Test drove a '21 F150 and Ram 1500 back to back

[moosem]

I don’t have any of the problems you mention with yours ( not saying you don’t have the problems ) . My doors line up perfect , no wind noise even at 90mph , no rattles or any other weird noises .
You’re not the first person to say they’ve had those problems either .

I’m glad you don’t have those issues. Like I keep saying, I like my truck.. however, it is not perfect! I’m not saying that Ford is better, or that they never have issues, etc. All I said was it’s worth taking one for a test drive. Some people on here (not you), seem to have taken it personal for some reason. Anyway, carry on. Happy motoring! Go team RAM!

 

[Runagun]

My truck was manufactured on May 21, 2018.. way before Covid. Yes, my brakes work. They howl sometimes in reverse tho!

Being early build in a new gen kinda makes sense why things would be what they are. Hopefully things get worked out.

 

[moosem]

Being early build in a new gen kinda makes sense why things would be what they are. Hopefully things get worked out.

I get that. It’s been pretty good for the last year or so. The first 6-12 months was kinda painful. My truck had a lot of sleepovers at the dealership. At first they were cool, and gave me loaner vehicles, but that didn’t last too long. I’ve already had both side view mirrors replaced, now the passenger side is flopping around. Could just need to be tightened, not sure. I’ve also had the rear window leak that a lot of ‘19 and ‘20’s had/have, my A/C barely works..took it to the dealer and it was diagnosed as “working as expected”. I took it back last week and they finally admit that it is not “working as expected”, so that’s a step in the right direction. As someone else on this forum was so kind to point out, it’s all
covered, FOR FREE, for 3/36. Well, I’m at 2.5/30, so I’m starting to get just a little bit worried..

That said, let me reiterate again, I still like my truck!

Have a great day!

 

[Fatherof3]

I get that. It’s been pretty good for the last year or so. The first 6-12 months was kinda painful. My truck had a lot of sleepovers at the dealership. At first they were cool, and gave me loaner vehicles, but that didn’t last too long. I’ve already had both side view mirrors replaced, now the passenger side is flopping around. Could just need to be tightened, not sure. I’ve also had the rear window leak that a lot of ‘19 and ‘20’s had/have, my A/C barely works..took it to the dealer and it was diagnosed as “working as expected”. I took it back last week and they finally admit that it is not “working as expected”, so that’s a step in the right direction. As someone else on this forum was so kind to point out, it’s all
covered, FOR FREE, for 3/36. Well, I’m at 2.5/30, so I’m starting to get just a little bit worried..

That said, let me reiterate again, I still like my truck!

Have a great day!

You’ve got patience that’s for sure , I’m not so sure I’d still like my truck if I were having those issues .

 

[moosem]

You’ve got patience that’s for sure , I’m not so sure I’d still like my truck if I were having those issues .

That’s because I like it.. wouldn’t have put up with this much crap with my GMC!

 

[JoeCo]

Thanks, now I know what a warranty is for!! To do all the QC that should have been done at the factory!!
I just love spending all my time at the dealership!! It’s awesome! But, hey at least it’s covered!! My time isn’t valuable or anything!!

Yep, big waste of time. You know what the problem is with the truck and tell them, but you have to make an appointment to drop it off so they can diagnose, and then you can pick it up and make another appointment to actually fix it! Suuuuuper easy.

Not only that, but who wants to trust their vehicle to most dealers? I have 3 local dealers around me that I've used for warranty work in the past and I would struggle to trust them doing an oil change. I don't keep my trucks outside of the factory warranty and would never consider an extended warranty because I would only ever bring my truck to the dealer as a last resort. If it's not something super difficult/expensive that the factory warranty covers, I'll have my cousin do my work at his shop, at least I can trust him to do work right the first time (with only 1 appointment) and that he will respect my vehicles.

I know there are some good dealer/service departments out there, but they certainly aren't on every corner. 0/3 in my area and I surely wish that wasn't the case.

Edit: To be fair in my case it's also a regional thing. I've lived here most of my life and know a lot of people and have heard enough bad about just about every brand here locally. Would also never buy local as the pricing around here is never anywhere close to competitive.

