Bought it about 10 months ago to replace my '90 Chevy Silverado w/249k on the clock.

Its my second vehicle...Ive only put 2k on it since I bought it, it now shows 81k on the odometer.

The first month I had it, the air bag light came on. I took it to the dealer, and they said the air bag system is separate from the regular CPU, and a tech would simply have to spend time troubleshooting it @ $72 per hour. Nice engineering Dodge. He said it could be 1 hour + parts, or many hours plus parts. He told me if it was the bag itself, I should have $1200 ready just for that part.

Two months later, the water pump gives out. This one cost me $420. My Chevy had its original water pump on it when I got rid of it.

Next, that tail gate wont stay up...the latch/pins are not in alignment, and the genius' at Dodge made no provisions to adjust either. I ended up trimming the rubber stops. Now the gate shuts, but is obviously out of alignment.

I then take it in for regular service, and the tech informs me I have to replace the 16 spark plugs every 30k. 30k...are you kidding me!? My 2003 Acura has 100k interval on plugs. Now get this...they want $350 to do it! Are you F***ing kidding me!! Dodge wants me to spend $350 to change spark plugs every 30k!? Not to mention that the second set does NOTHING. Its obvious this was a gimmick to make money.

And last week the heater dies. I take it in this time, and he say the heater core is clogged (he also says this is a common, know problem with Dodge trucks). He says he will try to flush, but even if he is successful, the problem will most likely return. How much to replace the heater core you ask? Well, it appears the bumble-F*** engineers at Dodge, built the dash around everything under/inside the dash. The price to remove the dash ONLY...$1200!!

And lastly (speaking to the same tech), he informs me that I should prepare to have about $2500 saved up for when the transmission pukes out at about 100k. Again, a known issue with the tranny I have.

WTF, if these are "known issues" why doest Dodge pick up the tab??

Ive had it with this POS. Its obvious the engineers at Dodge dont have a clue, and are stuck in the '80 for innovation. It is also obvious that rather than build a good truck, they choose to build sub-engineered truck, for the sole purpose to make money.

I wish I had never wandered from the GM trucks I have been driving for over 35 years. Im going to sell this bucket of trash, and buy a real truck. Yes Im going to take a big hit, but Ill consider it a hard-learned lesson in trusting in a Dodge product.

How much is a truck worth that needs the spark plugs,transmission, and heater core replaced, with the air bag light on, and a misaligned tail gate?

Any offers?

 

Ill buy them hellas from you before you sell it ha ha

 

How big a hit can you take on a 6 year old used truck?

 

i've never had any of these problems, did you even look the truck over be for you got it?? i spent a total of $1000 in 2010
maybe you just got a lemon bud

 

Im not sure what you mean?

I thought I got a good deal on it...private seller for $9750 which was way under private sale book.

 

preventative maintenance, that wasn't done. Iv seen alot of chevys fords toyotas everything that were way worse off than your truck, or iv seen alot of trucks last way longer than they were intended too like my 4 runner sitting at 350,000 miles that i take wheeling every day and have hydro locked 5 times and just straight up beat the H**l out of and it did fine as my daily driver untill I got my dodge. my dodge has 155K and no problems at all. I love how people bash on car manufactures when it is their responsibility to keep said vehicle running. yes their are lemons and yes their are defects thats on the manufacturer but trying to blame things like a clogged heater core at 80 something k mile on dodge when was the last time the coolant was changed?

everyone has their own opinion i guess. I wouldn't want a chevy id hate to have to replace front end components all the time, haha

 

most of that stuff you can fix. there are a few DIY on replacing the heater cores, especially on DT. Plugs are 1something each and you can do it...etc

 

I was a certified mechanic back in the day, but dont have much of my shop tools left, and dont have a lift, so I did take it to a mechanic. These things, of course, would not have been caught tho.

Im just pissed off right now...my "good deal" is now turning into a not-so-good deal at my expense.

Seriously tho, I do believe the engineering sucks on my truck...how would you like to be told it will cost you $1200 to replace the .99 cent dash lights for your heater control.

 

What preventive maintenance would have kept the air bag light from coming on?

Same question with the water pump, heater core, and tail gate?

Hell, even my '90 Chevy had eccentrics on the tail gate posts.

 

Last I looked, which was not long ago, '05 QC 4x4 Hemis were going for around $14k in my area with average (80k +) mileage. Me thinks there is a reason you got yours for under $10k.

Bought mine new off the lot in April of '04. To date, I've had a stock shock go and an aftermarket tie rod end that was part of the lift kit.

I do all my own maintenance and am **** about it.


I just had the clock spring go in my '02 Grand Cherokee (air bag light on), it's about a $130 part and an hour to swap out. It is almost undoubtedly your problem. It's a holdover design issue across the whole line from Daimler days. Mercedes are plagued with it to, but with them it's a $1400 fix at a dealer.

I've found the 545re transmission to be pretty stout. Have seen a few around with 150k miles and more on them with no work required. Maintenance is the key.
Rams are still suffering from the reputation that the transmissions from the 1st & 2nd Gen trucks had when everyone said Dodge had the best truck engines and the worst transmissions on the planet.

If the original owner didn't abuse it, I wouldn't worry too much about the tranny going on you...