What's new
By:
5thGenRams Forums

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Would you buy it again?

So far so good. At this point yes I would. Like others every morning I go out to go to work it makes me smile.

And jake, you and your bird view photos :ROFLMAO:
 
Paulny said:
Crazy right? I was really excited about my second truck, especially since I ordered it and it being a Rebel 12. Safe to say, I had huge expectations and you can only imagine the empty pit feeling the first time my truck slammed into drive this past weekend. I felt like Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2, "how can the same shi* happen to the same guy twice"?. That, in combination with the other defects I have is very concerning and yes I have a very sour taste. My paint defects are so obvious that I can't believe someone on the assembly line said yes, that's ok...pass! Of course my sunroof drains were out when I took delivery, so who knows how much moisture got in and how much mildew to ensue. Now, my sunroof rattles, I have interior dash marks/defects, rattle somewhere on the undercarriage, and lord knows what's next. The truck has an amazing interior/exterior and is really a technological marvel. There is a lot to like about this truck if everything worked as advertised. However, the fact that I am experiencing very similar/alike defects from two trucks built 3 months apart is unfortunate and frustrating. Can we confirm the Sterling Heights plant actually has a quality control dept.?? My money is on no.
Click to expand...

Bad luck on 2 tranny's...the sunroof rattle are more than likely the plastic velcro clips holding up the headliner. The side that is clipped into the headliner itself rattle around. I pulled mine down from inside the sunroof edges and secured the clips...no more rattle. And one noise I noticed going over bumps from the undercarriage turned out to be my receiver hitch. That could be what you are hearing. If you have one installed, remove it and verify. The rest of your issues, don't know, but I would definitely make the dealers body shop wet sand runs in the clear.
 
HeliPilot said:
Bad luck on 2 tranny's...the sunroof rattle are more than likely the plastic velcro clips holding up the headliner. The side that is clipped into the headliner itself rattle around. I pulled mine down from inside the sunroof edges and secured the clips...no more rattle. And one noise I noticed going over bumps from the undercarriage turned out to be my receiver hitch. That could be what you are hearing. If you have one installed, remove it and verify. The rest of your issues, don't know, but I would definitely make the dealers body shop wet sand runs in the clear.
Click to expand...

Can you please PM me with specific details about the sunroof rattle? If I can fix that myself, I would rather avoid the dealer fooling with it. And, I have contemplated having the dealer body shop wet sand the clear coat, but I am afraid they will do more harm than good. I showed my parts guy the plaint defects since he used to own a body shop, and he recommended that I leave it. Ultimately, I can live with the paint defects. If I can eliminate the sunroof rattle, and get my transmission issues fixed, then in due time I can work on the interior rattles. The dash defects are fairly minor and the only way to fix that would be to replace, and I am not going to let the dealer tear that apart. At this point, it's the mechanical issues that have me more frustrated than anything. Tragically, no matter what happens, my new car purchase feeling and the "newness" has worn off and I doubt I will ever feel good about this truck. Sad, because for $63500, I expected more.
 
kbUSMC2012 said:
Absolutely. The reliability concerns are just a lingering reputation from years past. I see tons of Rams on the road from a variety of model years. If they were that bad, people wouldn’t keep buying them. Additionally, that’s what warranties are for. If something does happen, it’s covered. If in 3 years you feel like you got a dud, you should have enough equity on your loan to get out of it before hitting the warranty expiration. That being said, it’s been mentioned before. All car companies (even Honda and a Toyota) produce a few duds from the factory, and it’s always the one guy who got a dud that’s on all the review sites and forums screaming about how vehicle A or manufacturer B is so terrible and makes junk cars and never buy from them!!! In reality, reliability concerns are largely based on other people’s experiences. If your friends and family drive Rams and are happy with them, they’re gonna tell you Rams are the most reliable truck, hands down. If they all drive Fords? They’re all gonna says Ford. And so on and so forth.

