Looks to be a lot of cheap used Rams in the near future

[veeman]

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/fiat-chrysler-buy-back-recalls-heres-what-you-need-know-n401046

Anyone with a used Ram affected by the buy-back program is going to be seriously considering unloading it.  You'll get better than market rate for it.  Chrysler will fix it and put it back on the market.

What's surprising to me is that Chrysler, with this huge penalty, will still make more money this year than it did last year. 

http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/chrysler/2015/07/30/fiat-chrysler-fca-second-quarter-earnings-ceo-marchionne/30845237/ 

[giant_mtb]

Fuckin' Chrysler.  They can't, and never will, get their shit together.

[AutobahnSHO]

eek

[giant_mtb]

Friend of mine works for SnapOn designing tools for Chrysler.  He says he's looking for other jobs now. 

[AutobahnSHO]

Friend of mine works for SnapOn designing tools for Chrysler.  He says he's looking for other jobs now. 

wise man

[SJ_GTI]

The factory that our main office here is attached to is on shutdown this week so we have a lot of contractors here doing building repairs/upgrades. There were like half a dozen different new Dodge Rams out in the parking lot yesterday when I went out for lunch. It is surprising to me how popular these things are. If I was buying new, I would probably go for a GMC or Chevy.

That being said, I own an older Dodge Ram myself. 

[veeman]

The factory that our main office here is attached to is on shutdown this week so we have a lot of contractors here doing building repairs/upgrades. There were like half a dozen different new Dodge Rams out in the parking lot yesterday when I went out for lunch. It is surprising to me how popular these things are. If I was buying new, I would probably go for a GMC or Chevy.

That being said, I own an older Dodge Ram myself. 

Is it affected by the buy back? 

[AutobahnSHO]

The factory that our main office here is attached to is on shutdown this week so we have a lot of contractors here doing building repairs/upgrades. There were like half a dozen different new Dodge Rams out in the parking lot yesterday when I went out for lunch. It is surprising to me how popular these things are.

money talks. I sat in the backseat of one, it was pretty much the same as the backseat of the new Sierra I sat in.

[SJ_GTI]

Is it affected by the buy back?

I don't think so. Mine is a 2002, IIRC.

[Morris Minor]

Isn't FCA out looking for a merger partner?

[SJ_GTI]

Isn't FCA out looking for a merger partner?

That is the rumor in the financial news, but I don't think they are officially doing it (yet).

[AutobahnSHO]

From friend's comment on someone else's FB=

"I have to voice my extreme disappointment and disgust with the Chrysler corporation, mainly the RAM division and it's customer service or lack there of.
On Thursday the 30th of July, approx. 9:30am, my 10 month old, 2014 Ram 3500 Dually with just barely 20K miles on it suffered a catastrophic failure. While going up Black Mtn. in the western part of NC, I hear a loud plastic snap sound from under the hood. I pull over immediately, raise the hood to steam and antifreeze spraying all over the engine compartment. After letting it cool for about a half hour, I was able to see all the damage that had been done in those brief few seconds. A piece of the rubber that ties the two fan shrouds together had come loose. The fan sucked the 2" rubber cover into it, causing the fan to make severe contact with the radiator. The fan had cut a 4" circular slice into the radiator, loosing the bulk of the antifeeze on the shoulder of the road where I sat stranded, less than half way up the Mtn.

After calming down a bit I called Ram road side assistance. The lady on the phone was very nice and made sure I was safely off the road. She arranged for a tow truck to take the dually to the nearest dealership (29 miles away), but stated they would only cover the first 20 miles of the tow and that the 24' enclosed trailer I was pulling would not be covered in the tow. She stated that I would have to call another tow service to take my trailer to the dealership. Not happy about that fact, but what could I do? The tow truck arrived and hour and a half later. We then begin to unhook the trailer, the driver asked what was in the trailer? An off road buggy he was told. Taking mercy on me, he said it can't be that heavy and once he loaded the dually on the roll back, he hooked the trailer up to the hitch on the roll back also. He then took the whole thing to the dealership in Asheville NC. I then paid my portion of the 29 mile trip, $100 dollars. No worries, the driver saved me that amount at least in another tow bill, I tipped him and he went on his way.

Once at the dealership, they said they couldn't look at the truck until the next day, they were busy and I understand that completely. Meanwhile on the phone with Ram customer service, after hours of arguing and complaining, they agreed to get me a rental truck from the Enterprise rental car across the street from the dealership. While waiting for 5+ hours at the dealership, we start looking on google to see if this type of failure has happened before. Low and behold it has and quite a few times at that. Not only that, but there was a Chrysler Star case issued, stating "The Star case is S1307000002, release date 8/12/2013 covering the improper installation of the fan shroud at the factory." This resulting in the rubber coming loose and being entangled in the fan.

http://www.cumminsforum.com/.../1230249-radiator-fan-clutch-n...

http://www.turbodieselregister.com/.../247798-A-little-heads-...

http://www.ramforum.com/.../2014_6_7_2500_fan_shroud_radiato.../

http://www.cumminsforum.com/.../1119050-2013-dead-side-road.h...

Now 4pm we are just gettng back on the road to our original destination, still 3.5 hours away. Thinking everything was under control, I relaxed a bit. Friday came and went with no call from the dealership, thinking to myself, this is clearly a warranty issue, they have me covered. I didn't think much about it the rest of the weekend, again thinking this clearly was going to be a warranty issue and it will be covered.

Monday afternoon I finally get a call from the service writer, stating that they are refusing to warranty the truck. They claim the damage was done by an outside force such as road debris. I am a mechanic by trade, have been for over 20 years, I own my own automotive service shop, I know what happened first hand and I'm not buying this cop out. Understandably angered by this, I immediately call Ram customer service back, just to be told that there is nothing they can do. Stating that the regional rep David Hooten had the final say and his decision could not be overturned. With over $1800 dollars worth of damage done to the truck, just giving in was not an option. So I call Ram CC back again, this time getting another person. I explained the situation to her and said let me see what I can do. Apparently all channels had not been followed, as they should have been. Breathing a sigh of relief and thinking surely someone with just a little bit of common sense would be able see what has happened and help me.

Late the next day, Tuesday the 4th of Aug, I get a call back from the Ram CC folks, I can tell from the tone of her voice it wasn't going to be good news for me. She stated, after further review they would not be warranting my truck damage, again stating that it had occurred from an outside force, such as road debris. I again plead my case but realize I'm getting nowhere fast. I hang up knowing I am out of options. I need my truck back for work, it's 2+ hours away, I'm racking up a huge rental bill now that Ram will not be covering. I have no option but to pay the inflated dealership charge and get my truck back.

What do I do?

I write this in hopes of someone out there knowing who I can talk to and/or someone who can help, advise or otherwise.

A little history on the truck. 10 months old, in the shop 12 plus times with various issues. 13 new tires, yes 13! 3 new wheels, countless TPSsensors, a cruise control failure, sliding rear window failure, driver side seat electrical failure, on top of the Ram factory recall warranty issues.

Please share this with anyone who you think could be of help.
Thanks."

[MX793]

The least reliable, lowest quality American automaker merged with their European reliability/quality equivalent, and the outcome is painfully predictable.  I've not heard good things about RAM trucks in recent years.  Heard too many stories of major problems.

[GoCougs]

I love me some Mopar muscle cars but they've always had the crappiest quality of the Big Three (usually by far), even back then.

This merger was a terrible idea.

[Rupert]

The 2011 2500 we have at work has been about perfect, and it drives nicely to boot.

[veeman]

There's weird stuff going on with the Rams owners story.  13 new tires and three new wheels in 10 months I think means he's probably driving on crappy roads at high speed while towing a heavy load.  Those are a real hard 20 thousand miles and I'm not surprised he's got early mechanical failure. 

[shp4man]

My old 2001 Dodge truck has been rock solid reliable.  Don't know what to say about dude's fan story. There are two sides to every story, though.

[AutobahnSHO]

I think the majority of any modern manufacturer will mostly get it right, especially US companies.

Still, perfection is impossible.