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That being said..I am leasing 3 of the Dodge Ram 1500's..fully loaded, SLT's with sport package, 4X4, chrome wheels, hemi motor..for 285.00 each per month for 36 months with 5000 down. The dealer (and 4 others I went to) knocked anywhere between 6 and 8500 dollars off the sticker to try and make the deal.
Chevy and Ford dealers just shook their heads, as GM and Ford aren't factory subsidizing the dealers to move their trucks..they don't have to.
Irregardless, the Dodge deal is too good of a deal to pass up.
Poor resale value is not associated with the Dakota series. And in the Rochester, New York area, there are quite a few purchased fleet Dakotas. Frontier Telephone and Rochester Gas & Electric are just two major purchasers of Dakotas. My neighbor was the fleet asset manager for the Frontier Telephone vehicles until Global Crossing sold Frontier off. He told me that they were an exceptionally solid truck with the lowest maintenance and repair cost each year they've had them, and had better "resale value".
If you look at nationally published raw numbers the Dodge RAM will be less than a Chevy or Ford, that's true. But those figures by themselves are misleading. The true "value" of any automotive model is determined by the delta between the actual fair market value and what was paid for the same vehicle when new.
If you look at industry sales analysis you'll find that that the mean average sale price of the GM or Ford truck when new is higher than the Dodge. This means that, despite the manufacturers retail price (sticker price), the average Dodge truck owner gets a higher percentage off of the purchase price. Hence the actual value is the difference between price paid and fair market value and generally an advantage for the Dodge owner.
Secondly, GM and Ford both have entrenched market share and a higher loyalty factor than Dodge. Market rules will always dictate value. The fact that the name on a truck is "Dodge," "Ford," or Chevrolet" is not what influences used value by itself. It's determined by the local market. The average price paid for GM or Ford trucks is higher because they have a larger population of loyal prospective buyers that will pay the extra price because that's the only truck they'll own, and dealers know this.
In addition, fair market values are not geographically universal. There are some parts of the country where Dodge trucks recover a higher percentage of their original purchase price than competetive makes. In western New York State, Dodge returns value at a better than national rate. You'll find this pattern with GM and Ford trucks as well (Ford is tradionally very strong in the southeast).
As I look at the latest issue of my local Auto Trader I notice that there are 135 Chevrolets, 84 Fords, and only 11 used Dodge RAMs. This is a typical "supply-and-demand" market. And the prices advertised seem to reflect that. Despite the "Dodge factor," the advertised prices are right in with the GM and actually appear slightly higher than the Ford prices, year-for-year, equipment-for-equipment comparisons.
Despite what any dealer will offer you, check out your area Auto Trader (or equivilent publication)of advertised prices and do the comparison yourself. You might be surprised.
Best regards,
Dusty
According to my sources, the ENTIRE Dodge line is known for their poor resale value.
I have family, and close friends who are in the car biz..some are wholesalers, some own million dollar dealerships, and some are auctionhouse owners. I made a few calls before buying the Rams, and all verbally read me, or faxed me what the Dodge trucks are bringing thru either an auction house, or in the latest "black book". They were low when compared line for line on a comparable Ford or Chevy.
The most accurate resale prices are based on a nationwide system of dealers, wholesalers, insurance co, banks, and auction houses. These are logged into databases such as those from NADA, Dealership Black Books, Auctionhouse Sale Log, etc.
These results are then updated bi-weekly to give an accurate rolling data on any given make or model.
Edmunds, NADA (consumer version) and Kelly are just general guidelines for buying and selling your car or truck. The NADA consumer publication seldom jives with the dealer only editions, or Black book editions that only dealers or wholesalers have access to.
Irregardless, no sense in arguing a fluid market place. I have taken the Dodge plunge, and will see how it turns out.
I deal in fleet leasing (mainly heavy equipment) and have access to residual rates for motor vehicles. Resale value of the big three are generally +/- 1%-2% between brands. That is very minimal at best. Some models have better-than-average resale (like Tahoe, Suburban, etc) but generall the trucks are about the same. Edmunds has a feature in their new vehicle research that shows "true-cost to own". In that is depreciation estimates based on historical values. If you compare percentages they're very close to actual residual values calculated for leasing. In every year (1st - 5th) the depreciation is within 1% between brands on similar trucks.
If you want to argue a Toyota will hold it's value better, no complaints from me. The Toyota has much less depreciation, particularly in the first three years. If you keep it long-term then there isn't as big of a gap.
