Hey all. I am looking at buying my first ram and am looking for some opinions. The vehicle in question....

2004 ram quad cab slt
4x4 Hemi
92000 miles
Short bed
Seems to be in excellent shape....
20s
Body colored grill and facia
Dual exaust
12200$ is the sale price.

Thoughts and opinions welcomed, would like tips or things to watch/look out for before making an offer. What are some things to watch for? Also did dodge ever make a factory fuel economizing chip in 2004. Sounds like something a previous owner told the guy because I've never heard of that in my life....

 

First off the chip is BS and I would have them rip it out and reset the computer to stock settings before I would even consider buying it. The price is pretty high, although that could depend on your area but I would say that's worth about 10,500 at most and that's assuming everything mechanical and electrical works and the suspension has been replaced because at 100k is when the front ends start to go in the 3rd gens. I would also check the tires and make sure there is good thread on them left. I would also check for a service history on the spark plugs and wires, tranny and diff fluids. Maybe check the EGR valve and have the TB cleaned but you can do those on your own after you buy if you want. Check all the electricals too, everything thing that lights up in and on the truck or uses electricity.

 

Where I'm at dodge trucks are impossible to find. As far as price.....kbb put it at 1500 above and edmunds put it at 2 below what he's asking. The chip I'm pretty sure is a super chips.... The guy is selling it for his friend who is out of state so I'm not surprised at how he described it. Thanks for the quick response! I know these trucks drivetrains are solid... More or less most concerned with price and other quirky mechanical probs I can check into before purchasing. Do slts with body colored facias have the sport group? If so what else does that include? Truck is immaculate though.....

 

What about gas mileage? I am coming from an 02 grand Cherokee with the 4.7. I currently get 13.5-14 in town and 18-20 on hwy

 

Sounds like you are looking at the same truck I have. Mine is worth that much to me, but I wouldn't expect to sell it for that or pay that much for another one. I got rid of the stock 20's and put new rims and tires on, but other than that, mine is an 04 SLT QC Hemi 4x4 with sport trim (color matched bumpers). Mine has about 10k more miles on it.

Mileage seems to vary quite a bit for all of us here. I get around 14 city, between 18-19 highway.

Get specifics on this "chip" if you can. Is the truck currently programmed and not stock and, if so, is the programmer included in the deal? If not, without the programmer, you won't be able to change anything unless you get the ECU reflashed to stock (for a fee) and start over with a new programmer. I was never able to get a super chips programmer to work on mine because it said my settings were not factory stock even though I bought it new and never had it modified.

Service history and what has and has not been done to the truck, for me, would determine a lot towards the truck's value. If you buy one for 11k and have to put a grand into it because things need to be done or you have no way of knowing if they were done, is no different than paying 12k for one that is completely up to date on maintenance. Tires are also expensive, especially 20's, so if the tires are in good shape, that's a plus. If not, it should be accounted for in the sales price.

The one "bug" in some of the Rams is in the rear end. If the truck has a limited slip/anti-spin differential, there is a c-clip in the rear end that is known to fail and cause catastrophic failure. If it has this, there should be a label in the glove box that would specify something like 9.25 corp anti-spin. This can be avoided but of course that is an expense. I found that mine does not have the LSD rear end.

Other than that - very solid truck. Other than regular maintenance, I have replaced the EGR valve and a wiper washer fluid pump due to failure. Everything else is original and still going strong.

 

Around me, thats not far off on the price for that truck, maybe a teensy bit high. I bought my truck which is very similar to yours except its an 05 and had a couple more miles on it for a little less than that, I think I paid 12,600 out the door. Other suggestions already made are good ones, honestly though its kind of always a crapshoot buying an vehicle, if it looks and rides nice with no obvious problems (which the other guys already id' for you) then I would say go for it. Its always a good idea to have some spare cash ready to fix stuff on a used vehicle obviously, maybe you get lucky and put 100,000 miles on it with no major repairs, or maybe the rear end blows up next week, who knows. Sounds like a pretty solid truck to me.

The other thing to watch out for on 03-04's is that they have weak lifters, you may have to replace them. Put some from an 05 in there and you will be gtg.

 

I would say that's a bit high to me. I bought my 05 in 07 for $15500 out the door.I would try to get him down around $10000.Also the other thing you might want to look out for is the transmission.They also start doing funny things around 100000 miles.Mine lasted until 113000 miles and it started doing weird shifts.Every tranny shop I've talked to says the dodge transmissions are known to go at 100000 miles.

 

Even if it's a Superchips (Which is a tuner and NOT a chip so this guy doesn't know jack squat) it wouldn't be advertised as "fuel economizing" because the SC is known for giving more power, not fuel economy. And it wouldn't come from the factory that way so this guy is blowing smoke up your ***. This guy might be trying to help his friend out but he clearly has no clue about this truck and neither does his friend. Regardless of what you think it's worth you should always try to lowball first, explaining your concerns and then work back up to the asking price from there.

 

My 04' (basically same truck as what your looking at) replaced the EGR at 45k and needed tie rods and a major TB cleaning at 100k. Also new plugs, wires, PCV, etc. Other than that, I didn't have to touch it, hemi still ran like it did when I bought it, trans still shifted like it was new as well. I would average about 14-15 mpg city/highway mix. Truck was 100% stock.

Price wise its not too far off maybe little high for around my area as well. If the truck seems solid then the biggest thing is to get the facts straight with what kind of programmer, or "chip" as that guy is calling it IS and either have it come with the truck if you buy it or have them set the truck back to the stock program with it.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

Buddy, this sounds like more a fluke experience for you. These transmissions have been known to be solid and routinely get 150-200k before a rebuild. A lot also depends on how you are about servicing. I've got around 70k on my truck and installed a deep transmission pan and have changed the fluid + filters twice in the 40k miles I've had it. I also have a high stall converter. I don't expect to have a trans issue anytime soon.