Greetings, really glad I found this site! Have read a lot of helpful information already, helped me decide on a new truck. I just bought a '19 Laramie Quad Cab in Ivory Tri-Coat, with the Off-Road pkg. and the Level 1 Equipment Group.
First off, I couldn't believe how affordable the Laramie is compared to Tradesman and Big Horn. It was a no brainer to me to go with a Laramie, not much more $ for lots of useful equipment. I'm a general contractor & drive a lot, sometimes off road in mud and what not, so a loaded high end truck isn't right for me. Really would be satisfied with a Tradesman, but for the price of a so-so equipped Tradesman, it makes little sense to me. Same with Big Horn, which is what I thought I wanted, but option up a Big Horn a little & you might as well get a Laramie & go easy on the options, won't cost much more for a significantly nicer truck.
I'm really liking the Off-Road package so far. It is firm, has a bit of a 3/4 ton feel to it. Very nice. It is a little rougher on the highway than my '14 Chevy was though. I think after putting 1,200 miles on this truck that the whole Ram coil spring thing might be a little over hyped. I'm very convinced that my Chevy had a more "car-like" ride than the Ram does, which is fine, I like the firm truck feel of the Ram, but I'm just sayin'. The Chevy was not a Z71, so apples to oranges compared to the Off-Road Pkg Ram I now have, but even when test driving a Ram without the package, I'm not convinced that you would pick the Ram over my Chevy as being more car-like. Anyway, it's a truck, so a little more firm suspension is perfect for me, Chevy was too soft & bouncy in any kind of terrain. The Ram seems to sit much higher, it's a more commanding view & just feels so much better than the Chevy did with it's wide, flat square hood to look over. The Ram has character! Nice Hemi rumble, didn't think I'd like that as much as I do.
I've been Chevy since my first new Chevy pickup in '88. Between Chevys and GMC's, I've had a new 88, 92, 99, 01, 03, 05, 07, 13, and 14. So, I do know a little about GM pickups. Many hundreds of thousands of miles between these trucks. They were very reliable overall, can't say much bad about any of them. OK those 88's were not outstanding pickups, but that was a while ago. The 2014 was a great truck overall, 85,000 trouble free miles, quiet / smooth / comfortable on the highway, no rattles & still drives like new. I've been trying with little luck to get excited about the '19 GM's; the pictures and info out there so far just isn't what I was hoping for. I'm not one of the brand jumpers who runs at top speed from brand to brand every time the media proclaims a new number one, but I'm border line insulted with that fugly thing GM has on it's way. If that's the best they can do, including the interior that looks by the pictures to be the same so-so interior as the '14's, it's time to try something different.
So, here I am. There will no doubt be some issues, guess we get through these together, whatever they may be. Anyone else wonder what's up with the auto high beam headlights going up/down/up/down/up/down when "meeting" a road sign? My '11 Chrysler 300 had auto dimming lights that were right almost all the time, not so in the new truck, unusable in my opinion on our roads (lots of highly reflective signs). I'm hoping a future software download will improve this, can't imagine I'm the only one with this issue. Anyone try to make a call on the android auto phone yet (while in motion), or should I say try to access your contacts to make a call while in motion? Got a lot to learn about android auto I'm thinking.
Happy to be here, I've already learned a lot from you guys & am looking forward to being able to contribute!
First off, I couldn't believe how affordable the Laramie is compared to Tradesman and Big Horn. It was a no brainer to me to go with a Laramie, not much more $ for lots of useful equipment. I'm a general contractor & drive a lot, sometimes off road in mud and what not, so a loaded high end truck isn't right for me. Really would be satisfied with a Tradesman, but for the price of a so-so equipped Tradesman, it makes little sense to me. Same with Big Horn, which is what I thought I wanted, but option up a Big Horn a little & you might as well get a Laramie & go easy on the options, won't cost much more for a significantly nicer truck.
I'm really liking the Off-Road package so far. It is firm, has a bit of a 3/4 ton feel to it. Very nice. It is a little rougher on the highway than my '14 Chevy was though. I think after putting 1,200 miles on this truck that the whole Ram coil spring thing might be a little over hyped. I'm very convinced that my Chevy had a more "car-like" ride than the Ram does, which is fine, I like the firm truck feel of the Ram, but I'm just sayin'. The Chevy was not a Z71, so apples to oranges compared to the Off-Road Pkg Ram I now have, but even when test driving a Ram without the package, I'm not convinced that you would pick the Ram over my Chevy as being more car-like. Anyway, it's a truck, so a little more firm suspension is perfect for me, Chevy was too soft & bouncy in any kind of terrain. The Ram seems to sit much higher, it's a more commanding view & just feels so much better than the Chevy did with it's wide, flat square hood to look over. The Ram has character! Nice Hemi rumble, didn't think I'd like that as much as I do.
I've been Chevy since my first new Chevy pickup in '88. Between Chevys and GMC's, I've had a new 88, 92, 99, 01, 03, 05, 07, 13, and 14. So, I do know a little about GM pickups. Many hundreds of thousands of miles between these trucks. They were very reliable overall, can't say much bad about any of them. OK those 88's were not outstanding pickups, but that was a while ago. The 2014 was a great truck overall, 85,000 trouble free miles, quiet / smooth / comfortable on the highway, no rattles & still drives like new. I've been trying with little luck to get excited about the '19 GM's; the pictures and info out there so far just isn't what I was hoping for. I'm not one of the brand jumpers who runs at top speed from brand to brand every time the media proclaims a new number one, but I'm border line insulted with that fugly thing GM has on it's way. If that's the best they can do, including the interior that looks by the pictures to be the same so-so interior as the '14's, it's time to try something different.
So, here I am. There will no doubt be some issues, guess we get through these together, whatever they may be. Anyone else wonder what's up with the auto high beam headlights going up/down/up/down/up/down when "meeting" a road sign? My '11 Chrysler 300 had auto dimming lights that were right almost all the time, not so in the new truck, unusable in my opinion on our roads (lots of highly reflective signs). I'm hoping a future software download will improve this, can't imagine I'm the only one with this issue. Anyone try to make a call on the android auto phone yet (while in motion), or should I say try to access your contacts to make a call while in motion? Got a lot to learn about android auto I'm thinking.
Happy to be here, I've already learned a lot from you guys & am looking forward to being able to contribute!