Resale value is the main calculation in leasing so you should be very concerned about it.
Assuming you can get similar up-front prices and identical interest rates, the vehicle with the best resale value should be the cheapest to lease.
Maybe you just have some funky dealers in your area. The local Chevy/Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge dealer is a dope. He trys to sell with small discounts and won't even negotiate anywhere near invoice. I drive 30 miles west and the Chevy, Jeep, and Dodge dealers will sell at/around invoice all day long. Their service departments are far superior and worth the 1/2 hour drive.
The one exception I do have on the Ford is the Harley-Davidson model at 48%, 3 years 12,000 miles. Of course, it is a special edition model and Ford probably doesn't want to lease it- same as with their SVT line.
Actually..resale value has nothing to do with the leasing formula..the residuals do. The residual is not the resale value, its what the FACTORY thinks the vehicle will be worth at the end of the lease, not what the marketplace says it will be worth. Many times the vehicle isn't worth the projected number, which makes all this even more confusing.
The lease payment calculation is done off the residual, capitalized cost, and money factor.
The factories do a fair job in estimating out what they think the vehicle will be worth in 3 or 4 years. Of course, resale value is important to them, as that is what they base the residuals off of- what the vehicle actually brings in the marketplace at 3 years of age, vs. what they thought it was worth. Too many years of overrated residuals vs real world market prices can put a company under quick. Just ask Toyota.
Again, the residuals show what the marketplace has done in previous months or years. The Dodge residuals show my point on future resale value. They don't hold up to those of Chevy and Ford.
Resale values are only important to an individual if you plan to buy the vehicle out at the end of the lease term. Thats the beauty in leasing..if the vehicle is not worth the buyout, you can walk away and re-lease. If the buyout is less than what the vehicle is worth, then you can buy it out, and make some money back on it.
As I stated before..its really all insignificant to me- as a corporation, my down payments and lease payments are 100% deductible from the bottom line. But if I was buying/leasing as an individual, I certainly would do some serious homework on both the lease and buying ends of a transaction.
You must look at residuals posted by commercial lending institutions if you want to be closer to resale value. They are much less likely to "inflate" the residual in order to sell the financing. Manufacturers also have a more direct route to resell a vehicle that's turned in on a lease and higher profit potential which is beyond a typical wholesale figure. Many commercial lenders have gotten away from leasing cars/pickups because of this somewhat unfair advantage the manufacturers have.
I believe you are quoting the manufacturers residual buy-out for commercial lease program. If so, you must understand that manufacturers are motivated to inflate the residual to entice sales. If they buy it back they've already made money on the original sale. Their turn-around program will take less of a margin, but they'll still make money.
In leases enough leasees buy out that it makes the inflated resiual price worth it, bottom line.
But....there still is the basic question of how much did you pay for a similarly equiped Dodge, GM, or Ford? Those prices are never the same -- at least in my experience -- and the delta ends up most often being a complete wash since you can more often buy the Dodge for less.
Regards,
Dusty
Nope, those are not commercial terms..these are basic individual lease rates. The commercial rates while lower, are basically the same percentage points apart across the board.
Its not a point of what I paid, or will pay for the Dodge..its just my point that the RAM doesn't hold its value like a Ford or Chevy (or Toyota). Which brings me back to my other point of that its of no huge consequence to me, since I don't buyout my leases, I turn them back in, write off the down payment, and go from there.
I'm just simply looking from the point of the Average Joe, and have been there from the individual leasing standpoint.
And since the Toyota leasing debacle a few years back- I know of no manufacturer "over-inflating" their residuals. Toyota took a huge, huge loss, almost to the point of bankruptcy, on tens of thousands of leases that had inflated residuals.
Consumers and commercial customers found out the vehicles were not worth what Toyota had guaranteed them to be worth and turned them in en-masse prompting Toyota to overhaul their entire leasing program. Their residuals now are more in line with the Big 3, and other import manufacturers.
Do you guys have any comments on how the new RAM will fair with situations like mine? I really like the truck..although the front end sucks, the interior is much improved, and the ride seems to be more "solid" then my 2001 Silverado I'm leasing now. Not as many creature comforts (I love the Onstar and Satellite radio features in the Chevys)..but the Dodge gets points for its engine and sport package option, and I love the 20" wheels, too. It seems like it should fit the bill.
