Your questions answered: Is the new Ford Ranger really that good?

The ute market is booming these days and it’s also had a fair crack at clogging our virtual mailbox over the past few weeks.

Our readers have all sorts of queries about utes, from whether the Ford Ranger is really any good to the imminent arrival of electric load luggers.

In true ute style, we’re getting down and dirty with the answers.

We’re also looking into discounts on new cars and whether three-door hatchbacks will ever make a comeback.

Question:

Answer: Short answer: Yes, the new Ranger is worth the extra spend. You can almost justify it purely on features and how it drives compared with others currently on the ute market. It’s the first ute that feels as though it has some SUV thinking and has levels of comfort and refinement others don’t come close to.

But the liveability runs deeper. It’s relatively affordable to run, for example, with decent fuel economy and servicing costs. Plus the predicted resale value from RedBook suggests it’ll pay you back when it comes time to sell.

Plus, if you’re looking to use it for work it’s one of the only utes to extend the unlimited kilometre part of the warranty to commercial use.

So, if you can stretch the budget we reckon it’s worth it.

Oh, and by the way, we do plenty of battling ourselves here at carsales. It’s just that occasionally we pick our battles with a part of the household budget that doesn’t involve cars…

Question: Will we ever be able to get a discount on a new car again? I love a good haggle but on a recent shopping expedition I was struggling to get much taken off the standard price. It seems like some of the ‘sport’ of vehicle shopping has been lost. – Mahan T

Answer: No one knows for sure when widespread discounts will return, but early signs are suggesting we’ve gone through the worst of the vehicle shortage pain.

We’re already starting to see retail offers creep back into the market on some models – and many luxury brands have been offering discounts on selected models throughout the pandemic.

Remember that the retail new car environment works on supply and demand. If a car-maker has lots more cars than buyers it tries to turn more people into buyers by sweetening the deal. That sweetening can come from a straight discount, an extended warranty, free servicing or additional features.

We’d expect some brands to resist the straight discounting route in the short term. It turns out selling cars at close to their retail price is far more profitable than shaving thousands off the price – so it’s a scenario those in the industry would obviously love to see continue.

Question: Is there any news on the GWM Ute update coming to Australia, or perhaps a larger-engine GWM Ute for this market? – Phil K

Answer: There’s a heap going on in China with the GWM Ute (or utes). The company has revealed some beefier engines for the car sold here as the Cannon Ute. They include a 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6, 2.4-litre turbo-diesel and a 2.0-litre petrol hybrid set-up – each of which sounds like a step up from the undernourished 2.0-litre turbo-diesel sold here (which still sells in big numbers, thanks to a sharp price).

There’s also a longer wheelbase version of the same ute, known as the King Kong Cannon.

GWM is also working on a larger pick-up to compete with the big American utes like the RAM 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado (most Chinese utes are mid-sizers, similar to the size of a HiLux or Ranger).

It makes sense given the growth in large pick-up truck sales locally. RAM currently leads the market while Chevrolet is chasing hard. Ford will enter the Aussie market with the Ford F-150 in 2023 while Toyota Australia has announced its intention to trial a local conversion of the Toyota Tundra with the view to selling it as early as 2024.

As for which will arrive in Australia, that’s still to be decided. GWM Australia says it is evaluating all of the above, which sounds promising. At the very least we’d expect to see one or more of the new engines in an updated version of the current ute as well as the long-wheelbase model.

It could be tougher to mount a business case for the larger pick-up given the much lower sales volumes in Australia. That said, if GWM could get it out of the factory with the steering wheel on the right it would give it an instant pricing (and profit) advantage over the American ones that are currently converted from left- to right-hand drive locally. It would also make a big statement for a brand on the sales-up.

Question: I would buy one [of GWM’s Chrysler PT Cruiser lookalikes in China], especially if it had ‘suicide doors’ making getting in/out easier. – Brian H

Answer: It’s certainly an interesting machine – there’s even some classic Volkswagen Beetle design cues in there, although there’s also a lot going on!

As for fitting it with suicide (or rear-hinged) doors, there is an argument that it would make things easier for occupants (Rolls-Royce uses them these days), but there are also engineering challenges, such as how to easily reach the door from the inside once it’s open and ensuring it isn’t caught by the wind rushing by the car at 100km/h.

That’s why most cars settle for the tried-and-tested front-hinged doors.

Question: When will prices of used 4x4s get back to being reasonable? I’m looking to take the family on an adventure through Western Australia and the Northern Territory but am currently struggling to find a car within our budget. – Bob D

Answer: The used car market is fairly simple in its fundamentals, which rely on supply and demand. If lots of people want one particular type of car then prices rise. The bit that’s tricky to work out is why the demand suddenly booms on certain types of vehicles.

There’s no doubt 4WDs are hot property these days, in part because we’ve spent two years holidaying at home – and realised it’s not a bad joint to look around.

The used car market is also tied to the new car market and it’s no secret that manufacturers haven’t been able to keep up with demand for new off-roaders.

While there’s still plenty of demand, it seems the worst of the 4WD peak may have passed. While we can’t say for sure, we’d expect prices to ease in 2023.

That said, good quality used cars will probably still sell for solid prices.

Make sure you set up carsales alerts on the cars you’re interested in so you’ll be notified when cars pop up in your price range.

Question: When will we see an electric ute in Australia? I need a ute for work but I don’t have to do big kilometres, so an electric ute would work really well. – Quade P

Answer: There’s certainly loads of interest in electric utes, especially in America, which is where so much of the EV ute action has been focused recently. Interest is also building in Australia, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the big car brands.

But EV utes represent a unique challenge. Many buy utes to tow up to 3.5 tonnes and cover big distances on the family holiday. Combine the two and you’ve got a big charging challenge because the charging infrastructure is simply not ready for that scenario right now (as a start, most chargers don’t make it easy to pull up if you’re towing).

That said, EV utes are coming. Our mail is that we’ll see at least one of the Chinese brands unleash an electric ute over the next six or so months.

We have very little info on it for now, but we wouldn’t be expecting it to have the capability most demand of a ute these days – plus it probably won’t be particularly cheap. All of which suggests that while it’ll fulfill some ute duties, it certainly won’t be for everyone.

Keep in mind there’s also the locally-converted Roev utes (Toyota HiLux converted to electric) due in 2023, although the price tag is likely to be around six figures.

Beyond that, there’s loads happening overseas and we’d expect at least some of the action to make it Down Under.

Ford looks set to offer a full-electric version of the new Ford Ranger, while a hybrid powertrain is also coming for the Blue Oval’s Aussie-developed ute.

The next-generation Toyota HiLux (due around 2025) is set to pick up a hybrid system too.

Question:

Answer: Yep, three-door hatchbacks have mostly disappeared from the market, both here and in Australia. Blame it on buyers (not you!). Sure, there are some who really don’t need those back seats, but the reality is most were happy to pay a little more (usually a grand or two) to make it easier to throw some luggage in the back or pile some friends aboard.

We wouldn’t be expecting car-makers to rush back to three-doors in a hurry. The market has spoken and most people say they want five doors. Sorry to be the bearer of bad hatch news.

Got a question but don’t know where to find the information you need? Email us at editor@carsales.com.au

Find more of Your Questions Answered by carsales here