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Are fiat/ram pickups junk?

11K views 124 replies 30 participants last post by  lloyd smale 
#1 ·
Fiat and gm are still tainted as far as I'm concerned. Are the fiat/ram pickups junk? I have it on good authority that their transit vans are miserable to drive. Is fiat becoming a pickups and SUVs only like ford in the us?
 
#2 ·
Don't know personally if the Rams are good or not. Lot of people love them when they're new, but they've got a lot of bad reviews on long term reliability the past several years.

With Fiat now being the parent company I would be skeptical. Fiat is so bad they almost couldn't give away their own vehicles here in the U.S. The small Jeep SUVs are now all Fiats with Jeep nameplates - reviews haven't been good.
 
#7 ·
I was a mopar fan during the muscle car era and later mt first new car was a plymouth that was a great car. I have been in the new fiat cars and suvs and i have no idea why anyone would buy one. The word sh*tbox predates the modern fiats but its as if the word was coined specifically for them.
 
#5 ·
They are popular at the moment but I think it's a style and features type of popularity. Definitely not based on reliability. They are infamous for engine trouble, transmission problems and rust. Never hear of a Ram truck with 200,000 miles without a new transmission, motor and extensive body repair. But they are selling a lot of them. Are they all just hoping for the best?

All other brands seem to be good for 200k.
 
#6 ·
I had no idea that the Ram diesel truck existed until an old man pulled up next to me at the diesel pump in his two wheel drive model. He uses his truck as a daily commuter at mostly highway speeds and claimed an average of 25 mpg.

I was fueling my 11 mpg Ford F-350 4x4 dually flatbed. I use mine on the ranch in 4 wheel drive most of the time; I pull gooseneck stock & equipment trailers, haul feed etc. I can’t even get across the low water crossing to access my ranch without 4 wheel drive.

He said his truck was reliable, comfortable, and powerful enough for his needs. He was sure proud of his truck and mileage. However, it was really comparing apples and oranges.
 
#8 ·
I bought a new Barracuda with 340 High Performance engine and 4 speed trans in 69. The thing used a quart of oil every 100 miles from the day I bought it and the trans required very slow operation to get to the next gear. Dealers couldn't fix it and I sold it one year later in showroom condition for 50% of what I paid for it. The thing would accelerate but the slow trans (poor syncros I later learned) meant playing catch up with Boss 302's and Z28s.

Haven't been a Chrysler fan since. I'd bet their association with Fiat, and now Peugeot, hasn't improved things. I did rent an Intrepid once for a trip west and if I wasn't paying attention I'd be doing 90+ mph. I banged that one off the rev limiter multiple times on that trip. Great fun but after looking under the hood I was glad I didn't own it. Their 4.0 straight six, developed from AMC's 232 was a good engine, as was the 4 cylinder Jeep engine that was also developed from it. .
 
#9 ·
Have to say my last two Dodge vehicles, both vans have been top notch. We faced the challenge of which truck to buy for pulling our 5th wheel. Looked at all the American trucks very hard and finally ended up with a Ford. Even though I liked them all. I know the tow ability of new Rams are outrageous. I did read some where that ram was out selling GM. Don't know if it is fake news or not.
 
#10 ·
From Spruce:
Mopar made some strong motors back in the day! 440 GTX, 340 Duster - those things would GO when you mashed the gas pedal!!
They could. For a short while I had a 70 340/4speed Dart. No P/S or A/C. The car was a noisy beast that would dump the ashtray if you bang shifted. In the winter the transmission was very, very stiff until driven a few miles than all was fine. It was a nice sounding hard running mother however.
GliderJohn
 
#11 ·
I owned Chrysler products for years before I switched over to GM. The biggest problem I have found in the Chrysler products is they are tinny sounding and no resale value. I always went for the Chrysler product because sitting on a car lot the Chevy product would be 2000 dollars where the Chrysler would be around 1200 for same year and mod.

Deaconllb
 
#12 ·
I had a new duster 340 in Tor Red (almost orange) with white stripes, auto trans and ac. Drunk driver ran a red light, T-boned it and totaled it. After receiving the insurance check I went to the same dealer and tried to replace it with with a like model. All he had in a 340 had no stripes. Both were good cars but way too much car for me at that age...young, dumb, invincible.
 
#13 ·
My #2 grandson has a dodge truck and it's nice but he bought it last year so no way to tell reliability. Things may have changed but personally I wouldn't touch anything that Fiat is involved with. You see a lot of Dodge trucks running around here but you see very few older ones. Quite a few older Chevys and Fords but seldom Dodge. I'm told one reason is that the local dealer can arrange financing for darn near anyone, no matter how bad their credit rating is. I don't have any idea if that is true though.
 
#16 ·
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Beyond all the hype and advertising, if you wish to get a lasting car..look for the one that guarantees their product beyond the usual 36,000 mile mark.

When a manufacturer says.. I guarantee every nut, bolt and electrical connection for 60,000 miles , and the power plant and drivetrain for 100,000 miles...That's confidence in their product !

.
 
#20 ·
Cost is a pretty big factor in the Ram popularity. Another thing is they have the interior right.

