a few weeks back (his first 4BY armsup

) ,
traded up from a BF falcon ute 6cyl.

It uses 12L/100km for the weekly work duty as a paper delivery truck.
The falcon on the other hand used to use 18L/100km
For him its a saving of about $150 a month.

Not very happy with factory fitted dunlop tyres though, it doen't look like they will last even 20 000km, I must say, they must have got something right with the front end, the tyre wear is very even across the tread. Just a shitty soft compound tyre.

the only real complaint with the whole thing is the plastic vents in the rear of the cab are a bit noisy,

Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Location: Gold Coast

My customers get the best MPG if they keep the RPM below 2500rpm. The harder you drive they the more they use.

400 to 450 k's per tank can be streched to 650-700 by keeping the rev's down.

Eric

Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Location: Brisneyland

glad i read this
was wondering why fuel economy was so bad

Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Location: townsville

brad-chevlux wrote:

My old man bought a BT-50 single cab 4x4 a few weeks back (his first 4BY armsup

) ,
traded up from a BF falcon ute 6cyl.

It uses 12L/100km for the weekly work duty as a paper delivery truck.
The falcon on the other hand used to use 18L/100km
For him its a saving of about $150 a month.

Not very happy with factory fitted dunlop tyres though, it doen't look like they will last even 20 000km, I must say, they must have got something right with the front end, the tyre wear is very even across the tread. Just a shitty soft compound tyre.

the only real complaint with the whole thing is the plastic vents in the rear of the cab are a bit noisy,

just to update this. the tires will be replaced at the 20 000km service.
A shame really as he would like to buy some M/Ts to go on the spare set of rims. But now that money has to buy new road tires.

now that its done 15 000km he's getting and extra 50km to a tank. economy is excellent, i can't understand why so many people are using so much fuel. When you consider the BT-50 is doing the exact same route and start and finish times are them same. The 12/100 compared the falcons 18/100 is damn good.
Yet some people are getting 14/100 with the bt-50 normal driving where i would expect the falcon to be getting 13/100 or better.

Joined: 25 Oct 2009 Location: Morayfield

btdav wrote:

buy the bt50 in manual if worried about fuel usage my
single cab returns 12l/100km

I have the freestyle cab, auto, c/w ARB canopy, roof rack, roller drawers chocka block full and I still get 12ltr/100km.

Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Location: Queensland

ihave steel bullbar brushbars and steps plus a steel tray and get 12l/100kms around town

Joined: 09 Dec 2009 Location: Brisbane

Only had mine for a couple of months but i get about 10L/100 with bigger tyres and not actually driving economically. Smile

Joined: 10 Feb 2008 Location: Toorbul

Have a BT 50 which runs great but had an issue with a cracked chassis.Both sides in front of the rear spring front hanger.Only 55,000kms and Mazda didn't want to know about it cause I had Suspension air bags fitted.Not happy with their decision but had to wear it.Keep an eye out if towing or carrying a load.

Joined: 09 Dec 2009 Location: Brisbane

I was told about that problem from ARB at Cabolture when i first brought the car and got support brakets fitted. Have never had a problem.