Quality Control Concerns?

[njt07]

I should probably stop reading forums on the vehicles I’m interested in...

I bought my current Grand Cherokee sight unseen from an overseas car sales program, and its been great. It has now been 9 years since I bought it and I have been looking at a Limited 1500, or 2021 Limited F150 (or Genesis GV80...]. This is my Army retirement gift to myself and I’ve been saving for the last 5 years for my new vehicle.

I figure most owners of these trucks are happily driving their vehicles without issue, but man I’m about to give up on a 1500 after reading about the same issues over and over, and also some of the one offs. Btw I've been reading on another forum and this one.

- Roof leaking from rear light
- Roof leaking from pano
- potential roof stamping issue?
- A/C blenddoor issue (seems to be across the entire forum)
- Doors not aligned
- Rambox Lids not aligned (these are a big reason I’m looking at a Ram)

and a lot more.

With this truck winning so many awards and selling so many over the last 2 years I assume we are just seeing a small percentage of owners with issues right?

 

[Condor757]

Howdy Sir and thank you for your service to our great country!

I‘ve had my 2019 Bighorn since last October and am up to right around 11000 miles. I understand your concern about those issues and they are valid concerns. My truck does have the rear window leak and is going in to the dealership next week to get fixed. That said, the customer service has been nothing short of great for me personally. And all of the pluses of this truck.. the smooth ride, the great interior, the beastly looks, and the sheer fun of driving it.. far outweigh the negatives you’re talking about. I do believe every brand is plagued by common issues, the test is how quickly do they get addressed and Do the customer service folks genuinely care about keeping you the customer satisfied? In my case they‘ve been stellar.

Case in point, The issues I’ve had since new are these:

At 1000 miles - brake booster (master cylinder) went out after a heavy braking effort to avoid a deer. Replaced instantly at dealership under warranty.

At 3500 miles, the truck threw a transmission code when the tranny got stuck in 3rd gear. Replaced a tranny valve instantly at dealership under warranty.

Around 8000 miles I noticed my driver side mirror was not quite tight, it vibrated during driving. Entire mirror assembly promptly replaced under warranty.

And now I have the rear window leak which is being taken care of pretty quickly too.

Despite these issues I couldn’t be happier with my purchase and genuinely look forward to driving my truck every day... pretty much the best vehicle I’ve ever owned.

Good luck, I don’t think you can go wrong and understand that all car brands are plagued by certain common issues but that shouldn’t steer you away from the particular brand you want. In this case the 5th gen Rams are beyond awesome.

Just one Ram owners opinion, YMMV

 

[highgear2005]

2019 Ram bighorn, over 10k on her and no issues! My advice to you, stop reading the forms and buy what you like. I’m a truck fan who has too much downtime, reading the big three truck forms can be scary. First they all have issues! And their all leaking somewhere! My 18 f150 was awful! But my 15 f150 was a good truck expect the frozen door issue. My wife drives a Chevy suv and I can say the quality of my ram is better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dusty1948]

You have to recognize that what you read in here is nothing more than an uncontrolled self-reporting survey, and self-reporting surveys are notorious for being negatively biased. Those with complaints or issues are much more highly and emotionally motivated to come to these forums and relate their negative experiences. People who are satisfied and happy are generally less motivated to convey their positive feelings, and because of differences there is a loss of perspective. What cannot be determined by comments in here is the actual percentage affected by any quality issue.

When I have talked to other Ram owners in person I have yet to find anywhere near the amount of issues I read in these forums. I would say that the majority reported no issues at all. Pick up the latest Consumers' Report Used Car edition and you'll see what I mean.

Best regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 038354 miles.

 

[njt07]

Appreciate it, thats pretty much what I figured and sometimes think that ignorance truly is bliss... then I remember just how much is going into the vehicle lol. I tend to do a lot of research and generally can get a sense of something by the amount of complaints. (I was intel if you cant tell).

There seem to be quite a few recurring issues model wide (as mentioned in the original post) and thats whats making me worried, mainly cause I keep my vehicle long term instead of replacing them within the warranties.

 

[mikeru82]

I'm a little confused by your first post. You mentioned you bought your current vehicle from an overseas car sales program. Does that mean you are still living abroad? If that's the case, my advice would be to not buy any vehicle brand that doesn't have a relatively local dealership you can go to if there are any problems. Even cars that are considered reliable can have issues which should be addressed by a dealership if possible. If you're planning to retire state-side, then I wouldn't hesitate to buy the Ram. If you base your car buying decisions on what you read in forums you might never buy a car.

Whichever vehicle you treat yourself to, enjoy your retirement and thank you for your service to our country!

 

[njt07]

I'm a little confused by your first post. You mentioned you bought your current vehicle from an overseas car sales program. Does that mean you are still living abroad? If that's the case, my advice would be to not buy any vehicle brand that doesn't have a relatively local dealership you can go to if there are any problems. Even cars that are considered reliable can have issues which should be addressed by a dealership if possible. If you're planning to retire state-side, then I wouldn't hesitate to buy the Ram. If you base your car buying decisions on what you read in forums you might never buy a car.

