The car market right now may be , but some prices are still absurd enough to elicit genuine shock and horror. Usually, though, those prices are limited to or . Now a new player has entered those hallowed high-price halls: .
The truck, for the most part, seems to be in good shape. Some photos appear to have been taken from aboard a pogo stick, but there’s enough detail to show well-preserved seats and not one but two layers of floor mats protecting the carpet.
There’s no hiding, however, that this is a twelve year old pickup truck. The bedliner has scrapes and rips, and the keys are filthy and worn. It’s not even four-wheel-drive! If you want a two-wheel-drive Ford pickup for $23,000, you can still buy one new. It’s called the Maverick, and it includes a warranty.
You really need the longer bed of the Ranger? Fine, a new XL starts at just two and a half grand more than this, again, twelve year old truck. You could spend that difference very quickly in labor costs, chasing down vacuum leaks in decade-old rubber hoses.
This Ranger is in Tampa, where it’s likely lived a life free of road salt, but CarMax has similar trucks around the country for equally baffling prices. There’s one in , with lower mileage but more harsh upstate (or, if you want to get technical, western NY) winters. Greenville, SC has with over 100,000 miles. These are new-truck prices, creeping in on new-Ranger pricing, for decade-old used cars.
The used car market may be absurd right now, but that doesn’t justify these sorts of absurd small-truck prices. If you’re in the market for a pickup, consider holding off until shortages cool down. Or, if you can’t wait, the Maverick is right there.