I regret buying a RAM

[HighDesertRam]

When I first bought my truck in 2022, I thought it was wonderful. Beautifully styled, great paint job, very comfortable ride. Then the recalls started. First was the tailgate, which would open by itself at odd moments. When it happened the first time, I thought maybe I had done something wrong. I had just finished taking my gear out of the truck and pushed the garage door button on the wall next to the kitchen door. I always stay in the garage until the door is almost closed. I turned to look at the truck and the tailgate had unexpectedly dropped. The door just kissed the edge of the tailgate without causing any damage, although it could have been much worse.

The recall came out and I had the truck serviced and supposedly the issue was fixed. Last night I came home from my jiu jitsu class and went to load some gear for an early morning trip to the range. As I walked outside with another load of gear, the tailgate opened on it's own....

This morning I called the dealer regarding the status of my order for the heater relay for my diesel. Originally, I was told that my part would be there in mid-May of this year. Then I was told June. Then the end of July. Today when I called I was told I am number 119 on the list. That means I am two years away from getting the repair done. I am unwilling to park my truck outdoors for the next two years.

I wish I had never purchased this truck.

 

[Tulecreeper]

When I first bought my truck in 2022, I thought it was wonderful. Beautifully styled, great paint job, very comfortable ride. Then the recalls started. First was the tailgate, which would open by itself at odd moments. When it happened the first time, I thought maybe I had done something wrong. I had just finished taking my gear out of the truck and pushed the garage door button on the wall next to the kitchen door. I always stay in the garage until the door is almost closed. I turned to look at the truck and the tailgate had unexpectedly dropped. The door just kissed the edge of the tailgate without causing any damage, although it could have been much worse.

The recall came out and I had the truck serviced and supposedly the issue was fixed. Last night I came home from my jiu jitsu class and went to load some gear for an early morning trip to the range. As I walked outside with another load of gear, the tailgate opened on it's own....

This morning I called the dealer regarding the status of my order for the heater relay for my diesel. Originally, I was told that my part would be there in mid-May of this year. Then I was told June. Then the end of July. Today when I called I was told I am number 119 on the list. That means I am two years away from getting the repair done. I am unwilling to park my truck outdoors for the next two years.

I wish I had never purchased this truck.

You're making me nervous, man. I picked up my 2023 the end of March and so far no issues in 4+ months. Hopefully, it will stay that way.

 

[HighDesertRam]

I wish you never purchased the truck also.

You can buy those heater relays for under $50, I belive.

Tell me where to buy one and who makes it. Of course, you do realize this will void my warranty.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Tell me where to buy one and who makes it. Of course, you do realize this will void my warranty.

Why would it void your warranty any more than changing your own oil? Or putting on a brand of tires other than what your truck came with?

 

[HighDesertRam]

Why would it void your warranty any more than changing your own oil? Or putting on a brand of tires other than what your truck came with?

Apparently, you are correct. I just looked the subject up and this is what I found on Edmunds:

Aftermarket parts or modifications:​

This aspect of warranty coverage has a great deal of gray area. Although many dealers would have you think otherwise, simply having an aftermarket part or modifying your vehicle cannot void your warranty.

Some dealerships may say, for example, that just because you have a performance part such as a cold air intake on the car that the whole vehicle warranty is void, says Loren Wong, a car enthusiast and a former warranty administrator for BMW and Acura. "That's not true," he says.

The saving grace for consumers is the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act states that a dealer must prove that aftermarket equipment caused the need for repairs before it can deny warranty coverage.

However, if the reason for a parts failure is unclear, a dealer will usually charge you to diagnose the vehicle. If the aftermarket part was not properly installed or a modification led to a component failure, it is within the dealer's right to void the warranty for that part, and you will have to pay for the repairs out of pocket. If the aftermarket parts had nothing to do with the repairs in question, you will be refunded the fee for the diagnosis.

Any aftermarket performance parts on your vehicle can cause a dealer to suspect that you either drive the car hard or possibly race it. "Although they may not void warranties," Wong added, "modifications may raise a red flag when vehicles are in for service. If consumers who mod their cars do a little research, they may find certain dealerships that are a little more 'mod-friendly.'"

 

[nlambert182]

PERFORMANCE PARTS. They are not going to void your warranty because you replaced a relay.

Look - ALL vehicles have recalls and right now ALL manufacturers are having problems getting parts. Go look up my story on my 2019 Expedition. If you're upset over a heater relay or a tailgate falling down, try going 6 months with the transmission laying on a bench while Ford can't get the parts to rebuild it.

 

[GTyankee]

I would guess that we have until January 2024, before merchandise Logistics begins to return to March 2020 standards

You may have read that Yellow Trucks just declared bankruptcy.
It is because someone on the Federal & State level through so much money at Truck Drivers, that many of them decided to take extended vacations.
Some made money by staying home

 

[06 Dodge]

Wowzer, again why not just unhook the dam grid relay from the battery, without power too it, it can't start a fire under the hood, doing that you could then park it safely in the garage, but then you already know all of that as you have been given info some time ago along with photos of the cable to remove, as for replacing the grid relay several have posted of Mopar part sellers that have been selling the new relay for under $80.00 for a few months now so installing one of them if you were to get one your self would not VOID the warranty... Again if you cant do the work your self then pay a shop to unhook the battery cable to the relay, then you can stop all the worry, you will sleep better at night knowing it can't burn the garage or house if its attached...

