Well then you didn't buy yours for the same reason...

 

People around here are mostly farmers/ranchers with little money to spend on unecessary items.....Conejos County (where I live at the present time) is the poorest county in Colorado. A car or truck that looks like it's been washed in the last 6 months is rare. New vehicles like mine are even more rare, especially with Texas plates.....I get a lot of stares!

Dusty

 

Well then THEY didn't buy theirs for that reason, LOL...

 

Well, let me just say that they've had four drug busts in the town of Romeo (Ro-may-o)
in the last 3 weeks. The town is 3.5 miles from Manassa and has a population of 430 (Soon to be less, I'll bet).....

Dusty

 

I was just thinking the other day. If Chrysler would have the cars they had back in the mid to late 90s in comparison to what everyone else had, Chrysler would be doing amazing right now. A manual Stratus getting 36-37 mpg on the highway, Neon with the capability of getting 40mpg, the aerodynamic Intrepid (which I generally get 32 mpg on highway trips and have been able to get up to 36 a couple times), and not such a dependency on gas guzzlers.

Don't get me wrong I love the Challenger and think it serves a definite purpose, but I'm starting to have second thoughts on how wise it was to make the Charger and 300 a full replacement for the LH cars. I'm now beginning to think they should have just made the 300C a full luxury car, if they made the Charger make it just a higher end performance car while keeping the police market attempt, and kept the Intrepid and the Vision positions (300M but you couldn't have two different cars in the market at the same time with the 300 name) making a third gen car making an effort to improve the efficiency of the cars for a fun yet practical choice. To me the Impala's success is proof that is abandoning that position altogether was a mistake. Just like replacing the fuel efficient Neon with the Caliber.

You know I don't get why Ford maintains their dominance with the F-150. They have about the worst fuel economy, they generally have the least power, the styling is not that great, the interior is okay but not as good as they make it out to be, etc. Outside of my favoritism for the Ram, I understand the liking of the Silverado as it generally is the most fuel efficient, generally has the best power when Dodge doesn't have it, they currently have nice interior, they tend to be more on the cutting edge on the powertrains. Dodge I don't have to explain, but why Ford. Are people that brand loyal?

 

The Ford is F150 is more of a workhorse than the Ram 1500 currently. Best payload, better ride, and more towing capacity. Don't get me wrong, I love my 08 Ram 1500, but the Ford is built to work.
It tows well with the VVT and drive by wire TB. When wide open, it will actually make power and not retard timing and fuel until you start backing off of the throttle. The 9.75 rearend that comes with the 5.4L is much more reliable. 100K mile fluid changes and no worries of the LS clips falling out. The transmissions are bulletproof too.
It gets worse mileage because it is a stronger built, heavier truck. They also don't skip into the next lane when hitting a bump in a curve like the RAM does.

I am new to Dodge trucks this year (always had Fords, but the lifetime powertrain warranty and styling made me stray), but I am pleased with my Ram so far, other than the throttle issue, which I will be addressing with the dealer in the next day or so when it goes in for it's first oil change.

I'm looking into getting a Caliber for the wife to drive, then we will have 3 Dodges. My 08 Ram, a 2007 Grand Caravan SXT and the Caliber.

 

The 4th gen Ram will put the F150 to shame.

 

I hope they did something with the rear suspension... F150's used to lane-hop like a sunuvabitch. Back in the 90's, I was more impressed with the way the Dodge trucks handled over the Fords. If the newer Dodge's are that much better, I would be curious to check one out again after I move closer to work.

 

I like the wife's new 09 Caliber. Much better looking than the Neons were.

 

I have to disagree on this, and not because I own one either.

The Neons were not the most attractive cars on the planet... but IMO, the Calibers are ever uglier. Too boxy, and not to mention the fact that Chrysler had a good solid sport-compact car with the Neon, which got great gas mileage on average. Now, Chrysler has NO sport-compacts period, and the Caliber is just to much of a young-family cliche' with the flip-down speakers and extended cargo area, and worse mpg. Not my cup of tea...