New Here: No Ram Yet

[fondupot]

Hey folks. Just signed up on the forums. I do not currently have a Ram, but tonight my Dad will be taking delivery of a blue pearl-coat Laramie crew cab Hemi. I have been helping him with purchasing a new vehicle and we recently went to our local Ram dealer and drove a Ram. He loved the truck. Fords interior was too plastic like, and he didn't like the bad news the GM trucks have been getting lately. The Ram's interior was about on par with the interior of my GMC, maybe even a little nicer. I do really like the UConnect and the integrated Garmin maps is flawless.

I currently drive a 2014 GMC Sierra. I have had my fair share of issues/recalls. I might be jumping onto the Ram bandwagon soon. The 8 speed trans is very nice, and the Hemi has way more power than my measly 5.3L. I was surprised how nice the Ram's ride. One of our testers had the optional air suspension, but we also drove one with the standard coil rear. His will have the coil rear too, no need for the air suspension. But both setups ride great. His truck will be his daily driver. He owns a construction company but he doesn't swing the hammer, so it will be mostly highway and around town miles. He is upgrading from a 2011 Buick Enclave. But has had a number of Chevrolet Suburbans in the past, and he is very happy to get back into a full size truck.

Anyways, I am usually pretty active on forums for vehicles I own, so I figured I would sign up just in case I get the Ram itch. But I will likely use the forums regardless to keep in touch just for the sake of my Dad's new Ram.

Take it easy.

-Fondu

 

[Graygoose]

Welcome to the site. i too have always been a GM fan, but in 2011, I got rid of my Yukon as kids had outgrown riding with Dad, so I wanted a small RC truck. So I looked at GM RCSB and saw Ram had a RCSB.
The GM had the 4.8, with disc/drum brakes, single exhaust and like 17" wheels. The Ram Express has 20's, dual exhaust, disc/disc and the Hemi. After I drove it, was a no brainer. I LOVE my truck, and when it's time to go, I will get a 4 door crew cab Ram.

Our company has a 2014 Silverado, and i have driven it alot. But the 5.3 to me doesnt have the power needed for such a big truck.

I think he will love the Ram, and dont blame you if you swapped.

My son had a 2007 Charger, 130k miles, never an issue. Was having a baby, and traded in for a 2012 Cruze in July. It's been in the shop three times already, and he's back at the dealer right now with a CEL, code P0299...turbo boost. It has like 44k miles on it.....sure wished he kept the Charger.....

 

[fondupot]

Welcome to the site. i too have always been a GM fan, but in 2011, I got rid of my Yukon as kids had outgrown riding with Dad, so I wanted a small RC truck. So I looked at GM RCSB and saw Ram had a RCSB.
The GM had the 4.8, with disc/drum brakes, single exhaust and like 17" wheels. The Ram Express has 20's, dual exhaust, disc/disc and the Hemi. After I drove it, was a no brainer. I LOVE my truck, and when it's time to go, I will get a 4 door crew cab Ram.

Our company has a 2014 Silverado, and i have driven it alot. But the 5.3 to me doesnt have the power needed for such a big truck.

I think he will love the Ram, and dont blame you if you swapped.

My son had a 2007 Charger, 130k miles, never an issue. Was having a baby, and traded in for a 2012 Cruze in July. It's been in the shop three times already, and he's back at the dealer right now with a CEL, code P0299...turbo boost. It has like 44k miles on it.....sure wished he kept the Charger.....

Hey Thanks for the reply. Yea we have been partial to GM products in our family. Although I did have a 2011 F150 for a while (8 months to be exact). But eventually made my way back to the GM truck world.

My GMC has been to the dealer 2 times for a misfire flashing engine light. Once was bad plug wires, the other time was a bad spark plug.

3 times for an annoying vibration in Drive while idling. Almost like the truck was misfiring and shaking (no codes or lights here of course). There was a TSB that they shim the motor/trans mounts and recenter them. Helped a little bit, but the truck still vibrates/surges at idle. Gets annoying at stop lights.

Once for a blown rear shock at 10k miles.

Once for annoyingly squeaking rear leaf springs. Still not fixed, considered normal.

Once for the overhead microphone falling out of the headliner.

Once for the fire recall.

Once for the transfer case recall.

Once for a recall regarding the dash cluster.

Twice for front end realignment.

So in the 13, almost 14 months I have owned the truck, its been to the dealer 13 times. Basically once a month.

Needless to say I am getting a little frustrated and have lost most of the confidence in it. So the jump to a Ram, if I can get the numbers to work out right, would be a happy one for myself as well.

 

[Graygoose]

You'll love the Ram, if I had issues that much with a high dollar truck, it would be gone. I have had mine 3 years, oil changes and thats it...
Son just called, they have to replace the turbo on his Cruze, luckily it's covered under powertrain, and they put him in a 2015 Equinox.

 

[fondupot]

You'll love the Ram, if I had issues that much with a high dollar truck, it would be gone. I have had mine 3 years, oil changes and thats it...
Son just called, they have to replace the turbo on his Cruze, luckily it's covered under powertrain, and they put him in a 2015 Equinox.

Yea I have been trying to talk myself out of trading tho. But I am nearly at the point where I am fed up. I actually have our sales guy that we are using for my dad, working on numbers for me on a Sport quad cab that they have on the lot.

Right now they have 0% for 75 months. Plus huge discounts. My dad is getting like 8k off his Laramie, plus that 0 for 75 and no payments for 90 days....and only 500 out of pocket. And the payment isn't astronomical.

But I told the sales guy to get my dads deal finished first, then we can talk about me.

 

[BBartow]

 

[Graygoose]

Nice, well good luck, post pics of one, or both when finished!

 

[Buddy]

Welcome

 

[Harley Harrold]

 

[bigbadram1500]

welcome

 

[fondupot]

Thanks all. Except my dad still hasn't taken deliver of his Ram yet. The dealer keeps telling us they are having issues with the dealer trades. And they have pushed us back 3 times now. On three trucks that are similarly equipped.

Not a very good experience so far. Right now we are super fed up and might call the whole deal off.

 

[1ATony]

Welcome to the site

 

[fondupot]

Dad got his Ram last night. And didn't have to sacrifice anything. This came through a dealer trade on a whim. Hemi, Crew cab, 8 spd, 6.5' bed, all the bells and whistles he wanted. Side steps were thrown into the deal for free and will be installed later this week. Dad is extremely happy. This thing drives like a dream, especially on the long wheel base. Its like a BOAT! It's Extremely powerful, very smooth. At first I wasn't sure about the two tone black/grey. But It grew on me very quickly. I really like the contrast.

We spent about an hour and a half sitting in it in the garage going through all the features and tech gadgets. It will take him some time to get used to but overall, the functionality is relatively straight forward. I like the Ram Uconnect a lot better than my GMC Intelilink. Unfortunatley, I wont be getting into a Ram myself for quite some time. The numbers didn't work out well for me. But thats ok, Dad will let me drive his sometimes.

 

[Paul p Smith]

Like my new 2019 diesel 3500 but would wait until Chrysler fixes a software engine code (P0299) problem before getting one. If I had seen Star Online Publication S2018000008 before buying I probably would have made another choice. Chrysler still hasn't responded to this issue.

 

[MikeG71]

to the Forum!



dump that GM and get yourself a RAM...... ya know you want to.