 

[21bighorn]

I get that. It’s been pretty good for the last year or so. The first 6-12 months was kinda painful. My truck had a lot of sleepovers at the dealership. At first they were cool, and gave me loaner vehicles, but that didn’t last too long. I’ve already had both side view mirrors replaced, now the passenger side is flopping around. Could just need to be tightened, not sure. I’ve also had the rear window leak that a lot of ‘19 and ‘20’s had/have, my A/C barely works..took it to the dealer and it was diagnosed as “working as expected”. I took it back last week and they finally admit that it is not “working as expected”, so that’s a step in the right direction. As someone else on this forum was so kind to point out, it’s all
covered, FOR FREE, for 3/36. Well, I’m at 2.5/30, so I’m starting to get just a little bit worried..

That said, let me reiterate again, I still like my truck!

Have a great day!

Not takin it personal at all but it is a 2.5 yr old truck on a complete new design. All I’m sayin if you still have problems take it in for service. Have it fixed while it doesn’t cost anything but time to fix it, cuz soon they will try to get into your wallet. Have a great day.

 

[OldMarine]

happiness is not having what you want...but wanting what you have. My 2019 Limited still puts a smile on my face every time I drive it...still can't believe it's a "truck'...I have had zero issues with this truck, and pulled 7000# of travel trailer 4800 miles round trip last August...it was a dream ride out to Sturgis and beyond...love this truck, don't care what gizmos Ford, Ram, or Chevy come up with, I ain't tradin!..( notice i didn't mention 2022 Tundra? )....might have to eat my words, we'll see...lol

 

[User_3336]

Full Digital Cluster on the F150 looks cool. Hate how the touch screen cluster sticks up. Doesn't look like a 12 incher.

 

[21bighorn]

Yep, big waste of time. You know what the problem is with the truck and tell them, but you have to make an appointment to drop it off so they can diagnose, and then you can pick it up and make another appointment to actually fix it! Suuuuuper easy.

Not only that, but who wants to trust their vehicle to most dealers? I have 3 local dealers around me that I've used for warranty work in the past and I would struggle to trust them doing an oil change. I don't keep my trucks outside of the factory warranty and would never consider an extended warranty because I would only ever bring my truck to the dealer as a last resort. If it's not something super difficult/expensive that the factory warranty covers, I'll have my cousin do my work at his shop, at least I can trust him to do work right the first time (with only 1 appointment) and that he will respect my vehicles.

I know there are some good dealer/service departments out there, but they certainly aren't on every corner. 0/3 in my area and I surely wish that wasn't the case.

Edit: To be fair in my case it's also a regional thing. I've lived here most of my life and know a lot of people and have heard enough bad about just about every brand here locally. Would also never buy local as the pricing around here is never anywhere close to competitive.

Y’all have issues. And you described exactly how the dealership works. Every business has a protocol and that’s the way a car dealer service department works. So figure out some better time management, take the truck in for repairs and quit whining about problems that can be taken care of by your dealer under warranty. My problem as a technician is the people that complain and complain about what they bought (even tho they say omg I love my truck) but do nothing to get it fixed is just lazy.

 

[moosem]

Y’all have issues. And you described exactly how the dealership works. Every business has a protocol and that’s the way a car dealer service department works. So figure out some better time management, take the truck in for repairs and quit whining about problems that can be taken care of by your dealer under warranty. My problem as a technician is the people that complain and complain about what they bought (even tho they say omg I love my truck) but do nothing to get it fixed is just lazy.

You want to know what the real problem
Is? Every time you have to bring the vehicle in for service, you have to make arrangements for a ride because apparently spending $50k - 75k for a truck doesn’t warrant a loaner vehicle.

Then, it’s almost guaranteed that the problem “cannot be duplicated”, or the system is “working as expected”.

if you’re lucky enough to get the service department to actually admit that something is wrong, you have to bring it back a second time to actually get the work done. So, that is two wasted days. Two times where you have to ask someone to give you a ride to and from the dealership.

No offense to you personally, but in my experience, Dodge Service is the worst in the business by far. Not even close.

 

[JJRamTX]

I am very seriously considering test driving one. I just hit 30k miles on my truck and I’ve had enough quality issues to make me a bit nervous to keep it beyond the warranty period. The latest is my passenger side view mirror is loose, just kind of flops around. Mind you, I’ve already had both side view mirrors replaced for two different issues... rear sliding window, issues with Uconnect, terrible wind noise over 60MPH (even worse when it’s windy out, my wife always reaches for the window switch cause she thinks the window is cracked —- nope), front bumper misalignment, door misalignment.....on and on and on.. I don’t know, maybe they’re all the same. It’s worth a test drive at least.

Have you done any looking into what it will take to fix the passenger side mirror? Mine just started acting loose also almost like the plastic locking piece has rounded itself off. I know there used to be metal gear kits to replace the plastic ones but I don't know if that would fix the issue or not.

