Engine hours... what i didnt know...

[greecegreens]

So I just bought a 2020 limited ram truck with 34,000 miles.
This is my first truck. Not knowing about engine hours I sign all the paperwork...
So a few days later I discovered how to see my engine hours... and this is what I saw

IDLE 839
RUN 1325

2,164 total engine hours!

Well I think I stepped in it this time.... from what I see online this is quite high for 34k miles...

It should be illegal not disclosing this info.

 

[crash68]

Looks like the person may have been a really slow driver as they averaged just shy of 26 mph.

 

[greecegreens]

I did buy it in NYC area so probably allot of city driving and traffic. .. but yea.. I'm super bummed

 

[Atcer2018]

I did buy it in NYC area so probably allot of city driving and traffic. .. but yea.. I'm super bummed

Don’t sweat it too much. My 2018 was a CPO which I purchased in 2019 off lease from a paint contractor. It only had 16,*** miles on it but 712 idle hours. At 72,*** miles now and zero problems. Yours is low mileage and if you don’t idle a lot it will eventually equal out to reasonable levels of idle and driving time.

 

[Dean2]

Take a d eep breath, you arent in bad shape on the buy. The hours are a bit high for the miles but as long as it got oil changes regularly it will not be a problem. There are a ton of vhicles up here that idle 24 hours a day for years. They rack on 7800 hours a year and after 3 years still only have 35,000 miles on them. They still run perfectly but with 30,000 hours they should have over a million miles on the clock. The idle hours don't seem to wear on the motor like driving hours do

 

[GTyankee]

What is referred to as a Fleet Vehicle, often has many idle hours

My vehicles idle too much
There are days when it is chilly, or days when it is too warm.

I get a call to be at one of the Mexican/American Commercial Vehicle Border Crossing at a given time.
I set up my Ram


Then i wait for the Semi Truck to cross though the Inspection Check Point.
I have waited as much as 10 hours, without the semi truck showing up. So i return again the next morning & wait again.
If the weather is comfortable, i don't run the engine, otherwise i use the Heater or A/C.

There are no stores close to these Border Crossings

Once they get in line, It can take as much as 6 hours to cross from Mexico into California, with a semi truck

 

[Heatheroo]

the Run hours randomly reset on these trucks, so the number of run hours displayed can be meaningless. Mine reset when the hours were in the 1000's. I currently have ~66K miles on my truck but it displays 400 - something Run hours.

 

[stevenP]

I have never paid attention to that. And according to others, it can reset itself anyway.

 

[greecegreens]

That is good to hear. Much appreciate the feedback!

When Buying a new car, things like this end up passing you off.. the idle hours is really what sets me off... and not knowing if enough oil changes where done.
Engine does sound good with no knocking.

 

[BuschLatte420]

Looks like the person may have been a really slow driver as they averaged just shy of 26 mph.

I drive mostly highway and my average mph totally doesn’t seem accurate.

 

[BuschLatte420]

That is good to hear. Much appreciate the feedback!

When Buying a new car, things like this end up passing you off.. the idle hours is really what sets me off... and not knowing if enough oil changes where done.
Engine does sound good with no knocking.

Did u see a car fax? Should have some changes on it if done at most shops

 

[greecegreens]

Did u see a car fax? Should have some changes on it if done at most shops

Yes. It was very choppy seems like oil changes weren't logged well. Hopefully they where done.

 

[GTyankee]

I save all my trucks invoices, i put them in a shoe box

When i sold my 2009 Dodge Ram in 2016, i handed the box to him & explained what it was.
I don't know if he really cared or not, but he does have the full history, if he should need it.

If he does check it out, he may be surprised to see the number of times, that i have the oil changed, some months it was changed twice, my business was going real good

 

[Hemi832]

This is mine currently

 

[chri5k]

As others have said, the hours are not that bad if maintenance was done. If the display bothers you, AlfaOBD can change them to whatever you like.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I save all my trucks invoices, i put them in a shoe box

When i sold my 2009 Dodge Ram in 2016, i handed the box to him & explained what it was.
I don't know if he really cared or not, but he does have the full history, if he should need it.

If he does check it out, he may be surprised to see the number of times, that i have the oil changed, some months it was changed twice, my business was going real good

I created and kept a maintenance log in the glove box of my Silverado that had everything in it that I did to the truck in the 23+ years of driving it - not counting things like wiper blades and the like; things like oil changes, parts replacement, brakes, etc. When I sold it in March, the guy who bought it said he had never heard of anyone keeping those kinds of records. I told him if he wanted I also had .pdf copies of most all the receipts. He passed on those, said the log book was proof enough.

 

[Dean2]

I created and kept a maintenance log in the glove box of my Silverado that had everything in it that I did to the truck in the 23+ years of driving it - not counting things like wiper blades and the like; things like oil changes, parts replacement, brakes, etc. When I sold it in March, the guy who bought it said he had never heard of anyone keeping those kinds of records. I told him if he wanted I also had .pdf copies of most all the receipts. He passed on those, said the log book was proof enough.

I agree. I have kept a detailed log book, including every fuel fill, repair, oil change, filter changes and any other details in EVERY vehicle I have ever owned. There were times I had as many as 8 or 9 vehicles at a time.There was absolutely no way I could remember what I did to which and what maintenance they needed without the log. Also, there was no way to accurately claim the tax deductions without the log having details of the money spent for each item. I also keep a complete paper file from the original purchase receipt and every paper receipt thereafter.

The log book and file went with every vehicle when sold. Some consider this a little excessive, but you can ask a much higher price for vehicles you can prove the service history on.

 

[CanuckRam1313]

So I just bought a 2020 limited ram truck with 34,000 miles.
This is my first truck. Not knowing about engine hours I sign all the paperwork...
So a few days later I discovered how to see my engine hours... and this is what I saw

IDLE 839
RUN 1325

2,164 total engine hours!

Well I think I stepped in it this time.... from what I see online this is quite high for 34k miles...

It should be illegal not disclosing this info.

I wouldn't take the idle and run hors for more than numbers and taking space on your EVIC system.

It is a known issue that these systems randomly reset. Mine has reset three times in the past four years of ownership. To the point where values have drastically increased, decreased, and reset right back to zero, too.

 

[turkeybird56]

This is mine currently View attachment 523783

YUP, reset there somewhere. No way in 216K miles U have only 32 hours idle, lol. Heck of a number tho. OP do not sweat it. U bought truck, get it serviced now and service it regularly. Since U R in city, a lot of stop/go, I would not go past 7,500 on oil changes, I personally do 5,000 mile changes and since your truck in NYC, I would do 5,000 mile intervals too. But, do as what pleases you.

 

[TestPilot57]

Looks like the person may have been a really slow driver as they averaged just shy of 26 mph.

I once bought a Mercedes CLS 550 - a 400 HP "4-Door Coupe" (roughly equivalent to 600 HP in a Ram 1500) and according to the trip computer the previous owner drove it (first owner, 6,000 miles since brand new) an average of 19 MPH...