Used to love my Ram...now...I dunno..

[rule18]

I'm considering starting my mid-life crisis in the next year or two anyway...so who knows, I might go buy something stupid regardless of what I do with my Ram.

Yep, best part of this thread so far.

 

[Anonymous007]

I'm old enough to remember when post-1970 vehicles hit the market and people I knew bought them. A lot of old coot would exclaim that 1970 was the last year of decent American cars! Asian cars were barely better than tinfoil! One of the stupidest things anyone EVER put into a car was the seatbelt starter lockout.... where one HAD to buckle the seatbelt in order for the car to start! This came about in the very early 70's. How pissed would you be if you had to buckle up just to pull the car into the garage for the night! Most folks buckled the seatbelts and sat on them!

That's just one of many dozens of flaws in the entire picture.... but did you ever notice how, in Cuba, those folks are still tooling around in 1950's cars? Those cars were accidentally made to last for 50+ years! New stuff has so much plastic that will rot with age.

Im from cuba, born and grew up there til i was 13 yrs old. Not only do run forever, but the people there dont have access to new parts so they have to fabricate their own parts. Def cool to see all those cars running around for sure


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[Livinalittle]

I have a few thoughts so I'll try and be brief:

1. Like you said, all dealerships are the same no matter which brand you go with. I worked at a Dodge dealership and I hated it, I still love Dodge/Ram though.
2. Service reps are not mechanics. They sometimes like to think they are, but they aren't. You can't trust anything they say, but you can see what the mechanics comments/recommendations were on the work order.
3. Before you do anything you should look on the forum. The problem could have simply been a bad connection with the electronic steering. Electric steering wasn't a thing when I was a mechanic so I'm waiting for the day that mine fails. However, I would have started with unplugging, lubing with dielectric grease, and plugging it back in. That might have solved the problem there.
4. Rams are everywhere, they get in wrecks every day and end up in scrap yards with parts that have nothing wrong with them. You mentioned that you like to work on your jeep; could you not have picked up a steering rack at a local scrap yard for pennies and installed it yourself?


I know I'm biased, I love my Ram and I'm glad I didn't end up with a lemon....but I will never trust a dealership. I go in for recalls and that's all.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Im from cuba, born and grew up there til i was 13 yrs old. Not only do run forever, but the people there dont have access to new parts so they have to fabricate their own parts. Def cool to see all those cars running around for sure


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I'm strongly opinionated that the consuming public is led around by the nose from Madison Avenue Advertisement agencies and social psychological legends, stories, false beliefs, and a lack of being financially enlightened when it comes to automobiles.

Look at the NFL football games not too long ago.... there were 3 things they target advertised to "macho" guys watching the games.
One was ******.... to appeal to a man's manhood in his virility.... Another is the Beer ads, and then there are the Macho truck ads with the baritone voice of Sam Elliot schmoozing "GUTS, GLORY, RAM"! Monday morning, sales skyrocketed.... Subliminal psychology is powerful too.

Look at Subaru... you really have to admit they're smart... they lavish and gush about "Love" while they show the progression of the life of a Labrador Retriever through the growing up in a family as they show all the generations of Subaru said dog was jumping into and out of from tiny puppyhood to old and slow needing a boost into the car, all in the span of a minute!. How many "Mamas" are going to buy one of those cars.... never mind the catalytic converter costing 2800 dollars and everything about their repairs is stupid expensive.... they "love" your family!

The "great generation" folks were ingrained with the notion that 100,000 miles meant certain major failures on a car just around the corner! As cars improved, the belief that had become an urban myth that fed the perception that a car with over 100,000 miles on the odometer, was as good as ready for salvage, failed to fall into distant past. So, that notion persists in many cases today.

I have many customers with far in excess of 200.000 on their odometers and their cars are reliable enough to make cross country trips.

Cars are more reliable when they receive PROPER care. This isn't free... Owning a car is a major financial hit... period.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I'm strongly opinionated that the consuming public is led around by the nose

Sheep.

It's become more noticeable to me in the last 6/8 months.

Willing to give up ALL freedoms for a false sense of security.

