2023 Ford Ranger build: 14,000km update

With 14,000km on the clock and a highway trip to Sydney coming up we thought it time to put the Ranger in for its 12-month/15,000km service.

The dashboard was also telling us that the oil needed to be changed so best get it done before we hit the road. There were also a couple of non-urgent recalls we could attend to while it was there. The fixed-price service cost was $400 and there were no extras on top of that.

Most of the recalls centred around pre-collision cameras, blind spot indicators and sensor upgrades, which were all taken care of. One we hadn’t heard about was related to the standard LED headlights, which in some cases had water leaking into them and required sealing up.

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We hadn’t found this problem on our example and the techs at Chadstone Ford said they weren’t leaking, but they still sealed them up to make sure that the problem wouldn’t surface in the future. All up it was a good experience for us from the dealer.

The Ranger remains a great highway touring vehicle. It is comfortable, easy to spend long hours driving and the Apple CarPlay keeps the tunes rolling, and shows the predicted ETA to our destination.

While the modifications and accessories we’ve fitted to the Ranger are all focused on improving all-road touring capabilities, they do nothing positive for highway use and this is something that anyone equipping a vehicle should consider.

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The mud terrain tyres are great out on the High Country tracks but add noise and increase fuel consumption on the highway. The same can be said for the roof racks, and while they are not noticeably noisy, they do create a minor issue when using the hands-free phone, as the microphone is mounted in the roof lining where it is affected by the wind noise.

This was brought to our attention the first time we used the phone on the highway after fitting the racks, and it was something we’ve seen other Ranger owners comment on online. A person on the other end of the call reported that the noise dropped off when speeds were reduced when coming into town or traffic, which obviously related to the wind noise from above.

We’ve recently added the Boss Aluminium awning up on the Rola Racks and it doesn’t seem to have changed the sound emanating from up there.

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With all this extra equipment adding weight and creating wind resistance, the Ranger likes a drink on the highway. With the cruise control set for the speed limit up the Hume, and after resetting the trip computer at the start of the trip, it showed an average of 14L/100km heading north, while the return leg showed 13.7L/100km – maybe there was a northerly wind on the way home.

The most annoying part of that is getting less than 600km from a tank before having to stop and refill on the trip. This Ranger certainly could benefit from a long range tank.

Aside from this gripe we’re still loving the Ranger and we have a few more things still to be fitted.