DODGE... Chevy.. or Ford.. make up my mind

[ceaman]

I have been a faithfull Dodge boy for 6 years now. My wife and I have owned 4 new trucks since 2000 and a total of 9 new DC vehicles in the past. I had a bad experience... and am in the process of arbitration on the Ram. If the truck gets a buy back... . should I buy Dodge again... . I get the Employee discount on Dodge... but nothing else...



I deliver RV's... . and put on 100K a year...



D-max - Cummins - or Stroke?

 

[2broke2smoke]

go with the 'stroke ...



it'll help you appreciate your next dodge even more

 

[AndyMan]

After my latest dealings with the local service manager at my dealer. I'm not going to be buying anything else he represents, and with bad ball joints, tire-rod ends, pitman arm and steering box at less than 40K miles. I doubt I'll be driving this one much longer either. I drove Chevy's for a lot of years, and bought this one because it was cheapest. It's cheap allright.



It's bad enough they build their trucks with substandard parts, but to employ self-rightous and indignant low-lifes to represent their corporation is too much for me to handle. Give me another brand any day. I take my $40,000 heap in and get treated like some *******. I take my wife's $15,000 honda in, and I get treated like a celebrity. Nice DC, real nice.

 

[Punkineater]

After my latest dealings with the local service manager at my dealer. I'm not going to be buying anything else he represents, and with bad ball joints, tire-rod ends, pitman arm and steering box at less than 40K miles. I doubt I'll be driving this one much longer either. I drove Chevy's for a lot of years, and bought this one because it was cheapest. It's cheap allright.



It's bad enough they build their trucks with substandard parts, but to employ self-rightous and indignant low-lifes to represent their corporation is too much for me to handle. Give me another brand any day. I take my $40,000 heap in and get treated like some *******. I take my wife's $15,000 honda in, and I get treated like a celebrity. Nice DC, real nice.

I luckily haven't had anything go wrong with my 04, but boy did you hit the nail on the head with regards to DC Customer Service. I too take my wifes Honda in and am treated like I am their one and only customer. Honda has mastered the art of Customer Service and unhappily I have had to compare their excellent service with DC's deplorable 5 star service on just about every visit I have ever had. I've said it before that the only reason I bought this Dodge was for the Cummins and I'll buy whatever truck that engine is in. That engine is the only thing Dodge has going for them. When it goes I go.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

IF I was buying new, today, I'd be looking long and hard at the GM stuff - they seem to have their act pretty well together - aluminum heads and all!

 

[evldsl]

ford

The king ranch duel wheel with the V10 and auto might work out for you if you like the ford. It's clean no heavy maintenance nice full 4 door cab beautiful interior and it pulls great and with a few aftermarket add's and a chip it will pump out more horses. It get's around 10 miles city and I have been told up to 19 freeway.

 

[Eric_77]

Damn I am really surprised I have not had trouble at all with my 03 and minimal trouble with the others that are over 200k each now.



The dodge did seem to have a weak link in the transmission and some suspension parts I have heard wearing out have been more from the bigger tire crowd or from the heavy hauler crowd. I am of the sort of heavy hauling crowd myself and there are things I expect to wear faster like brakes, tires, and suspension compionetns but engine and tranns have been real good (I blew the 96 transmission out by overtowing on a regular basis by 4k).



I have not had a reason to go comparsion shopping since I bought my 92 Dodge. For service some dealers are not as good as others I find once I have a service writer that I know things have been much better with getting stuff done and understanding I am mechaincally inclined and the problems I have are real and just check the stuff out.



We went away from Ford trucks they treated us pretty badly in the 80's (3 engines and 2 trans in less than 3 years & 150k) so I went researching when it was time to buy the next truck. When we have a problem with the Dodges I guess I will look at the Ford Chevy or even the Toys but I don't see that happening with how good the trucks have been with over 600k between the three of them.

