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Dodge Trucks
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Posted by: DeckSetter

So seriously, all brand wars aside (I've given up my brand loyalties....)...

Are Dodge Trucks any good?

I ask because I MIGHT be coming across a deal I just can't refuse. My dad just told me about this truck yesterday, and if it is what he thinks it is, with the miles he thinks it has, with the options he thinks it has, for the price he thinks the guy will take for it (payoff), I might not be able to turn it down.

I don't know the full story, but this is what I've gathered:

Apparently it's an '00 Ram 1500 extended cab 4x4 with 37,000 miles. That's about all I know about the truck. The guy bought it new. He's paid on it for 4 years and has one year left to pay on it. He got into some trouble (don't know how exactly). I think he got arrested and the truck got impounded or something, it's sitting in a yard at the moment. He has 60 days to claim it, but he told my dad he was just going to let it be reposessed. Then he added in a little comment, "Hey, this would be a good truck for you....." My dad doesn't want a truck, but he brought the idea home to me....

So seriously, what could the truck be worth? How much could he possibly owe on it? If it's as low as it seems to me it would have to be, I could finance enough to pay my Jeep off too (my payoff's right around $1000 at the moment) and still have a dirt cheap payment and a lot of equity in the truck.

Is there something I'm not seeing here?

And more importantly, if I would happen to buy the thing, are they a pretty solid truck or is it going to fall apart like my Jeep?

Posted by: MikeT

Posted by: VETTKLR

A local alignment guy once shared his view on today's trucks...

The Ford Truck is the toughest on the market.
Chevy comes up 2nd.
A Dodge will require an alignment if you drive off the road to unlock a gate.

The trucks we were discussing practically live off-road. If you're gonna keep it on the road, it'll probably last forever. Check up on the TSB's on it.

If you can buy that by assuming his note, it would be a goldmine. You could turn right around and put a For Sale Sign in it in front of your house, make somebody a good deal on it and you'll make out like a fat cat.

If he wisens up and asks NADA or KBB value for it, I'd walk away. It wouldn't be any kind of good deal then.

Posted by: IROC_ZO6

37,000 miles?.... yep, bout time for a new tranny.

Posted by: No Rice Allowed

If you don't mind possible recalls......Then Ford is it....Because there are many manufactures who don't recall their lemons...playing it off as to say, "our shyte never breaks!"....Only to find major lawsuits against them in the end....

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=101695

Posted by: LS1 Mopar Turbo

Well my neighbor is a Mechanic at the Ford dealer here in Bremerton, He drives an 02 Chevrolet 1500, He says the Fords are alright but he works on them often and didn't want one, his opinion on the Dodge...well if taken care of they are good. My buddy Chris has an 01 Dakota and it has been a great truck his wife is a Mechanic at Tacoma Dodge and she says she does do a lot of tranny work on them.

Posted by: DeckSetter

Found a little more out today....

Turns out it's not a 4x4 (my dad was wrong on that one). It's got a 360 though.

The guy claims it will get 24mpg in overdrive and 18mpg with the overdrive off.

(long pause for rabid laughter)

Anyway, apparently it was moved to another impound lot. The guy's going to call tomorrow to see if he can still reclaim it and, if so, find out how much it will be.

.....guess I'll just wait and see........

Posted by: Slow Nova

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeckSetter


	So seriously, what could the truck be worth? How much could he possibly owe on it? If it's as low as it seems to me it would have to be, I could finance enough to pay my Jeep off too (my payoff's right around $1000 at the moment) and still have a dirt cheap payment and a lot of equity in the truck.

Don't know about reliability, but I just ran some #'s through an Amortization Calculator, and assuming he bought it new for $17,500 at 6% to 10% interest on a 5 year loan, with no money down, he owes around $3,500-$4,500 on the loan. Blue Book is around $11,000.

Edited to reflect 2WD.

Posted by: DeckSetter

It had to be more than 17,500 new I'd think. I'd think it was closer to 25,000 or so. I read a comparison test between the 1/2 ton 4x4 extended cab trucks from the big 3 in 2000 and it said they were all a little over 30 grand as tested.

I figured he probably owes 7 or so, which is still a steal. I just looked on Autotrader and the cheapest truck with comparable miles within 300 miles was 12,995. KBB says trade-in value with those miles is 8,555 and private party value is over 10,000. Sitting on a lot it would probably be priced at 13,000 or so since it's got the 5.9.

