Dodge Ram Owners?

[kyle450rider]

Anyone who owns a newer ram.....2009+, can you give me some likes and dislikes? I'm looking at quad cab 4x4 with the Hemi. I'm not quite in the market yet, its going to be this time next year. Never been a big dodge fan but the new bodystyle has really won me over. So far, most of the reviews I've read online have been very positive besides some owners have a noisy torque converter that was replaced under warranty. Dodge also has the lifetime powertrain warrany that is pretty neat. Thanks for the replies in advance.

[kyle450rider]

Dang, 36 views and not 1 single reply. Help me out fella's surely some of you have to haul a dirtbike now and then.

[RMXC51]

I love the looks of the Ram too. Test driving this spring, my biggest gripes with the Ram were:

- 5 speed tranny felt like it was between gears and looking to shift constantly.

- Big "hump" in the passener's side footwell, no wher eto put your left leg. Even my 5'2 wife had nowhere to put her foot. Not a problem if you drive alone.

Other than that, sweet.

[Rip Wheeler]

I bought my first ever new Mopar product. I have never owned one before, nor did I ever plan on it and if it wasnt for a Cummins, I still wouldnt. I got a new 2010, its a crew cab long bed, 4WD and I got the 6 spd manual transmission. Its huge inside, great room, comfortable, ride is nice for a truck that read HD on the sides. I special ordered it just like I wanted. Including the 3.42 axle ratio in positraction. I get 18 mpg freeway, never under 15.3 unloaded in rural driving, town etc.

I only have 6700 miles on it now, Jury is still out. But so far, I have no complaints. I was real nervous going off the reservation to buy a brand X, and spend the most $$$ I have ever spent on a new vehicle.

You are asking about the gasser, I have no opinion on that engine.

[diceygirl40]

We bought a 2007 Ram diesel 2500, used for both towing a 10,000+ lb toyhauler and daily commute. Purchased new and now at 70k miles.... and no issues other than the sheetmetal is pretty thin. They probably had to build it 'lighter' to meet EPA guidelines. Overall, I'd definitely buy another Dodge Ram.

[kyle450rider]

I love the looks of the Ram too. Test driving this spring, my biggest gripes with the Ram were:

- 5 speed tranny felt like it was between gears and looking to shift constantly.

- Big "hump" in the passener's side footwell, no wher eto put your left leg. Even my 5'2 wife had nowhere to put her foot. Not a problem if you drive alone.

Other than that, sweet.

Thanks for all the replies! I really appreciate it. That's funny about the 5 speed because reading up on them I see in 2012 they have moved on to a 6 speed. The way I read on another forum was that the 5 speed had a first gear, 2 seconds, and 2 overdrives. I really didn't understand that but I guess I really just need to get in one and drive it. When I decide to buy, I'm looking at a quad cab 4x4. Seems to me that this time of the year all the manufactureres are looking to clean house on leftover models and offer big incentives. The truck I found at the local dealer had a sticker of 37,500 and with the clearance event had been marked down to 29,998. That price is ballpark what I'd like to start at. If anyone knows of an awesome dealership to work with let me know please! I'm willing to fly in and drive home no problem. Also, does anyone have experience dealing with the internet sales department? From what I gather that's the easiest way to deal on a new car today. Again, thanks for the replies and keep them coming if you have anything to add.

[highmarker]

Dave Smith in Idaho sells more dodge than anywhere, many people fly in and drive home.

[Rip Wheeler]

Dave Smith in Idaho sells more dodge than anywhere, many people fly in and drive home.

I got mine from him. Killer price. I flew into Spokane airport, they had a shuttle waiting for me. They have been the number 1 selling Dodge dealer in the "world" for quite a few years now. I drove the new truck back home. I saw so many new Dodge trucks from Dave Smith on the freeway headed home. So they must sell a boat load all day long!

[kyle450rider]

I got mine from him. Killer price. I flew into Spokane airport, they had a shuttle waiting for me. They have been the number 1 selling Dodge dealer in the "world" for quite a few years now. I drove the new truck back home. I saw so many new Dodge trucks from Dave Smith on the freeway headed home. So they must sell a boat load all day long!

