2002 Ford Ranger at 57,000 miles
You did not give a mileage, so this uses 57,000 — the median reported failure mileage for this model year, which is a rough stand-in for “a typical example of this car”. Put your real reading in the box below for an answer about your car.
At 57,000 miles on this car
At 57,000 miles on a 2002 Ford Ranger, 31 of the failure modes other owners have reported already have their median report at or below your reading, and 4 more fall inside the window where they are usually reported. The heaviest of the ones already due is other speed control problem.
Already past the median 31
Half of all reports of these failures came in at or below where your car is now.
- Other speed control problem 37k
- Other engine problem 18k
- Other wheel or tire problem 35k
- Differential or transfer case failure 50k
- Other electrical problem 55k
- Manual clutch or hydraulics failure 1k
- Airbag failed to deploy in a crash 35k
- Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault 1
- CV axle or driveshaft failure 57k
- Other brake problem 41k
- Oil leak 7k
- Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure 54k
19 more.
You are in the window 4
Your reading falls inside the middle half of reports for these.
Typically later 12
Reported further down the road than where you are.
- Thermostat failure 72k
- Other lighting problem 75k
- Shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure 80k
- Rust or structural corrosion 83k
- Wheel bearing or hub failure 86k
- ABS module or sensor failure 88k
- Other body or interior problem 97k
- Other fuel system problem 100k
- Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure 105k
- No-start or intermittent start failure 140k
- Heater core failure 150k
- Engine bay fire 250k
Timing unknown 7
Reported, but too few owners gave an odometer reading to place them.
- Air conditioning failure 3×
- Strut, shock or spring failure 2×
- Wiper or washer failure 2×
- Stalling while driving 1×
- Lifter, cam or cylinder-deactivation failure 1×
- Radiator or coolant leak 1×
- Transmission slipping 1×
Why the list is generic until you type a number
Every figure below is a comparison against your odometer, so with no reading given the page has to pick one: 57,000 miles, roughly what a 2002 car covers at 12,000 miles a year. A reading 30,000 miles either side of that moves failures between the columns, which is the difference between a useful list and a generic one.
Already inside the reported range
31 failure modes on the 2002 Ford Ranger have a median reported mileage at or below 57,000: other speed control problem (median 35,000 miles, 33 reports), other engine problem (median 20,000 miles, 27 reports), other wheel or tire problem (median 35,000 miles, 24 reports), differential or transfer case failure (median 50,000 miles, 21 reports), other electrical problem (median 55,000 miles, 15 reports) and manual clutch or hydraulics failure (median 1,100 miles, 10 reports).
These are the ones worth mentioning to a mechanic by name at the next service. Being past a median is not being overdue — it means the reports cluster below where you are now, so if the failure was going to be typical, it would already have happened.
The window you are in now
4 further modes are reported in a band that includes 57,000 miles: cruise control failure (36k to 70,000 miles), seat belt or retractor failure (26k to 85,000 miles), other powertrain problem (39k to 100,000 miles) and other suspension problem (45k to 125,000 miles). These are the ones to watch on this car over the next few thousand miles.
A window here is the 25th to 75th percentile of reported mileages, so it holds the middle half of the reports and excludes the tails on both sides.
Still ahead of you
12 further modes sit above your reading, the nearest being thermostat failure at a median of 70,000 miles. On a car you intend to keep, these are the ones that decide whether it is worth keeping.
What this list is not
It is a reading of what owners of other 2002 Ford Rangers reported, and at what odometer reading they reported it. It is not a maintenance schedule, not a diagnosis, and not a prediction about this car: two identical cars with different service histories are not the same car.
Complaints are filed voluntarily, mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers, and a failure mode with few reports has a wide window even when the median looks precise. Modes with fewer than 8 dated reports are shown without percentiles for that reason.
Where 57,000 miles falls on the curve
The three columns above sort the failure modes one by one. This is the same evidence in aggregate: every dated report on this model year, stacked up in the order the odometer readings arrived. The dashed line marked you is where your car sits. How much of the line is to the left of that mark is how much of this model year's reported trouble is, on the evidence, already behind you.
About 45% of the dated reports on this model year had already been filed by 57,000 miles. That is the share of the problems that show up in this record, not of the problems this car will have. A further 7 reports came in above the top of the scale, which is why the line stops short of the top.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the mileages called out above
A steep early climb means a car whose reports cluster young, which is the pattern of a defect rather than of wear. A line that only gets going past six figures is the opposite. Neither shape says anything about the specific car in your driveway, and a curve built from a few dozen readings can be moved by one owner with a talkative afternoon.
Full report for the 2002 Ford Ranger Compare with another car
Questions this page answers
What should I expect at 57,000 miles on a 2002 Ford Ranger?
31 of the failure modes owners have reported on the 2002 Ford Ranger have a median report at or below 57,000 miles, and 4 more fall inside the mileage window where they are usually reported. That is a watch list drawn from other owners, not a prediction about this car.
How to use the three columns. The left column is the list to hand a mechanic before you buy, and to check the service history for if you already own the car. The middle column is what to budget for this year. The right column is not a reprieve — it is a reminder that a used car has a bill schedule, and this is roughly where it falls. All of it is drawn from 449 owner complaints about this exact model year, not from a maintenance manual. How the percentiles are computed.
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed