Son looking for Cummins

[dhay13]

So my son has been looking to get a new(er) 2500 Cummins. He works in the gas pipeline industry and drives about 30,000-40,000 miles a year so wants the diesel because of the high miles he'll be putting on it. He is looking for a very slightly used one (under 25,000 miles) or a brand new one, minimum of a Big Horn package. He really would like to stay close to $50,000. His biggest problem is his work schedule. He works 6 days a week about 14 hours a day and can't really get any time off so pretty much has to be somewhere in PA.

Any ideas? Anyone know of good dealers around Altoona, PA or western PA? He has been looking for about 6 months but hasn't been able to find the time to go look. He has vacation time but is getting married in October and has all of his vacation time scheduled for that so he is pretty much forced to look at, agree on, sign everything, and drive it off all in the same day. Currently he has a 2014 F150 company owned truck so won't have a trade in. He also has a 2018 Grand Design Imagine 2670MK camper he tows. He isn't allowed to tow with a company vehicle so I have been towing it when he needs to move it but there is talk of him getting moved further away and I can't be towing it that far.

Is it reasonable to find a brand new Cummins Big Horn for $50k out the door? Has to be a Crew Cab 4x4 with the 6.4 bed too

 

[buddy guy]

if I were him I'd simply say here's what I'm looking for, here's what i have to spend and paste the same thing to a bunch of dealershipss convenient to him. that's how i found my daughter's gently used Ford Escape Titanium. Out of 10 requests I sent 9 responsed promptly. I went in for a test drive with her on the one she liked and 1 hour later we had a deal. It helps to drop what the occupation is too. When they heard she was a teacher (teachers are paid very well in canada) I think that helped. They knew she could afford it and wasn't a tire kicker.

 

[mtnrider]

He has a company truck. Why would you not just continue to use that? Buying a personal truck and putting all those miles on it doesn't make sense.

If he is dead set on buying one I would look at new to get the full warranty. Always risk buying used. However there has been a price increase in the 2019 models. 2018's are still out there but he would have to move quick to find one. May have to roll back some of the options to fit within the budget?
I know Dave Smith Ram in Idaho has been a go-to for many people ordering trucks. They can do everything over phone/email and you just fly out and drive it back. People from all over the country use them, the pricing was that good compared to local for most.

I can tell you unless you have a dealer you can trust 1000% no exceptions, I would not be buying a used diesel without giving it a thorough check out, put some miles on it etc. No way I would show up, sign and drive it off with a quick look over. That is just asking for trouble

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[Ratket]

A Safe bet would be Dennis Dillion or Dave Smith, And best bet would be for him to handle everything remotely, either have it shipped to him, or you fly out and pick it up and drive it back.

https://www.dennisdillonchryslerjeepdodge.com/

https://www.davesmith.com/

 

[tjfdesmo]

Many have mentioned Kernersville Dodge in NC, also.

 

[dhay13]

As for buying his own, the company will pay him $1000/month for truck pay and pay for fuel, tires, oil changes, and brakes. So they will basically be making the payment for him. He is the only one that isn't using his own vehicle. Part of the issue is he has been there about 14 months and has moved sites about 4 times. He needs a way to tow his camper because he lives in it so it goes where he goes. They are not allowed to tow with company vehicles. The first time I towed it 3 hours away. Two of the locations he stayed in hotels. His current location is 3.5 hours away. He did borrow a company Duramax to tow it out there because he had no other way to get it there but who knows what the repercussions would have been if he had been caught doing that.

Buying long distance and flying out would be tough too. His only day off is Sunday. His vacation is all booked for his wedding/honeymoon. He was 'laid off' a few months ago for a couple of weeks and they made him use vacation time so he doesn't have much left.

He is looking at the 2018's because of price. He knows the 2019 will be out of his budget and he will have very little leverage.

He has been looking at Wally Armor near Canton, Ohio. He was based there when he was first hired and a few guys bought their trucks there and it's only about 90 minutes from us. I can pick it up and deliver it to him if it can be done in one day but he has to do the deal and sign the papers.

I have told him to start emailing dealers but he said he hasn't found anything close to where he is now to go look.

As far as options, he would like the Laramie but said he would be ok with the Big Horn. He spends most of his day in his truck so said he wants the creature comforts. Some days he spends 8 hours in it and he plans to keep it for a long time. He likes the options mine has too. He wants the CC, 4x4, Cummins, auto trans, full console, the better seats (as far as lumbar, etc), nav, touch screen. The ones he has found sticker at about $60-65k. Is it reasonable to get these for $50k new? He hasn't been able to find anything used nearby with under 20,000 miles. The only ones he has found are almost as much as a brand new one. And a warranty is a must

 

[Ratket]

10k Back Of msrp sticker is normal.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Suggest you get a new truck and sell him yours. Best of both worlds unless yours is high mileage

 

[mtnrider]

Like mentioned, you are looking at about $10K off MSRP. (many dealers will be higher then that though)

At $50K (for new) you are definitely in Big Horn territory, Larimie would be out of the question.

Here is an example of one at Dave Smith. They have many but I just grabbed this one. MSRP $61K, for sale for $50K.

https://www.davesmith.com/new/Ram/2018-Ram-2500-31af9b020a0e0adf4436e1cc23ab8575.htm


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[dhay13]

l

Suggest you get a new truck and sell him yours. Best of both worlds unless yours is high mileage

lol. I just bought mine 6 weeks ago. Has 9000 miles but its a hemi. He needs the diesel because of how many miles he would be putting on it. For him a $50,000 hemi in 3 years with 100,000+ miles would maybe be worth about $20,000 depending on condition where a Cummins with 100,000+ miles in 3 years would still be about $35,000 and still last him a few more years. The guys he works with that had gassers ended up trading them for diesels. I tried to get him to buy one where I did. They have a silver, white, and blue one there all for $40,000 with less than 8000 miles on them but they are all the 6.4 hemi.

Thats not a bad price for that one you posted at Dave Smith. is that after rebates that nobody qualifies for? lol. That Laramie I looked at stickered at $63k but was advertised online at $48k. When I got there they would only drop it to $53k. They said I didn't qualify for any rebates and that they were helping me out by dropping the price $10k. The rebates were FFA, military, and a few others but they said none applied to me. I argued with them and mentioned false advertising but they said thats how we all do it

 

[dhay13]

He said he found a used 2018 Laramie in Ohio for $55k. He likes a new 2018 Big Horn for $53k at the same dealer. Don't know the name of the dealer but its in Akron. He likes the leather because of the cleanup. He doesn't get extremely dirty but dirty enough. He is a safety coordinator for the gas pipeline so is out in the field all day driving from site to site. He said the cleanup with leather would be much easier.