Looking to buy a Ram. Have questions

JoeDirt · Apr 5, 2014

Go with the Hemi, our work truck here at the plant has a 4.7(2007) and it's a dog when were trying to pull something. It also has 114k miles and it drinks oil like nobody's buissness, but that's our fault for letting it idle 6-10 hrs a day.

In the pictures, this is a septage reciever it was cleaned out before we put it on the trailer, when we lifted it up the crane was saying it weighed about 3k lbs plus the weight of the car hauler it was on.

xXAvroArrowXx · Apr 5, 2014

audio1der said:
I hope whatever you choose works for you.
My vote would be a strong 4.7/8spd. I can't imaging feeding a Hemi gas hog as a daily driver?! We go out of our way not to drive the truck, it's so pathetic on gas. A good friend here has a RCSB 4.7 (we both have the 6spd) and his mileage is SHOCKINGLY better than ours, and the power difference is not night/day. Why would you pay for, and have to feed a Hemi if you don't need it?
To me, many of the responses above like 'Hemi powwwwaaaa" sum it up by young adrenaline junkies who don't value gas mileage whatsoever.
My $.02

Wow. Fun cop on patrol.

So little you know, yet so opinionated. Good luck luck finding a 4.7 with an 8 speed mated to it. My hemi with 8 speed. 3.21 gears is getting 17 city 24 hwy and she's only got about 1600 mi on her so not even broken in yet...BTW.

4.7 6 speed is actually a bit harder on fuel than the 5.7 8 speed.

So... Question is: Why so why should you pay almost as much money for a 4.7 and have to feed it?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

ramitva · Apr 5, 2014

Well I didn't come home with a truck today. The dealer was falsely advertising their price. They took every single manufacturer discount and showed a super low price. What they don't tell you is that you probably don't qualify for it. Simply put, no deal was made. Back to square one. I did drive the hemi with the eight speed and was quite impressed. I still may go with the 4.7 liter v8 as I will rarely tow and the price is much higher for the hemi.

To the person who suggested not filling the water tank, NO WAY!! The 1500s are plenty enough truck to haul water as long as you don't put the tank right against the tailgate. As a matter of fact my dad's Tacoma even hauled this tank just fine.

jbr · Apr 5, 2014

ramitva said:
Well I didn't come home with a truck today. The dealer was falsely advertising their price. They took every single manufacturer discount and showed a super low price. What they don't tell you is that you probably don't qualify for it. Simply put, no deal was made. Back to square one. I did drive the hemi with the eight speed and was quite impressed. I still may go with the 4.7 liter v8 as I will rarely tow and the price is much higher for the hemi.

To the person who suggested not filling the water tank, NO WAY!! The 1500s are plenty enough truck to haul water as long as you don't put the tank right against the tailgate. As a matter of fact my dad's Tacoma even hauled this tank just fine.

I see the same advertising in the newspaper. Dealers subtract all of the on going rebates from the MSRP price even if you don't quality to get you to come into the dealership.

Price wise I use trucar.com, nada guides.com, and Edmunds.com, to get pricing.

Look at the rear gears also, most suggest 3.92 for tow/hauling.

audio1der · Apr 6, 2014

xXAvroArrowXx said:
Wow. Fun cop on patrol.

So little you know, yet so opinionated. Good luck luck finding a 4.7 with an 8 speed mated to it. My hemi with 8 speed. 3.21 gears is getting 17 city 24 hwy and she's only got about 1600 mi on her so not even broken in yet...BTW.

4.7 6 speed is actually a bit harder on fuel than the 5.7 8 speed.

So... Question is: Why so why should you pay almost as much money for a 4.7 and have to feed it?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I based my numbers on my 5.7/6spd vs my friends 4.7/6spd. He's even harder on the throttle than I am, and I will never see the MPG figures he routinely gets.
The OP asked for opinions and I gave mine, just like everyone else here.

ramitva · Apr 6, 2014

Well I'm looking at two different trucks quite seriously now. I'm looking at a 2013 Ram 1500 SLT with the 4.7 liter with a nicely equipped interior. Also looking at a 2012 ram 1500 express hemi which we know aren't as nicely equipped.

