My 2013 2500 Cummins w/1900 miles

I wanted to tell everyone my experience so far with my New truck. I purchased the truck with 4 miles on it from a semi local dealer. The dealer was professional and everything went smoothly...till the drive home. My wife noticed on the 1.5 hr drive back that it seemed the truck was leaning to one side, i mentioned it was probably low tires or the crest in the road(mile #40) After inspection found the bed was low on right side about 1/2-3/4 inch . The following day of driving the check engine light came on(mile 55) called dealer and told them there was these two issues. It was going to be a few days before they could take a look and the drive is rather long so i waited till i had time to take it in. After driving the truck for another week found there was a clunk when decelerating. Made a mental note and started to get a little concerned about the issues so i took the truck to a local dealer. They took a look at the issues and told me they would not work on truck and that it needs to go to the selling dealer that performed the PDI(pre delivery inspection) I was more concerned and then spent the 3.0 round trip drive to drop off (mile 900) I received a call regarding the issues i stated and was told 1. the frame was not welded correctly and will need to have mounting tabs cut off and rewelded(not happy) 2. the check engine light was that the EGR bypass had failed and needs to be replaced 3. That they could not verify the clunk. I then let them do the egr repair but was seriously concerned about the frame being cut. I picked up vehicle to find the clunk was still there but at least the light was off. Cel turned back on again at about 1300 miles, but vehicle was driving well and i scheduled with a different dealer that was local after speaking with Dodge corporate that told me i could go to another dealer. All the persons that i talked with at DODGE corporate was very kind and actually quite helpful. Got a loner car every time i dropped off and no drama. Dodge then wrote me a letter stating they would be willing to replace the frame only and repair whatever else was wrong. I talked with the service writers and managers of three different dealer to see how they felt about the install and all of them seemed very reluctant. I called dodge and told them i was not feeling good about things and they told me they would look into the problem. The following day after visiting with my dealer i came out to a 8 inch puddle of trans fluid on my drive way(mile 2000)
Took truck in and they found a cooler line was leaking and they promptly repaired (all under warranty so nothing more than an inconvenience at this point) I then went for a drive with technician and showed him the clunk under deccel and he readily agreed there was a problem. We scheduled to bring the truck in again when they had an opening (3-4 days away) I then called dodge corporate again to tell them i was getting very concerned that the truck was not reliable and that i would like to get a new one under the lemon laws. They told me it would be reviewed by the buy back department. 2 days latter they called me back while i was driving the truck for work telling me it does not qualify yet for the buy back. During the phone call with dodge the check engine light came on and the truck shuttered and shifted out of gear. I started to laugh at this point because i didn't know what else to do. I limped the truck the two miles to the dealer in 2nd gear where they suspected the transmission had failed electrically internally.
So know im here writing on this forum asking the question, What would you do as a Dodge community at this point? Am i over reacting? Do i have the one bad truck out there or are they all having issues like this? Would you let them cut the frame of your brand new truck or let them completely replace it by local dealers that quite frankly have not done that kind of job yet on such a new truck? I really am looking for advice and not just ranting (even though im super unhappy at this point)

If it were me..... I would not let them cut or replace the frame. I would "hound" corporate until they gave me a new truck. I have heard of a few lemons coming out of the bunch but cutting and welding the frame, replacing the frame...... Give me a break!!

This is clearly a lemon and they know it. They are holding out in the hopes that you will give up. Don't!!!

Wow! Thats a bunch of BS.

I would not let them replace the frame either.
As stated above keep after dodge corporate and your dealer.

Do not relay on their record keeping. Keep a log of every problem that you encounter and phone call that you make. Dates, times, who you talked to, days in the shop, and who you left messages for. I cannot over emphasize keeping a good time line of events.

Read up on your states lemon law, know the requirements. There are national attorney's who do the "we don't get paid unless you win". From my prior experience they are slow, but do get the job done eventually. Hiring a local attorney is going to cost around 1 to 2k, but they should be faster.

I think you are about to get alot unhappier before this is over.
By all means DO NOT give up, you spent way too much $$ to lay down and lick em.

Good luck.

Agreed!!! You should stay on them until they replace the truck. there are acceptable items that may need to be repaired under warranty after delivery... the EGR and tranny issues are one thing... but the frame... serious BS!! If they wanted to fix the frame and sell it as new then they should have caught it at the factory... period! They should eat the loss in value not you.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

OhmygodIforgotwheretheenterkeywas.It'salmostashardtoreadagiantdiatribewithoutspacesasitiswithoutnewlines.Goodgrief

I agree with these guys. Be persistent and tell them you have zero confidence in your purchase of this truck. It's not a cheap investment either. Depending on your state you could look into your legal options as well. Hope they get their head out of their rear and do what's right.

Stick to your guns !!!!! are you serious clark ! ?

You clearly have a truck built on Monday, or was the last off production line on Friday. those are major target areas that have been affected. Its a shame cause we all love our RAMS here, but you sir 100% need a refund of your purchase, or they need to source you a similar spec truck in exchange.

keep the pressure on !

Lemon Law, get a new truck.. plain and simple. HOUND them, and record everything as mentioned above!

