50,000 Miles Makes It the Second-Most Loved - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

50,000 Miles Makes It the Second-Most Loved - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

Our long-term 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel crosses over the 50,000-mile marker, making it the second-longest tenured vehicle in our fleet history.

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nagant

Except the Flex did not crap out on someone and require $10K worth of repairs. Like the Ram or not, that was and is a HUGE deal no matter how hard the issue is spun. The Flex and the and the LT '08 Focus were just about flawless as I remember, some the the RAM has not been.

misterfusion

That's rather disingenuous. The repairs were covered by warranty, and they were only so extensive because the issue was a new one and Mopar wanted to diagnose whether it was systemic across the line (which it's not, I gather). I believe subsequent posts showed that it was actually not necessary to have pulled the entire fuel system. This all reads to me like one fluke in one vehicle. To put it another way, as a shopper I would not automatically be worried that I would have to change-out the fuel system at 10000 miles...

daryleason

I'm going to say that "Most Used" and "Most Loved" aren't necessarily the same. You may have loved the Corvette a lot more than the Ram, but when it's time to either go off-roading or move your girlfriend from California to Oregon, chosen the Ram or F-150. Now, I'm not going to dig in the quality issues with the Ram, whether that should mean it's not "most loved" because the truth is that a horrible car can still be loved by someone. Otherwise, the Balkin Bullet wouldn't be so popular.

nate001

I agree with @misterfusion
If even an insignificant number (100?) of vehicles had stalled like this one then RAM or NHTSA would have ordered a further investigation and a recall to fix the issue.

I hope that this truck is leaving to make room for the Nissan Titan with the Cummins or the Diesel GMC Canyon (or both).

allthingshonda

The EcoDiesel claim to fame is that it's the only diesel in a sea of gassers. To have the diesel fuel system fail, be towed in, and require the engineers at Chrysler to determine the fix is nothing that should be disregarded. In contrast, so far the all new 2.7 EcoBoost engine has run like a champ despite being grossly overfilled with oil.

defyant15

I like the RAM diesel. A really capable truck. I also love the new Tacoma. However, not mentioning the whole fuel system issue is surprising here - it would have been a massive headache for an individual owner if this happened to them!

defyant15

nate001 said:

I agree with @misterfusion
If even an insignificant number (100?) of vehicles had stalled like this one then RAM or NHTSA would have ordered a further investigation and a recall to fix the issue.

I hope that this truck is leaving to make room for the Nissan Titan with the Cummins or the Diesel GMC Canyon (or both).

Please. The 02-08 BMW's M cars where notorious for throwing rods and SMG failures (and Vanos). Counting on the NHTSA to order a recall was a pipe dream.

nate001

If I remember correctly the F-150 was out for a week with a leaking oil line...

nagant

defyant15 said:

I like the RAM diesel. A really capable truck. I also love the new Tacoma. However, not mentioning the whole fuel system issue is surprising here - it would have been a massive headache for an individual owner if this happened to them!

Because they like the Ram (it is a nice truck) they are spinning about the failure and massive repairs required. If the F150 had failed like that every other post would be yakking about it. In the auto journalist collective mind there is the distorted love of all things diesel, so the Ram is given a pass for a major problem. Ram is starting to offer cash on the hood for the ED which means they are no longer selling as many as they can make......probably because the hard core diesel lover market has been captured and most are looking at a $5-10K price premium is stupid and not worth the money,

bankerdanny

nagant said:

Except the Flex did not crap out on someone and require $10K worth of repairs. Like the Ram or not, that was and is a HUGE deal no matter how hard the issue is spun. The Flex and the and the LT '08 Focus were just about flawless as I remember, some the the RAM has not been.

The fuel system issue is a well documented fluke and not design flaw that applies to all Ram EcoDiesels. And beyond that this truck has been very reliable and consistently meets or exceeds its EPA ratings as opposed to the F-150, which I don't think has ever managed to hit its highway number.

nagant

nate001 said:

If I remember correctly the F-150 was out for a week with a leaking oil line...

Ummmm because an idiot waaaaay overfilled it with oil.....hardly a defect.

nagant

bankerdanny said:

nagant said:

Except the Flex did not crap out on someone and require $10K worth of repairs. Like the Ram or not, that was and is a HUGE deal no matter how hard the issue is spun. The Flex and the and the LT '08 Focus were just about flawless as I remember, some the the RAM has not been.

The fuel system issue is a well documented fluke and not design flaw that applies to all Ram EcoDiesels. And beyond that this truck has been very reliable and consistently meets or exceeds its EPA ratings as opposed to the F-150, which I don't think has ever managed to hit its highway number.

Ummm you dont see the difference in a truck that leaves someone stranded and needs thousands of $s of repar (fluke or not) and a truck not meeting it's EPA figures? Besides with gas prices where they are and with an almost $10K difference in price over a F150 2.7T and other diesel related service costs it will take hundreds of thousands of miles to get to the break even part. That the 2.7 will out pull the ED up any hill and on the highway is another plus for the gasser. Spending $6-10K MORE to save a few MPGs is penny wise and pound foolish.

nate001

nagant said:

nate001 said:

If I remember correctly the F-150 was out for a week with a leaking oil line...

Ummmm because an idiot waaaaay overfilled it with oil.....hardly a defect.

I don't think they ever found the cause for the oil line leak, but having it overfilled with oil was a separate issue and would not have put extra pressure on the line.

Unless the issue reoccurs then I would count both the Ford & Ram issues as manufacturing defects that all new cars seem to have. if you look back at the cars that Edmunds tests almost every new car will have to go in to have a recall or repair done in the first year. Some are more minor like Steering Wheel Heater or Nav issue, others are more major like the ones with the Ford & Ram.

allthingshonda

Comparing the oil leak in the F-150 to the fuel system problem in the Ram is not exactly fair. The F-150 was driven to the dealer for service. The repair took a long time because the dealership didn't have enough mechanics which caused a backlog waiting list. The problem itself was easily diagnosed and corrected, Ford has a TSB for it. The Ram had to be towed in and the mechanics at the dealer couldn't figure out the problem. They had to call Chrysler engineering for help and they also could figure out what caused the failure so they just replaced the entire fuel system. Essentially they threw parts at it because they couldn't figure out what went wrong.

Yes, the Ram gets amazing MPGs compared to the F-150. However, when it comes to doing what a truck is made for the EcoDiesel is no match for the EcoBoost engines or the good old Hemi. If I were buying a Ram I'm getting the Hemi. Cost less to buy and maintain and if I need to load it down, it's not a problem.