Buying a new truck

Brett,

Your father is correct, but things have changed with the internet. Basically, their is enough info on the net concerning new car pricing that you can almost determine the cost, to the dealer, before walking on the lot. I realize that I am not answering your question, but I am just trying to give some in-site.

I would take a hard look at a two year old machine. Let someone else take the hit by driving it off of the lot. Get rid of it every three years instead of five. What would Dave Ramsey do?

Just one fart and that new car smell is gone.

JMO,

Donald

Donald, I originally thought about that but I was talking with my buddy who also works for the same company and he brought up 2 very good points. 1.) I'd have to get rid of a 2 year old truck in only 3 years since I need to keep it within 5 model years. 2.) I will be financing a large portion of the vehicle and many automakers are offering 0.0% financing right now which negates a large portion of that money saved by buying used. It is impossible (so far that I've found) to find financing on a used vehicle at zero percent.

Tim, thanks for the link, I will check that out tonight!

I guess I also need to look into our "X-Plan" more as well. We have pretty big corporate buying power and I believe have X-Plans with most major auto manufacturers. Problem is so far the manufacturer and dealer incentives on 2013's since it is end of year for them may be better than our x-plan gives.

For what it's worth, I drove Dodge products for over 3/4 of a million miles. Then a friend in the GMC business talked me into it. I like their trucks. If you don't carry a tremendous amount of weight (mounted toolboxes?) you can do with a 1500 with a 5.3 V8. I thought it would be wimpy pulling boats, but not so. And without a boat I average 16+ MPG. And I probably have 500 pounds of tools in the boxes.
Art

Bret, You are probably going to want to look at the Express Trim level. That will hit your price range but miss out on some creature comforts like the in door storage yadda yadda yadda. You have to check off options at that level like the remote entry group, luxury interior group( it not vinyl seats). And convenience group (power windows and such). Express comes automatically with the Hemi, monochromatic paint scheme, and 20" painted silver wheels. I would recommend opting for the 3.92 axle ratio for towing and economy.

The base interior on the 13+ trucks is much more appealing to the eye than if my truck were an express.

My best friend has a beautiful mineral grey 13 express ram. He averages between 18.5 and 19.5 highway (4x4) and says his economy light is rarely if ever on. It has the 3.55 rear end. I believe the 3.92 makes the engine work quite a bit less hard thus returning better fuel economy by means of the engine being able to operate in cylinder deactivation mode. When I am on the highway unless I have a heavy head wind the eco light rarely goes off.

I had some stupid warranty issues when it was newer but that was mostly because most techs ad dealerships suck. Biggest annoyance of ownership has been the rattles in the front door panels. The new panels do not have the same joints at the ones in my truck so the rattles shouldn't be an issue.

Replaced one idler pulley and one rear sliding window switch. So 40 bucks worth of parts so far.

You will love the operation of the Ram. Drives and rides so nice. The VVT Hemi has loads of low end torque. I got on the highway and did about a 75 mile run last weekend with some small grades and it never shifted out of OD one time. That's why I used to hate towing gas was all the gear hunting but the new generation Hemi has made it a much better experience.

TRBenj wrote: bhectus wrote: I was thinking about just sending my requirements in to various dealerships' Internet Dept and have myself a little auction. Kind of how the plumbing contractors send their bid list to every wholesaler in town looking for the cheapest quote to buy from. Has anyone done anything like this? I highly recommend Fighting Chance. I used it when I bought my 4Runner. The only 2 times I had to go to a dealership were when I test drove one, and when I signed the paperwork on a deal we had already negotiated. The package will walk you all the way through the whole process and give you all the info you need- lots of insight and useful tips on strategy, timing, etc. Also model specific info- sales figures, rebates- things that will give you an advantage. Good stuff. I wouldnt rule out the Tundra just yet if you liked your '08 that much. Check Edmunds.com and see what the invoice price is on the model you want- plan on paying invoice +/- a few hundred bucks, less any applicable rebates. That will be the worst case scenario... using the method above may also get you a deal way better than that.

