Shopped for a Hybrid, Bought a Dodge Ram Instead

[Jesda]

http://jesda.com/2012/08/27/sought-out- ... dodge-ram/




Took a trip to Texas, gorged on barbecue, and brought home a pickup.

[nissangirl74]

can I have your life please?

[Bubba1]

can I have your life please?

Well, perhaps excluding when he visits a gas station with that Ram. I believe they have pretty large gas tanks...

Enjoy 'da truck, Jesda. Nice article.

[Lowes11]

Cool, looks fun. Nice avatar.

[Mr1der]

split man decision! trucks are more smile per mile than a lot of cars. Especially when you start running things over.

[Irvxing]

Nice article!

[MinisterofDOOM]

The appeal of 2wd V6 shortbed regular cab half-ton pickups is entirely lost on me. I'd much rather have a Ranger or Frontier. If I'm going to own a half-ton pickup, it needs to justify itself over a midsizer. And the way it does that is by going off-road and towing. Which means 4WD and a V8.

I'm not really fond of the styling of that era Ram. The previous generation looks great, and I like the current model's looks a lot as well. That generation looks cartoonish and exaggerated, like a Tonka Chuck toy. I'm also unsure why Dodge decided to put the hood seam where they did. It's not on any body line, like the previous generation. It's just floating in the middle, drawing the eye and looking weird. Chevy did the same thing with their Silverados in that era. I THINK the reasoning on both sides was that it allowed the use of a taller hood on HD models without changing other bodywork. But it looks bad. Not a good tradeoff in (or to) my eyes.

[300ZXttZMAN]

I hope that the 3.7L engine holds true for you Jesda... Not sure if you know but they are famous for the heads cracking in between the valve seats.

The engines are also very expensive due to their prone failure.

The good thing is that the truck looks very well maintained and clean, since it has low miles the engine should have some healthy life left in it. The 3.7 is better when it comes to reliability if you were to compare it to its larger 4.7L counterpart.

[Kompresshun]

Sounds like an excellent purchase Jesda. I would've jumped on the deal too. Hybrids are overrated anyways

We have the 3.7L in the Commander and it's been solid as a rock. It absolutely hogs gas though, which makes me wish I would've just went ahead and got one with a HEMI in it. The engine is unbelievably cheap and easy to maintain though. Heck the whole thing has been honestly. We've had it for a little over 2 years now and i've had to do nothing but routine maintenance, excluding the blower motor relay(common issue - $6 part that takes 5 min to replace).

As much as I love the thing though, it's gotta go sooner or later. We don't put it to use enough to warrant toting the fuel bill that comes with it. I wish we could keep it though, because it's been one of the most reliable vehicles i've owned in a long time. It has made me gain a slight amount of respect back for Chrysler. A very small amount, but still some.

[Jesda]

The appeal of 2wd V6 shortbed regular cab half-ton pickups is entirely lost on me. I'd much rather have a Ranger or Frontier. If I'm going to own a half-ton pickup, it needs to justify itself over a midsizer. And the way it does that is by going off-road and towing. Which means 4WD and a V8.

That's always been the dilemma in the pickup market. A well-optioned compact truck costs as much as a basic half-ton with the same fuel economy.


That's probably why Ford didn't bring the new Ranger to the US.

[Mr1der]

that and it looks like a jelly bean with downs syndrom.

[IanS]

MY EYES MY EYES MYYYYY EEEYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OOOOHHHHHHHH THE PAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIINNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make it stop, please make it stop

[MinisterofDOOM]

That thing is ugly. And the bed's so short you probably couldn't even fit a bicycle in it.

Ford were idiots to kill off the old Ranger. It was the only COMPACT pickup left, and thus the only one offering fuel economy benefits over a half-ton.

[WDRacing]

Ford were idiots to kill off the old Ranger.

The 4 banger Ranger is one of the top 10 trucks ever made imho.

Congrats on the purchase Jesda. I will make it a point to try that bbq if I ever make it back that way. Just reading your article made me wicked hungry.