Our Ranger was again left in the care of Lev Stark, our vice president of corporate development. And Lev again treated our truck to daily runs up and down the 405 freeway, one of southern California's loveliest blocked arteries.

After sitting for a while and then a bit more everyday, Lev had the courage to rail against the Ranger's seats with vehemence approached only by technical editor Scott Memmer, who drove the truck last winter. Lev's rant goes as follows: "I didn't want to say it at first because I thought it may seem trivial, but it is driving me crazy. THE SEATS OFFER CRAPPY COMFORT. Were the designers at Ford absent from car-building school on the day ergonomics were being taught as an important design feature? There. It's off my chest now. Spending 45 minutes a day stuck on the 405 in this vehicle has allowed my chiropractor to buy his wife a new Jag."

Lev then turned upon the Ranger's racy flareside bed. "The flareside might look cool when viewing this truck's profile, but a view from the rear might make a reasonable person think that our truck had cosmetic surgery that went awfully wrong. It looks like someone liposucked its tush but forgot its thunder thighs." Besides offending his aesthetic sensibilities, the tailored bed design reduces the hauling space, thus undermining the functionality that trucks are supposed to have.

After criticizing the red truck, Lev attempted to ply the Ranger with praise for its elevated driving position. "With all of the monster SUVs in Tinseltown, you'd better be in a truck, or your own SUV, or something like a Diablo (that is so low that you can see under the monsters in front of you), if you want to be able to see anything while you're in traffic."

How did the Ranger respond to his lightened tone? It seems that our truck tried to slip away so as to end the conversation altogether. Sort of. Lev reports that the Ranger began drifting slightly to the right. At first, he attributed such behavior to the incline of the road. Then, it seemed that the Ranger really did try to wander off. "After a few controlled tests, it's clear that the car needs some sort of alignment."

And we still need to repair the driver's side breakaway mirror that no longer breaks away.

Current Odometer: 28,308
Best Fuel Economy: 16.1 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 14.0 mpg
Body Damage: $0
Maintenance Costs: $0
Problems: Pulling to the right - may need alignment.