Whichever vehicle you treat yourself to, enjoy your retirement and thank you for your service to our country!

No, the military has an overseas car sales program for when we are deployed or stationed overseas. Its nice cause then you have a vehicle waiting for you at your next stateside assignment instead having to wait for a few months for your vehicle to float back if you took it with you overseas (Not deployment).

 

[ClancyO]

11,000 and 18 months on my bighorn. Until the most recent issue (still developing), I went 18 months and 11,000 miles and the only problem was some misaligned (back/side) window molding. I was out looking over the weekend (as I’m probably replacing the current truck) and sometimes the truck will just scream that you might want to pass on it. Like this one (swear, this was NOT photoshopped!) This might be a new, very limited edition:

 

[njt07]

11,000 and 18 months on my bighorn. Until the most recent issue (still developing), I went 18 months and 11,000 miles and the only problem was some misaligned (back/side) window molding. I was out looking over the weekend (as I’m probably replacing the current truck) and sometimes the truck will just scream that you might want to pass on it. Like this one (swear, this was NOT photoshopped!) This might be a new, very limited edition: View attachment 66404

... this isnt helping lol. I have to wonder if the Ram QC people missed this, what important stuff they miss that isnt visible...

 

[ClancyO]

And everyone in between. Dealer, prep guys, all of it...

Question is. Do the others do it better? There is a delivery checklist thread up top of this forum. It seems like overkill, but is it? I promise I will go over my new truck (should that happen) with a fine tooth comb.
I’m convinced most people just don’t see this stuff. You, here on this forum, asking questions now proves you are not one of them. Of course we sometimes take it too far here too, so temper what you read/see. If your looking for the perfect truck, I can save you a bunch of time now - you won’t find it. And if by some chance you do, some dumba$$ looking at their cellphone is gonna cream it.
“We go out in the world and take our chances, fate is just the weight of circumstances, that’s the way that Lady Luck dances, roll the bones”

 

[Timeless]

So I guess pick your poison.

 

[njt07]

So I guess pick your poison.

lol so you're telling me get a Genesis?

 

[Timeless]

lol so you're telling me get a Genesis?

Well, the second graphic has Ram #4.

Now the aggregate definitely points to Genesis....but I do not believe they have a full sized truck yet.

 

[Dusty1948]

So I guess pick your poison.

Just two comments.

The JD Power Reliability Study for 2020 is based on three year-old vehicles. So the data reflects 2017 models.

Direct comparisons to Ram trucks are difficult because the JD Power data is based on nameplate. F-150, Silverado, Titan, and Tundra models are buried within the nameplate scores on these lists. While it is true ProMaster trucks would fall under Ram, not only are ProMaster sales numbers much, much lower, but the vast majority are sold commercial and likely not included in JD Power surveys.

Best regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 038390 miles.

 

[Dusty1948]

And everyone in between. Dealer, prep guys, all of it...

Question is. Do the others do it better? There is a delivery checklist thread up top of this forum. It seems like overkill, but is it? I promise I will go over my new truck (should that happen) with a fine tooth comb.
I’m convinced most people just don’t see this stuff. You, here on this forum, asking questions now proves you are not one of them. Of course we sometimes take it too far here too, so temper what you read/see. If your looking for the perfect truck, I can save you a bunch of time now - you won’t find it. And if by some chance you do, some dumba$$ looking at their cellphone is gonna cream it.
“We go out in the world and take our chances, fate is just the weight of circumstances, that’s the way that Lady Luck dances, roll the bones”

My ex- owned a Pontiac Ventura that had the high beam indicator in the shape of the Chevy Bowtie symbol. A brother in-law had a Galaxy with a 351 engine flag on one front fender, and a 390 flag on the other. We owned a Chevy G20 that had G15 emblems on it. A cousin had a Chevy pick-up where the word 'Chevrolet' was double stamped into the tailgate (looked like you had blurry vision when you followed it).

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 038390 miles.

 

[ClancyO]

And those cars were simple compared to today’s. I’d bet our rams have 30x more wire alone, nevermind all the computers and code. There must be 50-100x more things that could fail than cars had in 60s, 70’s and even 80’s..

 

[PwrdbyM]

If you read forums and FB groups looking for issues you'll certainly find them there. Ram has sold 740,000+ DT trucks to this point and a vast majority of them are 100% reliable. The members of forums/groups represent less than 1% of total owners and many of them join to complain. GM or Ford forums are littered with "issues" as well. Even the Tundra forum has people complaining about starters, radiators, and water pumps. I say buy the truck you want, worst case you make a couple of trips to the dealer to work out some teething issues, but as the model line progresses those will reduce. Good luck.