Considering moving to Ram from Tundra

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Toymaker

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I’ll check out the dealer mentioned in Atlanta - yes I am here in Triad.

Will be in Atlanta though end of next month - might be potential to make a deal and drive back.
 

alex6666

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Blast crappy toyota dealer number one on Google ratings. Dealers absolutely hate that as its the most reviewed site. For good measure repost your review every month or so so it shows up at the top of the list. Dealers often go to great lenghts to try and get negative reviews kicked off. Given you seem to just have had a battery problem (and more of a dealer nightmare) which is a relatively minor issue, do you still like the truck? IF so stick with it and dealer two. No sense trading a minor problem for a more serious problem......at a loss.
 

SGJ1

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My Two cents GET RID OF IT!
I just traded my 2021 Tundra XP Edition (500 mi) for my Ram. This due to transmission fluid overheating while backing a 6100# Travel Trailer up a slight incline in my driveway (are you kidding me).
Upon trade it was discovered that there was a non remedy recall pertaining to power steering (again are you kidding me). Anyway did not lose $$ on deal and might have something to due with same owner of the Toyota and Ram dealerships so I was very happy. Limited was onsite and was one of two. Did not get much discounted on Ram but I'm ok with that. Glad I made the switch.
 

anchorsaweigh

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If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. Making changes to ANY of your systems is just asking for warranty trouble. That is why I NEVER change ANYTHING until my warranty runs out.

When your enemy (the dealer/manufacturer) has no ammo, never feel obligated to provide him some.

Just my 2¢
 

Ramblinrick

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Similar experience here... Had a 2021 Chevy Silverado that developed a lifter problem. I traded in for a 2022 Dodge 1500 Laramie. Didn't take too much of a hit and ended up with a much more upgraded truck, comparable payment, less years, lower interest rate. I have owned many trucks and this is my first Dodge. So far, I am happy with my decision and actually educated myself on how far Dodge has come with their trucks. Very happy here!
 

BuggyMasters

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Good to know on that dealer. I’ve actually bought from them.

did you run your truck through Carvana, Vroom, and GiveMeTheVin.com? No harm in it and they will likely give you more for it than a dealer around here even considering the tax savings. I flip flop between Ram and tundra but Ram simply drives better and has a better transmission.
 

Moparfanatic21

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This is why you never buy a Foreign company's car, that wasn't originally American. I do know when I bought my Ram 4 months ago there was no negotiations and was actually above sticker.
 

Sherman Bird

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Ok - so here is my dilemma - purchased a 2021 Tundra Pro in June after much debate.

Ultimately- the Tundra won out over Ram based on a few points - first was simply availability and price - the Tundra I could have at sticker (55k) and finding another at the price point was unlikely.

The Toyota dealer was more of a known to me and reliability/resale factored in too. I liked the Limited Longhorn - but only 1 locally on lots and it wasn’t quite what I wanted.

So fast forward 6 months - Toyota has COMPLETELY lost me as a customer. Started as a bad experience at delivery of the truck (100% dealer - nothing on the brand) - more recently walk out after a cold snap of weather (3 days below freezing) and try to start truck - battery is dead. Charge it and go through test - battery will not charge beyond 11 volts - so call dealer and tell them battery is shot.

They make me have truck brought in (won’t just swap a battery - I get that in a way) - and while there prove their complete ignorance in service department (seriously called me saying needed permission to call a locksmith to open truck as doors locked and couldn’t open as fob wouldn’t work - spent 5 minutes arguing with them that the KEY will open the cylinder on the driver door until I had to show up and SHOW them) - anyway, they test it - yep bad battery - but claim an aftermarket amp replacement on the radio was causing it.

Up till this - no complaint with Toyota as a company…just an idiot dealer I will never return to again. My issue becomes when I go to dealer number 2. Explain what’s going on and they agree battery is warranted UNLESS something aftermarket is causing failure (I agree) - I do my own diag and find no excessive draw from anything on battery and tell them they have permission to do their own diag. They do and find nothing but a bad battery as well.

While the truck is there - I get a nice email from Toyota customer care regarding a complaint I made about dealer 1 and their service (or lack thereof). Nicely informed me that they reviewed the situation and feel dealer was right - and as a result they will be voiding both basic 3/36 and my extended warranty !!

Call dealer number 2 after calls to Toyota get me nowhere - dealer 2 service manager gets the straight story from warranty rep at corporate. Evidently dealer 1 saw a power commander in the console of the truck and reported I had installed an aftermarket tuner that voided warranty !! He realized of course a power commander wasn’t that - and is working on getting warranty back in place.

But now the damage is done with corporate to me - the fact they would cut me off with no warning based on the word of the first dealer and ignore what a 2nd dealer and customer are saying says all I need to know. Toyota is not the brand for me.

So now I’m out another $400 for a battery my in the truck (funny - I think nothing of spending $4000 in “upgrades” - but get ****** about spending $400 on an upgraded battery I know - but c’mon - any new truck should come with a battery that last a year before cramping out.

