StuartV
Ram Guru
I bought my 2009 1500 CC 4WD SLT Sport new, in 2009. I upgraded the warranty to the Lifetime MaxCare at the time I bought the truck (for $1600).
It had 193K miles on it when I traded it in yesterday. It was a great truck, but I definitely got more than my money's worth out of that warranty. I really debated giving it up. It was paid for and had a lifetime bumper-to-bumper warranty.... But, it was also in the shop for a combined total of 5 weeks over the last 9 months. 3 separate visits and my total cost was $300, so I can't complain about the cost. But, being without my truck so much was really getting old. It never left me on the side of the road. But still. I do a lot of road trips and it just felt like that was coming. Plus, with all the repairs I got for free out of the warranty, I kinda felt like I was starting to be greedy by keeping it. At least, that's partly how I justified my new truck in my mind.
And the current incentives were too good to let pass.
My new truck is:
2019 1500 Laramie Black CrewCab RamBox 5'7" 4x4
Diamond Black
Black package (duh)
Advanced Safety Group
Level 2 Equipment Group
Rubber mats
3.92 w/Limited Slip, uhh, sorry "Anti-spin" LOL
5.7L Hemi w/eTorque
Bed Step
33-gallon tank
Air suspension
12" Uconnect
Trailer brake controller
Sticker is $66K. With all the discounts, I got it for $49K (including destination and dealer fees). I could not pass up $17K off sticker plus a decent price for my trade-in.
It's the only recent 1500 I can remember seeing that has no running boards at all. No idea what the dealer was thinking in ordering it that way, but it's okay. It saved me some money on the purchase and I will add the Mopar Power Running Boards myself.
My drive home from the dealer was 100 miles of almost all I-95 and I-66 going through/around Baltimore and DC - in Wed evening traffic. I.e. the traffic sucked. But, man! That Adaptive Cruise Control is just awesome!! I had a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee w/ACC that we had bought for my ex. I learned to love ACC when we had that. I swore I would not buy a new truck until I could get that and that's what I did. In heavy traffic, it is just SO nice. So much more relaxing than having to constantly work the gas and brakes. My drive home yesterday was about 100 times more pleasant than my drive up to the dealer in my old truck.
Before my '09 RAM, I had never had anything but Ford trucks. An '88 F150, a '93 F150, a '00 F250 (V10), a '03 F250 (6.0PSD), '04 F350 (6.0PSD), and an '06 F350 (6.0PSD). My Fords were good to me. The 6.0 PowerStroke was a dog, but none of them ever actually broke on me. But, my '09 RAM was SO much nicer (to me, anyway) than any of the Fords I ever had. My '09 w/Hemi got just as good mileage at my PowerStrokes did, even towing my 14' double axle cargo trailer! I towed a 28' camper trailer with my Hemi back and forth from VA to FL and it was just as good for that as any SuperDuty I ever had (Edit: with a $100 air bag package that I installed myself). I would not have traded my '09 with 193K miles even for a new F150 now. But, man! This '19 Laramie is a definite, major step up. I love it!
It had 193K miles on it when I traded it in yesterday. It was a great truck, but I definitely got more than my money's worth out of that warranty. I really debated giving it up. It was paid for and had a lifetime bumper-to-bumper warranty.... But, it was also in the shop for a combined total of 5 weeks over the last 9 months. 3 separate visits and my total cost was $300, so I can't complain about the cost. But, being without my truck so much was really getting old. It never left me on the side of the road. But still. I do a lot of road trips and it just felt like that was coming. Plus, with all the repairs I got for free out of the warranty, I kinda felt like I was starting to be greedy by keeping it. At least, that's partly how I justified my new truck in my mind.
And the current incentives were too good to let pass.
My new truck is:
2019 1500 Laramie Black CrewCab RamBox 5'7" 4x4
Diamond Black
Black package (duh)
Advanced Safety Group
Level 2 Equipment Group
Rubber mats
3.92 w/Limited Slip, uhh, sorry "Anti-spin" LOL
5.7L Hemi w/eTorque
Bed Step
33-gallon tank
Air suspension
12" Uconnect
Trailer brake controller
Sticker is $66K. With all the discounts, I got it for $49K (including destination and dealer fees). I could not pass up $17K off sticker plus a decent price for my trade-in.
It's the only recent 1500 I can remember seeing that has no running boards at all. No idea what the dealer was thinking in ordering it that way, but it's okay. It saved me some money on the purchase and I will add the Mopar Power Running Boards myself.
My drive home from the dealer was 100 miles of almost all I-95 and I-66 going through/around Baltimore and DC - in Wed evening traffic. I.e. the traffic sucked. But, man! That Adaptive Cruise Control is just awesome!! I had a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee w/ACC that we had bought for my ex. I learned to love ACC when we had that. I swore I would not buy a new truck until I could get that and that's what I did. In heavy traffic, it is just SO nice. So much more relaxing than having to constantly work the gas and brakes. My drive home yesterday was about 100 times more pleasant than my drive up to the dealer in my old truck.
Before my '09 RAM, I had never had anything but Ford trucks. An '88 F150, a '93 F150, a '00 F250 (V10), a '03 F250 (6.0PSD), '04 F350 (6.0PSD), and an '06 F350 (6.0PSD). My Fords were good to me. The 6.0 PowerStroke was a dog, but none of them ever actually broke on me. But, my '09 RAM was SO much nicer (to me, anyway) than any of the Fords I ever had. My '09 w/Hemi got just as good mileage at my PowerStrokes did, even towing my 14' double axle cargo trailer! I towed a 28' camper trailer with my Hemi back and forth from VA to FL and it was just as good for that as any SuperDuty I ever had (Edit: with a $100 air bag package that I installed myself). I would not have traded my '09 with 193K miles even for a new F150 now. But, man! This '19 Laramie is a definite, major step up. I love it!
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