That's assuming it's in good shape. I haven't seen the truck. I won't know if the guy can still reclaim it until tomorrow or so.

Posted by: Slow Nova

According to MSN Auto's, the original Retail price on a 2000 Dodge Ram 1500 Club Cab, Short Bed, 2wd, was $19,460. Invoice started at $17,076. This is the base model though. Add a few thousand dollars worth of options, and you probalby need to add about $500-$1000 to the payoff amount I gave you earlier.

If you take into account a trade in, or a few thousand dollars of down payment, and the first guess is probably more accurate.

Posted by: rodslinger

I've got a 2000 Dakota club cab with the 4.7 V8 and an auto. It now has 120,000 miles. About 70,000 of those had a 8x12 foot enclosed trailer behind it full of tools for house remodeling work. No problems with it other than maintenance.

I am seriously doubting the gas mileage quote. I can maybe get 20 if I drive it easy. I get a real average of 14.5mpg around town.

Posted by: DeckSetter

yeah, I know there's no way a 360 could get that mileage....

Anyway, looks like the whole thing fell through. The guy called the impound lot today and they said he can't claim it anymore. That kinda bites for me (I could have made an easy 5 grand on that truck REAL quick and probably paid my Jeep off on top of that) but oh well, life goes on. I knew it sounded too good to be true. I might see if he can call the police to see if it's really past his time to claim it or if the impound lot lied to him (they probably want to make the cash themselves...).

The Kicker:

Slow Nova was probably right... my dad told me today he found out the guy actually had LESS THAN A YEAR left to pay on it. I probably could have bought it for under 5 grand after taxes, financed 6 grand so I'd have enough left over to pay my Jeep off, put it on 60 months, and had a payment under $110 a month until I sold it......... on a 2000 1/2 ton extended cab pickup with a 360 and 37,000 miles. Dang!

Posted by: LS1JAY

Dodge does seem to have tranny issues. Not all will, but that seems to be pretty common problem. I have 2 friends who had tranny problems with theirs (2000 and a 2001) they never went out, but they slipped and did weird stuff.

Posted by: DeckSetter

Quote:

Originally Posted by LS1JAY


	Dodge does seem to have tranny issues. Not all will, but that seems to be pretty common problem. I have 2 friends who had tranny problems with theirs (2000 and a 2001) they never went out, but they slipped and did weird stuff.

Yeah, I've heard of some trans problems too. They say a lot of the new ones have a hard time deciding what gear they're in, but locking out overdrive (especially if you're towing / hauling) is a lot better on it. Either way, I wasn't planning on keeping the truck (since I found out it was 2wd), just making some money off of it. I could have priced it for a quick sale and most likely still came out 5 grand ahead. If I'm going to have a fullsize truck (gas hog) it's going to have to be a 4x4.

Posted by: Grape Ape

If it's a 2000 model with only 37K on it, I'd be thinking "what's the problem here" to begin with. Sounds like it's spent as much time not running as anything. I've had more than 1 Dodge, but no newer ones. The last one('91 Dakota) was such a POS that I knew there'd never be another unless they made a complete turn around. It went through transmissions as often as brake pads(6 of them). The 318 block actually rusted through near the WP at 107,XXX miles. That was the only time I've ever heard of it happening, but still no excuse at all. I'll pay more for a Ford if necessary, because it's worth more. Fuel mileage wasn't good either, at about 12mpg on the hwy, in O/D. The bright side was, that was the mileage it got, even with a load. The 99 F-250 got 16mpg and towed more, was much larger, and rode better. It averaged about 14mpg with a load. But hey, gimme a PowerStroke diesel and all is well these days.

Posted by: DeckSetter

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grape Ape


	If it's a 2000 model with only 37K on it, I'd be thinking "what's the problem here" to begin with. Sounds like it's spent as much time not running as anything.