I don't think we know anything about your situation beyond the following:
1. You're leasing a couple Dodges
2. Chevy & Ford dealers in your area are apparently not discounting their trucks
3. You believe Dodges have low resale value
4. You like creature comforts, 20" rims, and the dodge interiors
We've addressed your concerns about resale value. I'm not sure why the Chevy and Ford dealers in my area have $6,000-$9,000 discounts but yours are selling at a premium. What other situation would you like us to address?
Best regards,
Dusty
Anyway, back to pricing. The GMC dealer told me they would sell for $300 over invoice plus I get any and all rebates/incentives. That would have made the GMC about $3,000 less than the Dodge but without leather and some other options. The deal the Ford dealer worked up was $40,700 plus a $1,000 rebate. The Dodge was $40,100 plus a $1500 rebate, plus I had an "owner reward" rebate of $500 plus a $500 farm bureau rebate. The Dodge worked out to be $2200 cheaper. Considering the Ford Crew-cab is larger and I had $1,000 in extra rebate money, it doesn't seem like a significant price difference to me. If I had walked in off the street, the Ford would have been $1200 more for a slightly larger truck.
Seems like the heavy trucks are fairly similar in price. Are the Dodge 1/2 tons that much cheaper than the other brands? I can't imagine as our local Ford dealer is constantly running full-page ads and the F-150's seem to be dirt-cheap to me. The one this morning says a reg. cab 2wd XLT, loaded, V8, auto for $19,010.
I think my point may have gotten lost in the mud, but Hersbird touched on it.
Based on industry analysis I've seen in the past, the average Dodge buyer purchased her/his vehicle at a greater discounted price from the MSRP than did Ford or GM buyers. So, when figuring the amount of money lost in depreciation ("resale value") on similarly equiped trucks, the reference point is not the factory invoice price, but the actual amount paid for the vehicle.
And of course the MSRP makes a difference, too. I compared a RAM to a F150, and regardless of trim line and optional equipment, the F150 always came out more expensive. I don't remember the exact amounts, but I believe that they all were more than the 48-52% delta ($1200) that spraywizard made reference to.
In addition, the longer one keeps a vehicle, the less "resale value" becomes. At ten years old -- the age of the last three vehicles I've owned at trade-in time -- the difference between a $1000 Dodge and a $1250 GM is not big money, IMO.
Another thing is actual trade-in value at time of transfer. There is statistical data on this particular feature, and again, the last time I saw that the average price given to a seller of a GM truck was lower than the national book values. A lot has to do with condition, and GM trucks are the first to suffer from corrosion around here. Despite the belief in the "GM factor," if the doors, rear cab sills, front and rear wheel lips, and body mounts are rusted through (typical for GM trucks in this area), it's not going to be worth as much as a Dodge or a Ford in otherwise solid condition.
Bests,
Dusty
Every car is hurting on resale right now, I don't care who makes it, the market is just flooded with great 3 year old cars for almost 1/2 what they were new.
Unfortunately, what a new vehicle actually sells for does not figure statistically into resale values. They do use a nationwide percentage off MSRP across the board as a reference, but as you point out, its usually not even close to what you actually get the vehicle for.
Dodge has a nationwide factory incentive program that just started with an 8500.00 direct discount on Ram pickups. Up from 7000.00 a few weeks ago.
Ford and Chevy are discounting in my area, too- I mean, the auto industry in general is taking a bath. I know Dale Jarrett Ford in Charlotte, NC is offering 5000 dollars off MSRP AND 0% financing for 60 months on F150/250's. Thats a killer deal.
Chevrolet is probably in the area of 4-5000 dollars off, too in my area, although I didn't sit down with them and hammer out the numbers as I knew I was going in a different direction this time.
Either way, its a buyers market.
I'm also sorry you feel your "points" were lost in the mud. I don't consider someones opinion on something "mud". I stand behind my points, and can post revelant info from auction houses and dealers that back my point. I simply was trying to have some conversation. I certainly am not knocking the Dodge product- to be blunt I can buy anything I want, Ford Chevy, whatever. I chose Dodge, so I have to feel like I making a wise choice on the product.
However you want to cut it, the truth is the truth, and Dodge does not have the resale value of Ford or Chevy. No one has to take my word for it, all you have to do is get your hands on some auction or dealer books- or better yet go trade one in.
