Help Me Decide

[bassslayer25]

So I have been on this forum for a few years, and I have been wanting a 4th gen for the past 2-3 years now. I have a 2000 Dodge Ram 1500 ever since high school but now 5 years later, I am wanting to upgrade this 20 year old, 220,000 mile truck lol

On my 2000 I have the Laramie package and I really do like bighorn and Laramie with the chrome on the 4th gens. However, I like the interior better on the sports. But I am not sure if I like the painted grille/bumper etc. And the Laramie, which gives the best of both worlds are a little out of my price range still.

Basically my question is, those with sports, does the painted front end hold up fine compared to chrome and do you like the leather? And those with the bighorns/slt do you like the cloth interior?

Im really just wanting pros and cons of both. Does one come with more features that are worth over the other. Can I swap painted grille and bumper for chrome ones in the future or am I stuck with the painted ones?

Again, I like the look of the sports but I have always had a thing from the chrome on any truck.

Anyway, like the title says, help me decide haha

Oh, and are there certain years of 4th gens that I should look out for as far as problems are concerned?

Thanks!

 

[james.price.58]

I had a 2015 sport and now a 2017 Laramie. The chrome vs painted is more of a personal preference as they'll both show some wear after a few years.
Things I preferred on the Laramie
cooled seats with perforated leather
Chrome bumpers and grill
Remote start (think that's an option on any trim)
Power seats with memory settings
Wood grain interior trim

Things I preferred on the sport
Sport has a better looking hood (again, personal preference)
Sport has body colored mirrors (dont like the laramie chrome)

Good luck with your decision!


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[huntergreen]

Go with the sport.

 

[RLJ10X]

I have the painted grill on my 11 Sport. It has a few little chips in the front, but it's held up really well. But I will add the caveat that I DO NOT follow closely.

Chrome is for Hardleys and Cadillacs as far as I'm concerned. But I'm obviously the minority. Can't help it if I'm right, and everybody else is wrong.

 

[Hawkman]

I have had 2 Sports and a Laramie, all we’re fully loaded for the year and model. I like the painted mirrors, hood, and front end on the Sports, and like a poster above, love the perforated heated and cooled seats with memory on my Laramie. I now have a 2017 Rebel with everything available in that trim area. I miss my memory seats and adjustable pedals, I’m 6-2, wife 5-00, and she drives the truck from time to time.

Both are really nice trucks, just comes down to what’s important to you, visual or cabin equipment. Buy what YOU really want, it will make spending the money a little easier.

 

[Jrod]

I’ve owned three rams ranging from 2005 - 2016 Sport. I don’t ever see myself going back to cloth. The heated / vented seats are a plus. The sunroof is also a bonus. If you’re looking at a used 4th gen, you’ll be able to determine whether the paint holds up vs chrome. Mine has a few small highway nicks on it but so did my earlier version with chrome.

 

[MADDOG]

My 2014 BigHorn had the black appearance package with diesel grey cloth interior. I liked it. The seats were comfy and the cloth was just fine with me. The front paint held up fine...until the entire front end of the truck was ripped of due to an inattentive driver.

I now have a 2017 Laramie with the body colored front and leather. I like the leather and the front paint is holding up fine. I picked it because it was a lot queen, it had everything I wanted (and quite a bit more), the price was amazingly low, I loved the color and it was immediately available.

For me it would be hard to choose between the two but another BigHorn with the body colored fascias and cloth interior would work out well for me.

 

[Pull Ya]

I have had 2 Sports and have had the front of both of them wrapped with PPC. It saved all the small chips and nicks of everyday use and while it wasn't cheap it was cheaper than having the front end repainted periodically.
Jay

 

[JoeCo]

Basically my question is, those with sports, does the painted front end hold up fine compared to chrome and do you like the leather? And those with the bighorns/slt do you like the cloth interior?

From what I can tell the painted front bumper getting rock chips is pretty exaggerated. I've certainly seen a few on here that have had issues, but have also seen just as many chrome bumpers with the same issues. I think these few vehicles have defects from the factory and the other vehicles seem to hold up fine. I had an 11 sport and a 13 sport that I put a combined 70,000 miles on, and traded in at 5 years old and 6 years old, and neither had one single rock chip or any other cosmetic issues. I live in the rust/salt belt and my first truck especially saw a lot of other bad conditions, and I do follow closely when it's warranted. Both hoods had rock chips in them I had to touch up though. Now I just bought a 17 longhorn and it's my first ram with chrome bumpers (not really something I wanted but no other choice with that trim), we will see how it holds up the next few years but I'm not worried about it, just as I wasn't worried about my previous 2 rams.

 

[Pull Ya]

^^^Damn, I wished I would have talked to you first and gotten your expert opinion on the rock chip non problem. I could have saved myself a lot of time and money I spent to have the front end protected. I wished I could drive 70k miles on your roads, then I wouldn't have to worry about any problems. If you claim to have driven 70k and not suffered "not one single rock chip" I call BS.
Jay

 

[JoeCo]

^^^Damn, I wished I would have talked to you first and gotten your expert opinion on the rock chip non problem. I could have saved myself a lot of time and money I spent to have the front end protected. I wished I could drive 70k miles on your roads, then I wouldn't have to worry about any problems. If you claim to have driven 70k and not suffered "not one single rock chip" I call BS.
Jay

Sorry you feel that way, but it's true. I call BS on everyone over exaggerating these problems, that why I'll continue to share my experiences each time I see the BS. If I save anybody some time and money then I'm glad I did.

And I agree with you, I'm real sorry you didn't consult me first and save yourself the effort!

