ThankfulLutheran
Member
- Messages
- 52
- Reaction score
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This review is mostly written for those who have never owned a Ram before and have never had a HD truck. Thirteen months ago I flew down from Sacramento to Tuttle-Click Ram in Irvine, California to pickup my 2500 MegaCab Laramie, that I had custom ordered months earlier in March. Tuttle-Click gave me the same deal Granger Motors in Iowa and Mark Dodge in Louisiana were offering (4% below invoice). Living in California, it was easier and faster for me to purchase the truck at Tuttle-Click.
First off, let me state that I have never owned a full size pickup before. However, I have owned a new 1977 Toyota 4X2 SR5 Long bed, a new 1983 Toyota 4X4 SR5 Long bed, and a new 1989 Toyota 4X4 SR5 Long bed. So the 2500 was a huge step up from these prior trucks. When I got in the truck to drive it home, I thought I was driving a Kenworth or Mack truck! It seemed so high up! Even higher than my 96 Toyota Landcruiser.
Here’s a breakdown on my evaluation of the truck.
I love the exterior of the truck! The side view trailer mirrors allow for extensive view on both sides of the truck. I have not extended the mirrors because I have yet to tow anything. Another thing I love about the mirrors is the orange light that comes on when a vehicle is in your blind spot. I never had this feature on my prior vehicles. Now for the running boards. I actually prefer the permanent running boards to the retractable ones for two major reasons. First, they provide body protection from rocks, gravel, and other items that may chip away or hit the side of the truck. Two, having them permanently deployed leaves one less thing to go wrong. The tailgate is extremely light compared to tailgates from 40 or 50 years ago. I do have the retractable step that allows easier access to the bed of the truck. However, I would like to see Ram put a folding tailgate like the new 1500 trucks have. It would surely make it a lot easier to get into the bed, particularly for older guys like me. I like the rims on the truck. But the tires are average at best. I have always had good stock tires on all my prior vehicles, except one. I purchased a new 1993 Toyota Camry Wagon that came with Good Year tires. The absolute worse tires I have ever owned. The sidewalls were so thin that the following week from buying the truck one of the sidewalls on the tire blew out on the freeway. The dealer (Chuck Patterson Dodge, Ram, Toyota) refused to replace the tire. Within the year the rest of the tires all had their sidewalls blow out! My other stock tires have been Michelin, Daytona, Bridgestone, and B.F. Goodrich, which have gotten me 90,000 to 105,000 miles before replacing them.
The Hemi Engine on the truck has the power to climb mountains at 70 mph and to pass other vehicles quickly. Most of my miles have been highway miles. I’ve taken two trips this year to the Midwest, one to northwest Iowa and most recently to eastern Nebraska, to take my son to his freshman year in college. I’m getting a little over 17 mpg on the highway, which is fine with me. I’ve included a recent photo on my dash of my trip to Nebraska. You can see it reads well over 18 mpg. The ride is smooth on the freeway or interstate. But once you hit some bumps in the road it rides like a truck. No surprise there!
The interior of the truck couldn’t be nicer. I believe Ram trucks have the best interior of any other truck manufacturer. The quality of the dash and seats have no rival. The seats are the most comfortable of any vehicle I have owned. I can sit for hours on end without feeling sore. The center console is great! It provides a comfortable place to rest my arm and the inside is huge! Everything on the dash is easy to reach. The map is good but could be better with a color scheme, instead of black and white. I love being able to calculate my route that shows me the miles and time to my destination. For a stock stereo the Alpine nine speaker system sounds good. I also appreciate the sunroof. To get nice airflow, I can tilt it up without the sun bothering me or the passenger due to the 15% ceramic tint I has installed. The back window and the two rear side windows are tinted with 35% Nano-Ceramic, Stratos, the two front side windows with 70% and the front windshield visor 15%. The fold down rear seats provide lots of room for storage. On our recent trips my wife sat in the left rear seat, while we folded down the middle and right rear seat. That gave us enough room for several suitcases and a cooler. I know many have complained about the air conditioner in these trucks. But honestly, I have no complaints. In July we had 25 days with plus 100 degree temperatures, the hottest day at 115 degrees. The air conditioner worked fine.
