Many tradesmen and technicians work in and around urban areas, so the two pedal option is  attractive because these vehicles are often used as family transport after hours and on weekends.
Unlike passenger vehicles which have a maximum lease period of 45 months, light commercials can be leased up to 60 months which means their initial setup costs can be amortised by the company over a longer period. This is a great benefit to companies who outfit their Utes with canopies, roof racks, tow bars, racking, winches and other items which make them a “tool of trade” vehicle.
Back in April 2009, Ford New Zealand released a “new” Ranger series which was essentially a major face lift of the previous model line of 4x2 and 4x4 diesel Utes with the addition of a new hero model the gussied up fully-optioned 4x4 Ranger Wildtrak.
However for this review we decided upon the 4x2 Ranger XLT double cab automatic which arrived with the optional running boards fitted and the standard black vinyl clip on cover for the wellside tray.
Under the bonnet is a 3.0 litre inline four cylinder diesel that is matched to a five-speed automatic transmission which made life in the urban commute a great deal easier. The gear change is crisp and smooth and the diesel engine is surprisingly refined for a light commercial vehicle. The Ranger auto will happily cruise along at the legal limit on the motorway consuming fuel at 10.4L/100km.
The Ranger XLT cabin is as comfortable for five people as any SUV with manual air conditioning, six-disc CD stereo, cloth seats, cup and bottle holders, an aux plug for an iPod or MP3 player and electrically operated mirrors and windows.   
However the load space of the Ranger is not compromised such as some other double cab utilities. The double skinned wellside found behind the cab has a length of 1530mm, a width of 1456mm while the walls are 465mm deep and the load height from the ground to the tailgate when in the dropped down position is 805mm.   
The overall vehicle length is 5165mm long so care is required when trying to park the Ranger double cab at the supermarket or in the garage at home. It’s longer than your average family saloon and although the handling is almost car-like, care also needs to be taken as the leaf sprung rear suspension of the Ranger can be lively and step out of line when the power comes on, especially when cornering on wet roads.
As you would expect from a leaf sprung setup the ride quality improves measurably with a load in the tray of the wellside body or when the Ranger hitched to a heavy trailer. The Ranger 4x2 double cab automatic has a gross payload of 1114kg with a maximum braked towing weight of 2500kg which is enough for a small boat, caravan or even a horse float. It’s an automatic choice for Tradies.

Specifications
Body type Double cab Utility
Drive Rear-wheel-drive 
Engine Type Inline four-cylinder turbo diesel
Engine Capacity 2953cc
Max power 115kW @ 3200 rpm
Max torque 380Nm @ 1800 rpm
Fuel Consumption 10.4L/100km
C02 emission 271g/km
0 to 100kph N/a
Front suspension Double wishbone
Rear suspension Elliptic leaf springs

Roof Rack N/a
ABS Brakes Yes
Air Bags 4
ESP No
Air Conditioning Manual
Lap/diagonal belts 5
Satellite Navigation No
Electric seats No
Burglar Alarm Yes 
Panic Button No
Boot release N/a
Cargo Cover Yes
Boot Capacity N/a
Wheel type 16-inch Alloy
Spare Tyre Full size
Through Life Cost Report
36 months 60,000km
Price $48,990.00
WOF $90.00
Registration $673.38
Servicing to 75k $2640.00
Total Tyre cost $787.52
Residual (45%) $22,045.50
Indicative final figure $31,135.40