berguy
Junior Member
TLDR/Summary:
Purchased dream truck, RAM 3500 Limited, H.O. Mega Cab, slapped a ceramic coat on it, and had a beautiful piece of eye candy for a few hundred miles, then came rattles, squeaks, and ultimately a leak that sprayed me in the face while driving down the highway. This same leak caused water to pool on the floor, soaked the headliner, soaked the airbags, and soaked the electronics under the dash. Took it to RAM to diagnose, turns out it's a common flaw with this cab (you know, the one that's been produced for the past 10+ years). Well, as my brand new vehicle sat for 41 days, I had the luxury of covering the note (ie interest and depreciation), while RAM let my truck sit with crash wrap on it for an issue that was not my fault. So, even though half way though this I decided that I wanted to sell my truck at the height of the market to recoup my losses, I couldn't because they had possession of it for the repair. Ultimately, they denied any reimbursement for anything relating to the claim, denied to replace or provide any additional warranty for items affected by the defect. I'm left to eat the costs of everything associated with it. And according to RAM, if the electronics fail in a year, and if I manage to rack up 36k miles by that time, so be it, sounds like it's not their problem.
Background:
After owning a 2019 Power Wagon for a while, I decided it was time to upgrade to a Cummins to support my job and have a forever truck. So, I drove several states away to pick up the exact truck I had been looking for--a 2020 3500 Limited, H.O. Mega Cab.
First stop was the detailer for a ceramic coat and PPF on the headlights. It's a black truck, beautiful when cared for, so let's keep the scratches off and delete the factory installed swirl marks. Truck looked slick as could be, and of course, then the problems begin..
Rattles:
After a few hundred miles, I heard an obnoxious squeaking sound coming from behind the back seat. I didn't think much of it, just a loose bolt, right? When I went back there, there was a large washer and nut sitting under the back seat, and every screw I could reach was already tight. At this point I realized, a bracket had broken somewhere underneath the storage area. Around the same time, the front driver side speaker began to rattle. Whether there was no music, or I cranked music up to full blast, these noises were incredibly loud and annoying. It didn't take long after that for other rattles to show face, including the vents and front grill. You can actually position the vents in a certain direction so that they don't rattle, and the rattle by the front grill is actually from the fan shroud vibrating against a cover. This truck, after a few hundred miles, sits on the rattle box scale of 8 out of 10, with a 10/10 being a Chevy for reference (kidding).
Since the truck was recently ceramic coated, I was extremely hesitant to take it to a dealership to fix these issues, and decided I would try to handle it myself. After all, I won't park it within a country mile of anyone, why would I take it to a dealership and risk the door dings if it's an easy fix? Turned out it wasn't.
Leaks:
When I finally got back home, we had a heavy rain storm blow through (first for the truck after having it in the snow and being garage kept). I open my door, and what's that, a flooded floor on the drivers side. There was a pool of water taking up the entire area under the pedals. The electronics under the dash were all wet. I cleaned up as best I could, and continued with running my errand. When I got on the highway and pressed the pedal to accelerate, I was blasted in the face with water. Completely caught off guard, I slowed down and pulled over, only to find that the A pillar was the culprit. I pulled the cap that covers the bolts, and water just falls out like a waterfall. Great, so now there's no avoiding the dealership. I kiss my ceramic coat goodbye, and I call the RAM customer care line to get the ball rolling.
Repairs:
I travel for work, so my ability to deal with warranty repairs that can't be handled same day is limited. Part of the reason for purchasing a brand new truck was (ideally) to pay a premium to avoid dealing with issues & breakdowns. Hell, it's why I bought a Cummins. It isn't uncommon for me to be sent somewhere for months on end where I'm hours away from the closest RAM dealer.
So, I take it in on a Thursday (soonest possible), June 3, and I'm scheduled to be in BFE on Monday. I was hoping this was a simple fix, like a missing gasket they might have in stock (I know, wishful thinking). Or at least something we could silicone temporarily while waiting on a part. Turns out, they needed to crash wrap the vehicle. They immediately found the leak, their two suspicions were the ambers on top of the cab or the sunroof. The sunroof was indeed the culprit, and they said it was so poorly installed that they needed to completely replace it. To top it off, I'm told it's also a COMMON ISSUE, and that due to this, they have an order limit on the parts and it will be a while before they can get mine in.
