I HATE my new '04!!!!

[Rosco]

Well after having two wonderful 2003 Dodge 2500's I am now the lucky owner of a POS 2004. I have the dreaded vibration in both my steering wheel and accelerator pedal. It is most noticeable at 1600-1800 rpm. When cruising at 58-60 mph the vibration is enough to make my hand go numb.



According to many of the post's regarding this topic their does not seem to be a fix. This does not make me happy, I spent a lot of money for a truck that I apparently have no way of getting repaired. Rest assured though, come Monday morning the dealer is going to see my face and I will start the long process to a buyback.



When and if I get the truck bought back I am not sure as to whether or not I will get another Dodge. It's not that I don't love the Dodge or the Cummins. It has more to do with the fact that after I deal with all the B. S. that I need to endure to get this truck bought back I may just tell DC to get bent (to put it nicely).



I am so disgusted I want to puke.



Rosco :{ :{

 

[caryain]

Sorry to hear you are having trouble with your new truck. Mine had that same vibration (2000-2100 rpm) when it was new. I now have 6000 miles on it and don't notice it at all. I could really feel it when the truck was new. I had never felt anything like that on a vehicle. Kind of felt like one of the turbines I use to work on when it developed a high speed bearing vibration. Anyway, it seems it has gone away.



I never had it in the shop for the vibration but kept up with all the threads on it in TDR. Some of the "factory trained technicians" scare me. No offense to any in here as I used to be one myself.



Hope you get everything worked out.

 

[Peter Campbell]

May be something as minor as undercoating on the driveshaft. The dealer should be able to fix it if not find another dealer. They have the procedures to fix driveshaft balance, driveline angles, u-joints, engne vibrations etc. All those are possibilities on a new truck. Nothing man made is perfect. If they are not skilled enough to fid it bring it in 3 times with documentation and get a full buy back. Same dealer- Same complaint with a test drive by the mechanic. I do not think you will get to the third work order- it will be fixed even if they have to import talented techs to do it. Don't put up with faulty product. Hope it works out good. - Good luck, when they fix that wrinkle you may ike the truck!

 

[Briman]

Rosco, That is exactly how I felt about my truck when it was new last February. I have had mine into the dealer many times and it is worse than when it was new. I did finally get Dodge to agree to a buyback or replacement. I chose the replacement, at least until I get to take the new truck for a long test drive. I can't believe that this is still going on. I see posts of folks with no vibration or drone and some with drone and no vibration. If this new truck has the vibration I'll not accept it and choose the buyout.



DC, can you say class action lawsuit.

 

[Summit]

hey Rosco, P. COALTRAIN YOURSELF!! (sorry)



just got done with a buy back and am happy to say that new truck does NOT HAVE !!! any vibration problems,,, and i'm hoping that therapy can cure the lingering numbness



i think i have a drone @ about 1800ish but with only 200 mi. time will tell.



although: new truck does have coolant leak and passenger window does bind bad half way down



other than that so far sooooo goooooooood!!!!!



stay on your dealer!!

get a tech with a clue!!

good luck , keep us posted.

 

[XcumminsX]

your really smart from getting your trucks at the same dealer you got the pos one

 

[sag2]

Maybe I'm looking at this too simply. If you are a TDR member especially, and have been following the posts, why would you not drive it before you buy it. Seems to me that anyone that is aware of potential problems before they buy, and buy without a thorough test drive, caused their own nightmare.

Not defending DC making a product that does not meet some customers expectations, just pointing out the obvious benefits of being an informed consumer.

 

[ACerf]

Hate 04

So what would you Buy? A Ford, they don't call them "Fix Or Repair Daily" for nothing. Look at the problems they are having with the new 6. 0!

Or you could buy those UGLY chevys... man are they UGLY and boxy! And they are making the GMC look almost like them for 04! The best part of the truck is the transmission, the rest of the truck is cheap inside! And can you beleive they put those small tires on the diesel. I met a guy at a gas station who had nothing but electrial problems.

I think your problem is fixable and is less than you would have with the other two junkers!

 

[tobaccogrower]

what happens when you order a truck and test drive it and it has some problems?

will the dealer let you decline it? will you get your money back? i'm waiting on a 04,2500,HO,sport larime,4x4 auto. i hope i don't have any problems. it's supposed to be delivered around thanksgiving! I CAN'T WAIT!... . james

 

[HEYBOSS]

Rosco

I'm wondering which dealer you bought your truck from. I'm from the area and know some dealers, actually worked for one over 7years, sorry to say but some of them have a pretty bad reputation and hope you didn't buy it from them. If you got it from a good dealer, some that I know they will do what ever it takes to take care of you, good luck.

