The 2024 Ford Ranger had a tough time getting out of the gate. Announced in the U.S. last May, planned to reach dealers in late summer and fall of 2023, units didn't reach dealer lots until April of this year. One of the special features on the Ranger Raptor made that one extra special trouble, an automaker spokesperson telling Ford Authority in April, "[The] Ranger Raptor launch team spotted a cosmetic issue on the hood of the truck that made it appear as though there was a dent. The team moved quickly to add handling aids to provide support for the hood throughout the manufacturing process and made design changes to stiffen the character lines." A little more than 90 days later, Cars Direct reports that order banks will be closing for the 2024 Ranger Raptor. The source is a dealer bulletin with the news, "We are announcing the decision to turn off the ability to submit new retail orders for the 24MY Ranger Raptor... the final day to submit new retail orders for the 24MY Ranger Raptor will be Wednesday, July 31st, 2024."
Every Ranger flavor seems to be popular, the XLT and Lariat proving especially trying for those who custom order. A thread at the Ranger6G forum called "Order Tracker Status" is up to 57 pages of replies, many of them from posters either waiting on trucks they ordered as far back as a year ago or posters who canceled orders and bought out of dealer inventory. Another forum member started a more recent thread asking how long other members are having to wait for pickups they've ordered. This one has just two pages of replies, but only a few respondents got their trucks anywhere close to the predicted timeline. Here again, the rest say they're waiting on custom orders placed months or a year ago, and advise the thread starter to find a Ranger on a lot. Based on those answers, that's what the thread starter did.
The situation with the Ranger Raptor is especially bad, parts suppliers for the hi-po variant unable able to satisfy Ford's demand. Cars Direct says that out of roughly 8,000 Ranger units in inventory, only 500 are Raptors. And Ford, having fallen so far behind, explained in its bulletin that the automaker isn't sure it will be able to fulfill dealer allocations for the 2024 Ranger Raptor, a shortfall that "[plays] a significant role in the ability to schedule customer retail orders."
Order banks for the 2024 Ranger XL, XLT, and Lariat will remain open. Best to stay flexible about the delivery date, though.