 

[diesel DOG]

After 60,000 miles I would not know what to tell ya!

I had lift pump, transmission governor, clearance lights leak, ball joints gone at 58,000 and then ruin the hubs to remove them cost to fix 1809. 00 :--) I have a 04 Excusion which is good so far but only has 11,000 on it. Plenty of power. My friend had some GMC stuff and the Allisions went bad in short order. If it didn't have the Cummins it would be a real grimm scene. Physically I do like my truck and how it runs. It a pot shot with them all I guess.

 

[diesel DOG]

After 60,000 miles I would not know what to tell ya!

I had lift pump, transmission governor, clearance lights leak, ball joints gone at 58,000 and then ruin the hubs to remove them cost to fix 1809. 00 :--) I have a 04 Excusion PSD which is good so far but only has 11,000 on it. Nice mileage, about the same as my Dogde but way faster, plenty of power. My friend had some GMC stuff and the Allisions went bad in short order. If it didn't have the Cummins it would be a real grimm scene. Physically I do like my truck and how it runs. It a pot shot with them all I guess. I am really a GM guy most of the time.

 

[lil red cummins]

jeremy, i know what you are saying about DC being impossible to deal with. i have owned 5 caravans and they have generally been OK. however, the newest one (2000) has premature rust on the left strut tower. there is a TSB too. they say, sorry it is out of warranty, it will cost 350 to fix.



thats what i get for being a loyal dodge customer.



sounds like you need to do some serious shopping. better look for guaranteed replacement vehicle insurance also. your truck has been down now for close to 2 weeks right? has anyone offered to try and find, lease, rent a truck to get you back in business? my guess is no. i feel sorry for you and hope you get back in business soon. my 2 cents says you have a better chance with the chevy right now. i am still not sure ford has worked out their problems.



good luck



jim

 

[coobie]

After owning Chevys and fords for the last 25 plus years,This was my first DODGE venture,sacred the hell out of me. Well to make a long story short,I am very pleased no major or minor problems so far. Oo. coobie

 

[ceaman]

Its not that im mad at the Dealer doing the repairs... its not that im upset at the purchacing dealer... I know not all of the trucks can be perfect and that some will have thier shortcomings. I feel as though I have dealt with this trucks problems too long. The replacement engine (when and if it decides to show up) might be just the medicine the truck needs to make it a great truck. But starting this truck back on the road with 12,000 miles of engine warranty left and no guarantees after that makes me nervous. The dealership still has no idea on a timeline on the replacement long block.



The fuel mileage is not a factor in the arbitration but is a factor in my thoughts of looking for a different brand of truck. I calculated the fuel economy the other day... over 84,046 miles the truck averaged 12. 01 MPG. this being in comparison to my 03 555 motor which recieved 17 to 22 mpg.



The engine has had a stuttering problem since shortly after new that i believed to be an injector problem. . it has been an intermittent problem which may or may not cause a check engine light, But burning a hole in the piston, having a stuck injector, blowing oil out of every gasket in the motor and out of the turbo also doesnt cause a check engine light.

 

[ceaman]

Coobie..... was this your first deisel? out of the big three which one was your favorite deisel

 

[KBertetto]

bellyscraper,

No flame intended, I'm just wondering if when you typed in 19 mpg for a Furd V-10, the 9 was a mistake and should have been a 3 or something like that?



Bert

 

[LightmanE300]

Ceaman - the JD power reports show new powerstrokes have something like 450% more problems than their gas counterparts. The Cummins have -$45% less problems than gas versions. That should tell you something. I'd find a dealer you like and stick with the Cummins.

 

[SOLER]

Instead of Dodge vs Ford vs GM, for me it's Cummins vs Powersmoke vs Duramin The rest of thed truck is a crap shoot. It was said here, I'll buy whatever truck has the big C.



