After driving 52 miles (10 miles city & 42 miles highway) with a full tank of fuel, the fuel gauge shows that the vehicle used 1/4 tank of fuel. Vehicle gets between 17 & 20 miles to the gallon. Approximate range per 1/4 tank should be between 83 & 98 miles. Vehicle has a 19.5 gallon fuel tank. The fuel gauge comes off of full very quickly and when filling the tank with the fuel gauge in the red (just off of empty) it will only take 13.7 gallons of fuel. The tank has been drained and filled to verify that the tank is a 19.5 tank. The fuel gauge and fuel meter have also been replaced without any change in the condition. Was advised by Ford that this is normal operation even though there is a service bulletin (NHTSA # 0179/Ford #01-11-2) to address this exact concern for 2001 model year Ford Ranger. The summary description states: Some vehicles built before 3/26/2001 may exhibit a fuel gauge that drops from full too fast or indicates less than the actual fuel left in he tank (excessive tank reserve). Was advised that this approximate 6 gallon reserve was there to allow the customer to make it to a filling station safely with the tank on E. this is telling me that when the tank reads almost empty there is still over a quarter tank of fuel in the tank. With the gauge reading this way you are not sure how much fuel you have. For the price of vehicles, consumers should not have to rely on calculating their mileage and using the odometer to guess there fuel range. I thought this was the purpose of the fuel gauge.

- Oak Park, MI, USA