Could you rate your buying experience? Also, was it worth the flying in and driving home as far as money saved? I wouldn't have any problem myself doing that but if they know your flying in I would hope you had made an offer and they had accepted ahead of time. I'll have to look them up today and check them out. I really appreciate you taking the time to post this up.

[scott_01_xr400]

I have an 02 4-door. Bought it used in late 03 with 29,000 miles on it for less than half of what new ones were selling for. Now has 166,000 miles on it and still going strong. I have the 4.7 v8 and it is plenty for me. Once or twice a year I wish I had more ooomph for pulling. The other 360 days I am fine.

Just looked up the value in KBB and now it is worth about $5000. I would buy another one just like it for $5000 if I was needing to replace it. That would give me lots of $$$ for any repairs that might need to be done. And the rest of that cash would be in my pocket. But then again, I am all about driving paid for vehicles so I can spend the extra on toys. Guess that is how I have 7 bikes.

[Rip Wheeler]

Could you rate your buying experience? Also, was it worth the flying in and driving home as far as money saved? I wouldn't have any problem myself doing that but if they know your flying in I would hope you had made an offer and they had accepted ahead of time. I'll have to look them up today and check them out. I really appreciate you taking the time to post this up.

Dave Smith of Kellogg Idaho

(website is down for some reason now, but that is a good URL)

Kyle, before I flew in, everything was already done, ie price, financing, model etc. I just flew in, signed papers and drove home.

I spoke to a salesperson on the phone, went over what I wanted. It had to have:

Diesel Engine

6 Spd Manual

White color

Crew Cab Long box

3.42 Posi axle ratio.

Block heater

SLT

Flexible on 2500 could of been a 3500.

I had them do the spray in bed liner and mudflaps.

MSRP was 48K, I got it for 38K and put 10K down. As soon as we had a rig nailed down, he sent me all the pictures, outside, inside, the window sticker so I can look at all the options (it was pretty loaded, but not a Laramie) I got my plane tickets, and sent him my itinerary, they had a shuttle waiting for me. Got there, they just had it cleaned up and then they fueled me up. I drive it home. They have a huge BBQ that runs all day Sat and all day Sun, free to all customers, burgers, hot dogs, chili, sald, build a chili burger or whatever plus drinks. They are closed on Sundays except the last one of each month. They take you into a room to try to sell other items, they do make $$$ on this. I told them I wanst interested, but he was required to explain it to me and then I had to sign off saying no. It went pretty good, no pressure, they knew going in. If you do want an factory Dodge extended service program, you can buy it later, as long as its before the warranty is up. Drove it home. Love the truck.

There is no reason you cant get it for 10K under MSRP (before they do any dealer adds themselves). You may be able to go 12K under, but that is about it. So 10-12K under window sticker which is about 3-5K under invoice.

They are set up for fly ins/out of staters, they specialize in it. They handle all your sales tax, license etc. You will be in the foothills of the Rockies out in the middle of nowhere. Busy place, its crawling with people, sidewalks are all full like a Kansas cow town during a cattle drive.

My sales person was Justin Rodgers.

I did have a detailer put a small ding in my hood during prep (doesnt take much, entire hood is made of aluminum). They wanted to swap hoods, I said no deal. They said, get an estimate, they will handle the rest. They did, they handled all billing to my local body shop, I just made the appt, dropped it off, had it fixed, picked it up, no out of pocket. They where first class all the way. Place is huge, not all under one roof, Dave Smith buildings are all over town, he owns the place.

Price was all hashed out before hand. They can do financing. They put the bid out for you to banks. Then they come back. I had lined up my financing ahead of time, they have 2 points higher on interest. I'm sure they make $$$ on it, when I told them my bank was less, they sent it back out and came back with same interest rates and it was from my same bank. So I think they still made a little on that which is fine, it was the interest i was after. If Dodge has 0 interest, then use that. The diesels had no special financing (demand is high enough), but the gassers was 0% for 60 months right through Dodge.