However it shakes out, I'm pretty excited about the 1500 in general. I'm anxious to see how it compares to my Silverado and the Ford Lightning I had a couple years back.
You really have more of the stock ratio in theory.
The same thing happened to me on the Lightning I had..it came with a 3.80 ratio (up from the 3.55 the F150's came with) so I thought I really was moving up in the world. Then a buddy of mine who races drag cars told me that the gear ratio was nice, but since the Lightning came with 17" rims, the gear ratio was more like a 3.55 on 15" rims. I never knew that!
What are you talking about? Where are you getting the info for these discounts? I've never seen a $7,000 factory incentive on a Dodge or any other non-luxury brand, let alone $8500.
Current factory incentives on most trucks:
Ford $2500 or special financing
Chevy $3,000 or 0% financing
Dodge $2500 or 0% financing
Any discounts beyond that are between the consumer and dealer. There's no reason any of these trucks can't be bought in the ball-park of invoice. My '02 Tahoe and '03 Ram were all bought within $300 of invoice. The Tahoe was about $8,000 off sticker and the Ram was $7,000 off sticker. Those numbers are close to what you posted above, but they're NOT "national incentives".
My family owned a large multi-brand dealership before selling a few years back. I now have a heavy-equipment leasing company but certainly know how this industry works and have access to vast resources of residuals/resale values. There's definetely some confusion going on here.
I would never assume a dealer advertising a vehicle as "loaded" would mean every possible option. An F-150 XLT is more than "loaded" for advertising purposes. I'm sure this was a basic XLT with V8 and automatic, probably the smaller V8. You typically don't advertise "fully optioned" vehicles on these generic ads.
Typically "well equipped" means air, stereo, 4 tires, LOL!
"loaded" means PW, PL, PM, etc.
Could you point me to a link please, or at least elaborate a little?
Thanks for your input.
Dodge already has on their website 4500 consumer cash on RAM 1500 trucks and various cars. Add in factory to dealer cash of 3000, plus another 1000 for dealer overstock. Only dealers are aware of the 4000 back money. I found out because the guy who sold me the trucks happened to coach my sister in little league baseball. I then confirmed it with the owner of the Dodge dealership. According to him, every 5 star Dodge dealer is running ad campaigns for 7500-8500 dollars directly off sticker.
I confirmed this with 3 Dodge dealers today, although all are located in the Southeast.
I'm pissed that I already signed the deal on my 2 trucks, but on the flip side, I may order a 2500.
Add sport package- 20" rims. Tires are then 285/60/20. Tire diameter of 33.46.
If you keep the 3:55's in the rear and use the 20" rims and tires, your effective (actual) gear ratio is 3:24.
Hence the reason you get the 3:92 ratio with the Sport package. You end up with a 3.57 actual ratio. Thats how the gas mileage stays the same across the board.
For more info go here- http://gs.tolan-hoechst.com/tirecalc.htm
The mileage is a completely different story. Contrary to popular belief the mileage often improves with lower gears (higher numerically) because the motor doesn't have to work as hard. maybe if all your driving is steady state, level highway cruising then you might see a small drop in mileage, but around town, towing, or in hilly country often the deeper gears get better mileage.
"I don't see this with Chevy or Ford. I don't care about resale since I lease, but the common thread out there with people in the auto industry is do NOT buy a Dodge product..only lease it. Maybe that will change over time..who knows?"
I'd like to clarify a few things for the person you're giving advice to:
1. Chevy and Ford are offering rebates of around $3000 and selling at invoice price too. Where did you get the impression they're not discounting as much? I bought a '02 Silverado for $2002 under invoice last year for my wife to drive w/o any haggling. And the market is worse now than then.
2. Hate to tell you this, but the cost of leasing a vehicle is VERY dependent on its resale value, since the residual is based on this number, and the lower the residual vs. the cap cost of the vehicle, the higher the payments. Low resale value = high lease payments. There is NO way around this. It is a fact of leasing. Dealers love leasing because typical car shoppers don't understand leasing. Trying to avoid steep depreciation on a vehicle by leasing just doesn't work. It's factored into the lease price. Buy a fast-depreciating truck and you'll pay more to drive it in the end, lease or buy.
