Engine: 4.7-liter V-8, 235 horsepower, five-speed automatic
Features: four-wheel drive, towing package, short bed
Ownership history: bought with 45,000 miles in November 2011, traded in April 2012 with 50,000 miles
In November 2011, I needed a reliable 4×4 truck because I was moving to Indiana at the start of winter to take a new job. I foolishly purchased this lemon after a short test drive and without taking my Mopar expert friend Richard along. I did crawl all over the truck – top and bottom – to inspect it. The paint and body were in excellent condition, even if the interior suggested it had seen some heavy use. Before I even got out of town a month later, here is what went wrong with it:
- I discovered that the heater box door hinge had broken off, delivering a weak combination of heated air and outside cold air no matter where I set the climate control. It turns out this is a typical problem with Dodge Rams and Ford F-150s of this vintage, and any dealership will fix it for about $1,400. In order to replace the entire heater box, it is necessary to remove the dashboard, which really cranks up the labor cost and generally makes everything in the cockpit rattle. I did some research and had my mechanic install a kit for $400 (parts and labor) that fixed the problem.
- The turn signal stick and modulator went bad during my second week of ownership, which cost about $500 to repair.
- Even though it had driven fine when I tested it, the Ram started pulling to the right after I put a few hundred miles on it. I had it aligned (for the first time) and rotated the tires. The right-side pull came back when I was towing a small U-Haul to Indiana on New Years Eve, and it never went away, even after my second alignment.
- When the U-Haul dealer hooked up the electrical harness for my trailer, he could not get the trailer’s right turn signal to fire. After an hour, he traced the problem to my truck’s computer module. Apparently, I would need to spend about $1,200 to get a new one installed if I ever wanted to tow anything with working turn signals.
- While still in North Carolina, I noticed the transmission or axle made a strong clunking noise every time I shifted into Drive. That noise continued throughout my brief ownership of the truck.
- Once I got to Indiana, I noticed the interior lights would only stay on for 11 seconds – no matter the situation. I tried them with the engine on and off, with doors open and closed, in Drive and in Park. Eleven seconds, then off. Nothing in the manual or on the internet mentioned this as a “setting,” so I assumed it was one more electrical glitch waiting to stop me on the side of the road some dangerous night.
One day, my wife and I were driving back from Canada (in a rented car, of course), and we made a short list of inexpensive fun cars that would get twice the gas mileage of the Ram. We drove to the new-car dealership row, looked at a few options and ditched the Ram with the Kia store in exchange for a 2012 Soul in Alien Green. I lost a few thousand dollars on the Ram, but it was worth it in the long run.
Lesson learned: Do not buy a used car without some form of extended warranty.
