Anyone else think their 4th Gen is a Lemon?

RaptorHD said:

I have Ford Cars and Dodge trucks only now, they get those right..

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Thats what I have, exactly.

jmrec100 said:

I think all the newer trucks and cars from 2000 on are not built very well anymore. I have older cars and an older Jeep, 1994 with the 4.0L. Jeep has 325,000 miles on it. Basic things like alternator and starter replacement and battery. Now I need to replace engine mounts. At 325,000 miles, well expected. I did have that cracked manifold issue, - hairline cracks that don't really see until failed CA smog. New manifold and she runs again. I always heard that Dodge/RAM made good engines, but the rest questionable. And the Toyota are living off their previous reputation in my opinion. All the manufacturers are designing for the vehicles to die at certain mileages due to costs cutting. It astounds me for the costs of New trucks.
I am looking for a used truck to carry a camper or to tow a TT. But just concerned what is out there these days.

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well 30yr ago people had a clue how to maintain a vehicle. now days they just drive until something breaks. if you notice most people now days cant even rotate tires. old vehicles are no better than newer ones. its the people driving them thats the difference

It all in how a vehicle is built and then maintained by its owner(s) in its usable lifetime. It's amazing how many vehicles are not maintained or taken care of in today society as if it's broken throw it away or pawn it off on someone else.
As parts and mechanics prices keep going up you will see more disposable vehicles

That's how I buy all my vehicles, the 100K disposed-of vehicles. Get em cheap, do all the maintenance, drive em for another 100K+.

Sad that people don't take care of stuff, but we are 2 or 3 generations removed from the depression era. My great grandparents lived through it, and luckily a little of it passed down to me, Gen X here. But we (in general) are losing the spirit of fixing things and growing food and providing for yourself.

Use it up, wear it out
Make it do or do without!

My parents were raised during the great depression era and back then you took care of the things you owned. In today's world it seems that no one cares to take care of what they own.
My dad instilled in me to do regular maintenance on equipment and the if it isn't broken don't fix it. We had cars, tractors and lawn equipment that lasted years beyond there normal life span.
Just regular oil and filter changes, spark plugs, air filters, grease what's needed and radiator coolant flushes/refills. When it came to belts and hoses they would be replaced when it really needed to replaced.
I do everything that I feel comfortable repairing myself. If it's something I feel that I'm not capable of doing myself then I will farm that task out to someone that has the knowledge to do the job.
I have been doing my own repairs on my vehicles and equipment since my teens and I'm in my late 50's and still going

For the most part, the list of issues here do not represent poor woorkmanship as much as they do possible rough use and abuse... Now if your list was full of design flaws like broken manifold bolts, failed cam/lifters and so on... Id say you would have more justification for your case.

16Ram4x4 said:

It all in how a vehicle is built and then maintained by its owner(s) in its usable lifetime. It's amazing how many vehicles are not maintained or taken care of in today society as if it's broken throw it away or pawn it off on someone else.
As parts and mechanics prices keep going up you will see more disposable vehicles

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Partly false. Lol

If we can’t do maintenance on our own, we can have it done. In may early cars, 60s and seventies, repairs and diagnosing was fairly simple. Screwdrivers, wrenches and socket set could fix almost anything. Now you need a computer. I leave repairs to the pro now. Except oil changes, I do my own oil changes. Or at least I did until I dislocated my shoulder. Hasn’t healed right.

huntergreen said:

Partly false. Lol

If we can’t do maintenance on our own, we can have it done. In may early cars, 60s and seventies, repairs and diagnosing was fairly simple. Screwdrivers, wrenches and socket set could fix almost anything. Now you need a computer. I leave repairs to the pro now. Except oil changes, I do my own oil changes. Or at least I did until I dislocated my shoulder. Hasn’t healed right.

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There is no fixing the new ones. Yes you can do the basics, but when it comes down to all the glitches and stuff it has to go to a pro. I really think GM with the LS motors is where it became any performance things could be done, but the tuning etc was now all on a computer. I built 5.0 mustangs until the last year in 95 and they were fairly simple. The 89-93 cars were super simple. Id buy this idle air adapter and it basically allowed me to tune the car to what ever I wanted to throw at it big cams etc and it tuned like a carb. I miss those days. Yes there was mega squirt, and now we have Holley terminator x which has me looking for another fox just to play around with it.