Knotts89 · Apr 6, 2014

Just take your time and buy what you feel comfortable with.

Big Tool · Apr 7, 2014

Definitely go with the 8speed. The old 6 speed had crappy gear ratios because it started out as a 5speed. 1st gear is long and that is why everyone that towed anything used to need the 3.92 gears because it was such a dog off the line.

For your application get the hemi 8 speed with the 3.21 axle ratio. It will accelerate better than the hemi 6speed with 3.92 but provide much better fuel economy in the process.

On the lower trim model trucks you should be able to negotiate 6,000-8,000 off Msrp depending on options and incentives.

UPNO4 · Apr 7, 2014

I am not (totally) an adrenaline junky but I wouldn't give up my Hemi and with 3.92's I still get 21 on the hwy unless I want to get there quick and at 75 - 80 (yes Speed Limit) with my bike rack in the hitch and 4 bike damaging the aerodynamics I still get 19. AND I can pull 10,000 pounds when I want to.

So as mentioned get what you works for you most importantly but don't let mileage influence you that much. What I have seen is that the mileage is based more on the driver than on the truck. Seems like many of us claim to drive the same but mileage results are all over the place.

Hemi 8 speed all the way

ramitva · Apr 7, 2014

Well I haven't bought anything yet. I've found a 2012 hemi Big horn package crew cab with 25,000 miles. I'm seriously considering this one if I can get the money right. $28,200 seems to be a ton of money for a used truck though. However the carfax says the dealer has had this truck for a while so I may be able to save some dough on it. If I can't get him where I want him I found a certified 2013 slt 4.7l quad cab with 16,000 for $26,000 which seems to be a great price based on some I've seen and with certified I'll get 7 years/100,000 miles.

ExpressRules · Apr 7, 2014

I'm not sure what your budget is but I walked out the door in February with a 2014 Express Crew Cab for $33,000 including taxes and MV fees. It is nicely optioned with the 5" media screen, backup camera and class IV receiver. (in addition to the Black Express option)

While depreciation is a bigger hit then with a used Ram at least you know the history, plus you will get a better financing rate then you would with going used.

ramitva · Apr 7, 2014

I've tried new, we just can't get to my numbers. My max is 450 at 72 months. I just have too much going on in the future to stretch anymore and 7 years is out of the question as your total finance charges end up in the thousands. Tomorrow I'm dedicating my search as I'm selling my car. The original idea here was to use the equity in my car to pay off some credit cards. I've found a dealer who will give me what I need on the spot so I'm gonna sell the car now and go vehicle less until I find the truck I want. Every truck I've tried to deal on we've got hung up on my car. It's hard to get the maximum money for my car when I'm trying to hit the dealers lowest number on a truck. Weather permitting I have a motorcycle too but I can carpool with my lady until I get a truck.

loveracing1988 · Apr 8, 2014

ramitva said:
To the person who suggested not filling the water tank, NO WAY!! The 1500s are plenty enough truck to haul water as long as you don't put the tank right against the tailgate. As a matter of fact my dad's Tacoma even hauled this tank just fine.

If you are looking at quad cab 4x4's you are overloading it by about 700lbs at a minimum, and that is not including the tank. Will the truck take it? Sure, but you WILL be well onto the bump stops at that load. The payload of these rams is pathetic at best, but that is what you trade for ride quality.

loveracing1988 · Apr 8, 2014

xXAvroArrowXx said:
Wow. Fun cop on patrol.

So little you know, yet so opinionated. Good luck luck finding a 4.7 with an 8 speed mated to it. My hemi with 8 speed. 3.21 gears is getting 17 city 24 hwy and she's only got about 1600 mi on her so not even broken in yet...BTW.

4.7 6 speed is actually a bit harder on fuel than the 5.7 8 speed.