 

[massdiesel]

sorry

Hey man sorry to hear that i had a 96 get bought back a 97 that should have but was way way over in mileage also a 02 that was a nightmare that had the same type of issue you had so i had it a month and it spent three weeks at the dealer. So i did the best thing ever i love the cummins hate the dodge i drive enough thru the week as i work on them here in the shop. I bought a ford on my second one now no issues yet and thats why my little buddy heyboss is buying a dmax right freddy h sorry no one is supposed to know that good luck man

 

[Briman]

I agree with Sag2 in the fact that given the info on this board, a person could make an informed purchase. The fact remains that many Dodge truck purchases are made by people that do not have this resource. How long will Dodge continue to produce trucks with known issues? Even if it is intermittent from truck to truck. That engineer that has been working on this 24x7 (thats what my dealer told me in March '03) should have an answer and resolution by now.

 

[plongson]

Re: sorry

Originally posted by massdiesel

Hey man sorry to hear that i had a 96 get bought back a 97 that should have but was way way over in mileage also a 02 that was a nightmare that had the same type of issue you had so i had it a month and it spent three weeks at the dealer. So i did the best thing ever i love the cummins hate the dodge i drive enough thru the week as i work on them here in the shop. I bought a ford on my second one now no issues yet and thats why my little buddy heyboss is buying a dmax right freddy h sorry no one is supposed to know that good luck man

Man, that was hard to read with no caps or periods.....

:--)

 

[Summit]

sag2; i had to sign the dotted line before the dealer sent a driver 350mi to go get my truck , thats how some of us dont know. we buy a truck in good faith and are told that things can get fixed only to be told three weeks later that the condition is normal and there is no repair

other times it takes a couple hundred mi. for a problem to show.

lastly, to go from a gan 2 to gen 3 is a big change. it takes some miles to "get the feel". i dont mean to bash dodge, really.

 

[DPKetchum]

All the drones so far have been on the power/rpm range of 1950 to 2300 in motion or sitting still. Its not a drive line issue its harmonics and made worse by all of the exhaust hangers etc. EVEN with that issue I would rather have it over a Durapad or a Ford any day. With the exhaust change and miles mine is tolerable. Tho D. C. needs something DONE to address this issue. Make sure to let them ALL know its all over the WEB and HAS been FOR a long time.

 

[HEYBOSS]

Re: sorry

Originally posted by massdiesel

Hey man sorry to hear that i had a 96 get bought back a 97 that should have but was way way over in mileage also a 02 that was a nightmare that had the same type of issue you had so i had it a month and it spent three weeks at the dealer. So i did the best thing ever i love the cummins hate the dodge i drive enough thru the week as i work on them here in the shop. I bought a ford on my second one now no issues yet and thats why my little buddy heyboss is buying a dmax right freddy h sorry no one is supposed to know that good luck man

You dam right man, new Fords have the 6. 0 issue and Dodge has the vibrations, that Dmax looks good right about now.

Who cares if you can get 400 or a million miles out of a Cummins when everyone trades up after 40k, heck that HEMI looks good now, no vibrations or motor issues.

 

[HEYBOSS]

And there we go

You guys like to pick on Fords and Dmax when they have their issues, they must be laughing their ass off reading these posts now



An old man once told me Don't spit up in the air cause in can fall on your face someday



I think I'm gonna take a ride to my local dealer and road test the new vibrating Cummins and heck if it doesn't vibrate I might buy it

 

[DPKetchum]

I'm sorry but the Chevy's are downright ugly and several thousands more dollars. I think I'd drive the Dodge 6 or 7 k before pushing a buyback and see if drone doesn't get live-able. Mine did!:-{}

 

[Rosco]

For those of you who are wondering why I bought a truck without test driving it I will try to explain. First off, I had two previous trucks that had no problems so I really was not concerned with the quality of the truck.



Secondly, even though I read the TDR forums almost daily does not mean I focus on every single post. I belive I may have scanned the drone/vibration post when it first was appeared but considering I did not have any of those problems with either of my 03's I did not folllow up with a daily reading of it.



I guess I was a fool to "trust" that the truck I took delivery of was a good one. Hopefully my headaches will help some other TDR member.



Finally, when I posted last night whether or not I would get another dodge I was RIPPED. I had just got home from my first highway ride with the truck and my hand was numb. Will I buy a FORD 6. 0 NO WAY. However if I am stroked to the point of no return I will consider a GMC D-Max/Allison. my wife has a '03 Tahoe and I will say that hands down it is a more comfortable truck to drive. The seats are WAY better than the 3rd gens and to top it off the Bose system is Much better than the Infinity.

 

[KBennett]

Buzzzzz

I also have a buzz on my '04. It is strange because it does it around 2000 RPM in either 5th or 6th.

I have 2500 miles on it now and either I have gotten used to it or it has decreased with break-in. It has not been back to the dealer.



Concerning the competition, I think you would be jumping out of the fire into the frying pan. However, D-max is probably your best choice in my opinion.



If Toyota made a strong diesel truck I would have bought it over any of the "American"(Mexican) made trucks. The fit, finish, and smoothness of my Tacoma and the Pathfinder I owned before the Dodge was superior but they couldn't pull a travel trailer through the Rockies.

The price, torque, mileage, and resale value of the Cummins made the decision for me and I can live with the rest of the "little" things.