To buy a new truck or not?

I know, I know another thread like this but I'm struggling here.

I have a 2004 Ram 1500 quad cab long bed 4X4 SLT with currently 61,000 miles (bought the truck in 2008 with 19,500 miles). As you can see this truck does not get driven much at all. Overall it is in pretty good shape. It's got a couple scratches and needs a couple minor things fixed but it's been a great truck however, I believe this generation was known for transmission issues (5-45RFE transmission).

Currently my wife and I carpool to work and put the majority of the miles on our 2012 Durango Citadel which has also been a great vehicle especially with the mopar max care lifetime warranty.

A recent visit of our Durango to the service department for a week and a half for a minor issue (a story for another day) had us driving the truck to get to work and had really made me miss the features of the Durango (adaptive cruise, blind spot, ect) and a recent walk around the factory floor got me interested in the 2019 Ram 1500 limited. The styling and features were fantastic (the price was another story).

Both of our vehicles are currently fully paid for.

I use my truck mostly for hardware store trips but do tow occasionally (mostly cars like my 1972 Chevelle).

The initial dealer offer to trade my truck in was a whopping $5,000.

I'm looking for insights an opinions here on what I should do here.

1) Keep the current truck add a dash camera and backup camera to drive it for at least 2 more years
2) Keep the current truck as is and wait for the ecodiesel option
3) Buy the 2500 limited with the cummins diesel (was more truck than I need but it's always been a dream truck)
4) Buy the 2019 1500 Limited

We plan to replace the Durango in the 2025 time frame (we hope).

I had 04 ram slt 75000 miles with serious ram rot (rust)on bed and below the doors I got 50000 trade in on my 19 Ram and I don't regret it at all my opinion is pull the trigger on the new one

5000.00 not 50000.00 sorry

This is straight up your question it's hard for us to answer. The cost effective thing is to keep your 04 and drive it. If it's not costing you money and its very low miles it's hard to walk away from that. On the other hand if you decide to get a truck get your dream truck. The longer you keep vehicles the chances of them paying you back are good. I have learned if you half ass it and get a good enough vehicle and you already have a dream vehicle you'll always be wanting causing you to swap sooner and that will just cost you more.

14hemiexpress said:

This is straight up your question it's hard for us to answer. The cost effective thing is to keep your 04 and drive it. If it's not costing you money and its very low miles it's hard to walk away from that. On the other hand if you decide to get a truck get your dream truck. The longer you keep vehicles the chances of them paying you back are good. I have learned if you half ass it and get a good enough vehicle and you already have a dream vehicle you'll always be wanting causing you to swap sooner and that will just cost you more.

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Yeah I keep going back and forth hence why I'm trying to enlist outside thinking.

If I bought a truck it would be a no compromise type of thing except I'd be willing to do 1500 vs 2500 because I'm not sure how I feel about the ride in the 2500 but the one I drove also didn't have the air suspension

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If U want all the Bling, get the 1500 Limited (research options they have air suspension, etc) (see what is on truck).. Or, get your dream truck and order, built to how U want it. None of the buy options will get U out from under paying big. But if $$$$$$ not the issue, do what yer heart desires (and Momma allows U to do).

I would stay away from the ED, because of all the EPA/CARB STUFF, but that is IMHO, and I had a 2015 which I traded up to a MY 19 Hemi (non-etorque)...

PERSONALLY, if U decide and do 1500, I would stay away from E-torque but that is my senile dementia INANE sense of thinking, ALL IMHO !!!

If the truck is just a secondary vehicle for the odd tow and dump run then it makes sense to just keep the old reliable one for just that. At a 4000 mile a year average I would stay away from a modern diesel since the def will crystallize on you and cause problems so gas is the better option. 545rfe isn't a bad transmission. I put Over 170,000 miles on mine and it worked just fine. Have you considered your new truck to be the new commuter and your wifes citadel to be the new secondary and then switch to hers being the new primary once it gets up for replacement?

BWL said:

If the truck is just a secondary vehicle for the odd tow and dump run then it makes sense to just keep the old reliable one for just that. At a 4000 mile a year average I would stay away from a modern diesel since the def will crystallize on you and cause problems so gas is the better option. 545rfe isn't a bad transmission. I put Over 170,000 miles on mine and it worked just fine. Have you considered your new truck to be the new commuter and your wifes citadel to be the new secondary and then switch to hers being the new primary once it gets up for replacement?

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So part of the reason we don't take the truck more is a stupid excuse on my part but being so long and no backup camera or parking sensors it can be tricky getting in an out of spots. I think if we did get a new truck (or maybe even just upgrade ours) it might get driven more.

One attraction is with the crew cab instead of the quad cab my 4 year old might stop kicking my seat.

I don't think we'd ever replace the Durango as the primary car due to the lifetime bumper to bumper warranty (just crossed 100000 miles) that we have but I think we might opt to take it less.

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turkeybird56 said:

But if $$$$$$ not the issue, do what yer heart desires (and Momma allows U to do).

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Part of me wishes she wasn't ok with a new truck LOL

I would stay away from the ED, because of all the EPA/CARB STUFF, but that is IMHO, and I had a 2015 which I traded up to a MY 19 Hemi (non-etorque)...

PERSONALLY, if U decide and do 1500, I would stay away from E-torque but that is my senile dementia INANE sense of thinking, ALL IMHO !!!

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Why would you stay away from ED? Why don't you like the etorque?


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E-Torque just too new, way to many things to go snuffy bad on 1st year concept with a Generator and 48 Volt Battery pack, just my thoughts. Like the ole reliable standard 5.7L.

ED: Just too many problems with EPA/CARB. Seems like EPA just pushing that motor into issues, and in the past there were reliability issues ref manufacturer. I had one, and to be honest no issues, but I traded away from it. If I were to go back to Diesel, it would be Cummins.