Bottom line, I looked into all of this considerably before pulling the trigger, and was surprised and happy with what I found as far as the reliability piece goes. So much so, I traded in a Tacoma (longest lasting pickup truck on the road, highest resale value of any vehicle on the market) to get in my Ram. And I’d do it again. This truck is refined and a pure gem to drive. Blows my Tacoma out of the water from the second I open my door to walk to my truck, until I hit lock on my key fob, this truck is clearly and easily the best on the road today.
Click to expand...

I agree Ram is better than years past. However, in my own personal experience, I don't think they are better by much. I have purchased two '19 duds in a row. Both with very poor build quality and several issues from rattles, to mechanical issues. I also did some recon work and went to local dealers to check their inventory, and was surprised to see many with the same defects that I have. I agree that anything man made can have issues, but I think the acceptable level of quality control at the plant level is the worst of anything I have seen in my long history of auto purchases. Respectfully, as a historical Toyota/Lexus guy, I have NEVER owned one that had quality issues like I have experienced with Ram. Just the horrible paint defects alone would have never made it past Toyota quality control. This is my humble opinion of course, and this is what I have experienced. I am not a guy that comes on to forums to scream about how vehicle A is better than B. Also, not a single person in my family drives Ram...I am the only one.

I purchased the Ram due to the best interior of any 1/2 ton, and good looks. The technology speaks for itself and without a doubt, the current Ram is a darn good truck...IF everything worked as advertised. I am happy to hear that some of you have had problem free trucks so far. And, I hope that you all have continued luck and problem free rigs. Ultimately, this will undoubtedly be my last FCA product as I simply can't ascertain why my trucks have been able to leave the plant with VERY obvious defects that a 5 year old could have seen. The level of "passing" at the plant level must have a very low tolerance, and if I am having these issues now, then I can only imagine what's to come.

Lastly, many truck buyers are VERY loyal and will continue to buy the same product and will swear by it, regardless of the quality. This is called brand loyalty and the truck market has it more than any other. Obviously, I am not brand loyal which is why I have purchased two Ram's in a row. While I have had darn good luck with my Toyotas, I realized the Ram has a lot to offer. I have also owned all of the other brands in my life time. Is my bad luck with two duds in a row an anomaly? Maybe, but it's happened and my personal experience with FCA has not been a good one. Again, IF the Ram had great build quality and appeared to have a quality control dept. that at the very least acted like they actually care, then maybe I would have a different opinion. However, due to my experience and the research I have done, IMHO Ram offers a very pretty package with class leading tech, but this is all in a very pretty dress with much to be desired under the dress.
 
I keep looking at this thread and thinking about your question. The more that I think about it; the more conflicted I become.

I really like driving my truck. It is usually very quiet and comfortable; and the ride is smooth. I like how the Uconnect System works and I think the Alpine 9 Speaker system sounds pretty good. The cooled seats are great for those hot Florida days. The Hemi and 3.92 handle boat pulling duties quite well and is much better than my previous vehicle (2012 Wrangler Unlimited). My kids (adult children) really like the space and comfort of the back seats. Overall I like the appearance as well; the 2019 RAM looks more like a classic truck and not a spaceship like the new Ford and Chevy trucks. I am very relaxed and comfortable driving this truck every day. That's the good.

The reason I am conflicted is because I have never experienced so many problems and quality issues with a vehicle. I had the squeaking brakes (fixed by dealer with new pads, rotors, and calipers); I had the popping when turning (fixed by the dealer with new isolators and hardware); I had the glove box light staying on (fixed by the dealer with a new glove box); I had UConnect issues (fixed by the dealer with a software update); I had body panel misalignment (fixed by the Dealer body shop - replaced a bent bracket). So, after four months of owning this truck; it finally felt like a new truck after the dealer fixed these things. For a very short time.
Now, there are still problems that I have not reported or that I may not report. The dashboard display is starting to develop a dark line across it (will report). The front grill/fascia is misaligned; the two sides do not have equal gaps (will probably report). There is a rattle coming from the passenger side that drives me bananas (will probably try to find myself). The lifters rattle and ping when ECO is engaged (will wait until a couple oil changes before I make a decision). The paint has many flaws with some orange peel noticeable (I'll probably live with that since a repaint would be worse) .
So, although the dealer has been great about fixing my complaints; I feel like a pest complaining about so many problems. There are MAJOR quality control problems at the factory and/or through their part supplier chain. I would just like to get to the point where I can really enjoy my truck and not have to keep taking it back to the dealer. I have never spent so much money on a vehicle; yet had so many issues.