So... Question is: Why so why should you pay almost as much money for a 4.7 and have to feed it?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

That is by far the best mileage numbers I've seen anyone have out of one of these trucks regardless of transmission, gears, or 4x4 or not.
I can barely get your city mileage on the highway, so telling someone that this mileage is common is one of the reasons I even got my truck. I read on here of people getting 20+ with them and you go on fuelly and no one on there is posting that kind of mileage.

xXAvroArrowXx · Apr 8, 2014

loveracing1988 said:
That is by far the best mileage numbers I've seen anyone have out of one of these trucks regardless of transmission, gears, or 4x4 or not.
I can barely get your city mileage on the highway, so telling someone that this mileage is common is one of the reasons I even got my truck. I read on here of people getting 20+ with them and you go on fuelly and no one on there is posting that kind of mileage.

You can call me a liar if you like. That's what I got last fill (I top up on a weekly basis). Try driving with the real time mpg displayed and feathering the throttle. Look further down the road, if you know you won't make a light coast to it rather than standing on the gas and braking at the last moment.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

ExpressRules · Apr 8, 2014

ramitva said:
Every truck I've tried to deal on we've got hung up on my car. It's hard to get the maximum money for my car when I'm trying to hit the dealers lowest number on a truck. .

Let me make a couple negotiation suggestions. First, never negotiate primarily on monthly payment, it is the out the door price of the vehicle that is what you need to focus on. The same goes for trade in. don't even talk about possible trade in until you get the truck price down to where you want it. The dealer likes to negotiate all things at once because it makes it easier for them to muddy the waters in their favor. There are a number of sites that can give you a range of what specific vehicles are going out the door for in your area.

Walk in the door with a note pad and a calculator and all the research notes you have come up with regarding out the door averages, KBB value for your trade and the current rebates available in your trading area. Of course also know what financing is available for you.

Dealers hate when you control the flow and know all the numbers, but I can tell you I've been very successful using this method over the years. I don't try to get every penny out of their pocket, but always ready to walk out the door if they won't play the way I want.

jsl6v8 · Apr 8, 2014

^^ I was always a fan of edmonds.com and USAA has a car buying program as well that get you down to the bare bones of what a dealer can sell the truck at and still make some money, and its normally about 6-11k off MSRP dependent upon model/options/rebates. At the same time I bought my 2013 as a used truck with 203 miles on it and got about 10k off the window sticker, so sometimes you can get a good deal on a newused truck, I personally had to drive 8 hours though to the dealership to find the truck so it depends on how far you're willing to go. But like Expressrules was saying separate the negotiation process in your favor get the OTD price of the truck where you want it then go from there, I'd also suggest at least getting pre-approved through a bank/CU or other financial institution and then using that as a base to bargain with their financing, my personal experience is the dealers can't touch the rates I get from my CU but then I have real good credit.

ramitva · Apr 8, 2014

Alright everyone I bought a dark blue 2012 Crew Cab 1500 Big Horn hemi with 25,000 miles. This time in my car buying experience I bought the one I wanted. Well as a matter of fact I wanted a quad cab but this one just happened to be a crew. I understand why trucks are so expensive now. This truck is loaded in features that you used to only see in high end vehicles such as Cadillacs. All in I financed about $29000. Yeah I hit the top end end of my budget but I DID NOT overextend myself. I'm sure that I'll hear everyone's stories about how they got one cheaper on a steal. However in our area the way people are buying I did very good considering this truck retails in this condition with this mileage at $37,825 according to nada and $34,092 according to kbb fair purchase price. Thank you soooo much to everyone who has responded. I really appreciate everyone's view points. I look forward to getting to know everyone as I'm now a permanent member.

ExpressRules · Apr 9, 2014

Congratulations on your purchase! It sounds like you made a good deal and I think you will find that the extra space of the crew cab will be greatly appreciated by any back seat passengers you carry.

ramitva · Apr 10, 2014

Ram calls for 5w20 oil in my truck. Can I use 5w30 instead. Where I work I can get conventional 5w30 for $2.92. Anyone use that?

Looking to buy a Ram. Have questions

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