I'm not real optimistic about the long term...

 

[GsRAM]

Sheep.

It's become more noticeable to me in the last 6/8 months.

Willing to give up ALL freedoms for a false sense of security.

I'm not real optimistic about the long term...

No doubt about it. Probably part test to see how far we can be pushed and what we will and will not accept.

All for a virus that at present has affected (as of this writing) .015% of the us population. Yes .015%.

It's a real thing and I don't want it, however, when you look at the numbers and what's been done...questions arise... at least for me.

Op- sorry for your troubles and the expensive repair.

I agree, FCA is not the best at taking care of their customers. I'm still waiting for them to replace a defective drag link on my 3 yr old truck with 13k miles on it. I thought I was getting somewhere and now @RamCares is not responding to me (or others) right now.

Unfortunately, all of the big 3 pretty much stink at stepping up and taking care of their customers. Honda and Toyota are excellent , but in my personal experience, Ford and Chevy are no better.

However, I still own nothing but American iron, by choice, so I'll deal with it.

 

[buddy guy]

I have a few thoughts so I'll try and be brief:

1. Like you said, all dealerships are the same no matter which brand you go with. I worked at a Dodge dealership and I hated it, I still love Dodge/Ram though.
2. Service reps are not mechanics. They sometimes like to think they are, but they aren't. You can't trust anything they say, but you can see what the mechanics comments/recommendations were on the work order.
3. Before you do anything you should look on the forum. The problem could have simply been a bad connection with the electronic steering. Electric steering wasn't a thing when I was a mechanic so I'm waiting for the day that mine fails. However, I would have started with unplugging, lubing with dielectric grease, and plugging it back in. That might have solved the problem there.
4. Rams are everywhere, they get in wrecks every day and end up in scrap yards with parts that have nothing wrong with them. You mentioned that you like to work on your jeep; could you not have picked up a steering rack at a local scrap yard for pennies and installed it yourself?


I know I'm biased, I love my Ram and I'm glad I didn't end up with a lemon....but I will never trust a dealership. I go in for recalls and that's all.

My ex just got hit with a 650 dollar service bill on her jeep cherokee with a warranty and only 30k miles on it. I said let me see the bill. They convinced her she needed a 325 dollar "fuel injector cleaning" that if she didnt get done could void her warranty down the road. I told her they took her for a ride & in the future unless its an item on her maintenance sched DO NOT get it done. If she has a problem she is taking it in for talk to me before doing anything to have it worked on. Not only did they see a female coming as it were, but it was a female service advisor who conned her. I'm sure with reduced business due to covid this is a story being repeated a lot lately. When I had my oil service done they wanted to do an alignment for no good reason. I said thx but i'll let you know when i think i need an alignment, like i have for 40 plus years of vehicle ownership, new and used. I have only in the past 5 yrs or so seen this notion of alignments when you get new tires..or for the sake of better tire wear do it annually, just cuz. To me its another scam to make easy money.

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[ronheater70]

I am convinced, at least in my neck of the woods, Ram dealerships are staffed with a bunch of "don't give a ****'s" I fought from the time my old 2500 had about 1700 mile sor so on it till it had about 16K on it to get a Rear diff whine corrected, I couldnt even get them to pull the diff cover. It got steadily worse until I traded it. I Never had any issues with service or warranty with Fords I had bought previously, again in my neck of the woods.

Now with my 3500, I take my truck in for an oil change and come back to find my track bar has the nut welde don it per the Recall by FCA. O.k fine, now next converstaion:
" Well, how you gonna adjust the steering wheel when I need an alignment?" .... " Well we will Grind off the weld, readjust it, and re-weld it back"
" Not something Ill need to pay for".. " yes you will need to pay for the labor to regrind the weld of and reweld the jam Nut"
" Let me get this straight, you welded tight, a part that is meant to be adjustable, and now I have to pay you to grind off the weld and adjust that part" ...
" Yes you do"..

Unbelievable ...

