2024 Ford Ranger Platinum Review

For the first time since the late 1990s, the best-selling vehicle in Australia in 2023 was fitted with a Ford badge. That’s correct, the Ford Ranger was Australia’s favourite new vehicle and so far in 2024, it’s still held that position. Even without considering the extreme popularity of other brands’ utes as well, it’s safe to say that Australians love their dual-cab utes. Not wanting to lose that sales momentum, Ford wants to capitalise on this popularity by continually offering even more variants of the popular Ranger. Enter the luxury focused 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum, which promises to offer all the functionality of the regular Ranger line up but with an extra touch of class. Is it the model to choose?

While the Ranger is the best selling ute at the moment, you may not have heard of the new Platinum model. That’s because the lesser Wildtrak has been one of the most popular new Ranger models, but that shows just how much demand there is for higher-specced utes. Sitting above the Wildtrak, the Platinum is the most luxurious Ranger and shares a lot of components from the Everest Platinum.

How much does the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum V6 cost to buy?

There are currently 22 variants of the Ford Ranger in Australia. The model tested here is the top spec 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum which sits above the Wildtrak. Priced at $79,390 plus on road costs (or around $88,000 drive away, depending on location) it is one of the most expensive dual-cab utes on the new car market. Thankfully, it’s loaded to the hilt with standard equipment.

Ranger Platinum standard equipment:

• 20-inch alloy wheels
• Dusk- and rain-sensing automatic all-LED exterior lighting
• Rain-sensing automatic wipers
• Roof rails with configurable inbuilt roof racks
• Electric roller shutter
• Flexible rack system
• Gas strut tailgate assistance system
• Leather steering wheel with heating and gear knob
• Quilted leather seat upholstery
• 10-way electric front seats with heating and cooling and memory functionality for the driver
• Heated and cooled front seats
• Dual-zone climate control with rear air vents
• 12.0-inch portrait touchscreen with eSIM for live services like traffic
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Satellite navigation with live traffic
• AM/FM/DAB+ digital radio
• 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system
• 12.4-inch digital driver’s display
• Keyless entry and start
• LED interior ambient lighting
• Heated and auto-folding mirrors
• 360-degree exterior lighting
• Rear privacy glass
• Tow bar with wiring and integrated electronic brake controller
• Wireless phone charger
• Ford MyPass smartphone app
• Auto-dimming rear mirror
• Front and rear carpet floor mats

Ranger Platinum standard safety equipment:

• Nine airbags (including a front centre unit)
• Auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection and evasive steering assistance
• Lane departure warning with lane keep assist
• Adaptive cruise control with stop and go and active lane centering
• Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert (with braking)
• Automatic rear braking
• Traffic sign recognition
• Matrix adaptive high beam
• Driver attention monitoring
• Semi-automatic parking
• Front and rear parking sensors
• 360-degree camera
• Alarm

All Ranger variants (bar the Raptor) were awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2022 with scores of 84 per cent in adult occupancy protection, 93 per cent in child occupancy protection, 74 per cent in vulnerable road user protection and 83 per cent in safety assistance.

Ranger Platinum colour options:

• Arctic White: no cost
• Shadow Black: $700
• Meteor Grey: $700
• Aluminium: $700
• Equinox Bronze: $700 (fitted to our test car)

Regardless of exterior colour chosen, black leather upholstery with white stitching features on the Ranger Platinum.

The most direct rival to the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum is its twin: the Volkswagen Amarok Adventura TDI600. It’s priced at $79,990 plus on-road costs, or $600 more than the Ford. They are equipped almost identically, although the Ford does have cooled front seats, heated front seats, live services and smartphone app access and two more speakers and though the Volkswagen has larger 21-inch wheels and a rear fog light over the Ford, the Ranger is slightly better value than the Amarok in this case. But while the Ranger is very well equipped, there’s no denying that nearly $90,000 is a lot of money.

How powerful is the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum?

While you can get a 157kW/500Nm 2.0-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder diesel engine in lesser Ranger models (like the Wildtrak and Sport), the sole engine choice in the Ranger Platinum is the 3.0-litre V6 diesel that also features in the Everest SUV. It makes a strong 184kW of power (at 3,250rpm) and 600Nm of torque (between 1,750rpm and 2,250rpm), which are comfortably some the strongest outputs in the ute segment. The only transmission available is a 10-speed torque converter automatic, while the Ranger Platinum is mated to a full-time four-wheel drive system.

While it’s not the newest engine in existence, the V6 diesel is a great one, in our opinion. It’s got excellent refinement for the ute segment, grunt throughout the rev range and pretty good performance as well. While you can’t choose the lesser bi-turbo diesel on the Platinum, if you’re choosing between the two engines on lesser Ranger models, we would definitely opt for the V6 every single time. Unsurprisingly, the same engine in the Amarok is equally satisfying.

The 10-speed automatic transmission is smooth and you often don’t even feel the gear changes unless you put your foot on the loud pedal. It can occasionally stumble for gears as there are so many to choose from, but if accelerating in a linear fashion it will choose the gears well. There is a manual mode on the gear selector and a gear cut out function meaning you can lock out the higher gears with the plus and minus on the gear selector for towing or off road application.

Ford claims that the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum has an average fuel economy figure of 8.4L/100km with CO2 emissions of 222g/km – unsurprisingly, those are identical numbers to the Amarok TDI600. Our week spent behind the wheel with mixed driving of urban and motorway driving saw an average fuel economy figure of 10.4L/100km, which we thought was good for such a large vehicle. The Ranger Platinum has an 80-litre fuel tank.

