Wandl

lol reading every review, every CR article, every reliability report, has made me cringe to be a FCA service advisor currently. While checking out the new Pacifica's about 2 weeks back I did stop by the service dept and they said the Pacifica's have been trouble free so-far with a few random exceptions. But when almost every FCA vehicle is below average and among the US top 10 least reliable (jeep's, fiat's, dodge) I'd almost overhaul the entire damn brand at this point. Jeep & Ram are the sole cash cows of the FCA family.

CleanSC

Cringe? You're in service, my friend. You'll be just fine!

LOWFAST

No issues with my 2014 Ram. Great truck, great interior, best looking exterior of fullsize trucks (IMHO) and has plenty of power and room. Mine has a mild lift, larger all-terrain tires, aftermarket exhaust, intake and programmer. Gets good mileage for what it is, has no problem getting out of its own way, and sounds great doing it. Maybe I was just lucky and got one that does not have issues, if so I'm not complaining.

ArmyofOne

As a Ram 1500 owner, that comment actually pisses me off. Nothing like a broad generalization based on absolutely no fact.

Oh really? I have had 4 Rams. all have been exceptional, for a combined total of half a million miles. My current one is a 2015 1500 Laramie with 66,000 miles on the clock.

They're built poorly?



^That's a pretty lavishly appointed interior for a truck. After nearly 70,000 miles of beating (and I mean BEATING) the ever-loving **** out of this truck both on and off-road, not a rattle, not a squeak, nothing. Yeah, there's a bit of road noise...but I have mud tires. With the tires that came on it, it was dead tomb silent, albeit useless for any off-road work. As are ALL trucks with OE tires that aren't purpose built (Rebel, Raptor, etc). I have heated and cooled seats, a heated steering wheel, full EVIC, rain sensing wipers, 8 way dual power seats, heated and cooled rear seats, 8.4" touch screen infotainment system with nav, among many other accouterments.


^And she works too. I poured a recycled (crushed) concrete driveway addition in the summer of 2015. The truck was fairly new, maybe 10k miles. 10,000lbs of crushed concrete per load, x 12 loads = 120,000 lbs of crushed aggregate this truck hauled. If you add the weight of the empty trailer, (4,000lbs), the unreliable, poorly built Ram 1500 hauled a collective total of 168,000 lbs of crushed concrete aggregate that week, and it didnt even break a sweat.


^here, the we see the unreliable Ram 1500 towed 8500 lbs of tiny house from SLC, UT, to DFW, TX, in late spring of 2015 for a client so it could have some work completed. Later in the year, It would then haul it back again, after the work was done. Did it all without incident.

^ more hard work. Thats 5,000lbs of trailer, 3,800lbs of boat, motor and boat trailer up there going to a salvage yard.



^She isn't just a pavement princess, after I got the 35 x 12.5 x 20 Firestone Destination M/T's installed. Off to the deer trails.


^ I could have used them for this, This was a thanksgiving weekend deer hunt, 2015. Buried it deep trying to get to my deer stand.

The bottom line is, every single time I have asked one of my rams to do something, it has done it, without any hesitation. No questions asked. Does the brand have its issues? Sure. every brand does. Go to the Ford F150 Forums and you will see build quality issues across the model ranges, the Eco-Boost has transmission issues, and problems with hesitation, turbo's failing and towing MPG. Go to the GMC Sierra/Chevy Silverado forums and you will find this ungodly vibration issue that nobody can seem to solve. Toyota seems to have a problem dropping timing chain tensioners in the Tundra (and only the Tundra) V8's, and also head gasket failures. Nissan's new Titan is the only one that's squeaky clean, but it hasn't been to market very long. Give it a few more months and I bet something comes up. Ram's aren't immune either. The 5.7 Hemi has a known issue. The cast-iron exhaust manifolds warp because they are bolted to aluminum heads...with steel bolts. All 3 of those metals have different heat dissapation rates. This causes the heads of the manifolds to warp in some cases, breaking the bolts and causing exhaust leaks, which is also known as the "hemi tick". The replacement of the manifold bolts with higher grade (grade 8) bolts solves the problem. FCA Extended the warranty to all affected VIN's to 10 years or UNL miles and put the updated part numbers out to all dealers via TSB. So if and when a customer has an issue, they can come in and have it fixed free of charge. It is a minor problem, that creates a ticking or knocking noise at idle, nothing more. Therefore, by NHSTA rules, a recall can't be issued, because it isn't safety related. Not all the hemi's do it, and not all of them will. Its hit or miss.

