Travel - Bakkie

New Bakkie October 2015

Like all my high-visibility pages, this page has been revamped to reflect the changing times.

The Purchase

I bought a new Ford Ranger 2.2L Diesel 4x4 XLS Double Cab bakkie (pickup) on 17 October 2015. I took delivery of it on 22 October 2015.

On a trip to Namibia during June 2015, I drove a hired version of this vehicle for very close to 2000km. During those kilometers, I felt that my 1994 2.2L petrol Toyota Hilux 4x4 Double Cab was in need of replacement. The comfort, power and fuel economy were more than enough incentive for me to look into replacing the Hilux.

The hired bakkie near Diaz Point, Lüderitz

On returning to Pretoria from the Namibia trip, I thought about going to a dealer for a couple of weeks. Then when I heard that a new range of Ford Rangers was due to be released, I decided to visit a dealership to find out what kind of offers were available on the model to be replaced. The first dealer offered less than 7% discount on the retail price at the time, so I was not too interested...

I did not think about the purchase too seriously for while, until I met Rudi in a pub one afternoon. He had just bought a new Ford Ecosport and got a very good deal from a salesaman (who I shall call George for anonimity) at Ford dealer in the north of Pretoria, and suggested I see what he had to offer. George came up with a price marginally better than the first dealer, but could offer the 3.2L XLT double cab (with an option pack) for less than the 2.2L XLS model! I was tempted, but I am not too fond of shiny chrome finishes, and the higher fuel consumption put me off somewhat.

I chatted to Pat about it, and we both felt that the price was still too high, so we would think about it for the week that the quote was valid. However, George took the matter out of my hands the next morning. He phoned to say they had a pre-registered 2.2L XLS on the floor which they were willing to let go for 15% off the list price. (Pre-registered: the vehicle had been registered, but the prospective owner had not gone through with the purchase. The dealership could then not sell it as a new vehicle, even though it had not left their warehouse.) This now became a bargain as the extra discount would pay for the canopy and rubberising of the load-box. I went to have a look at it and when I saw 37km on the odometer, and the right colour, I knew this was it. I spoke to Pat and she didn't even hesitate — she said go for it. The next morning, I signed the offer to purchase.

Taking delivery

Canopy

When travelling in Africa, a canopy is a necessity to stop pilfering. I had an aluminium canopy fitted by a local company, Blinkgat Products.

In my driveway after fitting the canopy

4x4 course

A very nice bonus from Ford was that they gave you a free 4x4 course with the purchase of a new vehicle. This course, run by de Rust Outdoor (no longer in business), was really worth the effort, as you got to grips with the elctronics controlling the 4x4 system on the vehicle. The obstacle course was well designed to give you a feel for handling the vehicle under many different off-road driving conditions.

One of the vehicles on the 4x4 circuit at de Rust

The experience gained with using these controls was very useful on the Naauwpoort 4x4 Trail at Ohrigstad Dam Nature Reserve.

Issues

Several of the issues mentioned here were not found in the Ranger XLS that I drove in Namibia.

  • With a cold engine, there is very little power in second gear, unless the revs are higher than 2500 rpm. I dislike revving engines that high in the lower gears. Once the engine reaches optimum temperature, there is no problem.
  • I really do hate the computer controlled anti-stall mechanism. I usually use engine compression to slow the vehicle down on a downhill when offroad. In first gear, this works as expected. However, in second gear, the computer often decides the engine is going to stall and opens the throttle. This is scary and downright dangerous.
  • After the first trip on a poor dirt road (slightly more than 1 km from the tar to the Blinkgat workshops and back again), a very bad rattle developed under the load-box. This got progressively worse, even on highways. This was sorted out within five minutes at the CMH Ford workshop — a loose nut on the top of the rear shock absorbers. According to the workshop manager, there was a problem with one of the torque wrenches at the factory (This begs the question, why was this not checked during the pre-delivery inspection/service?).

Conclusions

In spite of the issues mentioned, I really do think this is a super vehicle to drive, especially when comparing it with my old Hilux. To me the power difference is is amazing, especially on the highway. Gadgets, like cruise control and the hands-free kit for a phone are lovely toys - just a pity the vehicle has to be on to play with them. I actually got better fuel consumption with town driving than from my Corolla!

It's wider than the Hilux, so getting in and out of the garage is a bit tricky. I also have to take it out of the garage if I want to work at the workbench. There is too little space to get around it.

28 April 2016 (updated 31 October 2026)

Updates

Over the years, I have done several modifications and added items to make life easier, especially when camping.

Mudflaps

One thing I found rather strange was the lack of front mud flaps on an expensive vehicle like the XLS, especially as the things are so cheap (less than R400 for a pair at the time). These were standard issue on 3.2L variants of the Ranger. With 4x4 driving, mud tends to get thrown up quite excessively by the front wheels. This can cause a huge mess along the cab.

Fitted mudflaps, with some of the mud stopped

28 April 2016

Pictograms

I dislike pictograms describing what an item does. I have added short descriptions of the buttons on the dashboard to remind me what they mean.

Labels on the switches controlling the some of the traction control features.

28 April 2016

Bluetooth failure

On an occasion, the vehicle lost its bluetooth connection and try as I may, I could not get it activated again (including a Master Reset).

The only way I could find to re-establish the bluetooth connection, was to disconnect the battery for a couple of minutes.

This hard reset did the trick, and the only thing I found that was not working properly was the auto-close on the driver's window. This is easily restored — after you close the window hold the button up for a few seconds and the auto-close will be reactivated.

19 September 2020

Phone Mounts

As the Ranger is still old school, without a built-in Android Auto-type display, it is necessary to have some kind of mounting device for a GPS or phone. I have tried many different mounts over the years and most do not last. These two are worth trying in an older vehicle:

24 October 2026

Seat cover

The driver's seat has become a bit worn after ten years.

26 July 2025

Rooftop storage bag

I dislike towing anything, so the Roofi storage bag was a perfect alternative.

6 March 2023

Slider

Ray built a load-box slider for me — what a treat.

30 April 2021

Checking the oil

Checking the oil levels is not as trivial as inspecting the dipstick when refuelling.

12 July 2019

Bumper bashing

I had to replace the rear bumper after a reversing incident. During this exercise, I also decided to install a reverse camera.

3 October 2017

Pollen filter

A How To on replacing the pollen filter.

This How To was updated after the bakkie's second service, when the pollen filter was supposed to have been replaced.

13 August 2017

Load-box storage basket

The CargoLoc Storage Basket is very useful for stopping the groceries from sliding around in the load-box.

12 November 2016