Pick-Up STX: Ford Adds Appearance Package to Ranger
Seizing the opportunity to introduce another appearance package instead of building the Raptor version that everyone wants, Ford has introduced a new STX Special Edition Package on the 2021 Ranger.
Suits at the Blue Oval assert that roughly three-quarters of Ranger customers have appended appearance packages to their new trucks, making such additions to the order sheet an easy (and profitable) decision. Externally, the STX Special Appearance Package adds 18-inch black-painted wheels wrapped in meats sized 265/60 from an as-yet indeterminate supplier (zoom in and you’ll see the brand’s been scrubbed).
Inside, the package endows Ranger with a jazzy 8-inch center touch screen featuring satellite radio and Apple toys, dual-zone climate control, silver-painted interior accents, and privacy glass with rear defrost.
“Ranger customers are asking for new options to help make their trucks their own and we hear them,” explained a talking head from Ford marketing. “STX has been a strong seller on the base Ranger, but we’ve heard from some customers who want even more style and more tech in their XL trucks.”
It’s worth noting that fitting a Ranger with this STX Special Edition kit requires selection of the existing STX Appearance Package which bestows fog lamps, tow hooks, and slightly snazzier seats to Ford’s littlest pickup. Doing so adds $2,130 to the sticker price of a base Ranger XL since it forces one to also fit Equipment Group 101A that features the likes of cruise control and power mirrors.
In other words, this new $995 option will balloon the bottom line by well over three grand. This is good news for investors who like to see ever-climbing average transaction prices but bad news for anyone looking to keep a lid on payments. A no-options Ace of Base truck starts at $24,410.
Elsewhere in the Ranger wheelhouse, a Tremor off-road package was added earlier this year to tide over Blue Oval gearheads who were hoping for a Ranger Raptor before the next-gen truck arrives a couple of years from now. Those hopes continue to dim since, in addition to the Tremor, Ford is also exuberantly pushing a triumvirate of off-road performance packages bearing the designations of Levels 1 through 3.
[Images: Ford]
Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.
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Ford is experiencing success with lower cost Rangers. Not unexpected with Ranger as buyers with more cash move up to full size. Adding appeal to these entry level Rangers is a smart move by Ford.
I recently sold my 17 Golf and leased a truck. I’m not a truck person, but I wanted something different. I don’t tow, camp or hunt or fish, nor do I off-road. I drove a used Ram V8 4x4 crew cab and it was wonderful, but it was huge and I don’t need that much truck. I don’t like GM, so Colorado/ Canyon were out. Tacoma still looks and behaves like the 2002 my brother had, see also Nissan Frontier. So I was down to the Ford camp and Honda Ridgeline. Ford has done this STX package on F150, so I drove a supercab STX 4x4 ( 2wd is a curse word for pickups in western PA). It wasn’t terrible, the 2.7 makes good power, the 10 speed auto is busy but works. The truck didn’t feel or look bad, nor did it look cheap or work truck-ish in STX trim. But I just didn’t need or want that much truck and the rear hinged supercab doors would be a pain in most parking lots. You never forgot you were driving a large truck. Ranger was ok, but I could paid nearly the same for the Ranger on lease (or buy) as I would have with an F150 because of incentives. Coming out of a VW into a Ranger, the Rangers interior looked and felt cheap, wasn’t particularly roomy or comfortable. The ride was bouncy, not something I wanted for my occasional 4 hour highway drives. This STX 4x4 crew cab package was minimally equipped and still 34k. It’s not crank windows and no air like it was in the day, but it’s still not what , in my mind, a 34k vehicle is supposed to be. That’s about 4K too high really and it only gets worse from there in XLT or Lariat trim. Ranger below 35k is a decent value, above that is BS. So, I have a Ridgeline lease on the RTLE trim, which lacks nothing and gives me versatile “truck” I wanted without being too truckish. It’s a suburban dad truck and I’m fine with it.