I REALLY need help deciding between a Outdoorsman and Laramie

Hey guys, first post of many to come here on the forum! I've been around for months and finally am ready to make my first Ram purchase!

I need some help, advice, opinions..anything really on a predicament I have. I test drove a 2015 Laramie CC and loved it. Luxurious interior, nice exterior accents--beautiful truck. Dealer wants to sell it to me for $38,000 before TTL. However, they also have a 2015 Outdoorsman CC on the lot. Same color. Different tires (17") -- no leather interior, no chrome grill or mirrors, different headlights and tail lights. They are selling the Outdoorsman for $31,000. I don't know what I should do or what other real differences there are between the models. If I bought the Outdoorsman, I'd want to change the headlights and tail lights and get some 20" wheels on there. I know that those upgrades wouldn't cost $7,000, but would the Laramie be worth purchasing for any other reason? Is there really any other difference between the models?

What would you do? Both are geared 3.21 and both are 4x4.

Also, the dealer told me they can't do the 0.0% APR for 72 months (labor day deal) with those current prices of 38,000 and 31,000 respectively. They told me its one deal or the other. What do you say about that? Are they being legit or can I actually combine that 0.0 apr deal with their advertised price?

Thanks!

31k is a great deal for an outdoorsman and 38k is a heck of a deal on a laramie. Id buy whichever one pulls on your heart strings or fits your budget best. Score!

bigfoot2219 said:

31k is a great deal for an outdoorsman and 38k is a heck of a deal on a laramie. Id buy whichever one pulls on your heart strings or fits your budget best. Score!

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Unfortunately the Laramie is pulling on my heart strings (and the fiance's heart strings) but the Outdoorsman fits my budget much better. I keep thinking is $7,000 worth it for different lights, tires, and interior? On the other hand I say man that interior is beautiful. I presume the Laramie would fetch a higher resale value than the Outdoorsman. Also, the Outdoorsman has the V6, which I actually would like for better fuel efficiency since I plan on towing...well nothing.

Welcome!

The laramie is obviously gonna be nicer. All depends on your budget and what your content paying.

Good luck.

Stick with your budget. Youll thank yourself later.

get what u want- period. Cause in one year ur gonna be like I wish I had that option.

One other thing to consider is the transfer case. The Laramie is going to have the Borg Warner 44-44 which has the 4auto feature, but never actually mechanically locks. Lots of reports of these tcases burning up the clutchpacks while doing something as mild as getting unstuck from snow. The outdoorsman should have the BW 44-45 which doesn't have the 4auto feature, but it mechanically locks. There's a long thread about this on here and other forums.

It all depends on your wants/needs, and of course your budget. If you're going to be doing a lot of off reading, I would HIGHLY recommend the Outdoorsman. If not get the Laramie.

I ran into a similar issue over 3 years ago and I went for the pricier option (express vs bighorn). I did it because I could afford the increase, but I would have more up front.

If you have a budget, just stick to it man...you can always mod later.


Truck name: Rampage
2012 Dodge ram 1500 Quad Cab Big Horn
*Bilstein 2.8" front, Bilstein shocks on rear with 1" spacer, Pioneer AVH 4300DVD head unit, Polk Audio Dxi350 dash speakers, Kicker 40CSS654 6 1/2" door speakers (x4),fox box 2-12" speakers holder for rear seats, 2-12" aline subs (swe -1243), 500 watt alpine mono sub, LED 3rd tail light smoked, Spyder LED smokes tail lights

Hemi395 said:

One other thing to consider is the transfer case. The Laramie is going to have the Borg Warner 44-44 which has the 4auto feature, but never actually mechanically locks. Lots of reports of these tcases burning up the clutchpacks while doing something as mild as getting unstuck from snow. The outdoorsman should have the BW 44-45 which doesn't have the 4auto feature, but it mechanically locks. There's a long thread about this on here and other forums.

It all depends on your wants/needs, and of course your budget. If you're going to be doing a lot of off reading, I would HIGHLY recommend the Outdoorsman. If not get the Laramie.

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Thanks for the heads up. I spent some time reading the threads about the transfer cases. I couldn't really determine if that was an early issue (2013-2014) or if its still happening now. I won't be offroading but rather dealing with snow for 4 months of the year. I'm confused why the BW 44-44 has a 4WD Lock if it doesn't actually lock.

One last thing -- it seems like the resale value of Ram's that are 3 years old are higher than buying one brand new. Is this right? Does anyone (or dealers) actually pay more for a truck that is 3 years old rather than brand new off the lot? I know incentives play a lot into this equation -- but do you guys know anyone who has actually owned a Ram for 3-5 years and sold it for near what they paid for it?

zeus2120 said:

Thanks for the heads up. I spent some time reading the threads about the transfer cases. I couldn't really determine if that was an early issue (2013-2014) or if its still happening now. I won't be offroading but rather dealing with snow for 4 months of the year. I'm confused why the BW 44-44 has a 4WD Lock if it doesn't actually lock.

One last thing -- it seems like the resale value of Ram's that are 3 years old are higher than buying one brand new. Is this right? Does anyone (or dealers) actually pay more for a truck that is 3 years old rather than brand new off the lot? I know incentives play a lot into this equation -- but do you guys know anyone who has actually owned a Ram for 3-5 years and sold it for near what they paid for it?