To answer your question though; yes I probably would buy it again because I looked at all the alternatives and liked the RAM design and comfort the best. The Ford is straight up ugly and has a cheap looking interior; the Chevy interior is horrible...looks and feels like a 1980's car; I don't buy Toyotas anymore due to major issues I had in the past (plus the Tundra needs an update); The Nissan just seems like a Ford with a better interior; The Honda Ridgeline is a car...not a truck; GMC...see Chevy except costs more. I am getting discouraged by the things that I keep encountering with my truck; but so far my Dealer has been fantastic taking care of it.
 
I'll go ahead and give my observations so far as someone who has driven F-150 trucks my entire life until I bought the Ram Longhorn Saturday Dec 29. Got about 400 miles on it now, Truck runs great, rides great, very nice interior and the wife and I enjoy being in it. That said there are a few things I've noticed so far,, major run in the clear coat that got past me when looking at the dealership so be sure to go over the finish with a fine tooth comb, have also saw the shift knob issue of putting it in D and no go, also have had some weird Uconnect things, but these may very well be settings I haven't found and adjusted to my taste. (Such as the clock with be on once screen but not the rest)
My biggest thing is the gas mileage, it's pretty bad compared to my F-150 I traded in that had the 5.0 in it. I'm hoping it gets better but I'm not holding my breath based on what I've read on the this forum. My ram is 5.7 no etorque with 3.21 gears. A guy once told me the more horses you have the more feed you'll need! lol
All that said, right now I'm still happy with the truck, absolutely the sharpest looking truck I've had and the nicest interior and would buy it again. Time will tell about overall quality of the truck.
 
Paulny said:
Can you please PM me with specific details about the sunroof rattle? If I can fix that myself, I would rather avoid the dealer fooling with it. And, I have contemplated having the dealer body shop wet sand the clear coat, but I am afraid they will do more harm than good. I showed my parts guy the plaint defects since he used to own a body shop, and he recommended that I leave it. Ultimately, I can live with the paint defects. If I can eliminate the sunroof rattle, and get my transmission issues fixed, then in due time I can work on the interior rattles. The dash defects are fairly minor and the only way to fix that would be to replace, and I am not going to let the dealer tear that apart. At this point, it's the mechanical issues that have me more frustrated than anything. Tragically, no matter what happens, my new car purchase feeling and the "newness" has worn off and I doubt I will ever feel good about this truck. Sad, because for $63500, I expected more.
Click to expand...

