2002 Ford Ranger problems
NHTSA has received 449 complaints about the 2002 Ford Ranger, and 11% of them involve cruise control. After that come body & structure (11%) and engine (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 449 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Cruise control 11% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 53 and 17
- Injuries and deaths
- 46 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 57,000 miles 293 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 62 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 46 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 43 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 29 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 31 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 28 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 16 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 18 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 7 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 6 |
| 200k+ miles | 7 |
What the data shows
Among the 293 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 57,000 miles. For cruise control specifically, the median reported mileage is about 65,000 miles (21 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 53 complaints mention a crash; 17 complaints mention a fire; 46 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 80% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 9th most-complained-about out of 28 model years of the Ford Ranger with enough data (244 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
2002 ford ranger pickup traveling on the highway when the left rear tire began to bounce and then the tread beagn to separate. Driver lost control of the vehicle, resulting in loss of control then overturning.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford ranger. The contact stated that the driver was traveling 30 MPH when the vehicle began to steer veer to the left. The driver crashed into a tree. The driver was killed from the impact and sustained severe injuries. The air bag did deploy. The fatal injuries to the driver were caused by the impact from the air bag. A police report was filed of the incident. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.
My son was driving his ford ranger xl 2002 when due to a pedestrian, the car in front of him slammed on their brakes causing my son to rear end them. Snowy weather was a factor. The brakes didn't catch as they should have. His airbags blew up, not deploy- blew up and caught fire! The steering wheel blew up! Extensive damage occurred to the steering column steering wheel and dashboard components. The starter went out and the truck would not start. Insurance deemed the truck totaled.
While pulling up to a security gate when I applied the brakes the vehicle accelerated. And I ran into the gate. I could not stop. Don't know why this happened
The 2002 ford ranger was coming to a complete stop at about 3 MPH, when all of a sudden the truck accelerated really high. I threw the gear selector into neutral and it continued to race but the wheels were no longer spinning, I hit the gas pedal and then threw it back into drive with no further problems. This is very concerning and I need help please. Thank you.