It never seizes to amaze me how these multi multi million dollar company's shoot themselves in the foot.
They destroy trucks everyday on the proving grounds trying to get things right.
Yet they accidentally let a defective truck hit a dealers lot and as a result it gets sold.
Customer finds obvious issues that nobody denies, including 3 dealers and the manufacture.
If I were the manufacture, I would have swapped you trucks so fast that your head would still be spinning so to minimize negative public image.
But no instead some corporate bean counter makes the decision to minimize company expense by making the consumer (someone they spend millions trying to attract through advertising word of mouth etc.) jump through hoop after hoop in hopes that they may just go away.
They don't take into account how many sales something like this could cost them.
What's worse, and I'm sure everybody will agree, they should simply just do what is right.
That is, take your piece of defective **** back and flush it down your corporate toilet and give the man what he paid for!!!
Simple and the honorable thing to do!
Now Dodge....get it done!

^^ +1,000,000 and then some.

I agree with everyone here. Minor repairs are normal, but this goes beyond "normal" repairs. I would not allow anyone to cut on the frame on a brand new truck, and with all the other issues you have dealt with, I would fight until they agree to buy the truck back or replace it with a new one. You spent ALOT of money on that truck, so there is no reason you should have to settle for a truck that obviously should not have been sold as new.

My dad also recently purchased a 2013 Cummins. He has had to take it in twice for a check engine light, and both times it was due to the EGF and DPF. I expected these issues going into it though because this is the first year Dodge has used DEF. They will work those bugs out soon, but what you are seeing is much more significant. Stick with it and make them fix this for you correctly.

Update...today found out the transmission is getting pulled out by the local dealer due to" an internal failure". I have absolutely loved my 2005 ho cummins that im driving now, but am losing my faith in Dodge. Its sad because im not brand loyal but the dodge has been the best truck for me up to this point so i have continued to buy them with no complaint. I even give by ford buddies grief whenever i can because they get so emotional about it
Is there any one else having these same issues or am i the one a-hole that gets to have all the problems? I think it could be a great truck if everything was fixed but good hell every time i drive it i need to make sure i brought my bus pass just in case it needs to go back to dealer. Cant call my friends because i will get tared and feathered. As a side not i have been an Auto tech for 19 years working for Honda, Nissan, subaru, and mitsubishi. I have worked with Roush and via engineering on prototyping new hybrid medium duty trucks so i have a good grasp on things, but nothing could prepare me for my first new car purchase to be so bad. Initially i just wanted a new truck but now i dont know if i want to deal with a company that i feel is not taking me seriously. Thanks for letting me vent and get some opinions. Please continue to comment so i can get more ideas.

Its clearly a lemon. And they wonder why some people will never go back to their brand again. I dont care what company it is no brand new truck should run like that. I would be patient and wait until you get a new one. These are very good trucks and yes there are some lemons like you have, but I would wait to get a new one and you will be very happy. If something came off the line that already need frame work, I dont see how there isnt a light flashing off saying its a lemon

TurboLab said:

Initially i just wanted a new truck but now i dont know if i want to deal with a company that i feel is not taking me seriously.

Click to expand...

Might take you a little more serious if you called the company by the right name haha

While I feel the same way that everyone else does about you getting a new truck, I'm not so sure it's as easy as being the squeaky wheel. Before you call back and speak with anyone, look up a civil litigation lawyer and see if you can get a free consultation. If you are within legal guidelines to file a lemon action then maybe a demand letter from the lawyer will get prompt attention from corporate. They seem to pay more attention to people that are not just complaining and mean business.

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Tell them they can use it as a crash test truck and to give you a brand new one... preferably a higher trim if you don't have a Laramie.

time to put on your asshol.... cape and talk to a lawyer .

I normally don't comment this far into a thread just to reiterate what other guys have said, but ditto. This is a grossly inappropriate response to your trucks issues.

The dealer should have offered/found you a new truck upon discovery of the frame issue much less the other problems that continue to manifest. Then they could have taken it up with the manufacturer.

That said my new to me 2011 RAM 1500 has been awesome so far. It is my first Chrysler product, but I did a massive amount of research on this truck before deciding on it...actually was looking at the F150 first. So to that end I think you got a bad one, and I wouldn't write off RAM trucks just yet. JMO.

Update. After shuffling through 6 different case managers over no less than 5 weeks im exactly where i started... Broke ass truck and every one i talk with says "im sorry this is happening sir, we will let you know what we find and let you know what we can do" Truck has been at local dealer for two weeks now with the transmission pulled waiting for corporate to figure out what to do before it goes to a second frame shop for another evaluation. Ive finally come to the realization that nothing will get done unless i get an attorney. I told Ram that they obviously don't care about me as a customer as everyone i have talked with agrees that this is a major problem that needs to be corrected, except the ones that are actually making the decisions. I'm driving my 05 Cummins with 170,000 and it has been down in the shop a total of 3 days over a 5 year period, my new one has been down 4 weeks over 60 days with no end in sight. Should here another sad story by end of day tomorrow.

Tell them you want a new truck ASAP or you will sue their ass off and for all attorney's fees and all your time you have wasted!!!!

You are way more tolerant than I would be! Sorry for your headache.