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Busy First Service - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test
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Busy First Service - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test
This update to Edmunds long-term 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel includes an overview of the truck's first service which included an oil change, check engine light diagnosis, DEF tank refill and addressing a recall to reprogram the radio.
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Wow! How "eco" is this vehicle if you're talking about 11 quarts of oil needed (that'd be about $55-$60 in oil for Mobil 1 from Walmart) and $60 for an Oil Filter? Looking online, those oil filters seem to cost around $50. Talk about a rip off! Our genuine Honda Oil filters are like $5 each. Then, you've got ANOTHER 6 Gallons of DEF fluid? Really? How many gallons have you gone through now? 17.5 gallons in 9k miles? That would be at a rate of 194 gallons per 100k miles. If you paid dealer prices at $9.75 a gallon, that's nearly $1,900 per 100k! As I mentioned in another article, on Amazon you can buy BlueDEF at $4.97 a gallon with Prime shipping. You could've saved $30 in a matter of minutes doing that.
$60 oil filter!?!?!?! $10 labor? Something's not right here...
Any savings that might be realized with diesel fuel is long gone on service cost.
Stealer-ship @ its finest.
Holy sticker shock, Batman!
This is probably the reason manufacturers have been reluctant to bring light duty (1/2 ton and under) diesel pickups to the US. Sure you save some on fuel cost, but the maintenance cost will quickly erase that savings. Cost of ownership compared to a gasoline counterpart does not make financial sense unless you are towing or carrying a full load the majority of the time. And if you are towing or carrying a full load constantly, you'll want a 3/4 ton or above, not a 1/2 ton.
Still wondering why you haven't filled the DEF at the pump at one of the truck stops especially on this recent road trip. Less than $3 per gallon instead of paying the dealership just under $10
This just underscores why with this particular vehicle it is worth doing basic periodic maintenance yourself. Everything on that list could have been replaced for 30-60% less money than what you paid the dealer.
At 9,000 miles the Ram had consumed 11.5 gallons of DEF -- like it says in the previous post: http://www.edmunds.com/ram/1500/2014/long-term-road-test/2014-ram-1500-ecodiesel-fuel-economy-update-for-july.html
This is a perfect example of a "stealership" at work. 9.75 per gallon of DEF is near criminal.
I am gonna have to put a spreadsheet together before I buy one of these diesel rams. $160 dollar oil change, highway mileage numbers coming in pretty far below what is claimed, upcharge for the engine, and the difference of cost in diesel fuel versus gasoline. The longer this test run goes the less it makes sense to purchase this truck over a similarly equipped gasoline model. Dont get me wrong I still think RAM has the best truck going right now but the numbers on this ecodiesel just dont seem to be adding up.
Ohhhh snap! I followed the progress on this truck as all the announcements and everything came out on it for about a year and a half. I wanted it so bad, but I knew that the initial cost was going to be high and I just didn't know what the maintenance costs would be like. I really liked the F150 too, but the Ecodiesel promised great mileage. Then, Ford said the 2015 F150 was going to be aluminum! What costs would be associated with aluminum (insurance/repairs)???? I got nervous and bought a 2013 F150, and I'm so dang glad after reading this.