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Dodge Ram Quad Cab
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Comments
i was comparing the quad to the ford s-crew and 1/2 ton crew cab from gm when talking about back seat room. to me, since dodge only offers one four door style truck, the quad competes against both crews and regular extended cabs. obviously the quad beats competitors extended cabs in room. however, the rear seat in my s-crew is far more comfy on a long trip vs the quads, and that is prolly the main reason why i drive an s-crew...
First, some of you are assuming that Dodge is trying to compete head-to-head against Ford and GM's crew cabs. They are not. So arguments about space are specious. I'm sure the engineers at Dodge have a couple of tape measures around and understand the space differences between their truck and the competition.
Dodge decided to put more room in the bed area and I for one understand their logic. I can get a fullsize ATV in the back of a new Dodge Quad and keep the tailgate down. The others you cannot. For some that will be more important than having that rear seat behind them when they're driving around with nobody back there, which for the vast majority of four-door trucks is probably about 95% of the time.
So Dodge, who couldn't match the total output of fullsize trucks anyway even if they had the same size and undisputed best truck on the planet, is trying to fill a void in the market. The utilization rate of manufacturing space is sometimes more important than gross sales, especially in a down-turn market.
Some people may select one vehicle over the others for only one reason. But others may not, taking a more balanced look at their total needs and evaluating a list of features, pluses, and minuses. For example, having the grave misfortune of spending a week this past hunting season in a 2001 Chevy crew, I could very well understand why some people would opt for the Dodge (even a '47 Dodge) just as an escape from rattling engines, driveline vibrations, slipping transmissions, and perhaps the most abysmal component and assembly quality in the entire world.
If the criticism of the new 2002 RAM 4-door is the few areas noted here, it is more of a testiment to the competitiveness of the new RAM then some people will care to admit.
There is no doubt that Dodge took a different route when they designed the 2002 four-door. As someone else said in this thread, the Ford crew has more room and comfortable seating in the rear. That has not, however, prevented Ford from being behind GM by approximately 130,000 units this year, the first time in many, many years.
Dusty
An aquaintance of a good friend who works at a Dodge dealership says that out of more than 60 trucks they haven't had one come back yet.
Dusty
Obviously Dodge felt that their new platform has an advantage for them. I suspect that 4-door crews that are perceived to be bigger might actually have a disadvantage against the RAM.
I have been suspecting also that RAMs around here are selling okay. My local dealer has sold 51 2002 RAMs in 78 days. He tells me that in the past they averaged about 180-200 RAMs a year. At this same rate they'll pass previous sales.
Sales reports from 2002 introduction through the month of January indicate that RAM is ahead of last year sales (this time last year). This is without the heavier rebate advantages of their competition and with a shorter sale period.
2002^^^^^^^^^2001
F150 - - - - -55,370 ^^^^^^59041
Chevy - - - - 51184^^^^^^^^47663
RAM - - - - - 26019^^^^^^^^25178
Dusty
The opinions that you read above are 100% correct. I work as a product evalaution engineer in the auto industry (non-Big 3), driving 100's of vehicles per year. Simply put, in the fullsize truck market, there is no competition for the New Ram. I've driven them all, from Avalanche, HD Crew Cab, Super Crew to Dakota, Tundra, etc.
This wekend, I finally pulled the trigger and got a New Ram Quad cab. After driving 10 different trucks at the same dealer-all ofthem flawless, I had convinced myself this was the right decision.
If you can make an objective evalaution, putting aside brand bias, I can't imagine anyone taking Chevy or Ford vs the New Dodge. The Diamler people have undoubtedly had a big effect on quality. I understand that the Germans have issued some challenges to the US factories regarding quality and linked that to line worker bonuses. As an example, if you go to the Dodge dealer, one with 20-30 Rams on hand, you can find a sticker in the drivers door window of at least a few of them stating that the vehicle was used by the Product Quality group to evaluate production quality (the truck will actually have about 35miles on the odometer).