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from what i've read the lock on the 44-44 just reduces the wheel spin required to activate the front

i don't know a lot about the Laramie aside from the nicer interior but the Outdoorsman comes standard with a lot of towing and off-roading options. unless they've changed anything it comes with 3.92 axles, LSD, skid plates, hitch, tow hooks and probably a few other small things i'm forgetting. basically the Laramie comes with standard features focused more on luxury while the Outdoorsman come standard more focused on working

i'm not sure where your from but here used for all brands and types of vehicle have been sitting right around the same prices as new for a few years. those used vehicles usually have a few more options compared to new in the same price range but even so it's hard to justify buying a used vehicle with however many miles/km for the price of a new one with slightly less options

[edit] just saw you mentioned the Outdoorsman is a V6 which according to the build tool removes basically all of those standard options i mentioned

Personally, with these trucks updating features can be a PITA, so lets say the outdoorsman has the 5.0 radio no nav. If you want to update to the 8.4AN according to Fiat you cannot, you really can but figure around 800.00 for that. If you decide you want power heated seats, aftermarket is currently the way to go. These trucks are wired and programmed to accommodate just the options installed in them. In my case I bought a bare bones Tradesman, I have upgraded so much as I wanted the nav, the fancy gauges, the overhead console, the footlights, under hood light etc. I am now adding leather seats, and want the heating and cooling to work, this is proving to be a big challenge and expensive.

Many of the mods I did I had to buy and install factory harnesses which were not in my truck, then in some cases have the dealer flash my truck to add the sales codes to make them work. In several cases I had to build my own harness as Fiat won't sell them to you.

In short what I am saying is the amount of time and money I spent, I would have rather just bought a Laramie, but my problem is I wanted a regular cab dually so I was not able to get a Laramie anyway.

I apologize if it seems that I am making this post about me, I am not what I am trying to express is that the a#@holes at Fiat have deliberately made these trucks very difficult to upgrade on purpose and it can be a pita. So my advice is get what you want and don't sacrifice things you may want down the road, but also get what you can afford.

op i can help.. as i traded in a '13 outdoorsman for a '15 laramie.

the outdoorsman is nice, but to me the ride quality of the laramie is far superior. also you can work them down a little more. i paid 35.5k for a sticker of 49.9k on my new laramie.

baum said:

op i can help.. as i traded in a '13 outdoorsman for a '15 laramie.

the outdoorsman is nice, but to me the ride quality of the laramie is far superior. also you can work them down a little more. i paid 35.5k for a sticker of 49.9k on my new laramie.

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30% off is definitely not the norm.

If you use 4wd for anything more then wet pavement or light snow storm id strongly suggest the outdoorsman with the part time case, had i known how crappy the on demand case is id be in a outdoorsman

Andy578 said:

from what i've read the lock on the 44-44 just reduces the wheel spin required to activate the front

i don't know a lot about the Laramie aside from the nicer interior but the Outdoorsman comes standard with a lot of towing and off-roading options. unless they've changed anything it comes with 3.92 axles, LSD, skid plates, hitch, tow hooks and probably a few other small things i'm forgetting. basically the Laramie comes with standard features focused more on luxury while the Outdoorsman come standard more focused on working

i'm not sure where your from but here used for all brands and types of vehicle have been sitting right around the same prices as new for a few years. those used vehicles usually have a few more options compared to new in the same price range but even so it's hard to justify buying a used vehicle with however many miles/km for the price of a new one with slightly less options

[edit] just saw you mentioned the Outdoorsman is a V6 which according to the build tool removes basically all of those standard options i mentioned

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The amount of "reduced wheel spin needed" is not even noticeable vs auto, ive emailed ram to ask the difference 3 weeks ago and they have yet to come up with an answer lol, last week they asked for my vin and thats it

We have both an Express and a Big Horn. The extra luxury items are nice, but in the long run don't matter that much to me. If I had to choose, I'd save my money.

BTW, a good compromise between Outdoorsman and Laramie would be an Express: it is basically an Outdoorsman with extra features such as the Hemi, projector/LED lights and a better headunit.

38K for a laramie... take that deal and run with it. I was leaning towards the outdoorsman until you said it had the v6.

Somehow I missed the V6 part on the Outdoorsman. I'd say go with the Laramie and just know the limitations of the tcase. Honestly 38k for a Laramie is great deal.

What do you drive now?

Laramie has memory seats so if you and your wife swap driving often it's a nice feature to have or if you have to move the drivers seat up to let larger people in the back etc.

Personally I would not buy a 4x4 with 3.21's but if you are not planning on lifting it or towing it will be fine. With 17" wheels and the smaller diameter tires it will also probably be fine.

Reverse said:

We have both an Express and a Big Horn. The extra luxury items are nice, but in the long run don't matter that much to me. If I had to choose, I'd save my money.

BTW, a good compromise between Outdoorsman and Laramie would be an Express: it is basically an Outdoorsman with extra features such as the Hemi, projector/LED lights and a better headunit.

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not true, my outdoorsman was equipped just like big horn/slt i had the heated seats/steering wheel, 8.4an radio, remote start

you can also get outdoorsmans with a v8