Oregon Road Trip, The Coast - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

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Oregon Road Trip, The Coast - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

This time we drove our 2014 Ram 1500 Ecodiesel on my semi-annual trip to Oregon because we had a lot of hauling to do on the way home.

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bankerdanny

"Sarah, my youngest daughter, took little time in assigning the Big Red Truck a name: Clifford. Ask your kids."

Clifford was first published in 1963. I would venture to say that most people who read this blog read it when they were kids and introduced their children to Clifford and not the other way around.

As far as the Ram goes. I continue to be impressed and it seems to me like the diesel is worth the premium price and I bet that will be born out by the price you get when you sell it. You might not cover the extra cost from fuel economy, but you will make up any deficiency on resale.

misterfusion

I agree with bankerdanny. There may be some who can only fixate on the fuel economy portion of the cost/benefit ratio ("It'll take you X years to pay for the engine upgrade!"), but this truck seems to have many more benefits than just better mileage.

By the way -- Dan, would you mind giving a plug for the wiper blades you purchased? I find that good wiper blades are important in SoCal, but for a different reason than elsewhere: We need them to stay in good shape through all the sun exposure, so they'll actually work well during the rare times when we need them. OEM blades rarely accomplish this.

actualsize

The "regular wipers will never suffice again" comment refers to the rain-sensing wiper system on the truck. The name of the actual blades I purchased escapes me. It was a name brand (Trico or Bosch), but one of their priciest versions. The blades were a flexible one-piece beam design with a spoiler molded in for downforce instead of the usual cantilevered trusswork.