5th Gen Ram 1500: The $65,000 truck that will end up costing you much more

[jdmartin]

Just one small part on this truck that we supply, that you probably don’t even know exists, that you may never even see, and that is small enough to fit in a shoe box, literally took us year to design, prototype, and tool. And the tooling and equipment that makes that one part literally cost $1,000,000.00 and almost cost me my marriage to build.
When you go to the dealership and see that window sticker with a $60,000.00 price tag, you think the same thing we all do.. “Holy ****! That’s expensive!” In reality, it’s cheap!!

What was the part? Now I can't help but wonder!

And I'm actually a person that's always impressed most stuff can be sold as cheap as it is. Only mass production and lots of buyers makes it possible. When I look at a Ram and imagine if I had to just have that thing built for me, even using existing parts, I'm frankly amazed anyone can do it for under $100k.

 

[20REBEL20]

I wish I could say what parts we make or what company I work for but I am strictly forbidden from doing so. As stupid as it sounds I could lose my job and my company could be sued.

 

[Quint]

As someone that has gone through the lemon process before (with Ford), I can completely understand your frustrations. 20REBEL20 is spot on with his assessment of the difficulty of bringing such complex machines to market, and updating them, all without issues. That said, when you spend that much money on a truck you want it to work. Where most manufacturers -- and dealers -- fail is in addressing these issues. Sometimes they do it great and then there are times like this, where an owner is left scratching their head, thinking why do I have to fight so hard to get something fixed that is obviously not my fault?

Most of these sound like legit issues. The engine I can understand. It may be a 2yr old truck but because of how much you drive, you are really talking about an engine problem on a 100,000+ mile truck. If you had posted about an 8yr old Ram 1500 with 100,000 miles having engine issues, it wouldn't have raised on eyebrow online. That engine has a lot more than "2 yrs" into it, but yes, it shouldn't be throwing rods either. It's like dying, there is an average life expectancy for us all but some will go sooner and some later.

Overall, I'm glad to hear that some of the issues are getting resolved.

 

[Royalist_Ram]

100,000 miles in 2 years is a lot of mileage, especially for a gasser. Avg is 10-15,000 miles with most people at around 12,000 miles per year. Brake pads should be inspected every oil change/10k miles, have they been replaced? You said you’re past 100k miles with 70% life left; doesn’t sound right to me, unless you’ve already changed them once. Brake pads should be replaced every 40-65k miles, depending on driving habits, environment, and vehicle type. But yeah as others have said, that engine is working a lot in just 2 years if it’s doing 50k+ miles a year. Yeah buying a first model year of a new generation can be an issue but it’s really luck of the draw nowadays regardless. If you really want a high trim with everything including air suspension, you should always invest in an extended warranty to anticipate problems, if you want extra protection. That’s for any brand tho.

 

[Hydroblueguy]

Yes, the amount of electronics on my 2020 Limited has me certain she will be on the selling block @ month 34 of ownership.
That being said, you realize you bought the most technological truck there is/was when it FIRST came out? It was in pure BETA form and you bought it.
Confucius say: "Never buy first year of any new/redesigned vehicle."

Many threw that in my face too, with my 19! I expected issues yes. However multiple issues and 7 trips to 3 dealers in 9 month with less then 8000 miles. With no fixes, I finally forced them to buy it back. I had a 2021 built, because I do like the new rams. The real kicker is, many of the issues from the 18 builds are still going on today with the 2021’s, that’s what burns my ***! I hope yours stays problem free and my new 2021 as well

 

[Orphanz]

Rear brake issue

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10169255-9999.pdf

Fingers Crossed...Brake Squeal Resolved

I think (praying and crossing fingers) that the brake squeal on my truck has been resolved, once and for all, after 4 times to the dealer. I had the same brake squealing that A LOT of people have been complaining about. Typically happened with light press of the brake going between 45-70 mph...

5thgenrams.com

See post #466

Truck delivered yet?