3. I leased a '97 Ram 4x4 SLT with upgraded stereo, and lots of options for 3 years with 15,000 miles a year. The residual factor was .63 then, very high, so my payment was only $359, including tax, with ZERO down. Try beating that! You can't get that kind of deal now because they got burned setting such high residuals in the past, but at the time it was considered realistic. But Dodges haven't always been dogs in terms of resale value. I agree my '00 Tundra is better, probably due to their reputation for long term reliability, but it's not as big a difference in the big picture as you'd think. All full size trucks are relatively strong in resale value compared to cars and even compact trucks.
4. Other reasons he may have a hard time getting what he wants on resale for his nearly new truck:
a- Lots of options. Other than a few select packages (4wd, or SLT, for example) most options do not bring much extra in relation to their original cost. A basically equipped Ram will hold a higher percentage of its value than a loaded Laramie. Some 1500 rams sticker at $37,000, other essentially similar ones at $28,000. People buying used often just want "a nice truck". Some will value options more than others, but the more options, the more depreciation.
b-He may have paid "too much" or bought when few discounts were available, such as at launch time. Quite different than typical buyers buying at normal times. And normal for the current economy is invoice price minus rebates, at least here.
c-The spread on a private sale vs. a dealer trade will be at least $3,000. Dealers have to make a profit and cover themselves with a sufficient margin to cover surprises on trade ins they take. On higher priced trucks, not being able to offering financing can affect the price he can get, but not to that degree. It's almost always better to sell it yourself. Most people can't float the cash to do this, so they are trapped into trading at the dealer and taking the hit. Dealers make more profit on their used car sales than new car sales. They love taking recent year model trades in at fire-sale prices.
d- Yes, current rebates do affect resale value. But they're all doing it. And from trade magazines I subscribe to, they say GM is leading this trend, and that Daimler Chrysler and Ford do not like it, but feel they have to match them to compete. So DC can't be blamed for the low new truck prices. As an aside....check sticker prices and notice that prices over the last few years are rising far faster than usual, probably to offset the rebates. They're giving with one hand, and taking with the other. The true savings are probably far less than the rebates would suggest. But it's a good marketing trick to give customers the impression they're stealing the vehicles.
"And since the Toyota leasing debacle a few years back- I know of no manufacturer "over-inflating" their residuals. Toyota took a huge, huge loss, almost to the point of bankruptcy, on tens of thousands of leases that had inflated residuals"
According to the Clark Howard consumer radio show, lots of car manufacturers and banks overdid it on residuals and got stuck with vehicles they couldn't sell for what they hoped. My brother's Ford Expedition he leased also had a lower real value than the residual as it neared the end of the term. First Union actually called him up and they negotiated a purchase price that was far lower than the residual.
As for Toyota being near bankruptcy, I just read that Toyota has more CASH reserves than any other auto manufacturer, so I would be surprised to hear they were near bankruptcy in recent years. Where did you get this information? My source is Automotivenews.
There is no single set "residual". Any lessor can set whatever residual they want. Yes, they use info from ALG and other sources, but you'll often get an inflated "subvented" lease residual from the manufacturer's own financing arm. They take the hit as a cost of making the sale.
Being able to "write off" a lease payment doesn't mean you're not paying it. You're just not paying taxes on as much profit in your business. A 15, 28, or even 46 percent deduction is not the same as the 100% you save by getting the best deal possible on a lease or purchase.
Since residuals are usually expressed as a percentage of MSRP, merely finding a number such as .64 or .45 is meaningless. Some vehicles have higher initial markups than others, so even with a lower number, their resale value might be better, or vice versa. Also, as someone else said, if I can lease a Dodge at $3000 below invoice, and get a residual of .45 x MSRP, I might be better off than a Chevy leased at $2000 below invoice with a residual factor of .50 x MSRP. The only thing that matters is:
YOUR CAP COST - RESIDUAL VALUE IN $$$ = TOTAL DEPRECIATION
Here, I'd guess that a Chevy would indeed hold its value a little better, but you have to run the numbers to be sure. But with a 70K powertrain warranty on Dodges, that might not still be the case.
I've been monitoring the area used truck market (western New York state) and used full-size GM trucks outnumber Dodge's by 12-1, Fords by 10-1. Supply and demand is in effect here. One dealer had 9 used full size trucks on his lot and 6 were GMs. He said he just wasn't interested in taking any more, that they hung around too long. Prices on used car-lot Dodge RAMs are just as high as GM and slightly more than Fords, in general, by my observation.
Dusty
I dont really understand why because the wheels cost exactly the same as an option. Does anyone have any ideas how I could get the aluminum wheels instead of the "plastic" wheels on this truck, i would like to maybe purchase it tommarow.
