Any editing done to the images was just to text and done by myself. See below for TLDR.

I found this 4.0L RWD 2004 Ford Ranger with 111,702 miles on it. The regular cab is the right configuration for me, and the 4.0L V6 is great and I will still be getting better gas mileage than I am now. It was a fleet vehicle which is comforting because to me that means it was taken care of more than a careless owner may have. According to the CARFAX it seems as though it was a commercial vehicle for the first three owners from 2004-2014. Cosmetically it appears to be in great shape but with no bed liner. I live 13 hours away from the dealership and so I had the dealership bring the truck in to a repair shop different than the one they recommended and had a pre-purchase inspection done.

I have the carfax report which reveals that it was purchased in PA and used in NJ for two-three years as a commericial vehicle, during which time there was an accident reported which I have no information about. The shop that did the inspection did not see anything major and it may have just been the scratch on tailgate from backing into something (car or otherwise). The second owner purchased it and shortly thereafter sold it to the third owner in CT, who owned it for over seven years from 2007-2014 as a commercial vehicle. The 4th owner used the vehicle for less than a year in CT and it was then purchased in 2015 by the 5th owner in the state it currently resides in, who held it from 2015-2017 and was sold at an auto auction. The sixth owner purchased it in 2018 and a lien was reported and then sold at an auction in 2020 to the dealership, who has had the truck for 3 months now.

Pros:
4L V6
7ft Regular Cab
lack of major mechanical work required
body color
lack of substantial body damage
interior in good condition
good dealership reviews

Cons:
surface rust may be too substantial and cause issues in near future
front tires require replacing
valve and seal leaks
no bedliner

$6k is the top range of the KBB value for this vehicle. The repair shop that had the inspection done quoted fixing the valve issues for $440, so if you include replacing the front tires you could say its value is closer to $5k. It seems difficult to find a decent regular cab Ranger with the 4.0L V6 (pre-2011). Somebody has also pointed out to me that the rust has already claimed one of the spring hangers, but I am not familiar with these kinds of things and don't know if that means it is damaged or missing, how serious it is, and if it is indicative of extreme rush that will mean a premature usable lifespan for the truck.

TLDR; Truck looks great and the 4L V6 is a huge plus, but wondering if the surface rust is age appropriate or should be a dealbreaker.

 

I don't see enough rust to bother me, and those oil "SEEPS" they mention can't be very bad because the bottom of the truck doesn't look oil soaked.

But I am just going off the pictures, I'd want to see it in person first, A 26 hour round trip would stop me from buying or looking at it.


Not sure why you're trying to hide it's location, it wasn't hard to find that truck with all the info you gave.

 

The rust wouldn't bother me, but the radio bezel sure does, that looks like 300,000 mile wear not 111,000, lol
I usually look at the brake and gas pedal wear to guess miles, new brake or gas pedal pads means walk away

2004 Ranger has digital dash to prevent odometer tampering and if Car Fax shows miles then its probably OK

If you get this Ranger then I would plan on changing the two long chain tensioners, not hard to do and, IMO, should be changed every 100k miles or so on the 4.0l SOHC engines
The downside of long chain tensioner failing is that you have to pull out the engine to repair it, so steep downside