 

[GsRAM]

I am convinced, at least in my neck of the woods, Ram dealerships are staffed with a bunch of "don't give a ****'s" I fought from the time my old 2500 had about 1700 mile sor so on it till it had about 16K on it to get a Rear diff whine corrected, I couldnt even get them to pull the diff cover. It got steadily worse until I traded it. I Never had any issues with service or warranty with Fords I had bought previously, again in my neck of the woods.

Now with my 3500, I take my truck in for an oil change and come back to find my track bar has the nut welde don it per the Recall by FCA. O.k fine, now next converstaion:
" Well, how you gonna adjust the steering wheel when I need an alignment?" .... " Well we will Grind off the weld, readjust it, and re-weld it back"
" Not something Ill need to pay for".. " yes you will need to pay for the labor to regrind the weld of and reweld the jam Nut"
" Let me get this straight, you welded tight, a part that is meant to be adjustable, and now I have to pay you to grind off the weld and adjust that part" ...
" Yes you do"..

Unbelievable ...

Wow, that's beyond ridiculous.

 

[Sherman Bird]

However, I still own nothing but American iron, by choice, so I'll deal with it.[/QUOTE]

Toyota has many US car factories.... ditto KIA/Huyndai, Honda.... and the list grows. While American cars continue to be built in Mexico/Canada, and here.
I was looking at the countries of origin for all the parts in a FORD 5R55W transmission overhaul kit.... there were 8 or more as I recall... one, of course being the US. Really?

 

[PoMansRam]

I know this gets kicked around the forums a ton, but to say pre 1970's vehicles are "better" than today's? What's your definition of better?

Having lived in the rust belt my whole life, I'm old enough to have witnessed new vehicles have full out rust holes in a matter of 2yrs. Sometimes LESS! This doesn't happen with newer cars.

If a car had ~4yrs and 50K miles on it back in the day, it was about junk (in my area). Reliability? Not even close. Of course they were more simple to work on for the most part and parts and labor were cheaper, but folks earned less money then too, so that's a wash.

We get pissed if our 4yr/old vehicle needs an expensive repair now. Back then you would have been through a multitude of repairs by the 4yrs point just so she would start, stay running and get you safely down the road.

I feel for the OP's situation and would have loved to see the E-steering rack and what was REALLY wrong with it. Could it have been just a green crusty contact point on one of the connections? I hate the fact that someone had to spend ~$2600 for steering component work on a 30K mile, relatively new truck.

The OEM or aftermarket part argument is a tough one. The OEM and aftermarket are likely the same part and the OEM might be reman anyway.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Wow, that's beyond ridiculous.

What concerns me here is what GM was going through back in the early 90's mirrored what I read about here with FCA....

 

[ajs3]

I'm just thinking about the OP's problem, and this is from my personal experience. I bought my 1500 in 2016, it's a 2014. No experience with any Mopar/FCA product. 4600 miles on it and the price was right, beautiful truck, I buy it. Fast forward to my first oil change. We all know where our oil filter is located. We all know what happens when we unscrew or oil filters. If there isn't some kind of diverter material to guide the spill oil in a certain direction it goes all over the steering rack electrical connector. Do you think it's possible that some waste oil will find its way into that connector and cause havoc?? It's in a **** location and not protected at all.....just a thought.
And no, I haven't unplugged mine....I'm afraid to.

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[PoMansRam]

......... Do you think it's possible that some waste oil will find its way into that connector and cause havoc?? It's in a **** location and not protected at all.....just a thought.
And no, I haven't unplugged mine....I'm afraid to.

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That's a good point. I know when I did the first OC on my new to me 2019 1500 w/ hemi, I experienced what you said. I kind of wrapped that area with a rag and tried holding a zip-lock back over the filter once I cracked it loose. Still got used motor oil on the E-bits of the steering I believe.

Used oil *shouldn't* be bad for the metal/metal contacts. The plastic and soft bits? You may be on to something...

 

[Sherman Bird]

I know this gets kicked around the forums a ton, but to say pre 1970's vehicles are "better" than today's? What's your definition of better?

Having lived in the rust belt my whole life, I'm old enough to have witnessed new vehicles have full out rust holes in a matter of 2yrs. Sometimes LESS! This doesn't happen with newer cars.

