NEED ADVICE

[GTyankee]

I had a 2009 Ram 5.7L.
I did have some issues with it;
I use my trucks for work & driving 700 - 1500 miles a week is common.

Passenger side exhaust manifold bolts broke, only the passenger side bolts that have the Heat Shield on them, covered by warranty.
I had the rear end rebuilt because it had a gasket leak & the Dodge dealership Express Lane Tech didn't see it, covered under Lifetime warranty Plan.

I sold that Ram in 2016 with 140,000 miles on it, the new owner drives by often & smiles & waves every time.
He has only had to replace the Water Pump.

 

[Igot4]

I have an 18 2500 with column shift and love it! No issues to date and it’s my 3rd. Go for it!!

 

[Robeffy]

I have had nothing but Dodge Pickup trucks, and frankly they have all been great.
I have also been on this forum for a few years, and dropped into other truck forums on and off again for a few years as well.
It seems to me that Ram are likely the best out there.
All have issues.
A buddy of mine says that GMC is the way to go, he runs a business, and in his experience the Rams need more maintenance.
The guys on our road who have GMC have their dash idiot lights covered with tape, or it gets hard to drive at night... lol... have rear ends blowing up, but, they keep driving em, with warning lights on and ignore them...
I would buy Ram

 

[farout75]

POTENTIAL NEW RAM OWNER. LOOKING AT A 2017 / 2018 RAM. HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY OWNED A RAM
HAVE READ SOME GREAT REVIEWS ON THIS TRUCK. WANTED TO ASK ACTUAL OWNERS FOR REVIEWS AND ANY ISSUES YOU HAVE HAD.

THANK YOU !!!

I have a 17 RAM 1500 Crew Cab with the 5.7. I have 79,000 miles on it. I have hade no problems. Just regular oild changes and tires basically. This is my forth RAM 1500, I have had two 3.6 V=6 and two 5.7 . I would never suggest the 3.6 as that engine only produces 269 pounds of torque before its installed in the truck, so in reality the truck has closer to 230 pounds of torque which makes the RAM with the V=6 a very light duty truck. Yes it will tow, but it will be much slower gtting to 60 mph.

I would make sure to get the MOPAR (FCA) extended warranty. For that matter no matter what brand of truck I would advise that. The prices of used trucks went up 28% last year so protect your investment.

I think RAM has the best ride, interior, and no turbos. Natural asperated engines are a better balance and potentially have fewer problems.

Good luck, take your time and enjoy the hunt.

 

[dillardgl]

I have a 2018 bighorn with 5.7 and 392 gears it has 44000 on it with 0 issues thus far. My wife drives it to work and gets 20-21 mpg plus I have towed our 25’ to over 8k miles with it an it is awesome love the 8 speed trans. This is the second ram I have owned the first was a 2015 v6 and it was a great truck. I also have a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan with 280k that is my daily driver that has been one of the best vehicles I have ever owned. Good luck with what ever you buy!

 

[farout75]

One thing I have noticed. some ware out faster that others of the same brand, be it Ford Chevy, Toyota or whatever. A lot depends on the driver. Show me a drive who floors it a lot, abuses the truck and you have a truck the owner hates and no one else wants it.

 

[Ram Vendetta]

POTENTIAL NEW RAM OWNER. LOOKING AT A 2017 / 2018 RAM. HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY OWNED A RAM
HAVE READ SOME GREAT REVIEWS ON THIS TRUCK. WANTED TO ASK ACTUAL OWNERS FOR REVIEWS AND ANY ISSUES YOU HAVE HAD.

THANK YOU !!!

 

[Ram Vendetta]

POTENTIAL NEW RAM OWNER. LOOKING AT A 2017 / 2018 RAM. HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY OWNED A RAM
HAVE READ SOME GREAT REVIEWS ON THIS TRUCK. WANTED TO ASK ACTUAL OWNERS FOR REVIEWS AND ANY ISSUES YOU HAVE HAD.

THANK YOU !!!

2015 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi Proper oil changes every 5k with tire rotations. No towing, minimal load carrying. Still blew the Tranny at 57k (Warranty) truck down 3 days for repairs. 85k snapped roller lifter, destroyed cam etc etc.
Do your homework on these motors. MAJOR PROBLEMS. Now Ram went and made the new body styles look like a Tundra. WTF? IMO research other vehicles.

 

[Outdoors76]

Part of the problem with forums is 90% of the time you only hear about problems people are having. I bought a used 2016 Ram with 71K miles. I've put about 7 K miles on it with 20% of that time pulling a 2800# boat trailer. So far I've done nothing but put gas in it. I bought a used 79 Chevy with 4300 miles on it many years ago. I treated that truck with kid gloves and changed the oil every 4K miles. The engine ate a cam at 50K. Any vehicle can give you problems no matter how good you care for it. I trust my Ram just as much or more than I would a Ford or Chevy truck. I personally think you get more for your money with the Ram.

I used to be a FORD guy real bad experience with GM, all my fords were great well over 200k miles except the last one i bought with 47k and at 90k was drinking oil like crazy a quart or more per week and i babied it. I looked at other fords and for a used f150 with 50k miles they were asking just under 30k
I bought a leftover 2017 ram with 5.7 and zero miles. did some mods, 35's, 1.5" body lift, bilstien level, rough country UCA's and spacers in rear as well as an oil catch can and a high flow air filter. Then total flow 18" stainless muffler. It now has 53k and i just change the oil every 7k with full synthetic and royal purple filter. Zero issues.

and the best part is it was $34k only $5k more than they wanted for the used fords.