Tim,
I'm curious. What was special order about yours. I was always told that it's very difficult to get a deal on a special order vehicle. I suppose that this website makes that possible.

Swatkinz wrote:     Tim, I'm curious. What was special order about yours. I was always told that it's very difficult to get a deal on a special order vehicle. I suppose that this website makes that possible.

It was special order because they knew TRBenj was the purchaser. He has special super powers.

quinner wrote: Swatkinz wrote: Tim, I'm curious. What was special order about yours. I was always told that it's very difficult to get a deal on a special order vehicle. I suppose that this website makes that possible. Extra large Makeup mirrors, Tampon dispenser, Pink accents throughout and one of those fury steering wheel covers

^^^Exactly! After I saw CQ's ride, I had to have me one just like it!

Nothing really "special" about my truck- I just wanted it configured in a way that did not match how Toyota was grouping options in any US region. There is only a handful of ways they option vehicles, but none of them matched exactly what I wanted (SE trim, V8, sunroof, no spoiler). So, I special ordered (which was actually a "request" but thats another story) the truck. While dealerships love to sell you something that is already on their lot (since they are paying overhead/financing on everything in stock), if youre dead set on special ordering a vehicle, you still have a strong bargaining position. The dealership wont have to pay any financing or overhead on a vehicle that they turn around the day it comes in.

Get the EcoBoost! Zach is crazy and he's also heavily biased,....like me .   EcoBoost with 3:55 gears (it has so damn much torque that's all the gearing it needs) and you'll get 17-18 pulling that boat. Just ask Jbear's brother Bill. I drove Nautique John's Eco (3:73 gears) to CT (spent the night with Tim) and pulled back a 3800lb car in a 24' enclosed trailer and got over 10 mph (10.8). I know that's nothing to brag about, but I was hauling the mail too. With that truck/engine, it pulls so strong, you'll find yourself constantly looking in the mirror to make sure the boat's still there.    

Geez......I meant to say 10.8 mp"g" at 100 MPH . Uphill. Both ways.

Bret
Before I deployed I sold my truck because it didn't make sense to keep paying on a truck that was going to be 2 years older (deprecation) when I got back.
Ford has a build your own truck on their site so about 4 months before I was scheduled to come home I built a truck all the options I wanted then sent out a copy via internet to all the dealers within 50 mile of my home.
I told them I was deployed and didn’t have time or resources to go back and forth on price and that I wanted it on the lot ready to be picked up the first week I got home. I told each dealer that I sent the info to several dealers and that they had “ONE” shot at the best price and that whoever had the best price was going to sell that truck.
I feel it worked great when I got all the different bids I ended up saving quite a chunk on the truck.

HAhaha! Does he have a monitor on his cell phone that goes off if you breach 65 mph?

Hey it's just that people have learned to pay attention when you drive

I'm really not quite the speed nazi that Tim makes me out to be, however when you're wheeling around a 9000+ lb V10 powered bread truck with any size boat behind it, you'll find your life-long driving style can indeed change to quieten a screaming wallet. Since we were so anxious to get to Tim's however, I actually lifted the self-imposed governor from 60 to 65, so going up we managed 9.0 mpg and 8.? on ride home. Ouch!!

dodge is the best looking truck out there if you like the 1951 chevy passenger car grille stuck jammed into a four wheel drive cordoba .. so Reid what car did you haul home in the trailer? something good?

peter1234 wrote: .. .. so Reid what car did you haul home in the trailer? something good?

Why a classic 1979 Chrysler Cordoba of course, "with fine Corinthian leather". (most likely only the older guys remember that commercial)
Actually, and I honestly wasn't baiting someone to ask, but back in December I did finally get Laurie's approval to break down and spring for my long desired middle age crisis-mobile, a 5800 mile, 2011 Shelby GT 500 rag top. I wish it was a 1968 but I'll have to make it another 55 yrs for that. Anyway it's in perfect condition and until I got caught in a very brief shower it hadn't even been run in the rain yet and hasn't been since. It's a blast to drive and I'm loving it.

Zach, you really need that truck! And I'll definitely need a ride in it.