2006 Ram 1500 4x4 PM service at dealer $$$

[Ncostello]

Have a Ram 1500 for work. 4. 7L V8. Auto 4x4. Nice truck provided to me. I convinced them to let me take it to Dodge for some owners manual PM service since I've got 58,000 miles now.



transmission Flush/Filter/Fill

Transfer Case Drain Fill

Front and Rear Diff (anti spin) Drain Fill

New Spark Plugs

Diagnostic Check (had a CEL light about two months ago, went away)



Truck seemed fine basically. Little rough idle on occassion. Trans would not pull once in a while... till it ran for about 20 seconds. It had been in twice for this and they said it was normal. Now they told me it was a filter problem and they would install different trans filters. Seems funny they had no solution for it when under warranty. Should an 06 trans still be under warranty at 58K miles? Shouldn't this complaint be fixed under warranty as I'd took it there twice for the same problem to no avail? Now its OK?



Price: $750. They considered me asking for plugs as a Full V8 Tune up including cleaning throttle body. Diagnostic Check also got me the "latest flash". Other than that pretty basic.



The trans service was a little over $200. The V8 Tune up was $189. The Transfer Case fill seemed high. So did the diff lubes. I can't remember exactly what the cost was since the bill is not with me right now.



Does this seem high? I about choked when I saw it. I mean... some basic stuff here. I never do dealer service so I'm not used to it. I'm afraid my company will choke too. But if they expect me to get 200K out of this truck... I see it as necessary. I just didn't expect it to be this high. Am I way off base?

 

[Tinman]

High yes. Unexpected for a dealer, no. I had my first drive line service on the 01 at the dealer. >$400 dollars and they didn't tighten one of the diff. bolts. I do it myself now (as well as everything else) for just the cost of fluids. Probably less that $100 total.

 

[KevinSmith]

Try taking the bill to your regular dealership and ask the service manager his prices. If there seems to be a big differance go back to the one that did the service and try to get some compensation. I doudt it will get you much but its worth a try. Its kind of fun pitting the two against each other.

 

[Ncostello]

The dealer who performed the work: $725.



Another dealer 15 miles away: $539 for the same list of items.



Hmmmm.