Make a call, get a number. Tell them what you want. I just waited, and each time they called me back, the number was lower. After researching, save the time, 10-12K under MSRP is the window. No problem 10K under, if you can get 12K under, that is about their max. With my large down, I was instantly right side up, I owe only 28K (plus tax and license brought it back to 32K, now I owe 26K and Nov 6th, I'll of had it for a year), if for some reason I wanted out,. the truck should always be worth more than I owe on it during the entire finance period.

I added the 4X4 decal, Laramie alloys, wheel flares, mudflaps (all OE Dodge parts)

And my favorite part, the (((handshaker))) manual tranny. Note, cool Cummins Power shift knob is from Genos Garage

Edited October 31, 2011 by toyota_mdt_tech

[kyle450rider]

Dave Smith of Kellogg Idaho

(website is down for some reason now, but that is a good URL)

Kyle, before I flew in, everything was already done, ie price, financing, model etc. I just flew in, signed papers and drove home.

I spoke to a salesperson on the phone, went over what I wanted. It had to have:

Diesel Engine

6 Spd Manual

White color

Crew Cab Long box

3.42 Posi axle ratio.

Block heater

SLT

Flexible on 2500 could of been a 3500.

I had them do the spray in bed liner and mudflaps.

MSRP was 48K, I got it for 38K and put 10K down. As soon as we had a rig nailed down, he sent me all the pictures, outside, inside, the window sticker so I can look at all the options (it was pretty loaded, but not a Laramie) I got my plane tickets, and sent him my itinerary, they had a shuttle waiting for me. Got there, they just had it cleaned up and then they fueled me up. I drive it home. They have a huge BBQ that runs all day Sat and all day Sun, free to all customers, burgers, hot dogs, chili, sald, build a chili burger or whatever plus drinks. They are closed on Sundays except the last one of each month. They take you into a room to try to sell other items, they do make $$$ on this. I told them I wanst interested, but he was required to explain it to me and then I had to sign off saying no. It went pretty good, no pressure, they knew going in. If you do want an factory Dodge extended service program, you can buy it later, as long as its before the warranty is up. Drove it home. Love the truck.

There is no reason you cant get it for 10K under MSRP (before they do any dealer adds themselves). You may be able to go 12K under, but that is about it. So 10-12K under window sticker which is about 3-5K under invoice.

They are set up for fly ins/out of staters, they specialize in it. They handle all your sales tax, license etc. You will be in the foothills of the Rockies out in the middle of nowhere. Busy place, its crawling with people, sidewalks are all full like a Kansas cow town during a cattle drive.

My sales person was Justin Rodgers.

I did have a detailer put a small ding in my hood during prep (doesnt take much, entire hood is made of aluminum). They wanted to swap hoods, I said no deal. They said, get an estimate, they will handle the rest. They did, they handled all billing to my local body shop, I just made the appt, dropped it off, had it fixed, picked it up, no out of pocket. They where first class all the way. Place is huge, not all under one roof, Dave Smith buildings are all over town, he owns the place.

Price was all hashed out before hand. They can do financing. They put the bid out for you to banks. Then they come back. I had lined up my financing ahead of time, they have 2 points higher on interest. I'm sure they make $$$ on it, when I told them my bank was less, they sent it back out and came back with same interest rates and it was from my same bank. So I think they still made a little on that which is fine, it was the interest i was after. If Dodge has 0 interest, then use that. The diesels had no special financing (demand is high enough), but the gassers was 0% for 60 months right through Dodge.

Make a call, get a number. Tell them what you want. I just waited, and each time they called me back, the number was lower. After researching, save the time, 10-12K under MSRP is the window. No problem 10K under, if you can get 12K under, that is about their max. With my large down, I was instantly right side up, I owe only 28K (plus tax and license brought it back to 32K, now I owe 26K and Nov 6th, I'll of had it for a year), if for some reason I wanted out,. the truck should always be worth more than I owe on it during the entire finance period.

I added the 4X4 decal, Laramie alloys, wheel flares, mudflaps (all OE Dodge parts)

And my favorite part, the (((handshaker))) manual tranny. Note, cool Cummins Power shift knob is from Genos Garage

Thank you so much for posting all of that. This is exactly the type of information I was looking for. Its going later next year but I will definatly check these guys out and see what they come up with. Oh and by the way....sweet truck. I bet that thing sounds like an 18 wheeler when you start it up.