SOLER

 

[ceaman]

I have found ok dealers... . the dealers arent the problem..... its the resolution of the problem that i have trouble with... . should a truck that is currently still in production be on indefinite back order for all long and short blocks?

 

[BHolm]

I've had two Chevys with the D-max / Allison combo. I do not own either of those trucks anymore. Too many problems, mostly stupid problems but dealer visits nonetheless. I had an '01 and an '03 that I recently traded for the '05 CTD. The '01 was also traded for a CTD, my '03 QC. I have had very good luck with the Dodge trucks so far, no problems on any of them.



If you think that anybody elses customer service is going to better... boy have I got news for you. I spent three days fighting with GM customer service just trying to get them to pay for a transmission flush and filter change on an Allison. I did the first one at 25k miles, the fluid was brunt black as coal. I got them to pay for a second flush 2000 miles later as the fluid was dark again. 7k miles later it is dark again and I want something done. They want to give me a piece of paper (ext warranty). What good is that when it fails on the road, flush it out, make it clean, or replace it. It was quite a battle. I traded for the Dodge and told them that nobody spending nearly $50k on a vehicle should have to go through that BS. I was also a loyal customer, five new trucks in ten years time, every one of them required a fight over something. Besides, you would hate how the GM trucks tow heavy loads. The shocks are way too soft, the tires are too small, the mirrors stink, you get the idea, nice cars, marginal trucks.



I second Lightman on the Ford diesel, no way no how will I be a guinea pig for them. They have now turned off the pilot injection making them the loudest diesel on the market, if that matters to you. I also seriously considered the V10 Ford, as I have had excellent luck with my '99 7. 3 truck. The larger 4-door cab is nice, the King Ranch package is sweet but again the Cummins stole my heart. I found the ride of the 3500 CTD to be smoother than the F350 as well, either one is a good bet but if you want the diesel the CTD is the only choice right now. GM is looking at a 20% failure rate on injectors on the D-max, the Allison isn't strong enough for the engine and the general quality of the truck just isn't there. What I do wish, is that Dodge could provide us with some of the options the other offer. Even my loaded Laramie is a stripper next to the LT Chev I traded, same story vs the top Ford. As a truck though, especially one you use for real work, the CTD has earned my vote three times over Too bad you had problems, dealers can make or break situations like that. It is also possible to get a bad one, no matter who builds them, no matter what they cost.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

In TDR #43, p. 30 I recounted my drive of all three, including loaded to GVW and towing 13,000 lb. I felt the Dodge was far superior, with the comparison not even close (I had expected it to be fairly close). Most problems are traceable to poor dealer service, because with good service, most problems go away smoothly. I have had nothing wrong with my 2004 in 27,000 miles to cause a return to the dealer, however.



When I went to the Texas TDR rally, I was surprised to see the preponderance of Dodge pickups, and it seemed they all were towing heavy gooseneck trailers. most places you see a lot of GM and Ford trucks due to their general popularity. It seems that when the "audience" is using the trucks hard, they buy Dodge/Cummins. Most agree the Cummins is just broken in at 100,000 miles and we know the others are pretty much worn out by then. Those V8 designs just side-load the cylinders too much (to stabilize the pistons) and they wear out of round quickly. To say nothing of the bean-counter minimalist quality, vs. Cummins over-engineering.

 

[TCDiesel]

I agree with JD, You should see some of the Repair Bills on those V-8 Diesel when they get in for some type off service, A V-8 Has no more main bearing than a 4-clyinder. Yes the Ram/Cummins in the past had some issues, Lift pumps/Brakes/VP 44/ TC, Vib/Shudder,and Now some injector Problems,Etc,But in most cases the repair cost were manageable and may have been avoided with some type of better maintenance. overall the Ram/cummins History stands above the other two and I think the CR will be even better with less cost VS mileage. When it comes to upgrading and Bombing the Ram/Cummins can"t be Beat,With the performance upgrades the reliability is still intact,It"s the extreme that will cause most of the failures.