Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider
(Post 915223)
I would expect 0 problems in 2 years and 25k miles. I have a tj wrangler with 61k miles and have had 0 problems. I have performed routine maintenance, that's it. Most of what you went for was what suited your taste in appearance and comforts, not so much the powertrain offering. Gen 3's and 4's are a fantastic platform, no questions asked. Your 20 inch wheels like to eat up chryslers weak steering and suspension components. Gm still has grease fittings on their components, improving their longevity. Chrysler always has a cheaper feel to them and the quality of their components are inferior to that of ford and gm, they are a smaller company so it is to be expected. Speaking to brand loyalty, why did you only look at domestic pickups? Gm's diesel is the best out there in the light-duty field. They were also using allisons behind some of the larger gas offerings, another unbeatable setup. I would love to see a cost to own comparison on your hemi vs a comparable gm setup. From what I gather, your 16 plugs are due every 30k miles. You take an additional quart of oil per oil change. How would this stack up against your fuel mileage savings? Its getting a little off topic in my reply but I think there is more to vehicle ownership than the basic comparisons most everyone looks at initially. I don't want to get into the fit/finish either as I'm not a body man. I do have a friend that has been in the body shop biz since before I was alive and we constantly butt heads in the chevy vs ford debate. He tells me that gm does have better fit and finish than the other domestics and also has strong dislike towards chysler products even though he owns an 08 wrangler unlimited. I guess we have a different perspective being in the repair industry so its hard to completely explain the viewpoints when its simply what you see and feel and compare on our day to day 9 to 5's.
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While I may have no brand loyalty, I do prefer to buy domestic.
Powertrain *was* important when I was shopping. It was one of the biggest driving factors in my decision.
The ram's steering and suspension was redesigned and strengthened in 2013. The components are more robust. Also, I don't know if I'd call the earlier stuff 'weak'. I worked on some 2003-2010 1500 rams that had in excess of 150k miles on them with the factory parts still in place and in fair shape. Granted, these were stock trucks but if you modify anything you're taking things out of their design parameters. The fit and finish of the truck is fine. Is everything fake leather and fake wood coated? No, and that's fine by me. Nothing squeaks, rattles or vibrates. The ride quality of the new 5 link rear suspension beats the pants off leaf springs. There is *zero* axle hop.
A diesel wasn't in the cards because I don't have $60k to go diesel truck shopping with. I paid less than half that for my truck, and $30k buys a *lot* of gasoline.
Yeah, the plugs cost a bit more. The 30k miles/3 years isn't a big deal; an extra $16 for plug changes every 3 years is no big deal when I get 85 HP more. The extra quart of oil is similarly no big deal, especially when you go by the oil life monitor built into the truck... It's a *long* time between oil changes by the factory oil monitor.
You are right, there is more to vehicle cost than the apparent cost. And we are getting pretty far away from the original topic. :kneeslap:
I didn't post to bash any brand. What I started out saying is there is a *perceived* value. If I'm Joe Public knowing diddly squat about anything, and I'm looking to buy a car, brand 'A' offers a 100,000 mile warranty, brand 'B' only offers a 60,000 mile warranty, you can bet that I'm going to wonder why brand 'B' has no faith in their own equipment. It doesn't matter that I'll likely run out of time before mileage. It's perception. On the other side of the coin there is the long-distance commuter. This guy *knows* he's mileage bound to run out of warranty, so in all likelihood he's going to lean towards the 100k warranty.
I don't see how this reduction is going to help their image *at all*, especially in light of the recent recall fiasco. I think it'll cost them more in sales than they would have saved in work but I'm no professional bean-counter.