Hunting bud bought a 16 Ram based on a work truck he owned that had > 300k on the gas engine and trans. It was a chase truck in an oversized load operation. Another friend leases, he’s moving from F-150 into a Ram. He will be getting top model for slightly less than his XLT.

I’m not very like to go Ram but never say never I guess.


I need a kinder gentler machine gun
 
#21 ·
Dodge trucks, I will not call them ram, from all the magazines that deal with such items, and people who own them, (to down to the auto threads ) are considered about the best out there, without exception.
For how good-bad, actual Fiat products are best to read some foreign auto sites, where they deal with them regularly.
Third person , well I heard, does not do justice, good or bad.

Just as in print magazine, the Euro sites often are far more informative than U.S. based ones which are too often run by some snot faced punks who are more worried about the vehicles stereos and speakers than functionality.
 
#27 ·
don't know but I just bought a new one so ill find out. Ill say this. It was motor trends truck of the year last year. Ive drove chevs all my life and comparing this new ram to a new chev makes the chev look like it came from the 70s. Fit finish paint interior, ride and handling are a big step up. I don't drive fords and don't even sit in them much but the ford guys will even tell you that the new rams aren't your grandpas dodge d100.


As to motors being junk they use hemis. Same motor MOST police depts. in this country use. Go look at cop car trade ins and youll see there all in the 150-200k range and still are running great. I know of one here on my road that has a 160 and the owner says it still doesn't burn a drop of oil. Theres no flaw in the hemi motor. Its as proven as the 5.3 chev and has been less troublesome then the ecoboost fords that had teething problems in the first couple years.


People buy them because of price?? You might want to actually check that out because if anything rams and fords are about neck and neck and chevs are the cheapest today. Kind of chuckle at these kinds of posts. You get guys that don't have a clue. Most of them drive jap crap and bash anything the big three make. Others pass on there 1970s experiences. Go take one for a drive. I did and I sure didn't come home with another chev and that's after owning new chev pickups since 1977. Will it be a completely trouble free truck for 200k? NOPE! those only exist in the minds of people and on internet fourms.
Dodge trucks, I will not call them ram, from all the magazines that deal with such items, and people who own them, (to down to the auto threads ) are considered about the best out there, without exception.
For how good-bad, actual Fiat products are best to read some foreign auto sites, where they deal with them regularly.
Third person , well I heard, does not do justice, good or bad.

Just as in print magazine, the Euro sites often are far more informative than U.S. based ones which are too often run by some snot faced punks who are more worried about the vehicles stereos and speakers than functionality.
 
#24 ·
My wife's new GMC seems to be a good truck, but she babies it. If I were to buy a new one, I would go with a Dodge.
Thanks guys on the heads up about Fiat. Aggreko had Fiat engines on some of rental generators. Big time junk.
We got to where we wouldn't work on them. So they went to SDMO, john deer much better.
 
#30 ·
No longer dodge. Dodge makes cars. Ram makes trucks. Its a separate company like Chrysler is or like comparing gmc to chev or lexus to Toyota.
 
#26 · (Edited)
I've decided that Toyota trucks are best, followed by Nissan........




Way back in the early '60's the guy I helped on his farm, as much as a 10 year old could, had an old beat up Dodge Powerwagon that we took all over the farm. I don't recall it having any problems.......
 
#29 · (Edited)
Well Tom motor week (who is allways pro jap) did a midsize truck comparison last month. The tested the new jeep, Colorado and ranger. They said Toyota declined to give them an entry (because there so far back in technology) and they themselves said they didn't ask Nissan because they KNEW the Nissan truck didn't have a chance against the others. Ranger won by the way. By the way does it seems strange that every big truck shootout is between the 3 American trucks and you never see a Toyota included?? Toyotas not dumb. Think about it. Who brought you fuel injection in a truck? Multi port injection? Direct injection? computer controlled ignition and timing? Transmissions with more then 4 gears? Every example Toyota comes in 3-5 years after the americans. Then the laughable thing is they still want to brag that there cars and trucks go 200k. News flash find one that doesn't today!! Toyota makes a good reliable truck but If you want to see what trucks stand up to real work just look at a construction site or farm or logger or snow plowing service and see what they drive. When the reliability of there trucks reflects in there profit margin. When they factor cost of buying, fuel economy, maintenance and longevity. Those would be 80 percent fords and chevs with rams catching up
I've decided that Toyota trucks are best, followed by Nissan........




Way back in the early '60's the guy I helped on his farm, as much as a 10 year old could, had an old beat up Dodge Powerwagon that we took all over the farm. I don't recall it having any problems.......
 
#28 ·
My Ram was great till the last recall. Apparently they cheated on the diesel emission and had the recall to fix them. Now it goes through diesel Like crazy and has no pickup anymore.

I’m looking to switch to Ford or Chevy soon.
 
#35 · (Edited)
But what will they use for designs? The chrysler 300 and their muscle cars are already dated. I buy cars and no longer even consider the detroit 3. Haven't for a long time. As for nobody buying cars, most parking lots i go to have lots of new cars parked in them. About 60 percent of the vehicles. Crossovers are next most common and there is a detroit 3 presence among them. After that its old cars. After that its old pickups. After that its new pickups. After that its old mini vans. After that its all other.
 
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