 

[moosem]

No

Have you done any looking into what it will take to fix the passenger side mirror? Mine just started acting loose also almost like the plastic locking piece has rounded itself off. I know there used to be metal gear kits to replace the plastic ones but I don't know if that would fix the issue or not.

Not yet. I’m waiting for the Service Manager to call me back to let me know how they are going to proceed with my A/C issue. I figured I would also bring that up whenever he gets around to calling me back.

But, wouldn’t you know it, he hasn’t called me back!!!!!!

...even though he promised me a call back on Monday. Last time I checked, today is Tuesday!!!

But I don’t want to whine about it!!!

I have nothing better to do then wait for a call back!!! No biggie!!! I have a warranty!!!!!

LOL!!!!!!!!!

 

[JoeCo]

Y’all have issues. And you described exactly how the dealership works. Every business has a protocol and that’s the way a car dealer service department works. So figure out some better time management, take the truck in for repairs and quit whining about problems that can be taken care of by your dealer under warranty. My problem as a technician is the people that complain and complain about what they bought (even tho they say omg I love my truck) but do nothing to get it fixed is just lazy.

Yep I know, I accurately described a horribly inefficient system that completely sucks for the consumer. Not going to apologize for calling it out for what it is, and I'll whine all I want, thank you. I'll complain about anything that's overpriced and completely inefficient when compared to competition. Especially when you get treated like dog turds along the way by these dealerships, you don't like people calling out dealerships and service departments? Be mad at all your horrible co-workers that make it that way, not us for justifiably complaining about them.

Also, not everyone has endless time and backup vehicles to drive, to constantly take their vehicle to their dealer for service (2x for every problem at least, which you say is "protocol", well that's a really ****ty and stupid protocol that no other garage seems to need). Some people actually need their trucks for work too and literally can't give them up during service hours, not everything in the world revolves around dealerships and service departments, but yes we will all drop everything in our lives to accommodate the dealership.

 

[21bighorn]

Yep I know, I accurately described a horribly inefficient system that completely sucks for the consumer. Not going to apologize for calling it out for what it is, and I'll whine all I want, thank you. I'll complain about anything that's overpriced and completely inefficient when compared to competition. Especially when you get treated like dog turds along the way by these dealerships, you don't like people calling out dealerships and service departments? Be mad at all your horrible co-workers that make it that way, not us for justifiably complaining about them.

Also, not everyone has endless time and backup vehicles to drive, to constantly take their vehicle to their dealer for service (2x for every problem at least, which you say is "protocol", well that's a really ****ty and stupid protocol that no other garage seems to need). Some people actually need their trucks for work too and literally can't give them up during service hours, not everything in the world revolves around dealerships and service departments, but yes we will all drop everything in our lives to accommodate the dealership.

That’s usually how it always goes as every dealer cannot stock every part for every vehicle. And flat rate pay is the worst way to try and make a customer happy coming in for these QC issues. Guys will spend days sometimes trying to fix things and get paid 2.5 hours, tell me that’s fair. Starve my family spending days fixing stuff they don’t pay me for. It’s all good y’all thanks for the debate. It tells me I did the right thing and retired from the fray. Now I get to be on the other end of things and see how it goes.

 

[ldoh]

You want to know what the real problem
Is? Every time you have to bring the vehicle in for service, you have to make arrangements for a ride because apparently spending $50k - 75k for a truck doesn’t warrant a loaner vehicle.

Then, it’s almost guaranteed that the problem “cannot be duplicated”, or the system is “working as expected”.

if you’re lucky enough to get the service department to actually admit that something is wrong, you have to bring it back a second time to actually get the work done. So, that is two wasted days. Two times where you have to ask someone to give you a ride to and from the dealership.

No offense to you personally, but in my experience, Dodge Service is the worst in the business by far. Not even close.

That's exactly what the typical owner experiences at FCA dealerships. We've seen that same experience shared over and over on this forum. Known problems are ignored. The can is kicked in the hopes of warranty expiration.

It's cause and effect. If only there was a little pride and workmanship during production and design. And unfortunately FCA dealers are just as bad. There isn't proper oversight and policing so there's little chance of improvement. Until then I continue to go my local, reliable, fair priced independent auto repair shop for everything but warranty work.

It will be interesting to see where the cesspool of dealership techs end up once things shift away from internal combustion engines.

 

[Timeless]

Definitely an improvement on the F150s...but not enough to have changed my mind even if I bought it today.