New to me 2012 Ram 3500

[Philip Saran]

I'm kind of new to the forum, just pulled the trigger on the purchase of a 2012 Dodge Ram 3500
crew cab, 4x4, 6.5 bed Laramie, cherry red w/silver lower trim and cream interior. 46K miles on it.

Since I don't have much history on it I plan to take it in for a oil change and fuel filters replacement.
will also need to have the brake/trans shift interlock recall done to it.

Next in line will be the purchase of a 34 foot 5th wheel trailer to round out my spending of $$$.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Be prepared to spend a lot of $$$ on that Dealer service.

 

[Lynx0849]

My storey is pretty much the same so advice to him is likely good for me.
My new to me truck is ‘15 3500 Longhorn, CC, SRW short bed Cummins, Aisin with 61k on the clock in bright white. Has 64k now.
Oil life is 75% so i guess it got an oil change not long before i got it though fuel filter only has 10%. No idea what filters were used.
I need to choose a dealer for service.


Pro

 

[Philip Saran]

I have a good diesel repair shop here in Parker, CO and their labor rate is a bit lower than the Dodge dealer
so I will take it in to them for service.

 

[Newsa]

I have a good diesel repair shop here in Parker, CO and their labor rate is a bit lower than the Dodge dealer
so I will take it in to them for service.

The diesel repair shop is a good option.

Some dealers to be more competitive will sell a package of oil changes (usually 4 or 5 change package) for a reduced price. But you will not get a Stratopore (20 micron) or Donaldson (15 micron) filter (better filtration) from the dealer. You will just get the 30 micron mopar filter.

All the more reason to use am independent shop in my opinion.

 

[Lynx0849]

The diesel repair shop is a good option.

Some dealers to be more competitive will sell a package of oil changes (usually 4 or 5 change package) for a reduced price. But you will not get a Stratopore (20 micron) or Donaldson (15 micron) filter (better filtration) from the dealer. You will just get the 30 micron mopar filter.

All the more reason to use am independent shop in my opinion.

I have several dealers in my area. During my truck hunt I would drive through the lots of all of them occasionally just to see what they had. Of the 4, only one consistently had both new trucks with Cummins and customer trucks. The others all had lots full of 1500 hemis.

So, I went in to schedule an appointment. No hard sell on anything (surprised me). Gonna do an overall inspection, new fuel filters, water pump recall and check the park/transmission interlock recall.

One guy (not a diesel tech) said the Fleet guard filters were not as good as Mopar. I don’t necessarily buy it and he (likely from ignorance) said the fleet guard were 6 micron and Mopar was 3 micron.



Pro

 

[dougsram]

Suggest researching what company (starts with a Big C) makes fleet guard and Mopar filters and then reconsider your non-diesel technician.

 

[Newsa]

[QUOTE="Lynx0849, post: 2550373,/]

So, I went in to schedule an appointment. No hard sell on anything (surprised me). Gonna do an overall inspection, new fuel filters, water pump recall and check the park/transmission interlock recall.

One guy (not a diesel tech) said the Fleet guard filters were not as good as Mopar. I don’t necessarily buy it and he (likely from ignorance) said the fleet guard were 6 micron and Mopar was 3 micron.



Pro[/QUOTE]

No hard sell on the used 6.7 truck? That's because they are highly sought after according to my local dealer. Sales managers in my area are always asking to buy my truck back. I get several calls and written correspondences per month.

Full flow filter that filters to 6 microns or less? No way, Jose.

 

[Cummins12V98]

"Fleet guard filters were not as good as Mopar"

HAAAAAAA, tell him to get educated as FleetGuard makes the Air, Oil and engine mounted fuel filter for MOPAR. The primary fuel filter is made by RAYCOR for MOPAR.

 

[Lynx0849]

"Fleet guard filters were not as good as Mopar"

HAAAAAAA, tell him to get educated as FleetGuard makes the Air, Oil and engine mounted fuel filter for MOPAR. The primary fuel filter is made by RAYCOR for MOPAR.

That’s what I thought from my reading here. This guy wasn’t a diesel tech, just came in to office to answer Recall question from service writer.



Pro

 

[Lynx0849]

[QUOTE="Lynx0849, post: 2550373,/]

So, I went in to schedule an appointment. No hard sell on anything (surprised me). Gonna do an overall inspection, new fuel filters, water pump recall and check the park/transmission interlock recall.

One guy (not a diesel tech) said the Fleet guard filters were not as good as Mopar. I don’t necessarily buy it and he (likely from ignorance) said the fleet guard were 6 micron and Mopar was 3 micron.



Pro

No hard sell on the used 6.7 truck? That's because they are highly sought after according to my local dealer. Sales managers in my area are always asking to buy my truck back. I get several calls and written correspondences per month.

Full flow filter that filters to 6 microns or less? No way, Jose.[/QUOTE]

By hard sell, I meant they didn’t try and sell me lots of service stuff I wasn’t asking about.

I kinda expected to hear about all sorts of stuff since the truck was new to me and I was new to them.

I wasn’t going back to my previous 2 dealers as they seemed to always push extra repairs that seemed dubious to me. I will report back next week after the Wednesday service.



Pro