NOW: all of the above imho..........................JUST ME>>> But I's a Boird.

Driving a diesel too little can cause issues. Not like the old days where you can leave them sit for years and then fire them up no problem. Def crystallizes, but if you drain the def once a year and pour in fresh stuff you'd probably be fine. Etorque is a battery with a shelf life so I too would be hesitant given your low mileage and long term ownership. Eventually something will go on the citadel that costs more than depreciated value and your wife will need a new vehicle, but thats probably a ways off. In your situation I'd probably go cc standard box in a bighorn with it being rarely used and less to go wrong long term or buy a car and keep the old truck around for occasional use if parking isn't an issue. With its current value and limited use I doubt basic insurance coverage on it is too expensive.

If you can pay cash for the new truck go for it! i never recommend going into debt for a vehicle.

So right now I'm leaning towards putting a new android auto head unit into my truck with a front and rear camera and driving it for a couple more years at least. Let all the technology that's new to 2019 and 2020 work itself out for a few years.

Bought a used 14 Sport from Canada in 15 for a screaming good price. Drove it until August this year and just fell in love with most things about it. My dream truck was a Laramie Sport, less interior smaltz than the higher levels, with level 2 interior with HK system, 12" screen, Hemi and a warranty I could extend out to 7-8 years. I also wanted a crew cab to get the larger interior the the Sport quad cab didn't have.

Found out my 14 Sport still had decent trade in value so I went looking. After 4-5 dealers I found one in the next town that gave me a high value on my Sport and a decent discount on a Laramie Sport that was 300 miles away.

Bottom line, I'm driving my dream truck currently, have everything I want in it and waiting would have cost me more.

tegguy said:

So right now I'm leaning towards putting a new android auto head unit into my truck with a front and rear camera and driving it for a couple more years at least. Let all the technology that's new to 2019 and 2020 work itself out for a few years.

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Not a bad idea. Those years the head unit aren't tied into everything. Not sure if there's a factory nav option on the 2004, but there was in 06 so when I put a double din radio into my 2006 I bought the centre panel from one with the factory nav so it had a square hole vs a weird looking panel with the knob cutouts to make the install cleaner.

BWL said:

Not a bad idea. Those years the head unit aren't tied into everything. Not sure if there's a factory nav option on the 2004, but there was in 06 so when I put a double din radio into my 2006 I bought the centre panel from one with the factory nav so it had a square hole vs a weird looking panel with the knob cutouts to make the install cleaner.

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Nope the only thing tied to it is the amp. I have an after market head unit in it currently but it's old and having some issues.

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tegguy said:

So right now I'm leaning towards putting a new android auto head unit into my truck with a front and rear camera and driving it for a couple more years at least. Let all the technology that's new to 2019 and 2020 work itself out for a few years.

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I just did that to my 08. Makes a big difference. bought one of those alpine license plate cameras and ran all the wiring myself. Pretty simple job if you plan it out, but pays big dividends.

redman4455 said:

I just did that to my 08. Makes a big difference. bought one of those alpine license plate cameras and ran all the wiring myself. Pretty simple job if you plan it out, but pays big dividends.

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Did you also do an alpine head unit?

Right now it's practical brain vs wanting brain and it's a struggle and I'm not going to lie part of the allure is that I've never bought a brand new vehicle (part of me said I never would) and we can afford one. It'd be so much easier if we couldn't afford it.

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tegguy said:

Did you also do an alpine head unit?

Right now it's practical brain vs wanting brain and it's a struggle and I'm not going to lie part of the allure is that I've never bought a brand new vehicle (part of me said I never would) and we can afford one. It'd be so much easier if we couldn't afford it.

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yeah, I bought an alpine ilx-w650. it's ok, think it's a little dim in the light and it's a little slow when using android auto. Going to try a firmware update soon. other than that its doing what I expected of it!

I was going to leave this truck for my pops and buy a new one, but now that it has the slight upgrade I'm also thinking about laying off buying a new truck. You know how that goes though, tomorrow I'll be drooling over a 3500 laramie ctd probably lol.

Well:

Financially - no way you can win by switching vehicles. You have a paid-for vehicle with not a lot of miles. I would conservatively guess it has at least 10 years left in it, assuming it is not rotting away with rust. Even if the transmission blows tomorrow a new transmission is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of a new truck.

Life value - only you can answer that. Life is short and if you don't like driving the truck because it doesn't have back-up cameras, adaptive cruise, etc, some of those things can be added and some can't, but even adding them will not make this vehicle as nice as a new vehicle.

I think your first question needs to be: what is my goal in life this year? 5 years? 10 years? It sounds like you're still going to work - is that because you like going to work or because you need the money? If it's the latter, buying a new truck isn't going to help things. If you like going to work, and have plenty of money, it might be foolish to act like a pauper and drive old stuff just because you don't want to part with a dollar.

For me: I traded in my 04 Titan CC 4WD in January for a 2019 Bighorn CC 4WD. My Titan was getting close to 160k miles and I got my money's worth out of it. I feel confident it could have gone another 50-100k miles but was also starting to have the myriad of things start going wrong with it that happens with miles and age. I could afford the truck, use it for business, and got a nice tax write-off for this year by waiting until January so that's my justification. Financially was it the absolute best use of money? No, but I don't plan on going to the graveyard with a fistfull of dollars and holes in my shoes. If I was broke or couldn't afford to do something else I really wanted to do because I bought the truck, I would have done something different.

First figure out what your money situation is and what your goals are, then you'll have your answer. Don't be a cheapskate as a badge of honor if you have plenty of money for this truck, but if you're happy with the current truck and/or are kidding yourself that you can afford a new one, you should stay put.