It's not a bad first car. They can last some time. Have a mechanic look it over and take it for a test drive to make sure that everything works fine.

It can be a decent car but the weak point is automatic transmission. Have your mechanic check the car (especially the transmission) before you put down any serious money. 

That was pretty much the end of the run for the venerable Ranger, so most any mechanical problems they had were fixed. That year is related to my 1999 Ranger, though they discontinued a few engine options. They ended the Vulcan V6 in 2008, which is the engine my Ranger has, with 268,000 miles on it. That engine, along with the 2.5L 4 cylinder have the highest longevity. If it's an automatic, the weak point will be the automatic transmission, typical for American vehicles. It has a 5R44E, which is basically the same as my '99's 4R44E, only it was reprogrammed to add a new 3rd gear, between my 2nd and 3rd gear. Its 5th gear is my overdrive 4th gear. The internals were made stronger as well. The guts of that transmission go back before electronic controls were added in the mid 90s. It is not a weak transmission, providing it was maintained, but have it checked out by a mechanic anyways. I had mine rebuilt shortly after I bought it at 249k miles, it had all original seals and fluid. 

Check the frame for rust, particularly the rear half if you're in a rust prone area. The whole front half of my truck has next to no frame rust, but the rear frame started rotting at the shock mounts. A friend, some quarter inch plate steel and a welder fixed that.