The Ford dealer here in town has been advertising $3500 rebates on F150s for about 6 weeks. I don't know if that's a full division rebate or one of those regional deals. They still have some 2001s in stock.
Dusty
I just payed 500 under invoice with 3.9 financing which I think is a good deal for the truck I'm getting. Buying at invoice price, I think we can't go wrong. The final factor is what are we prepared to pay as a 'fair' price for what we're receiving. My other issue during my purchasing experience was finding a deal who will also offer a fair price on the trade-in I had, going between 4 dealers the amount varied by up to 1500$.
My only trouble now is that I'm working in Florida and my truck is in Texas...Saturday won't come too soon.
Paul
PS - Are we crazy to be addicted to our trucks??
BTW, I gave my drop-in bedliner back to the dealership and had them do a spray-in. SO MUCH BETTER. Have had both. Will never go back to drop-in.
MAGILLA....what is it about drop in bedliners that you don't like. What is it about spray-in that you like?
thanks in advance,
Dusty
Also, I would like to get opinions as to tonneau covers. I will be using the bed only on weekends during the spring & summer for hauling gardening and home improvement supplies. I want something for those occasions where I will need full access to the bed that is high quality, will reduce drag, and protect the bed/contents well but also it should be easy to remove on a regular basis without causing a degradation in its use (ie snap down types that become difficult to snap down). Any and all recommendations are appreciated and will be given serious consideration.
Thanks to all who post here. The information is very valuable to a truck Newbie like myself.
My spray-in is a Linex, I think. Just like Rhino, very durable. Nothing gets under it. I can easily get to my all my tie downs. It looks cleaner, doesn't scratch paint, looks factory, and is TOUGH. Always have to turn the face away when looking at a neighbor's truck with an over the lip drop-in liner. It's kind of warping and has pretty much removed most of the paint from the top of his bed. Not good.
I can't believe what I almost paid for a Ford, Toyota, and a Chevy. None of the others drove as nicely or offered the size and value of the RAM Quad. It's a clear winner. Make the best deal possible and don't look back. Hope this helps.
I agree Magilla their is no other truck manufacture that can touch the quality, engineering, and feel of these new Dodges. They are the Lexus's of trucks and that is coming from a former die hard GMer.
Back to this bedliner issue, I only spent $250 through the dealership for my liner. The cheapest I ever bought a good drop-in was $180. Not that big of a deal. My spray-in is slightly over the rails and lines up perfectly with the black rubbery parts around the windows. Makes a nice line. The best part is that the company that put it in took off everything in the bed, sprayed it, and put everything back. Looks great.
Pushplay, I wanted a colored liner to match my silver truck, but the liner guys talked me out of it saying that it will probably fade. Hope this helps. Love the spray-in.
you sure have alot of demands for a guy who would likely only buy ONE style truck...?
Yes, XYZ71 I have fond memories of my father's trucks having all kinds of dents and scratches in the beds from hauling gravel to replenish the driveway and coal for the antiquated furnace (he put in an oil burner in 1972 when he finally got tired of all the shoveling!) I thought the dents/scratches were cool as they proved it was a work truck and not just somebody pretending to be something.
