renting is a good idea.

 

Im guessing you saying that trading in a 2005 dodge ram 1500 2wd with a 4.7L is "going to kill you" please elaborate on that, i got my 05 in october and i got it with a 4.7L in it because i mainly chose the dodge for the looks over the other trucks not for the power, but now im seeing that not only was that a stupid move because of the base power that it available to move the truck, and now with the MDS coming out on the 06's, but it is horrible on the trade in value, please let me know what happened in this situation.

Sorry for the off-topic question but i was just curious.

-David

 

Well it all depends on the truck but frankly, the highest offer I have had on my truck that is one year old with 15k miles is 14500. Now that does not sound too bad considering I only paid 18000 (+TT&L and a little rollover from my trade) for the truck but if I have one more salesman tell me "We can put someone in a new truck for less than 20k. Why would we want to pay more for yours?", I'm going to shoot him. Dodges (in Texas anyway) have never had decent trade-in value. Do not believe Kelly Blue Book. They are usually a steady 2k over in almost every instance I've used them. Carmax gives a pretty fair trade-in value if you just want to see what your truck will bring.
Understand I have the work truck package that came base with the 4.7, Auto tranny, 3.92 gears and AC (yes AC is an option believe it or not). I added a stock AM/FM/CD player, stock chrome 17" wheels, tow package with 7 pin and 4 pin light hook-ups, brake booster, exhaust, cruise control and some other bells and whistles, so although the last salesman told me my truck was highly desirable because of what it has and the condition and miles of the truck, they use the "work truck package" to reduce the price. I had one place offer me what I paid for the truck until he saw it was a work truck package. Then the price bottomed out. Your situation may be different depending on what options you have but I can almost bet you did not get your truck for 18000.
Whats really funny is I had some special badges cut at work on a wire machine in stainless steel and unless you look closely, they almost look stock. The two on the sides are simple rectangle with "B&C Edition" in them while the one on the tailgate is a stainless steel Texas with "B&C Edition" cut into it. The dealership was scrambling because they could not find a "B&C Edition" Ram 1500 to get an accurate evaluation on price. The salesman was laughing as he told me the story.
B&C are the first letters of mine and my wifes name.