 

[RamDiver]

If the Mopar relay is available from other suppliers, why not buy one and ask the the service manager at the dealership to install it under warranty?

You might also PM @RamCares and see if they can assist when you supply the oem part.

If you truly enjoy your truck, suck it up and spend a few hundred bucks if that's what it takes.

I spent just under $70K Canadian. As soon as my battery doesn't start the truck as well as I think it should, it's being replaced with an H8 AGM.

That will cost about $300 Canadian. I'm not going to complain because the Mopar battery is a useless POS, I'm going to replace it and move on with my fabulous truck.

OK, I might complain a bit but I still won't regret my purchase.

YMMV.

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[BossHogg]

I'm not going to complain because the Mopar battery is a useless POS, I'm going to replace it and move on with my fabulous truck.

I've had excellent results with the factory batteries in my RAMs. The two in my 2015 are the originals and still testing well with a load tester. The battery in my 2013 made it for 7 years before it gave up.

 

[mtnrider]

You really should just sell the truck and move on, It is obviously causing you distress. Every post you have made has been gloom and doom. Life is too short to be miserable all the time so just sell it

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[nlambert182]

You really should just sell the truck and move on, It is obviously causing you distress. Every post you have made has been gloom and doom. Life is too short to be miserable all the time so just sell it

.

Or.... just learn that sometimes things happen and in the grand scheme of things, they're not that important. We can choose to work around them and move on with a happy life or we can choose to think the sky is falling every time a drop of rain touches us.

OP - if you truly like the truck then stop sweating the small stuff. A relay will cost you way less than the amount of time you've wasted stressing over it. You can make more money but you can't get that time back.

 

[HighDesertRam]

You really should just sell the truck and move on, It is obviously causing you distress. Every post you have made has been gloom and doom. Life is too short to be miserable all the time so just sell it

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Let me put it this way. I've owned numerous trucks and SUVs. This is the most expensive, by far, vehicle I have ever bought. It's also the one that has had the most problems, the most recalls. If selling it was a viable option, then I would certainly do so. I'm not in a financial position to do that. I wouldn't even mind if every time there was a recall it was fixed promptly AND correctly. Two years is a long time to wait for a part to be supplied.

 

[nlambert182]

Let me put it this way. I've owned numerous trucks and SUVs. This is the most expensive, by far, vehicle I have ever bought. It's also the one that has had the most problems, the most recalls. If selling it was a viable option, then I would certainly do so. I'm not in a financial position to do that. I wouldn't even mind if every time there was a recall it was fixed promptly AND correctly. Two years is a long time to wait for a part to be supplied.

Then you've never owned a 2008-2010 F250 with the 6.4L Powerstroke... or any of the newer F150s, Expeditions, Navigators, Rangers, etc.. with the 10 speed transmission, or a GM with the 5.3 that is dropping lifters and requiring full engine replacements at less than 10k miles.

I switched to Ram because in my experience I've had far less problems with these trucks than anything else I've owned. That doesn't mean they're trouble free, but they've certainly been less troublesome than the others I've owned.

I really don't want to re-type how a production line works for recalls, so go read my post on this thread:

2022 Cummins Regen Issues

I have a 2021 Ram 6.7 , same problem. Regens started being an issue at 36,000 miles. To many regens will degrade the oil leading to major engine problems down the road . Went to the Ram dealer in Santa Fe today and was told it’s a problem with most Cummins equipped Rams! I was told they were...

www.ramforum.com

This is why recalls are taking so long. You can't only blame that on Ram. Their hands are tied far more than you realize. All we can do now with any manufacturer is have patience. We're so used to getting things fast (thanks Amazon) that we forget the world doesn't work that way for everything.

 

[ColesRAM]

Don’t mean to be dismissive, but if you see these as major problems………you’re right… you shouldn’t have bought a truck.

 

[zrock]

the dealer can replace with aftermarket parts under warranty if the OEM part is not available in a reasonable amount of time.. They just do not want to do the extra leg work

 

[stevenP]

I have had a Gen4 , RAM 3500 diesel and it had 15 recalls in its 8 years I owned it. Now I have a Gen5 truck, and it has had 5 recalls so far. Sucks, sure it is a PIA to run back to the dealer for these. But my Gen5 trucks recalls all are done with factory parts. If your dealer is telling you the parts arent available.... he is either not telling the truth or they dont care to run them down.

 

[turkeybird56]

OP, get with either Dealer and/or a good Local mechanic, buy the part for the grid heater that is defective, get it installed, drive and enjoy yer truck. SO easy, why stress.

There were a bunch of good suggestions in thread.

 

[Jerrybob]

I took my Ram to a dealership and asked them.....“Do you have any idea why my car is humming?”​

The service writer replied, “Probably because it doesn’t know all the lyrics.”

 

[RamDiver]

I've had excellent results with the factory batteries in my RAMs. The two in my 2015 are the originals and still testing well with a load tester. The battery in my 2013 made it for 7 years before it gave up.

I've heard these stories from others too. I have to wonder if sometime after your production year and before mine, 2021, the batteries were sourced from manufacturer seconds or something cheap.

I bought my '21 Warlock in January '22 and from day one, have not been overly impressed with the cold weather starts, I think it cranks too much before starting.

For full disclosure, I may have high expectations. I've always used a slightly larger capacity battery than spec for my Tundra and even during the average of the coldest winter days, ~-35C, it started easily.

I've used full synthetic oil from about 1200 miles so I don't understand why it takes so long to start.

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