Sold the '16 RAM 1500

[GRN69CHV]

I had talked about this while back. Company I worked for was cutting out vehicle allowances and requiring you to drive company provided vehicles only for work. Can't say I'm happy with the arrangement but it is what it is. Bought the truck Jan 2018 with 9400 miles on it, currently has 82500. I owed $21500, dealer I bought it from gave me $26500 which I thought was decent deal. Truck overall was in pretty good shape, had a couple small dents that could be repaired (paintless repair), minor scratches, trans service due, needs belt/idler and due for struts and another set of tires within the next 6 months. Gave it some hard thought but just couldn't justify having two trucks.

Truck they gave me to use is F150 Lariat, gonna take some getting used to, the RAM just felt substantial and smoother compared to the FORD. ALPINE system in the RAM Laramie blows away the Lariat B&O standard system. Whoever specs the F150 fleet vehicles orders them with options that IMHO could be better configured. (ie. Chrome Running Boards @ $780, Power Tailgate@ $695, 36 Gallon Fuel Tank @$445). It did come with the Towing Package with built in trailer brake control ($1090 option) but includes the completely non-essential trailer backup steering assist
Had the truck one day and already miss having a console layout the RAM had, this truck has 40/20/40 front seat.

That's my rant Appreciate the input you guys have provided.

 

[2012RAM1500RT]

I had talked about this while back. Company I worked for was cutting out vehicle allowances and requiring you to drive company provided vehicles only for work. Can't say I'm happy with the arrangement but it is what it is. Bought the truck Jan 2018 with 9400 miles on it, currently has 82500. I owed $21500, dealer I bought it from gave me $26500 which I thought was decent deal. Truck overall was in pretty good shape, had a couple small dents that could be repaired (paintless repair), minor scratches, trans service due, needs belt/idler and due for struts and another set of tires within the next 6 months. Gave it some hard thought but just couldn't justify having two trucks.

Truck they gave me to use is F150 Lariat, gonna take some getting used to, the RAM just felt substantial and smoother compared to the FORD. ALPINE system in the RAM Laramie blows away the Lariat B&O standard system. Whoever specs the F150 fleet vehicles orders them with options that IMHO could be better configured. (ie. Chrome Running Boards @ $780, Power Tailgate@ $695, 36 Gallon Fuel Tank @$445). It did come with the Towing Package with built in trailer brake control ($1090 option) but includes the completely non-essential trailer backup steering assist
Had the truck one day and already miss having a console layout the RAM had, this truck has 40/20/40 front seat.

That's my rant Appreciate the input you guys have provided.

I was a lucky one. The company I work for I started in '85. They supplied a company vehicle that I could drive back and forth to work also. It's a mechanic truck and one of the request I made before I started that my truck had to be a Dodge. 36 years later and they still allow me to do that. I've been through 4, first one was a '77, then a '85, then a '98 and now a '12. Been over a million with them combined, they haven't complained about it one time. Win, Win!

 

[GsRAM]

I was a lucky one. The company I work for I started in '85. They supplied a company vehicle that I could drive back and forth to work also. It's a mechanic truck and one of the request I made before I started that my truck had to be a Dodge. 36 years later and they still allow me to do that. I've been through 4, first one was a '77, then a '85, then a '98 and now a '12. Been over a million with them combined, they haven't complained about it one time. Win, Win!

That's excellent! An unfortunate by gone time when employers truly cared about its employees and everything wasn't all about the bottom line. They did things for their employees to keep them happy. In return, employees were loyal to their employers and not always looking for greener pastures.
I miss those days.

 

[2012RAM1500RT]

That's excellent! An unfortunate by gone time when employers truly cared about its employees and everything wasn't all about the bottom line. They did things for their employees to keep them happy. In return, employees were loyal to their employers and not always looking for greener pastures.
I miss those days.

You are right. Those were the days and I miss them too but we have to look at the employees of today who's attitude is "You can't see it from my house". To many employees of today that just want their check on Friday and have NO PRIDE in their work. How can a employer want to reward that. Only 5 more years till I can get out of this careless work force of today. Looking forward to it!

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Well, I would call this a win-win.
You unloaded some debt, plus ownership and operating expenses and still have your transportation needs met.

Had the same deal back in the late '90s. Company vehicle was a minivan. My personal vehicle was a '89 Mustang GT which I kept in the garage. I ran all my errands in the minivan. Company paid for gas, insurance, maintenance.
Best deal I ever had going. Came to an end when at 140k miles the transmission gave up. Was not surprised since they insisted using Dextron II in the transmission instead of ATF3+ since Dextron was cheap. (Facepalm)
They decided not to fix the van and switch me to mileage reimbursement instead.
Oh well, was good while it lasted.

 

[Smokey613]

This was my last “company car”. It allowed us to sell my 2011 300C and get by with one family vehicle which was a 2014 RAM Laramie 1500.

 

[2012RAM1500RT]

This was my last “company car”. It allowed us to sell my 2011 300C and get by with one family vehicle which was a 2014 RAM Laramie 1500.

Thank you for your service!

 

[GRN69CHV]

"Well, I would call this a win-win.
You unloaded some debt, plus ownership and operating expenses and still have your transportation needs met"


You're right, my wife said the same thing. Just not the same though, I take personal pride in my vehicles. Just not the same.

 

[GsRAM]

Well, I would call this a win-win.
You unloaded some debt, plus ownership and operating expenses and still have your transportation needs met.