This could have caused a major wreck or worse, nobody expects to be cruising down the highway at 70mph at night and get sprayed in the face with water when they go to accelerate. So a common issue that's allowed to slip on the production line for the past 10+ years could have brought harm to my family, and that's been totally okay for the entire time this cab has been on the market?
Ultimately, I picked the vehicle up on July 14, and the dealer seems to have fixed the sunroof and back seat squeaking. But so many things have been left unresolved and up in the air.
Unresolved Damages:
The headliner, A-Pillar airbags, carpet/upholstery (including leather handle on A-Pillar), and electronics under the dash were all exposed to a serious amount of water. RAM has refused to replace any of the items mentioned. They have also refused to extend the warranty on any of these items, meaning that, since it's a diesel truck that I'll be putting plenty of miles on, it won't be long before I'm responsible for these affected parts.
The real kicker is that I troubleshoot and repair similar electronics for a living, and if there's one thing that's been drilled into me about cause of failure, it's that exposing these electronics to high humidity environments, combined with significant condensation and/or water exposure, will without a doubt cause internal corrosion on the electronics' contacts and lead to premature failure. This has been such a widespread issue in my industry that we now have dehumidifying heater units in all electrical cabinets that automatically run prior to equipment energization. This is even the case with "weather resistant" electronics. These vehicles are incredibly complex systems of computers and sensors, and a premature failure is likely outside of any middle class folk's budget.
RAM has also refused to cover lost usage of the vehicle. This includes interest accumulated on my loan during repair, depreciation during repair, additional expenses I incurred by not being able to use this vehicle for traveling/work. I had explained to them that coming from a 6-month layoff, the first few paychecks that I received completely went toward covering my losses related to the situation. I think saying that they don't care is an understatement.
Purchased dream truck, RAM 3500 Limited, H.O. Mega Cab, slapped a ceramic coat on it, and had a beautiful piece of eye candy for a few hundred miles, then came rattles, squeaks, and ultimately a leak that sprayed me in the face while driving down the highway. This same leak caused water to pool on the floor, soaked the headliner, soaked the airbags, and soaked the electronics under the dash. Took it to RAM to diagnose, turns out it's a common flaw with this cab (you know, the one that's been produced for the past 10+ years). Well, as my brand new vehicle sat for 41 days, I had the luxury of covering the note (ie interest and depreciation), while RAM let my truck sit with crash wrap on it for an issue that was not my fault. So, even though half way though this I decided that I wanted to sell my truck at the height of the market to recoup my losses, I couldn't because they had possession of it for the repair. Ultimately, they denied any reimbursement for anything relating to the claim, denied to replace or provide any additional warranty for items affected by the defect. I'm left to eat the costs of everything associated with it. And according to RAM, if the electronics fail in a year, and if I manage to rack up 36k miles by that time, so be it, sounds like it's not their problem.
Background:
After owning a 2019 Power Wagon for a while, I decided it was time to upgrade to a Cummins to support my job and have a forever truck. So, I drove several states away to pick up the exact truck I had been looking for--a 2020 3500 Limited, H.O. Mega Cab.
First stop was the detailer for a ceramic coat and PPF on the headlights. It's a black truck, beautiful when cared for, so let's keep the scratches off and delete the factory installed swirl marks. Truck looked slick as could be, and of course, then the problems begin..
Rattles:
After a few hundred miles, I heard an obnoxious squeaking sound coming from behind the back seat. I didn't think much of it, just a loose bolt, right? When I went back there, there was a large washer and nut sitting under the back seat, and every screw I could reach was already tight. At this point I realized, a bracket had broken somewhere underneath the storage area. Around the same time, the front driver side speaker began to rattle. Whether there was no music, or I cranked music up to full blast, these noises were incredibly loud and annoying. It didn't take long after that for other rattles to show face, including the vents and front grill. You can actually position the vents in a certain direction so that they don't rattle, and the rattle by the front grill is actually from the fan shroud vibrating against a cover. This truck, after a few hundred miles, sits on the rattle box scale of 8 out of 10, with a 10/10 being a Chevy for reference (kidding).