What is the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum like to drive?

Riding on the Australian-developed ‘T6.2’ platform, the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum drives very well for the segment. As you might not expect for a 4×4 ute, it’s quite comfortable and easy to live with, but it’s also somewhat engaging from behind the wheel and can be fun to drive thanks to Ford Australia’s engineering. For being a ute with big wheels, the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum rides well. Even on its large 20-inch wheels, the Ranger Platinum is comfortable enough to enjoy as a daily driver while also being heavy duty enough to enjoy at the weekend on a dirt track or to the worksite.

4×4 utes were never designed to be keen handlers, but the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum drives very well. The steering offers a reasonable amount of feel, and the four-wheel drive system is excellent. Off-road ability is also very impressive for a road-focused ute, though we don’t expect many Ranger Platinum owners to venture far off the road. For those looking at towing with the Ranger Platinum, it’s all reasonably good news. It has a standard tow bar kit with electronic brake controller, while its 3,500kg braked towing capacity is equal best in class. Its gross combination mass (GCM) is 6,400kg, minus a 3,500kg caravan and the Platinum’s 2,388kg kerb weight leaves you with 512kg to pack.

How practical is the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum?

As we have discovered in the other model Rangers we have tested, the cabin of this dual-cab ute is best in class. There are premium inclusions like a massive infotainment screen and new larger driver’s display, as well as hard-wearing but good quality materials throughout and a somewhat conventional but very functional layout. Quality inside the Platinum takes the Ranger’s cabin to higher reaches thanks to its quality leather upholstery, higher-quality leather on the steering wheel than lesser Ranger models, classy white stitching and the faux leather and faux wood trims on the doors and upper dashboard.

The 12.4-inch digital driver’s display makes the cabin feel more premium than lesser Ranger models thanks to its crisper display and larger size. There’s also plenty of cabin storage inside the Ranger Platinum: big door bins, pop out cup holders, a big centre box underneath the central armrest, a tray beneath the screen with a wireless phone charger and two gloveboxes.

Sitting in the dash of the Ranger Platinum is a 12.0-inch portrait touchscreen that uses Ford’s new ‘Sync 4’ infotainment system. It has an inbuilt SIM for connectivity features such as weather and live traffic updates. It’s a huge screen that can take some getting used to thanks to its sheer size, but once you’ve learnt it, it’s intuitive and easy to use, plus it also has physical AC controls and a proper volume knob for extra usability. It’s also fully featured with wireless smartphone mirroring, satellite navigation, digital radio and a drawing pad (which can be fun).

The rear seats of the Ranger are quite comfortable and offer good space for the segment as well. There is a good amount of head- and kneeroom for adults, while there is also storage under the base of the seat and the backrest of the seat can fold down to fit larger items. Rear passengers get air vents, both USB-A and USB-C charging ports, reasonable door bins and a centre armrest with cupholders.

Opening the tray of the Ranger platinum reveals a larger tray than the previous model Ranger, and one of the biggest in the mid-sized ute segment. There is even a soft-opening tailgate thanks to a gas strut, which is a nice premium touch. There is also a spray in bed liner, a 12V power outlet, as well as tie down hooks, LED lighting and clamping points. The tray is 1,200mm long and 800mm wide between the arches and can now fit a Euro-sized pallet.

There is also what Ford calls the ‘Flexible Rack System’, which is an genius sliding sports bar that can be slid to the back of the tray so that longer items can be transported. The roof rails also include inbuilt roof racks, and like the Subaru Outback, they can be configured to be positioned horizontally, removing the need to buy separate roof rack systems. We love this Australian ingenuity, Ford!

What warranty covers the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum?

Like other new Ford models, the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum comes with a five-year/unlimited km warranty with 12 months of roadside assistance that’s topped up to seven years in total if serviced through a Ford dealer. The Ranger Platinum needs servicing every 12 months or 15,000km with a five-year or 75,000km total service cost of $1,936, which averages out at $387 per year – the MY24.5 Ranger and Everest service pricing has been increased slightly, unfortunately.

In comparison, Volkswagen offers the same five-year unlimited kilometre warranty as Ford. Volkswagen only offer 12-months of roadside assistance for the Amarok. Servicing the Amarok needs to happen every 12-months or 15,000km like the Ranger with five-years or 75,000km of servicing costing just $1,801, which averages out at $360.20 a year.

Should I buy a 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum?

We came away from our week behind the wheel of the 2024 Ford Ranger Platinum impressed with Ford’s home-grown ute and in a lot of ways, it’s clear that money no object, this is the best new mid-sized ute currently on the market. It drives like an SUV, it has premium inclusions to make you feel like you are driving a luxury variant, the engine is smooth and refined and the cabin is one of the most comfortable we have experienced in any ute. It’s also absolutely loaded with standard equipment, capable both on and off road and features lots of clever touches, like the flexible rack system.

There are some drawbacks though: the near $88,000 drive away price makes it one of the most expensive utes currently offered, the V6 diesel engine isn’t the most fuel efficient and the Ranger is somehow more expensive to service than its Volkswagen twin. But in saying that, if we had the budget for it, we’d absolutely be considering the Ranger Platinum for our next ute as it doesn’t do much wrong, and it only adds to the Ranger’s all-round ability.