I'm not sure what the guy did, but he's got a prosthetic leg, so he probably didn't have to do a whole lot of driving. I don't know how long he's only had one leg, for all I know it could have happened in the past 4 years and he may have been in the hospital all that time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grape Ape


	I've had more than 1 Dodge, but no newer ones. The last one('91 Dakota) was such a POS that I knew there'd never be another unless they made a complete turn around. It went through transmissions as often as brake pads(6 of them). The 318 block actually rusted through near the WP at 107,XXX miles. That was the only time I've ever heard of it happening, but still no excuse at all. I'll pay more for a Ford if necessary, because it's worth more. Fuel mileage wasn't good either, at about 12mpg on the hwy, in O/D. The bright side was, that was the mileage it got, even with a load. The 99 F-250 got 16mpg and towed more, was much larger, and rode better. It averaged about 14mpg with a load. But hey, gimme a PowerStroke diesel and all is well these days.

yeah, diesels aside, I've only heard bad about Dodge mpg and only heard good about Ford and GM (99+) mpg. One of my friends used to have a '95 Dakota 4x4 with a 318 that he claims got 9mpg. Granted, that was all city, but still..... The rear main seal leaked like a sieve and was going to cost close to a grand to fix (he said you'd have to either pull the engine or take the whole front differential off) so he traded it on a CRV (great move, his wife had a baby soon after).

I've heard pretty commonly that the 2wd V8 trucks from GM and Ford can get 20+ mpg on the highway. My Jeep has only hit 20mpg ONCE since I've had it. I've had as low as 13mpg in the winter. A fullsize 4x4 wouldn't be that much worse (if any). I'd really like to have a '99 Ford or GM, but they're still pretty pricey...

All in all, Dodge has automatic trans problems, but Ford won't put a half decent manual trans in a 1/2 ton truck to save their lives (remember the one they mated to the 4.6? It lowered the truck's tow rating to 2000lbs). Fords have their share of electrical problems to make up for it. GM's seem to be pretty solid. I haven't heard of the recurrent door pin problems on the 99+ trucks that the 98-older trucks had. Any way you go, you're going to have some sort of problem.

Posted by: StoneFox

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeckSetter


	Fords have their share of electrical problems to make up for it. GM's seem to be pretty solid. I haven't heard of the recurrent door pin problems on the 99+ trucks that the 98-older trucks had. Any way you go, you're going to have some sort of problem.

All the Fords in my familly have been solid as a rock, and dead reliable. I don't remember any electrical problems to speak of unless you count my uncle's alternator that went out at 150,000 miles.

I wouldnt go to far as to call any late model GM trucks solid. Ive seen new Chevys that still had paper plates come into the drive way at work that squeaked like a rusty hinge when they hit the little dip where the road meats the parking lot.

The only problem I have had with my 2000 Dodge has been the dash. It, like all Dodges seem to do, cracked on the passenger side. But as reliability goes its been a damn good truck, at least for past 95,000 miles.

Posted by: Mr. P

I haven't read the other threads, but the ball joints are falling out of the Dodge trucks. Not exactly "overdesigned". Remember, they're now owned and managed by Kraut Accountants.

Mr. P

Posted by: boneman

i say dodge rules

Posted by: Slow Nova

Quote:

Originally Posted by boneman


	i say dodge rules

Why not tell us why you say that?

Posted by: Grape Ape

I say it's because he's never owned all three brands!

Posted by: DeckSetter

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoneFox


	All the Fords in my familly have been solid as a rock, and dead reliable. I don't remember any electrical problems to speak of unless you count my uncle's alternator that went out at 150,000 miles.

I've known 2 guys with fairly late model F150's (one a '98 V6, the other a '97 4.6). The '97 still had the original alternator at 170k miles or so, but it just randomly kept blowing fuses for the dash. All power would be lost to the dash, speedometer and odometer wouldn't work, etc. They never found the problem, just sold the truck. The guy with the '98 V6 has some sort of electrical problem that makes his cargo light stay on........all the time. It won't always do it, but probably 1/4 of the time or so it just won't shut off. He's been stranded a couple of times from a dead battery because of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoneFox


	I wouldnt go to far as to call any late model GM trucks solid. Ive seen new Chevys that still had paper plates come into the drive way at work that squeaked like a rusty hinge when they hit the little dip where the road meats the parking lot.

That bad, eh? One of my friends had a '99 GMC 2wd that was a great truck. The only problem I can remember him having was a balljoint going bad around 100k. He towed quite a bit with it, too. Great truck. Well, until he got rearended and totaled it....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. P


	I haven't read the other threads, but the ball joints are falling out of the Dodge trucks. Not exactly "overdesigned". Remember, they're now owned and managed by Kraut Accountants. Mr. P

That's the Dakota / Durango. My brother has an '01 Dakota. His balljoints are shakin good and proper with 50k miles on the truck.

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