In any case, the point is that no brand is immune to problems. They are machines, and they are built by machines, which are (ultimately) built, managed and run by people. Things happen. As far as I am concerned, out of the big 3 brand of american brand (Ford, GM, Ram), Ram is by far the best value for money, especially in the Laramie, Laramie Longhorn, and Laramie Limited trims. I have seen a Laramie Longhorn with a $60,986 sticker leave the lot for $38,795+TTL. Thats over $20,000 off MSRP. That's HUGE. More than enough to offset any loss of value in the first year, maybe even two.

The next value-for-money brand in my opinion would be GMC, the Sierra is a pretty awesome truck, available at massive discounts as well.

The F-series trucks? I wouldn't even bother. When I was looking for my truck, I had cash. I went to a Ford dealer to drive an F-150 platinum. I liked it, but wasn't sure I wanted to switch brands. My entire family swears by Fords. I don't buy into it, but I considered it, until we sat down at the table.

I asked the sales guy, "So how much is this truck"

"well, the price is on the window sticker".

"I have cash. I am NOT paying the window sticker. Let me talk to the sales manager."

He goes and gets the sales manager.

"Hello sir, I am Jim, What can I do for you?"

"Jim, I am Josh. I was just informed that I would be paying sticker for the F-150 platinum out there...the maroon one."

"Well, sir, that is what we sell them for. F-150's sell at MSRP, actually the higher trim levels typically sell at a 10% markup, that one is not marked up because it has close to 100 miles on it."

"OK, well MSRP on it is $64,5 and some change. I am not paying that. I have cash."

"The F-150's fly out of here. If you don't want to pay the MSRP, 40 seconds from now, someone will walk in here and buy it, cash or credit, we don't care."

"Well gentlemen, I'm headed across the street to Ram. I won't be back...to any Ford dealer...ever."

ArmyofOne

Mine has a mild lift as well, and got great mileage, until I put the 35's on it LOL. now I get 13-14 on a good day. But these tires are 72lbs each so...

They are great trucks, plenty of power, and the 8 speed is an outstanding transmission. I too have an aftermarket exhaust. I did a muffler delete. It's loud when I get on it, but surprisingly quiet at idle and cruising.

LOWFAST

​​​​​​​Corrected your slight spelling error for you.

S2000toIS350

Josh, I appreciate your service to our country

My Chrysler hating comments are no news to you.

I consistently say the same stuff.

I have been on the road for over 40 years.

When I see a traffic snarl, it is often some doofus is a rusted out Chrysler minivan not keeping up with traffic flow.

And then there are the Chrysler distracted drivers, who appear to be a larger percentage of the driving population.

We all remember those Chrysler auto workers that got bagged smoking dope and drinking malt liquor at lunch time. They got fired and then the union made Chrysler take them back. I don't knowingly want folks like that building the vehicles that I trust my family to.

If you want to get into the experiences I had with my dad's Chrysler products and the fine service at the fine dealerships we can have even more fun.

LOWFAST

If you do not have a programmer I would suggest a custom tuned Diablosport, I gained 2+mpg across the board with it, also allows you to correct for the tire size change. I am running 34's, the only thing stopping me from going to 35's is the additional weight and loss in performance. I think the 35's look perfect, but true 35's are just too heavy due to their construction. Next tire replacement I might jump up to 295/65's.

S2000toIS350

My IS 350 is long gone but thanks for the correction lowfast

TangoRed

Well, we can at least agree you are a unique person for choosing an NSX.

I mean you must realize how ridiculous these statements are in the broader context of driving in America.

S2000toIS350

I make an excellent living from observing/using mismatched information

I can tell you that far more of the wacky shiiit I see on the road is being done by Chrysler drivers than by drivers of other manufacturers

LOWFAST

Just here to serve.

LOWFAST

Around here it is the Kia crowd, might be a regional thing.

S2000toIS350

The folks driving the tiny Kia cars may misbehave some here, but the bigger ones and SUVs seem to be ok participants on the roadways.

The other daily issue around Chicago is that International brand trucks are underpowered and take forever to get back up to speed from a light or from snarled traffic.

LOWFAST

Here it is dip****s who spent more on their phone than their car, Texting/Facebooking/Facetiming instead of paying any type of attention to traffic. I guess as a big dumb Ram driver all I want to do is get out of my truck and go strangle them.