Thinking now may be the time to just cut it loose and move to Ram. Wondering if it’s going to be doable without losing my ass though. I’m in the Toyota 58k with tax/fees - of course I get taxes offset at trade. Add another 4K in swapped tires, amp power running board and upgraded amp/speakers and 2x10 sub box set up - that’s 62 more or less.

Carvana/Vroom offers based on “stock” are 55-58. Hate pulling all this stuff off a basically new truck and reselling it. Think there’s any chance a dealer gives me say 60k as is trade? And what’s a realistic price to pay for the Ram (assuming sticker is 70k with options) ?

Toyota pricing is simple - you pay sticker. Want to haggle - step aside as we have a line of people who will take it happily at sticker. Ram though is of course more “negotiable” in normal times as know I could expect 11-14% off with incentives - so a 70k sticker would be 62-63 at worst.

Am I dreaming expecting to find something without spending more than 5k out of pocket ? I mean I see locals offering 2020 Pros with 25k miles for 65-67k - obviously they don’t pay that for them - but is 60k for a 21 with under a 1k that unreasonable?!?

Also - how hard is it going to be to find a hemi WITHOUT etorque (my preferred config) - I know in 21 it was a slight cost to add - and in 22 it is even price wise…Not debating it’s value overall - but to me w/o doesn’t not pull trailers over 6k - I just don’t see value in it and see it as being just something else to go wrong on a proven engine.
Emotional decisions based upon knee jerk rationale. Give the whole thing some time to quell.... then revisit your desire to get rid of the new truck.
 

Elkman

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Suggest you go to carcomplaints.com for starters and review the information on Ram versus Toyota for trucks. The reason people choose Toyota trucks is for their reliability.

I have owned 5 Toyota 4WD trucks that I drove extensively off road and put more than 170K miles on each of them. My only repairs were water pumps and clutches and brakes and I never had a break down on or off the road. When I sold the trucks everything worked perfectly. No cab leaks, no heater failures, no instrumentation failures, etc. which has not been the case with my Dodge, Ford, and Chevy trucks.

The only real drawback with the Tundra has been its coming only with a gas guzzling V-8 engine. The Toyota vehicles have the most American made content which is also a plus in my book.

With all my vehicles I have had problems with dealers and needed to shop around to find the best one at the time. Whenever possible I have work done by independent owner operated garages and not by dealers' mechanics.
 

MrTaz

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Go git a 2500 and Hemi 6.4L Hemi. They ride almost as good as a 1500 now that they have the coil link suspension. You'll never go back. I know I won't.
I traded a 2500 in on a 1500 and the ride is like night and day. The 1500 rides more like a car. The 2500 is a much firmer ride that you really feel on a road that's not so smooth.
The biggest reason to move to a Ram from a Tundra is fuel economy. The eight speed in the Ram makes a big difference.
 

HEMIMANN

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I traded a 2500 in on a 1500 and the ride is like night and day. The 1500 rides more like a car. The 2500 is a much firmer ride that you really feel on a road that's not so smooth.
The biggest reason to move to a Ram from a Tundra is fuel economy. The eight speed in the Ram makes a big difference.

Was your 2500 a 5 link coil spring on the rear axle? I believe they only started making these in 2017.
 

BuggyMasters

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I traded a 2500 in on a 1500 and the ride is like night and day. The 1500 rides more like a car. The 2500 is a much firmer ride that you really feel on a road that's not so smooth.
The biggest reason to move to a Ram from a Tundra is fuel economy. The eight speed in the Ram makes a big difference.
That’s why I sold my 2500. Was overkill.
 

drmoreau

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Thanks for the information about the added electronics. What I learned from this story is that its a bad idea to mess with anything electrical until the warranty period is expired. Unless you don't care about the warranty, and then mod away sailor!

Its good to remember that dealers are independent from the brand. In the bicycle industry, Trek and Specialized have set up a few stores, but mostly the shops that sell these brands are independent owners. Its the same for most auto dealers. A Toyota or Ram dealer is not owned by the manufacturer. From what I can learn, Tesla is one of the few brands that owns its own stores (130 in the US, and has stores in 34 other countries).

Finally, this whole story is a First World Problem. When did a gasoline passenger truck battery every cost $400? Not on the planet I inhabit. The first line mentioning "much debate" indicates that this owner may be a delicate flower. Go to a junk yard sometime. Every vehicle in there was new once. Ashes to ashes dust to dust. Perspective here people.
 

BuschLatte420

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Did you get rid of the Toyota!?
 

19Slick69

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Toymaker, you are correct in saying every brand has dealerships that are worth the time of day. Conversely, brands that don't stand behind an obvious flaw or design failure are far worse. Now I love MOPAR, I've owned several and still have two in my garage. However, they too have screwed millions over the years. For one example, the 1996-2004 dashboards that were an obvious design flaw. Instead of recalls or partial payments to rectify the flaw, the customer suffered the indignity of dashboards that self imploded, eventually picking up the tab themselves ($$$) totally out of pocket. Your Toyota probably can't tow as much as a RAM, but their quality is far better, in my opinion....and I love Dodge trucks..but 'Yota' has a proven quality track record. I worked at a very large Chubby shop as a youth....I could tell you stories that would make your head spin. Not only what happened to new cars on their lot, but customer cars in for service as well.
 
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