Thanks in advance.
Are you sure???
Anyway, if that's what you want to do, take out the "maybe tomorrow" from the equation. Go in there tomorrow with a certified check for the deposit. Works a lot better than "If you do this, maybe I'll buy it!".
The price seems good, and I also prefer the polished 20's to the chrome clad 20's but I think there is a problem swapping them on the trucks because it's listed on the window sticker and it would be a problem selling the second truck with the options mislabeled on the window sticker. the cost of the options were the same when I bought my truck as well, so maybe they could order you in a set of polished 20's from the accessories catalog and swap them with you new chrome ones. Still there may not be enough profit in there to go through all the hassle, back when they sold cars at MSRP or more they would do just about anything you wanted, but now that the profit margins are slimmer they don't put as much effort into it. I'm sure you could order the truck exactly as you want it with the same discount off MSRP if not more, but then you have to wait, and actually they are probably past the cutoff for ordering 2003's. I'd say just get the truck with the chrome clad wheels and if there is a problem with them take them back under the warranty. If it proves to be something that happens a lot over the long 7 year warranty they will probably swap out to the aluminum ones anyway. the chrome clads are easier to clean, and do look better, I just wondered as you do if they will hold up, so I got the polished as long as I was ordering anyway.
yeah, the actual liter measurement of the hemi is something like 5.65l...funny to see 348 cubes on epa window stickers!!
Also, has anyone heard if Dodge will be extending the incentives into June?
Thanks!
Apparently the dealers in Omaha want to sell trucks a little more than the ones in Kansas City. I'm getting stories about dealers in California that want the trucks for $1000 over sticker, so they can't sell them for less than that.
Maybe a trip to Omaha would be worth the time.
It had the 5.9L engine - is that the one that is noted for pinging?
Thanks for the advice as this is my first pickup.
Another common weakness is the track bars on 4x4s. This is not a big dollar item, but annoying still the same.
2001s were pretty good trucks from what I could tell.
Best regards,
Dusty
Are the 2000 Rams holding up as good as the '01's? What is an LA engine?
Thanks again.
Chrysler "small block" motors have a mixed lineage. Prior to 1967, the small block 90 degree series were known as "A" engines. These utilized a polyspherical combustion chamber (in today's parlance, a "semi-hemi") and are most distinguishable by a very wide top-engine platform and scalloped valve covers. This included a 241 (Hy-Fire), 270, 277 (Red RAM), a 303 (later replaced by a 301 cid), and a 318 cubic inch motor that was available up through 1966.
It's the 318 that is the most cause of confusion. In 1964, Chrysler introduced a completely new "small block" series utilizing wedge combustion chambers with the 273 cid. This was refered to as the "LA" engine and was used initially in Valiants and Darts exclusively, later added to the mid-size Dodge and Plymouth lines in 1968. In 1967, Chrysler pumped the 273 out to 318 cubes and replaced the older poly-head 318 with this motor. Another "LA" engine, the 340 cid, was released in 1968. In 1973, the "LA" 360 cid was introduced.
Chrysler's assembly quality has been generally good in the '90s, especially true of their truck line. Most problems in this era have been related to spotty component quality, a condition that Ford & GM have suffered with as well. This is what happens when you force suppliers to low profit margins. Of the Dodge technicians I've spoken to, the opinion is that from 1998 onward, quality in the Dodge truck line has steadily improved.
Best regards,
Dusty
sebring95 - I see you have gone from the Cherokee forum to the Ram discussions! Glad to hear from you again. I am following in your footsteps and have the "For Sale" sign on the Cherokee. I have hopes of a Dodge Ram in my future.
My uncle has a '97 Ram similar to what you're shopping for. He has over 280k miles on it now and the engine still runs flawlessly. Tranny was rebuilt around 200k miles and most mechanical items have been replaced (bearings, starter, fuel-pump, etc). My 3/4 ton had about 110k miles and the only repairs was front bearings at 80k miles but Dodge picked up the tab.
I would look for a mid model year 2001 3/4 ton myself as they made some improvements. My '01 had the mid-model year improvements which was the nicer towing mirrors, upgraded brakes, and some other things. I replaced the factory pads at 80k miles with the bearings and they still had plenty of life. Factory rotors were still on it as well. I don't think the 1/2 tons got those upgrades.