I want you guys to sell me on the 3rd gen rams....I am very leary of having another dodge when I get a new truck because of all the problems I have had with myne! I have spent almost 10k on repairs since i bought the truck in '01. I really would like to get a regular cab 4x4 with the off-road package. My biggest concern is the tranmission on the new rams? It worries me that Dodge has to offer a powertrain warranty unless they think there would be a lot of problems with the powertrain in the new vehicles. Is it just to show that they are confident that they have fixed the problems that they had with the 2nd gen rams or that they still are having problems and want to offer warranty for their products. My other question is the 5.7L Hemi. How does it tow a trailer, what kind of gas mileage does it get? What kind of problems, if any, have you guys had with the motor or any part of the truck for that matter. Any comments would be great because I really like Dodge trucks, I just don't want to end up spending 20k on once after I buy it.

 

hrm... the reason i went with my dodge ram, is because of my moms Dodge Dakota, that thing we bought in december of 00, and it has 165k miles currently, and we bought it with 11 miles on on it. also the only thing we'v had to replace was the broken head light (which i broke with a golf ball :\ ) and a broken stereo.

its been rock solid ever since, thats why i went with the dodge ram, over the rest.

her truck is a Dodge Dakota QC, 5.9LV8 flame red. pretty rough truck imo

iv been driving my truck for the past 2 and a half months and iv been able to rack up 8500 miles on it and so far, the only problem iv had is when im on pavement, and i switch it into 4x4, and then im just turning a corner slowly, it feels like the wholje truck is going to fall appart shakin and stuff, but i did the same thing off road ( dirt road ) and it didnt happen, im wondering if the diffrentials lock up?

also gas is hell, i put 60$ for a full tank, but over here in cali, its $2.50 a gall for unleaded plus, yes dam bush! :\

i havnt tow'd a trailer yet, but for 345 hp i think it shud do alright.

 

I think you need to spend some time trying to convince yourself why you should, or should not, buy another Dodge.

Lets see. You bought a 1994 Dodge in 2001, and had to put 10K into it. A seven year old vehicle with how many miles? Average mileage these days is 15K / year. so your 7 YO truck might have the average mileage of 105K. That's a considerable amount of miles and we haven't even explored how it was maintained and what it was used for prior to you purchasing it.

The reason they offer the warranty is to provide the buyer with peace of mind. The 5.7L Hemi will tow more than the 5.9L truck. I've had my truck for almost a year with no problems.

Good luck with search.

 

What car manufacturer is NOT offereing some kind of extended warranty? I have a 03 ram w/the off road package. NO Major problems to report. Tranny is fine. This tranny is different than the one that was in the 2nd generation ram. the "Dodge's Trannies are Junk" bit is a HUGE Misconception. My 1997 Ram w/the 360 has 90K miles on it with NO transmission problems what-so-ever.

 

I got an 04 hemi QC a couple of months ago and have 8k on it, and love it. I've had absolutely nothing go wrong on it...not a squeak, rattle, air leak, nothing. The gas mileage is pretty poor , but when the sticker says 13 city, 17 hwy you'd have to be a moron to expect much more than 12-14 which is about what I get. If gas mileage matters, buy a Saturn. I also wouldn't consider the 6 if you plan on hauling or towing anything.

Check around the 2nd gen sites, and you probably will see some pre 2000 probs with the trans, but I haven't heard of or read on here anything wrong with the '03-'04's. The 5 spd auto is extremely smooth and the 04's on have a Tow/Haul mode that locks out OD and changes the shift points for better towing.

I had 3 Chevy's before this one, so with that plus all the crap from my current Chevy buddies, it was tough for me to go Dodge, but so far I think it's great.

 

I'm a Dodge truck fan through and through, however I'm not going to boldly claim that dodge rules and everything else sucks. Any one of the big 3 make a quality truck (G.M. , Ford, Dodge). It really comes down to personal taste and the options you want. Nobody can convince you to buy a Dodge if you don't feel comfortable with the product, however I wouldn't judge the quality based on a bad experience with a used vehicle. All I can say is so far I've owned an 01 Dakota R/T, and recently picked up an 04 Ram 1500 Rumble Bee, and I'm altogether pleased with both.

 

not
What He said!

 

I not going to try and convince you to buy the Ram Hemi....it speaks for itself....when I got my truck, I had some biker guy in a Ford Harley Davidson F150 stop and admire my truck. He said he wished that he had bought the Ram hemi. He absolutely love the looks and sound. I love my truck, I now have 13500 kms on it and not a single problem other than not being able to pass a gas station...lol.

 

Ya I can't speak for the new transmissions, but the one that's in my 2001 Dak. R/T is supposed to be worse than the new ones but consider this. It is transmitting power from an engine with 360+ hp. I hot rod the crap outta my truck. It handles over 515 hp when I spray the "good" stuff, and I've never had a problem with it yet. To date 85K miles. So if my 2001 "Breakdown prone" transmission is doing that, you should have no problems at all man.

 

I can tell you about towing and reliability. I purchased a 2002 1500 with the 4.7l to tow my 6000 pound travel trailer (and to commute). In two years and 80,000 miles, I had ZERO problems with it. It was a little weak in the towing department....On hills, but other than that, wonderful truck. In august, I traded it in on a 2004 Hemi 1500. Man! What a difference 100ci make towing. Pulling the mountain grades here in southern california, I can pass the semi's, where I didn't dare with the 4.7l. I've now put 8k miles on the 04, and again, ZERO problems so far. Switched to synthetic oil on the first change, but that's the only thing ive done to it.

Tom