Ford Ranger Platinum
Month three in the Ford Ranger Platinum was not as smooth as the previous two months.
During the first month, I realised that it was very difficult for other bakkies to compete with this one in terms of comfort and luxury, and after driving the Nissan Navara Pro 4x Warrior and Toyota Hilux Legend 55, that realisation rings even more true now.
In month two, I pitted the Ranger Platinum against the BYD Shark 6 — which is the only bakkie that can compete with it in terms of luxury, technology and comfort — and concluded that the Ranger is excellent value for money even when compared to the cheaper Shark 6.
This is where the honeymoon period ends.
I was about to embark on a journey from Linbro Park to Springs when I stopped to fill up.
The petrol attendant informed me that the fuel door was locked, so I tried to unlock the car again. When that didn’t work, I looked for the manual release, but it was nowhere to be found.
I had to take the car back home and get another one, but I was worried I might not be able to fill it with fuel. The Ford team advised me to take it to the nearest dealership, and the problem would be sorted.
I thought it would be a quick fix because the door was just jammed, but Fury Ford in Woodmead told me it would have to order a new fuel door and replace the current one.
I first needed a booking, which took four days to secure, and then the dealership kept the car for a week while they replaced the door.
I was also not aware that this particular Ranger Platinum was part of a batch that had been recalled due to a loss of brake boost. The dealership had also sorted this out.
I started doubting the vehicle and wondered whether it was just my luck or whether these minor issues are common in these models.
I did some research and found that this issue was not very common. It was just a handful of people who reported problems with a jammed fuel door, so then I knew that it was just my luck.
However, that did take two weeks of driving the car away from me this month, so any potential exciting things that I wanted to do with the Ranger Platinum had to be put on hold.
Luckily, I still have the car for two more months, and hopefully that minor issue is the last one.