[JCMINIS]

I bet that thing sounds like an 18 wheeler when you start it up.

His dosent, but mine does !

All joking aside, I bought my 1st mopar product ever and have been more than satisfied for the past 22k miles. Mine is a 3500, otherwise nearly a twin of toyota_mdt_tech's. I was a little leary of buying a dodge but I wanted a 1ton in a manual. Dodge is the only one out of the big 3 that still make it available.

My neighbor has a 1500, with the hemi and loves it.

[xxXXDeathXXxx]

Nice truck man! How did you mount the radios? Is that a ram mount? It's hard to see. It looks as if they may be floating in mid air.

[Rip Wheeler]

Nice truck man! How did you mount the radios? Is that a ram mount? It's hard to see. It looks as if they may be floating in mid air.

They are floating. There is 2 radios, top one is a tri band, ie 10, 11 and 12 meter HAM (11 meter is CB) and bottom one us a dual bander 2 meter/70CM ham radio. Its just the face, the actual transceiver is mounted under the rear flip up seats. The mount is from Panavise, mine is a 14" flex mount.

http://panavise.com/index.html?pageID=1&id1=28&startat=1&--woSECTIONSdatarq=28&--SECTIONSword=ww

http://panavise.com/index.html?pageID=1&page=full&--eqskudatarq=155

It was the only option to mount those radios. No other place would work with the shifter movement taking up so much space.

[Rip Wheeler]

His dosent, but mine does !

All joking aside, I bought my 1st mopar product ever and have been more than satisfied for the past 22k miles. Mine is a 3500, otherwise nearly a twin of toyota_mdt_tech's. I was a little leary of buying a dodge but I wanted a 1ton in a manual. Dodge is the only one out of the big 3 that still make it available.

My neighbor has a 1500, with the hemi and loves it.

My reasons for the Dodge (and I'm no MOPAR guy at all) was "Cummins", most aggressive in pricing and the manual shifter (I do not trust MOPAR automatics, they fail!)

I have zero interest in anything else MOPAR. Not even their gasser trucks.

[dirtbeater]

I wanted a manual but settled for the auto. 3 years no ploblem with the tranny. The front axel however is another issue. If you work on your stuff invest in copper base anti sieze. Took me an hour to get my wheel off tonight. 22 hours to replace an axel u joint, 12 hours to do ball joints. I would call the front axel the weak point of the Cummins. I am really contimplating doing a leaf spring swap. Trust me I know how much is invovled in doing it. IF you have a high pinion 60 out of an old ford let me know. I really do like my truck. All trucks have their weak link and I can deal with what I have. Note: my truck is a bit older then what you guys have.

[RMXC51]

My reasons for the Dodge (and I'm no MOPAR guy at all) was "Cummins", most aggressive in pricing and the manual shifter (I do not trust MOPAR automatics, they fail!)

I have zero interest in anything else MOPAR. Not even their gasser trucks.

Its funny you mention that, my first new truck was '96 Ram, and they quit offering manuals in the V10 and Cummins that year, as they didn't hold up at all. 2 other people I knew had to cancel their orders after the fact because of it. Mine was a 1/2 ton, so it was automatic anyway. A lot of the problems they had in that year was crud in the oil cooler in the radiator. Once the truck was built and running for a while, the junk in the cooler would circulate into the trans and wreak havoc.

[xxXXDeathXXxx]

It was the only option to mount those radios. No other place would work with the shifter movement taking up so much space.

Yeah, I have basically the same problem with my 5 speed 2nd gen Ram. I like the look of those floating mounts better than the front of the seat floor mount I bought.

[Rip Wheeler]

Yeah, I have basically the same problem with my 5 speed 2nd gen Ram. I like the look of those floating mounts better than the front of the seat floor mount I bought.

Its flexible, so I can move it with a push, but the flex absorbs vibration so the radios are rock solid, even on rough terrain. And with the twist of a large hand nut, the entire radio pack comes right out leaving only the flex stem behind.