Dodge built in Mexico v/s Fenton, MO.
I expect to buy a new Dodge 1500 Quad Cab this
week. What can I expect in the way of differences
in one built here v/s Mexico?
week. What can I expect in the way of differences
in one built here v/s Mexico?
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
As far as I know, all quad cabs are built in Mexico.
- Warren Michigan - regular cabs only
- Fenton Missouri - Quad cabs only
- Saltillo Mexico - Club and Quad Cabs (no Clubs after 1999)
- Lago Alberto Mexico - regular, Club, and Quad (regular cabs for Mexico sales only, no Clubs after 1999)
Lago Alberto also builds the Ram 6500 medium duty truck for Mexico only. It would compete with the Ford F650 and Chevy/GMC C6500 if sold here.
Incidentally, my 1996 Ram 3500 was built in Lago Alberto, and has been the best screwed-together truck I've ever owned.
Actually, if you have followed Dodge over the last 20 years, the Mexican built Rams have always had a reputation for being built like tanks. The Lago Alberto plant has been in operation since 1938 - the exact same year the Warren plant opened in Michigan.
AH,HAH!!!Now I know why Dodge has always had a suspect reputation in quality! LOL
I'm just ribbing the Sheep herders...
Actually I didn't know about that. Was the Mexican plant in continuous use over the years? And if so, has the communist regime of the UAW ever raised hell?
With the redesign for 1994, all bets were off. St. Louis North and Saltillo Mexico were added to keep up. The St. Louis plant will be undergoing a MAJOR upgrade and enlarge over the next year, keeping the UAW very happy. Saltillo and Lago were enlarged last year. Warren is running full-chat because in addition to Ram regular cabs, it is currently the only source of Dakotas.
When you realize the 1993 Ram sold just 89,000 and the 1999 will sell close to 450,000, you can see why the UAW has no complaints - they're getting plenty of work.
Looks like I'll by a 2000 GMC....
Why the name if you own a Dodge?
I will freely admit, I love the way the truck looks, drives, and rides but any vehicle that has been in the shop twenty some odd times in two years can't really be called anything else except for a P.O.S.
I still love the truck, but I want a vehicle that doen't need to be in the shop once a month for repairs.
I've never owned a vehicle that has been this difficult. I guess it is more the service I am receive more so than the vehicle itself.
It just dawned on.... you were talking about chevycam not P.O.S.
Basically,it is because I have always had a GM product as one of my vehicles (until I bought the Dodge in a moment of weakness). I still have my first car ( the one I got when I was 16)-- a 1979 Chevrolet Camaro. It is in great shape and kept in the Garage most of the time.
Sorry for the momentary loss of brain power!
My '96 Mexican built 1500, club-cab, 8' box, 4x4 is kicking along just fine with 45K on it. The only problem I've had is if I ever let a dealer change oil on it. Very few dealers have decent customer service anymore. Ford and GM are no better.
My Camry was built in KY, USA by non-UAW labor, it's very tight!
My Ford Tortoise is a nightmare...I've written plenty about it along with other poor Tortoise fool/owners in Sedans topic #61 or Maintenance and Repair #153. It was, of course a product of the typical poor assembly of the UAW plant here in the USA. UAW Canada plants have a better overall quality control record than USA plants.
After years of buying American and supporting American products, with relatives and personal history of our family in the American auto business, it was very difficult for me to throw in the towel and buy Japanese. Now I wonder what I was thinking and why I waited so long!
Ford sure doesn't care about me or who I buy from, they pretend not to know me or other Tortoise owners that have had ongoing problems in huge numbers.
Did I say how nice my Camry V-6 is? What a rocket! I like my cars tight and fast, you?
on how Mexican autoworkers are "better"
than their UAW counterparts. Down there,
if there is no work, you go home and not
get paid. One reason they're better, according
to the article, they cross-trained. If they finish
their specific duties on the assembly line,
they go to another part of the factory and do
other tasks. Unlike UAW, when there is no
work, they take a 2-hour break. According to
the article, this makes the factories down
there more efficient because if someone in
a certain department calls in sick or are short
handed, they don't stop or slow the line, they
just take somebody else in the factory to take
the worker's place. I think what GM gave
UAW(life-time employment) is a big mistake.
That means they can be improductive, produce
crappy products, and still get a high salary.
Some of you might think I'm saying this because
I'm of Mexican descent, but I know of many
Anglo friends who feel the same way about the
UAW.
Bottom line is that good or bad, there is more union presence in the US than elsewhere (to a lesser extent in Canada), and often new initiatives are tried in factories outside US. Examples are the modular construction and new PPG painting techniques tried at the Dakota factory in Brazil.
There are a number of reasons for this:
- outside US factories are often lower output and so can absorb these easier
- less union activity which MAY cause difficulties
- workforce that is often more receptive to change.
Quality standards are also often better in factories outside US.
I don't care whether people agree or not, I am just telling it like it is, oh and I'm English now living in Canada.
I'm full blooded American. I agree with you both 100%. I deal with union issues in the roofing industry here in the Phila. area and I'd rather not talk about it if you gather my drift....
The UAW is too stupid to see they are causing their own self-destruction!
I don't want to pick on glenn2 specifically here, so lets just look at a few facts.
NO company is going to pay more than the local market going rate for salaries or anything else. All of the big auto makers invest huge sums of money to build factories outside of their home countries, they provide training to workers, (look at the Japanese in England about 15 years ago - they retrained 10,000+ ship builders to build cars), jobs to areas that would otherwise would have huge unemployment and all of the accompanying social problems.
Do they deserve a return on that investment - of course they do. Market by market pricing, an interesting concept - and the surest way I can think of to close every single US auto factory. Instead many overseas plants subsidise the cost of building in US.
I will admit that I was taken aback when a friend pointed out to me that it was built in Mexico, but knowing what I know now I wouldn't want it any other way.
this topic is being "frozen". It will be archived or deleted in the next 10 days or so.
Front Porch Philosopher
SUV, Pickups, & Aftermarket and Accessories Host