Mine is 2017 1500 with 5.7 quad cab express with rambox cargo bed.

 

[Phil Evans]

Second ram 08 & 19. If buying used check headliner in back for water stains. Both had leaks around cab brakelight

 

[Jim Bowker]

2017 Big Horn owner here. Just oil changes so far, but will most likely be getting new tires for it as I'm still on the original OEM's.
I've had Chevy, Ford, and Ram, so I'm not brand loyal. I tend to buy what I think will work best for me.
It rides better than Ford or Chevy, and tows my boat much better than a Ridgeline did.

 

[DtheBC]

2017 Never a wrench turned on it except maintenance! Couldn't be happier! 6Th ram and 3 Dodge cars of my wife’s. We are a Chrysler vehicle family! Never any major issue with any of them.

 

[Brian2081]

Hello All, back in late Sept. early Oct. of 19 after a year and a half of researching and searching GM and RAM, I bought my first Ram, 2016 2500 Outdoorsman SLT4x4 cclb 5.7, 6 spd, with 4.10 gears, 29000 miles on everything but the engine for $28000.

The engine had just been replaced by a dealer in Canada and had 2600 ish miles on it when I bought it. (the used truck dealer did not know this, BONUS).

What I learned during my research is these hemis do NOT like to sit and idle for long / extended periods, It appears the long idling over time contributes to cam and or lifter failure. Lesson here keep idling to a minimum.

Also alot of people complaining about the 6 spd trans issues, but what I found is the trans issues all had in common is they all had gear ratios in the 3's, nothing with 4.10 or higher.

Bullwinkle now has 45000 miles and no issues. MPG on good day driving like a sane person, maybe 15 mpg, me, I'm not that sane so 12-13 mpg, winter time 35 deg.F and lower 10 mpg. To me that is a good trade off for owning, modding and driving a good looking 4th gen RAM.

 

[Outdoors76]

Hello All, back in late Sept. early Oct. of 19 after a year and a half of researching and searching GM and RAM, I bought my first Ram, 2016 2500 Outdoorsman SLT4x4 cclb 5.7, 6 spd, with 4.10 gears, 29000 miles on everything but the engine for $28000.

The engine had just been replaced by a dealer in Canada and had 2600 ish miles on it when I bought it. (the used truck dealer did not know this, BONUS).

What I learned during my research is these hemis do NOT like to sit and idle for long / extended periods, It appears the long idling over time contributes to cam and or lifter failure. Lesson here keep idling to a minimum.

Also alot of people complaining about the 6 spd trans issues, but what I found is the trans issues all had in common is they all had gear ratios in the 3's, nothing with 4.10 or higher.

Bullwinkle now has 45000 miles and no issues. MPG on good day driving like a sane person, maybe 15 mpg, me, I'm not that sane so 12-13 mpg, winter time 35 deg.F and lower 10 mpg. To me that is a good trade off for owning, modding and driving a good looking 4th gen RAM.

good info on idling ive heard that in other threads. only idle here is to warm up for a few min on a cold day.

 

[Tom McClellan]

I have had 3 rams. A'96, a '12 and just took delivery on my 2021 Warlock last Wed. Regular maintenance and some common sense will get you far. Drove the 1st one til it dropped and sold the 2nd one to my son, if that tells you anything.

 

[Tracy in IL]

Love my 2017 1500 4x4 crew cab, ED engine. Regular service, keep recalls and service bulletins up to date. Run fine, hope it lasts a long time.

 

[LugsLeadOut84]

When you manufacture 700,000+ of anything per year - especially something as complex as a vehicle - there will be a small percentage of problems in some way, shape of form. It's pure probability and statistics. No manufacturer can claim zero issues - Ford, Toyota, Chevy - they all have a percentage of vehicles that will have some issues either minor, major or somewhere in-between.
As you can see, you'll read about people who've had many issues, a few issues or no issues. It's the luck of the draw. I've had 2 RAMs since 2012 and other than a few annoying recalls, I had no issues at all. I've owned at least 12 different vehicles over my life from Chevy, Ford, GMC, Jeep, a legacy Dodge and 2 RAMs. My only pickups were RAMs and I've grown to like pickups. Since I've had such success with RAM I'll probably stay with them. For me, it was solid, dependable and always performed.
Here's your advice....If you like Ford buy a Ford, if you like RAM buy a RAM....you get the point.

 

[LI Guy]

I have 28,000 mi on my 2017 and have not had any problems whatsoever....which is for sale btw...

 

[llmorris75]

2012 Ram - 176000 miles . Minimal trouble. Will buy another RAM soon

 

[boblonben]

I dont plan on buying a ram again.

Header leaks
Differential bearings at 70k
Maintenance sucks, engine and trans oil
Front suspension. Constant alignments and uses struts
Stupid knob for a shifter.
16 spark plugs
Headlights suck




Yes this is enough to make me consider paying more for a toyota.


If you dont mod or maintenance your own, you will probably love it

Find you list hard to believe. Own three trucks - 2004, 2016, 2020. Nary a one has had problems as yours and they have 198K, 130K, and 28K respectively.