Since the truck was recently ceramic coated, I was extremely hesitant to take it to a dealership to fix these issues, and decided I would try to handle it myself. After all, I won't park it within a country mile of anyone, why would I take it to a dealership and risk the door dings if it's an easy fix? Turned out it wasn't.
Leaks:
When I finally got back home, we had a heavy rain storm blow through (first for the truck after having it in the snow and being garage kept). I open my door, and what's that, a flooded floor on the drivers side. There was a pool of water taking up the entire area under the pedals. The electronics under the dash were all wet. I cleaned up as best I could, and continued with running my errand. When I got on the highway and pressed the pedal to accelerate, I was blasted in the face with water. Completely caught off guard, I slowed down and pulled over, only to find that the A pillar was the culprit. I pulled the cap that covers the bolts, and water just falls out like a waterfall. Great, so now there's no avoiding the dealership. I kiss my ceramic coat goodbye, and I call the RAM customer care line to get the ball rolling.
Repairs:
I travel for work, so my ability to deal with warranty repairs that can't be handled same day is limited. Part of the reason for purchasing a brand new truck was (ideally) to pay a premium to avoid dealing with issues & breakdowns. Hell, it's why I bought a Cummins. It isn't uncommon for me to be sent somewhere for months on end where I'm hours away from the closest RAM dealer.
So, I take it in on a Thursday (soonest possible), June 3, and I'm scheduled to be in BFE on Monday. I was hoping this was a simple fix, like a missing gasket they might have in stock (I know, wishful thinking). Or at least something we could silicone temporarily while waiting on a part. Turns out, they needed to crash wrap the vehicle. They immediately found the leak, their two suspicions were the ambers on top of the cab or the sunroof. The sunroof was indeed the culprit, and they said it was so poorly installed that they needed to completely replace it. To top it off, I'm told it's also a COMMON ISSUE, and that due to this, they have an order limit on the parts and it will be a while before they can get mine in.
This could have caused a major wreck or worse, nobody expects to be cruising down the highway at 70mph at night and get sprayed in the face with water when they go to accelerate. So a common issue that's allowed to slip on the production line for the past 10+ years could have brought harm to my family, and that's been totally okay for the entire time this cab has been on the market?
Ultimately, I picked the vehicle up on July 14, and the dealer seems to have fixed the sunroof and back seat squeaking. But so many things have been left unresolved and up in the air.
Unresolved Damages:
The headliner, A-Pillar airbags, carpet/upholstery (including leather handle on A-Pillar), and electronics under the dash were all exposed to a serious amount of water. RAM has refused to replace any of the items mentioned. They have also refused to extend the warranty on any of these items, meaning that, since it's a diesel truck that I'll be putting plenty of miles on, it won't be long before I'm responsible for these affected parts.
The real kicker is that I troubleshoot and repair similar electronics for a living, and if there's one thing that's been drilled into me about cause of failure, it's that exposing these electronics to high humidity environments, combined with significant condensation and/or water exposure, will without a doubt cause internal corrosion on the electronics' contacts and lead to premature failure. This has been such a widespread issue in my industry that we now have dehumidifying heater units in all electrical cabinets that automatically run prior to equipment energization. This is even the case with "weather resistant" electronics. These vehicles are incredibly complex systems of computers and sensors, and a premature failure is likely outside of any middle class folk's budget.
RAM has also refused to cover lost usage of the vehicle. This includes interest accumulated on my loan during repair, depreciation during repair, additional expenses I incurred by not being able to use this vehicle for traveling/work. I had explained to them that coming from a 6-month layoff, the first few paychecks that I received completely went toward covering my losses related to the situation. I think saying that they don't care is an understatement.
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