This is for all with a rattle in the sunroof area. The entire headliner is held in place by velcro. When the two strips are pressed together, they hold the headliner in place just fine (Its actually hard to pull down). The issue is with the velcro strips that are actually attached to the headliner itself. When pressed into place, a gap exist between the plastic velcro clip and the headliner slot it slides into (plastic on plastic). So, even though it holds the headliner up, the headliner is free to move around within the plastic clips. This produces an annoying rattle. I went to Home Depot, spent $3 on a large bag of foam insulation noodles for air conditioner tubing (black of course) and cut one into five 3" long pieces. I then opened my sunroof, looked between the headliner and the roof of the truck to find the velcro attachment points, and pulled down at each one of them to separate the headliner from the roof. Once down, I slid a noodle next to each attachment point and pressed the headliner back into place. Now the headliner is unable to slide around when velcroed together. Nice and quiet. It not that the truck is put together cheaply, its some of the surface to surface materials could have been better. The next set of vibrations I tackled were attributed to the HK subwoofer. There were annoying vibrations coming from the back of the cab at almost every volume level. Here's what I found in less than two hours of trial and error with 3-4 disassemblies and reassemblies. The worst offender was a module mounted on the back cab wall, near the floor, behind the center of the rear console. It is about 1x3" and is held in place by one plastic push pin. I could grab it and wiggle it up/down and side to side (a lot). My fix was to pull it off, put double sided 3m foam tape on the back and press it back into place. Major offender eliminated. After reassembly, I blasted some tunes and then realized there were vibrations coming from the woofer itself (Un-noticed before because of the worst offender). Disassembled back seat again, pulled insulation down and tightened the two mounting bolts on the top of the woofer. Yes they moved 1/4" or so. Cranked some music and still had a vibration. I could put pressure on it with my hand at the mounting points, and vibrations would disappear. This let me know I was in the right place. Again, It turns out to be the materials used (hard plastic on steel). I removed the two mounting bolts, pulled the sub forward and insulated the points between the plastic and steel cab wall with same double sided foam tape. Reinstalled the bolts, and boom, sub issue is eliminated. A rubber o-ring style insulator really should have been installed by the factory, but whatever...I then opened both rear doors, blasted my music again and found one small area on both doors (same place on each) where the plastic door card vibrated against the door steel. I used my plastic pry tool to lift the door card up (not removed) and installed the same foam tape at those points. Everything is quiet now. I go on drives listening to my music at any volume level, sunroof open or closed and the experience is amazing. I feel like I'm in the highest end of luxury cars. Should the factory have done this from the get go...of course...1.5 hours of my time finding the minor issues I had and eliminating them...well worth the effort...plus it wasn't some 18 y/o at the dealership crawling all over my new ride not fixing any of my issues. Sorry for the LLOONNGG writeup, but this is how I made my great Limited fantastic!!!!
 
My Bighorn has been great so far. No real issues. A small mar in the paint on the hood....meh, minor. I don't have lot of the higher tier extras which may in a way help me avoid some of the grief others have experienced. I'm concerned with the shifter knob thing I read about but it only happened to me once and never again. Fuel milage not what I hoped but not bad. I have some concerns that so many things are electronic but I'd say they are all going that way. Its nice but just more to break.

I came from a 2007 GMC sierra. I got 11 years out of it but it wore me down and I learned to accept a LOT of quality defects, failed wheel bearings, Rust galore and was stranded and flat bed towed 4 times over the years. Hey, after 11 years not bad right. Nope. I was eating it from that truck from day 1 with nagging things I knew the dealer could only make worse and not fix. We upgraded year on year in the disappointment category from there.

I would have seriously considered a Tundra if it wasn't so blah and the gas milage wasn't completely terrible like it is. I might have looked at Ford if they didn't love themselves so much. Plus I'd prefer to have my doors open/ close reliably in the cold weather thank you.

So I'm driving around in this Level 1 Bighorn now and it feels like a Lexus compared to my old truck. I don't have to stuff napkins down the door panels to stop the rattling and accept small broken / crappy designed things like I did with my GMC. I also have some faith this frame won't rot away like that wax dipped piece of sh*t that GMC / Chevy continue to stick with.
 
I’d buy it again. I buy new all the time. I get lifetime warranty and I’m good. I’m a realist. There’s stuff that’s going to break down, things that were not installed right, things that are not working like they are suppose to be. All the same across the board when it comes to vehicles. Sucks but I expect it. Luckily for me, I haven’t had any issues with mine yet.
 

Attachments

  • 55A9EAC3-580C-4E37-8BA4-26A321E8700C.jpeg
    55A9EAC3-580C-4E37-8BA4-26A321E8700C.jpeg
    3.5 MB · Views: 29
Last edited:
I've been in 2018 Silverados and a 2018 F-150. If Ram keeps their current pace, absolutely.

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. Now at: 008011 miles.
 
Id get a sunroof the second go round. Perhaps a Rebel. But I've loved both of my Rams.
 
Not a 2019. Feels like I paid a lot to be a beta tester for the official version of the 1500 in 2020 or 2021.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Site Vendors

https://www.jasonlewisautomotive.com/

Members online

Total: 182 (members: 10, guests: 172)
Back
Top