Go ahead and wax negative.... that's your prerogative. And you equating cost of new cars in correlation to income in 1970 is not a level plane transcending to today by a long shot.

E.G. My parents bought a new Pontiac Catalina 1970 model in 1970. It cost them 3600 dollars, IIRC. My father's income from IBM was about 10 fold that amount. How many people make 550 grand a year who buy new Rams? I do not know, but I'll bet the demographics are WAY skewed from that sample. More realistic that a higher percentage of total sales of new vehicles in this class are sold to sub-250K earners. I don't have any first hand data..... Just an extrapolation.

If a car had ~4yrs and 50K miles on it back in the day, it was about junk (in my area). Reliability? Not even close. Of course they were more simple to work on for the most part and parts and labor were cheaper, but folks earned less money then too, so that's a wash.

We get pissed if our 4yr/old vehicle needs an expensive repair now. Back then you would have been through a multitude of repairs by the 4yrs point just so she would start, stay running and get you safely down the road.

I feel for the OP's situation and would have loved to see the E-steering rack and what was REALLY wrong with it. Could it have been just a green crusty contact point on one of the connections? I hate the fact that someone had to spend ~$2600 for steering component work.

 

[PoMansRam]

....... They convinced her she needed a 325 dollar "fuel injector cleaning" that if she didnt get done could void her warranty down the road.

Hopefully she learned something.

You gotta see my 80yr/old mother with her beloved Toyota Camry deal with a shady service advisor.. There's times I disappeared into the fake plants.

 

[PoMansRam]

Go ahead and wax negative.... that's your prerogative. And you equating cost of new cars in correlation to income in 1970 is not a level plane transcending to today by a long shot.

E.G. My parents bought a new Pontiac Catalina 1970 model in 1970. It cost them 3600 dollars, IIRC. My father's income from IBM was about 10 fold that amount. How many people make 550 grand a year who buy new Rams? I do not know, but I'll bet the demographics are WAY skewed from that sample. More realistic that a higher percentage of total sales of new vehicles in this class are sold to sub-250K earners. I don't have any first hand data..... Just an extrapolation.

That ratio of earnings vs vehicle cost logic isn't accurate either.

Almost no one pays $40-80K cash for a new Ram. 9 out of 10 of them (maybe more) are financed or leased in some way.

In 1970 you paid cash for a new car or if you were lucky, got a 24 to maybe 36 month car loan for 12-18% interest.

Heck, I didn't even bring up vehicle costs between 1970 and today in my post..

 

[Sherman Bird]

I'm just thinking about the OP's problem, and this is from my personal experience. I bought my 1500 in 2016, it's a 2014. No experience with any Mopar/FCA product. 4600 miles on it and the price was right, beautiful truck, I buy it. Fast forward to my first oil change. We all know where our oil filter is located. We all know what happens when we unscrew or oil filters. If there isn't some kind of diverter material to guide the spill oil in a certain direction it goes all over the steering rack electrical connector. Do you think it's possible that some waste oil will find its way into that connector and cause havoc?? It's in a **** location and not protected at all.....just a thought.
And no, I haven't unplugged mine....I'm afraid to.

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.........and that goes back to the vehicle system/component designs being done in different buildings, and by cubites who have no clue as to practicality in the end product because there is seemingly little interdepartmental correspondence. Engine is designed for multi chassis applications, and the putzes in the accounting department are always screaming about hemorrhaging money! So, common sense design isn.t so common.

 

[ajs3]

.........and that goes back to the vehicle system/component designs being done in different buildings, and by cubites who have no clue as to practicality in the end product because there is seemingly little interdepartmental correspondence. Engine is designed for multi chassis applications, and the putzes in the accounting department are always screaming about hemorrhaging money! So, common sense design isn.t so common.

Agreed...[emoji106]

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[PoMansRam]

Having worked in or with various engineering disciplines over the years, engineers will engineer the hell out of a component. That's what they do. When it gets passed down to procurement / bean counters is when it gets watered down to the junk we see daily.