The elephant in the room on what can or can't be fixed is that when I was a child transistors were beginning to appear in cars and all the old guys would insufferably go on and on about how you can't fix them and you need to have points ignition because all those super frequent times when you find yourself in a post apocalyptic wasteland you can make your own condenser out of some tinfoil and doritos bags.

All of those newfangled cars all the old guys hated because you can't fix them are the dinosaurs people talk about being easy to fix now when complaining about today's newfangled cars.

The difficulty in repair going forward isn't that things are computerized or complex but rather that there are deliberate measures to prohibit repair and modification, like serializing parts so if you took two brand new and absolutely identical machines and swap a part between them, the part or some function will not operate and cannot be made to operate without direct manufacturer intervention. That's going to be an interesting topic going forward.

I know that talking about anything "Green" is highly contentious around here but I think everyone can agree that if some company claims to be "Green" but then deliberately hobbles the repairability of the machines they build... well there's nothing green about making more disposable junk.

kurek said:

The elephant in the room on what can or can't be fixed is that when I was a child transistors were beginning to appear in cars and all the old guys would insufferably go on and on about how you can't fix them and you need to have points ignition because all those super frequent times when you find yourself in a post apocalyptic wasteland you can make your own condenser out of some tinfoil and doritos bags.

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It was a nice shift from I'd never buy a car with an oil filter nonsense. No need to filter oil if you're changing it like you should. It will hid damage! It's another spot to leak (catastrophic leaks, no one cared about a little leaking).

crazy jerry said:

well 30yr ago people had a clue how to maintain a vehicle. now days they just drive until something breaks. if you notice most people now days cant even rotate tires. old vehicles are no better than newer ones. its the people driving them thats the difference

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The fellow at my local walmart didnt know how to rotate tires.But it is walmart tho. lol.I gave him a no pun intended "crash" course in tire rotating! Lol

I love my 16 2500, just turned 50K on everything but the engine. That bullit has roughly 23K on a factory supplied and dealer installed long block.

My 2016 turned out to be a lemon I think. I just posted about saying goodbye to it. I pulled the trigger on a '22 2500 yesterday. One year of frustration was too much. It had constant suspension problems but only on the right front. No off-roading, no crazy sh*t, just a regular go to work, kid hauler, occasional FFA barn duty stuff. I'm just looking forward to some peace of mind, finally.

2011, still running strong and certainly not a lemon

On mine they still can't get the trailer reverse steering control to work. And they've tried several times. And I go back next week for them to try again. I've got 22,000 trouble free miles otherwise. And I forgot, the OEM highway tires really stink off road. And in the snow. They were so bad I had them replaced at 20,000 miles....
It's SUCH a friggin lemon.

Anyone need a set of half warn highway tires?

Doug Ram said:

On mine they still can't get the trailer reverse steering control to work. And they've tried several times. And I go back next week for them to try again. I've got 22,000 trouble free miles otherwise. And I forgot, the OEM highway tires really stink off road. And in the snow. They were so bad I had them replaced at 20,000 miles....
It's SUCH a friggin lemon.

Anyone need a set of half warn highway tires?

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In all fairness as you mentioned, they are ‘Highway’ tires.

Had mine changed for terrain and towing purposes primarily.

Octane said:

The fellow at my local walmart didnt know how to rotate tires.But it is walmart tho. lol.I gave him a no pun intended "crash" course in tire rotating! Lol

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I purchase my tires at Discount Tires, so I get free rotations done every 6mo, so really, there's no excuse for people not getting tires rotated.

I'm the second owner of my 2010, and other than a couple hiccups, no lemon here.

I find that the best price deals at some tire sales places do not offer free rotation.And I don't need those free brake inspections that often come with the rotation service.I don't call a brake inspection free when a rotation cost $30 either.But no one is gonna touch my brakes anyway.lol

Socalramfan said:

In all fairness as you mentioned, they are ‘Highway’ tires.

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Absolutely.