Had the same deal back in the late '90s. Company vehicle was a minivan. My personal vehicle was a '89 Mustang GT which I kept in the garage. I ran all my errands in the minivan. Company paid for gas, insurance, maintenance.
Best deal I ever had going. Came to an end when at 140k miles the transmission gave up. Was not surprised since they insisted using Dextron II in the transmission instead of ATF3+ since Dextron was cheap. (Facepalm)
They decided not to fix the van and switch me to mileage reimbursement instead.
Oh well, was good while it lasted.

Probably wasn't just due to the transmission oil choice. Late 80s/early 90s dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler transmissions were junk.

My mom and dad bought an 89 grand caravan brand new. At 60k the trans totally failed, replaced under the Chrysler 7/70 warranty with a new OEM trans. At 120k my mom got rid of that pos as the trans was going out yet agsin. Junk 3.0 Mitsubishi v6 burned and leaked oil too.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Probably wasn't just due to the transmission oil choice. Late 80s/early 90s dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler transmissions were junk.

The design of the transmission were solid. The early 4spd tranny were all based on the legendary A904 and A727 3spd. Unfortunately other stupid design factors external to the transmission caused premature death.

First there was the cooler circuit check valve issue. They had a 1-way check valve that prevented drain back of the cooler circuit. This is before they added filters to the cooler circuit so any gunk in the tranny pan ending up getting run through the cooler. This clogged up the check valve which was a block the cooler line. No cooler, the transmission runs to hot, fails prematurely.
The 2nd issue, and this one is beyond stupid; was the confusion caused by the Chrysler concerning fluid compatibility. 4 speed automatics took ATF3+. Dextron II of any type was NOT an equivalent fluid. It caused the 4spds to slip too much causing the to run hot and wear out the clutches prematurely.
So how did this F-up happen?
In the factory literature it stated that Dextron II could be used as a TEMPORARY substitution if AFT3+ was N/A. In that day ATF3+ was new and you had buy it at a Chrysler dealer. It was expensive but Dextron II was cheap, (being a GM fluid) and available everywhere. If you looked at the dipstick for a vehicle from that day it would say Dextron II could be substituted. MEANING only on a temporary basis.
So what happened? Everyone took that to mean that DEXTRON II was the same or equivalent. I've had mechanics and auto parts clerks tell me "its all the same" .
(FacePalm)

Additional thoughts:
After I posted this in the AM I was was thinking about the various issue I looked at concerning Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler vehicles of that era. (Not a mechanic, just a handy guy)
I remember the one that seem to slip a little when cold on 2nd to 3rd shift.
Doh! Yeah, that one is sitting in my drive way now. The '99 Durango I bought for my wife not long after we got married. It had low miles so the slipping issue seem odd. Knowing what I knew about the WRONG FLUID issue, I immediately did a fluid and filter change and filled it back up with ATF3+. The slipping issue disappeared. That Durango when from us, to my parents, to my sister; who fried the engine because they wouldn't change the oil. My father-in-law bought it cheap and had a low mileage engine installed. They drove it till they both passed away and we inherit it from their estate. It came full circle and it still runs and shifts fine.

 

[2012RAM1500RT]

Still prefer the old A 833 "Hemi 4 speed" over any brand automatic that has ever been made. The abuse I put them through and the numerous automatics of all brands I seen fail while I punished the same 4 speed over and over and over again! LOL

 

[GRN69CHV]

One month update (5 weeks actually). I've already put 3200 miles on the company F150, with a fair amount of running to do over the next month. The Ram had 83,000 on it, still ran really good, reality is, I'm better off with a company vehicle for the miles I put on it. Overall it's hard to compare the Ford vs the Ram, they drive different. '16 Ram felt more neutral on the highway, F150 is little lighter steering to the touch and along with this it seems to wonder just a bit if I'm not paying 100% attention. Don't think it's the tires, Ram was lifted 1.5" with Falken Wildpeaks, Ford is stock height with Goodyear Wranglers. Regardless, it is what it is, too late now.

 

[co-pilot]

Good feedback...........and glad your still hanging around the forum........... and really either truck will get the job done...

 

[Jeepwalker]

Sooo, do you have to pay tax on that money? Just curious how it works in PA. Pretty sure it would be taxed here.

Also, as I recall, back in the day, there was an additive pack (bottle of Dr Good) that you could add to Dextron II or III to bring it up to ATF +3. The base stocks were essentially the same but the additive packages were different. I'm trying to remember, but I'm pretty sure I bought it at a Chrysler dealer a couple times. But it's been so long ago. I know I used it in my own vehicles and probably put another 100k on the tranny and never had any problems (Jeep). But of course I use Chrysler +4 now. I go to a small-town dealership and they pump it out of their barrel into milk jugs (of which they have a whole pile of clean milk jugs in a corner of the building ..ha ha). Workers bring them in. LOL. The cheapest place to buy +4. Even the GM dealer does that for any fluid they have. I just went last Monday and got 2 gal of Dex-cool antifreeze. ha ha. Love these small town dealerships.

 

[GRN69CHV]

You would only pay tax on vehicle sale if it was depreciated in excess of cash value. I did not depreciate my vehicle. I did write off non-reimbursed business miles as sales expense, only using the legal mileage allowance.

 

[cancunlsp]

Thats a dang good deal. Im looking at possibly selling my 16 big horn. Wife lost her job and its just an expense we cant really afford and the easiest/biggest to cut. It has 50k on it with no major defects only minor scratches and such. Hoping I get as good a deal as you did if I actually have to go through with it.