OT - stupid salesman. I went to another dealer, about 8 miles away, to see if I could get a better deal. I printed out the Edmunds "Price Your Own" sheet just to show "Them" I wasn't to be taken advantage of. My reasons for doing so were instantly confirmed because as I handed the printout to the salesman and the first thing he said was, "Oh, God. Not another one of you internet guys!" THANKS EDMUNDS! He immediately began playing dumb. I say "playing" because as he looked down the list (I wanted a Patriot Blue SLT with everything but leather) he said, "We don't have any blue ones but we do have a couple of red, a black and a silver one. I think the red ones have the 20" wheels though, so they will look a little different than the truck you want." I then pointed at the printout where it listed the Image Group and his response was, "Yea, I see that and it's real nice if you don't like all the chrome." Obviously he was confusing the Sport Appearance Group with the Image group. At this point I was beginning to think that maybe he wasn't playing the stupid salesman role but really was one. Anyway he offered to take me on a test drive during which I went on one of the local (Northern Kentucky) twisty roads and some I275 cruising. I must say that the truck has a very nice ride with minimal wind/tire noise and handled the curves well however I did notice every expansion joint on the freeway; still not enough to pass on the truck. After returning to the dealership to do some serious haggling I began by offering invoice stating that my reason for doing so was the holdback and the number of Mopar Accessories (ie Tubular Side Steps, Tonneau cover, etc.) I was going to order as well. His response, after consulting with the sales manager, was "You know these are new trucks and are selling like hotcakes right now. The best I can do is take $1500 off (the Incentive). But we will install all your accessories at no charge when it comes in." I told him I knew about the $1500 incentive so he wasn't really giving me anything. I then asked him if he had ever heard of Edmunds, I was about to tell him to look at the TMV price, and he claimed not to know anything about it. Fortunately for me the salesman in the next cubicle could be heard saying "Yea, Edmunds is a good site, we all read it." Which left me wondering which salesman was the really stupid one: the one who claimed not to know about the most popular auto site on the web or the one who just called his "brother" a liar? Anyway, I told the salesman that I had not come there to be jerked around and that I would stand by my original offer because he had done NO WORK whatsoever to make this sale as I came in knowing exactly what I wanted and I pointed out that since he was only acting as my purchasing agent there was enough profit already built into the deal. He just stared at me for a few seconds then said, "I'm sorry but I can sell that truck for alot more than you are offering." I asked him how he was going to sell a truck he did not have but instead would have to be ordered special for me? His response was that IF he had that specific truck he could sell it for more. I reemphasized that he did not actually have such a truck, that he would have to special order it for me so in fact he COULD NOT get more for a non-existant truck, and that he would lose the sale if he remained unflexible. Long story shortened: he would not budge and I walked out. As I got into my car to leave he came running out saying that the sales manager had graciously offered to lower the price another $500. I just drove away. This is 5 star treatment?
2002 Dodge Ram Quad Cab 4x2 140" WB $20171.
Auto Transmission 45RFE $858.
4.7 V8 No Charge
Cloth Seats No Charge
Am/Fm radio Cassette $110.
24G Package $2103.
Customer Preferred Discount -$484.
Dallas Zone-PPA/EB-PF $210.
Destination $715.
Other Misc BS $31.00
That totals $23714.
Take away the rebate and invoices at $22214.
The drive away price was $20455
That is $1759 below invoice without the rebate!
That is $3259 below invoice with the rebate!
That price included the bed liner, bug deflector, and pin stripes.
I added a CD Player, Fog Lamps, Keyless Entry, to bring the total to $21,200.
I added $700. to the deal that they cut me a check for so I can pay my taxes in Alabama.
Keep in mind also, that the $20,455 included a hood mounted wind deflector, a bed liner, and pin striping.
The MSRP was $26,005 before the added options. I built one on line with the options for $26,895.
MSRP $26,895
Paid $21,200
Total -$5695
Randall Noe Dealerships
Hwy 80 West @ 205
Terrell, TX.
972-524-3775
Ask for Kelli Ann in internet sales. Tell her Lamar sent you.
I have driven this truck for 5 days. It is, by far, the best purchase I have ever made for a vehicle. I sent my 99 Suburban back to it's rightful owner (GMAC) yesterday. I really enjoyed that truck but I now realize how bad it really sucked. Although it never let me down, and it hauled alot of cargo, it was a poorly built, poorly designed, chunk of steel. This new Dodge, which I had not even considered until two weeks ago, is as solid a vehicle as I have ever driven.
I can comfortably seat my 12, 9, and 6 year old girls in the back while they watch DVD's on the laptop mounted on the huge center console.
My Wife just got a "boob" job two weeks ago. I got a new Quad last week. I can't wait to see what's in store for me this week! Life is good.
2002 RAM THE MAYOR OF TRUCKVILLE