A growing family is surely one of the big reasons most people shop for a new car.
Maybe they suddenly need seven seats, something a little more adventure-ready, or – like us – just something with a bit more room for the kaleidoscope of chaos that is packing for a family road trip.
Because I suddenly find myself in that same cohort. We welcomed out first bub in November last year, and among the many wonderful surprises — the staggering amount of toxic waste a human the size of a teddy bear can produce, how you’d trade a winning lotto ticket for a good night’s sleep, or how something so small can possibly be so eye-wateringly expensive — is the amount of stuff now required to leave the house for even a minute.
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In the before times, I reckon there was about 90 seconds between deciding to leave the house, and actually leaving it. These days, even with the most militant of scheduling, it’s more like 90 minutes.
Anyway, new bub, new car. On the list were the usual subjects – the ever-rarer wagon, mid-size SUVs, and even one or two large SUVs, the latter because we figured it would be future-proofing – alongside each and every powertrain option on the market, from full EV to plug-in hybrid, conventional hybrid or ICE.
What most definitely wasn’t on the list, though, was a diesel-powered dual-cab ute. It might be old-fashioned, but I still see them as a tool of the trade, and so using one as a lifestyle vehicle seemed to make as much sense as using a white van, or a B-double, for a family road trip.
But I’m ready to eat my words, presumably in the shape of a Chicko roll, because my new long-term test vehicle could have been custom-built for family transport. It is, as you’ve no doubt figured out, a Ford Ranger, and specifically the Platinum model.
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Now, there are A LOT of Rangers — eight grades and infinite body styles and engine types — but the Platinum sits right near the tippy top, below only the bananas Ranger Raptor in the line-up. And, just to get the hard news out of the way early, that makes it very, very not cheap.
In fact, it is a smidge under $90k on the road in NSW. This new era of near six-figure utes is just bewildering. But clearly people are buying them, so I’ll pick my jaw up off the floor and move on.
That money does buy you a lot of vehicle, to be fair. Under the bonnet is a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6, churning out 184kW and 600Nm. It’ll tow 3.5-tonnes and carry 912kg, including passengers and accessories. Which, if you’re playing along at home, means you definitely can’t grab one of those big-bulk bags of gravel from Bunnings, which I'm told are like 1000kg, as I found out to my dismay.
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Anyway, you also get all the good stuff, like 20-inch alloys, all LED lighting, a lined tub with a 400V outlet, a roller cover, a damped tailgate and the ridiculously useful step that allows you to reach the back of the tray.
Inside, there are leather seats (heated and ventilated up front) and a 12-inch central screen in portrait style with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a wireless charger. There’s a second 12.4-inch screen for the driver, too.
But lots of cars have all that stuff. What the Ranger offers that is a little more unique is space, and lots of it.
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To understand it, I want to paint you a picture of one of our road trips. There’s mum and dad up front, baby seat back window left, and dog seat back window right. Baby seats, if you don’t know, are about the size of the boulder that chased down Indy in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and in a lot of cars it touches the back of the front passenger seat, limiting the space up front. Not so in the Ranger, where there is clear air between the two.
Anyway, the point is that the backseat is largely off-limits for cargo, and so that leaves us just the boot, or in this case, the tray. And, albeit with some clever Tetris-style packing, the Ranger is the first vehicle we’ve had that can pretty easily carry everything we need, from prams to baths to travel cots and groceries.
Now, there are some downsides. Fuel use, even with A LOT of highway driving is around 11.5L per 100km. And diesel, as I’m sure you know, is expensive. As or right now, it’s $1.80 a litre, which it means it costs me about $20 for every 100 kays I travel.
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It also has the weirdest climate control I’ve ever used. I’m convinced there is a significant difference between the driver and passenger-side temperatures, even when set to the same degree. Plus, it’s like Ford has tuned its climate settings to Fahrenheit, because they make no sense to me. The dial set to 21 degrees, for example, is cold, but 21.5 degrees is hot. It’s weird.
And I’m certain wireless Apple CarPlay is still secretly in beta testing. It so rarely works flawlessly in any car, and nor does it in the Ranger, where the sound cuts out and requires an off-and-on restart of the car to start working again.
But the Ranger is supercar-like in the way it handles in-town duties, and is easy enough to park, too. It never feels overly big or cumbersome, and it’s equally comfortable for the day-to-day stuff, and the long-distance stuff.
Plus, it’s spacious. Or did I mention that already?
Acquired: April, 2025
Distance travelled this month: 1250km
Odometer: 4005km
Average fuel consumption this month: 11.5L/100km
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See more Ford Rangers for sale View cars for saleFord Ranger 2025: Platinum 3.0 (4X4)
| Engine Type | Diesel Turbo V6, 3.0L |
|---|---|
| Fuel Type | Diesel |
| Fuel Efficiency | 8.4L/100km (combined) |
| Seating | 5 |
| Price From | $70,290 - $80,740 |
| Safety Rating |
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