 

[Pull Ya]

Everyone has the right to their own opinion. We have stated ours--let the OP decide what he wants to do, it's his truck and his money.
Jay

 

[JoeCo]

Everyone has the right to their own opinion. We have stated ours--let the OP decide what he wants to do, it's his truck and his money.
Jay

Hey I agree, certainly there's a lot of variables in play here. I'll concede if you're planning on keeping a vehicle for a long time then it's probably a good idea to do that. If you're like me and don't keep them for even 3 years, I don't think it worth it. Just my opinion.

 

[Pull Ya]

I tend to keep mine longer than that and I show my truck in local car shows frequently so keeping it as pristine as possible to me is very important. I also drive it a lot and I think the PPF is just added protection from rock chips and bug splatters that can etch the paint. It's certainly a lot cheaper than repainting the front end periodically. I also have the back of the painted mirrors PPF to give them some added protection also.
Jay

 

[JoeCo]

I tend to keep mine longer than that and I show my truck in local car shows frequently so keeping it as pristine as possible to me is very important. I also drive it a lot and I think the PPF is just added protection from rock chips and bug splatters that can etch the paint. It's certainly a lot cheaper than repainting the front end periodically. I also have the back of the painted mirrors PPF to give them some added protection also.
Jay

That's cool, whatever works for ya, as we discussed, whatever works best for that person in their set of circumstances. I wish I still had mine so I could get some closeups of it, the best I can do is tell you I bought it for 25k (with 20k miles) in July of 2016 and traded it in at the end of last month and got 22k for it(with 53k miles), because it was spotless inside and more importantly up here, outside. I just run it through our car wash a few times a week through winter to try to keep all the salt off but otherwise don't do much to keep it maintained cosmetically. I have no doubt the PPF is a good product though, especially for longer ownership or if you have some really crazy environments to drive in. I've ruined a few nice looking trucks back in my off roading days where something like that could have helped preserve things. Have you ever had a ram with chrome bumpers, if so any thoughts on their quality? This longhorn I just bought is my first Ram with the chrome, much prefer the color matched for the looks but settled for the chrome since the truck and deal were right.

Edit: Just so ya know I'm kind of lazy with the truck because I show my 66 Buick during the summer and getting that show ready does a real good job of taking up my free time. So the truck doesn't get quite the love it deserves but still always looks good.

 

[Pull Ya]

I had one truck with the chrome bumpers and I didn't have any problems with the chrome, however through the years I have from time to time read that some people have had issues with some of the chrome bumpers that have started to rust. Sadly, I think many were from your part of the country and/or parts of the country where they use lots and lots of sand and salt on the roads. I'm thinking that maybe the chrome process isn't as good or the prep isn't as good as it used to be years ago and maybe the chrome isn't as high of a quality as it was in the past.
Jay

 

[bassslayer25]

So just to update everyone, I went and test drove a 2011 Slt today. Charcoal grey with the chrome. Plus the cloth interior which has the two tone. Outside I loved the look. On the inside however, the tan kinda wasnt pleasing me. Its not bad by any means, just look meh.

The other truck I am looking at, and will end up getting more than likely, is this one: https://www.carsforsale.com/used-ca...merriam-ks-d725040/inventory/details/53193908

The whole sport exterior is really growing on me. I really like the look more than I did a few months ago. And the interior is far and away better than the cloth, two tone interior in the other trim levels. This was on the very high end of what I wanted to pay and the blue book on it is a few grand less.

What do you think a fair price for this is? I plan on putting 3k down or so too which will help total cost.

But overall, what do you think of this truck?

 

[JoeCo]

I had one truck with the chrome bumpers and I didn't have any problems with the chrome, however through the years I have from time to time read that some people have had issues with some of the chrome bumpers that have started to rust. Sadly, I think many were from your part of the country and/or parts of the country where they use lots and lots of sand and salt on the roads. I'm thinking that maybe the chrome process isn't as good or the prep isn't as good as it used to be years ago and maybe the chrome isn't as high of a quality as it was in the past.
Jay

Yeah they use salt up here like crazy, it's also not unusual to see large salt piles in the roads where the plows stopped but apparently the salt didn't. It's disgusting. You're also not kidding about the quality of newer chrome, I re chromed my front bumper on my 66 Buick 3 years ago but the rear is still original from the factory and is in good enough condition to show it. Not to mention, that car was in the northeast its whole life and I'm sure saw its far share on winters. This is the first chrome I've had on a truck in about 8 years so hopefully it holds up at least a few years.

 

[JoeCo]

So just to update everyone, I went and test drove a 2011 Slt today. Charcoal grey with the chrome. Plus the cloth interior which has the two tone. Outside I loved the look. On the inside however, the tan kinda wasnt pleasing me. Its not bad by any means, just look meh.

The other truck I am looking at, and will end up getting more than likely, is this one: https://www.carsforsale.com/used-ca...merriam-ks-d725040/inventory/details/53193908

The whole sport exterior is really growing on me. I really like the look more than I did a few months ago. And the interior is far and away better than the cloth, two tone interior in the other trim levels. This was on the very high end of what I wanted to pay and the blue book on it is a few grand less.

What do you think a fair price for this is? I plan on putting 3k down or so too which will help total cost.

But overall, what do you think of this truck?

The sports are pretty nice with the color matched exterior and nicer interior, this one looks pretty clean, have you seen it in person yet? If the blue book is a few grand less I certainly wouldn't pay that much over it, if you're not in a huge hurry to buy it I would try to be patient and get that down as much as possible. I'm not too familiar with the value of these year and mileage ranges, but $18,900 definitely seems pretty high for the year and mileage.

 

[Jhuss96]

My sport is from 2016 and there are very small dings on the bottom most area of the bumper. Nothing noticeable. Everyone has their own tastes but I'm not a fan of chrome which drove me toward the sport. Plus as you said the interior is very nice.