So I just got back from trying to buy a Dodge 1500 4x4 Big Horn this morning. This would have been my first Dodge truck, I owned a 2004 Ford F150 prior for comparison. This is how I scored it.

The Hemi 5.7 was pure fun, stomp the gas pedal and this truck got up and moved nicely. The F150 5.4 is gutless in comparison. Style wise an awesome looking truck. Both my brothers have Gen3 and I don't much care for them but this Gen4 is nice.

I had read that Dodge improved their cheap interiors, well they still need further improvement imo. I pressed the garage door opener button and the entire headliner flexed up and down. The ***** and buttons on the 430 media center felt really cheap and the twist ***** on the whole center console seemed wobbly and cheap. Hell I'd pay another $100 for some decent control ***** geesh.

The dash and interior materials were not bad on the Dodge but also not great. Lots of cheap feeling hard plastic. I felt the interior on my 2004 F150 was far better.

The door interiors looked dated design wise, like a 1980's door. More modern doors have much more comfortable arm wrests, more molded and rounded with comfortable rubberish materials. Likewise the door handles in and out felt kind of cheap. I also found the rear view mirror too small.

Outside the factory bed liner did not impress. More disapointing was the very cheap plastic cover on the rear bumper. And even more disapointing was the Mopar tube running boards which seemed to have a lot of flex in them.

I liked the Dodge 20 inch aluminum wheels, I didn't much like all the rust I saw underneath this vehicle on various suspension parts, it only had 40 miles on it.

I really like the conventionally opening rear doors. The F150 rear door opens in suicide door fashion and the front door has to be opened first, this is HIGHLY annoying and one of the reasons I got rid of the F150, second only to being gutless.

So while the Dodge has some flaws I was still drooling to buy one, there's lots to like. Alas the dealer only offered me $16k on my trade in, I wanted KBB which was $17k. They let me walk out the door when we were only $1k apart on a $30k plus deal. So its back to flipping through dealer inventory or maybe even waiting until this 6.2 liter Boss motor is available in the SVT Raptor.

 

I bought my Ram back in June, compared the Ford F150 and Silverado to the Ram. For what I got my Ram for, it was deal I could'nt refuse, Ford would only take $4500 off MSRP before we even talked about the trade in(07 F150) Chevy was even more chincy about working a deal. With my Ram, I got it for $12,000 off MSRP and they paid my trade in off($13,000) I've enjoyed my Ram ever since, no issues yet,lol lol.........Kevin.

 

Gee, interior pet peaves like butons relly make or brake a truck, Not so long ago, metal dash boards were the norm, vynil seats and vynil floors, now were tricked into thinking we need all good looks on the inside.

I bet if you stuck a ford logo on a dodge and a dodge logo on a ford, a un educated truck owner would not know the differance, the 4rtg gen ram screams 2002 ford super duty.

as for Ford, I used to be loyal, that god awful 5.4 3v triton is the worst crap ever put into a engine bay, hands down, dodge has the better engine.

I don't like the lower cab heights on the Ford or the dodge, a 2002 F-150 fits me better than the new f-150 and my 06 Ram has more room in the drivers area than a 4rth gen Ram

 

I did the same thing on the big 4, The cost of the ram was really good, But the RIDE IS GREAT!

 

For $38,000 it better crap Tiffany cuff links

 

Well I checked out the F150 forums and it looks like they have tranny problems on the F150's to go with the gutless motor. I did a lot of research, the Dodge seems like the best truck out there right now.

 

To me, the interior on the Sport is much nicer. Maybe you should check one out.

 

Looked at the 2009 F150 since I had a 2002 that I really liked. Comparison was of crew cabs

Dodge:
Pros - nicer interior, better ride, better look outside, more powerfull motor
Cons - low tow rating

Ford
Pros - Much better towing capability
Cons - Space alien chrome package on every truck I looked at, worse interior, 2K more for a similiarly equiped truck.

 

for 20 grand, I would take all steal dash and vynil floor, you keep the 18 grand and get your tiffancy cuff links, lol,

 

you say that now, but I looked at the tundra vs dodge and dodge won because the tundra had such a terrible interior, cheap and plastic