The only repair on the truck has been a sensor on the air suspension that needed to be replaced. Of course that was covered by the warranty. Other than that, everything works great!
I would definitely purchase this truck again! If you are in the market for a new truck, I wholeheartedly recommend Ram.
First off, let me state that I have never owned a full size pickup before. However, I have owned a new 1977 Toyota 4X2 SR5 Long bed, a new 1983 Toyota 4X4 SR5 Long bed, and a new 1989 Toyota 4X4 SR5 Long bed. So the 2500 was a huge step up from these prior trucks. When I got in the truck to drive it home, I thought I was driving a Kenworth or Mack truck! It seemed so high up! Even higher than my 96 Toyota Landcruiser.
Here’s a breakdown on my evaluation of the truck.
I love the exterior of the truck! The side view trailer mirrors allow for extensive view on both sides of the truck. I have not extended the mirrors because I have yet to tow anything. Another thing I love about the mirrors is the orange light that comes on when a vehicle is in your blind spot. I never had this feature on my prior vehicles. Now for the running boards. I actually prefer the permanent running boards to the retractable ones for two major reasons. First, they provide body protection from rocks, gravel, and other items that may chip away or hit the side of the truck. Two, having them permanently deployed leaves one less thing to go wrong. The tailgate is extremely light compared to tailgates from 40 or 50 years ago. I do have the retractable step that allows easier access to the bed of the truck. However, I would like to see Ram put a folding tailgate like the new 1500 trucks have. It would surely make it a lot easier to get into the bed, particularly for older guys like me. I like the rims on the truck. But the tires are average at best. I have always had good stock tires on all my prior vehicles, except one. I purchased a new 1993 Toyota Camry Wagon that came with Good Year tires. The absolute worse tires I have ever owned. The sidewalls were so thin that the following week from buying the truck one of the sidewalls on the tire blew out on the freeway. The dealer (Chuck Patterson Dodge, Ram, Toyota) refused to replace the tire. Within the year the rest of the tires all had their sidewalls blow out! My other stock tires have been Michelin, Daytona, Bridgestone, and B.F. Goodrich, which have gotten me 90,000 to 105,000 miles before replacing them.
The Hemi Engine on the truck has the power to climb mountains at 70 mph and to pass other vehicles quickly. Most of my miles have been highway miles. I’ve taken two trips this year to the Midwest, one to northwest Iowa and most recently to eastern Nebraska, to take my son to his freshman year in college. I’m getting a little over 17 mpg on the highway, which is fine with me. I’ve included a recent photo on my dash of my trip to Nebraska. You can see it reads well over 18 mpg. The ride is smooth on the freeway or interstate. But once you hit some bumps in the road it rides like a truck. No surprise there!
The interior of the truck couldn’t be nicer. I believe Ram trucks have the best interior of any other truck manufacturer. The quality of the dash and seats have no rival. The seats are the most comfortable of any vehicle I have owned. I can sit for hours on end without feeling sore. The center console is great! It provides a comfortable place to rest my arm and the inside is huge! Everything on the dash is easy to reach. The map is good but could be better with a color scheme, instead of black and white. I love being able to calculate my route that shows me the miles and time to my destination. For a stock stereo the Alpine nine speaker system sounds good. I also appreciate the sunroof. To get nice airflow, I can tilt it up without the sun bothering me or the passenger due to the 15% ceramic tint I has installed. The back window and the two rear side windows are tinted with 35% Nano-Ceramic, Stratos, the two front side windows with 70% and the front windshield visor 15%. The fold down rear seats provide lots of room for storage. On our recent trips my wife sat in the left rear seat, while we folded down the middle and right rear seat. That gave us enough room for several suitcases and a cooler. I know many have complained about the air conditioner in these trucks. But honestly, I have no complaints. In July we had 25 days with plus 100 degree temperatures, the hottest day at 115 degrees. The air conditioner worked fine.
The only repair on the truck has been a sensor on the air suspension that needed to be replaced. Of course that was covered by the warranty. Other than that, everything works great!
I would definitely purchase this truck again! If you are in the market for a new truck, I wholeheartedly recommend Ram.
