I love my Tacoma. Amazing little truck...save for the roughly 19 mpg it routinely brings home. And frankly, I think small trucks, well ALL trucks, should be getting better fuel economy.
With the lingering, background desire we've both had to have a full size truck, the recent improvements in fuel economy, the use of new technologies and the plain old march of time, we stopped by a local GMC dealer. We were impressed, but, ah...a little surprised at the $52,000 sticker price...sheesh...
So the research began...
And it quickly led me to somewhere I wasn't expecting. Seems RAM just released a new V6 diesel for the 1500 series trucks. Hmmm...you have my attention! We already have a Beetle TDI (love it) and I've owned a highly modified Golf TDI before. So we're already sold on diesel.
After much test driving, hand wringing, research and planning, I dropped my deposit on a 2014 RAM 1500 Crew Cab 4WD Short Box Diesel. By following a friend's advice, and shopping out of state (Idaho), I ended up getting a price anywhere from $3 grand to $6 grand cheaper than local dealers were quoting me.
Color is Prairie Pearl and looks nothing like this (though this IS from their site and they call it Prairie Pearl)...LOL It's darker in person and has pearl added, so reflects light nicely.
I had to trade the 6'4" bed for the 5'7" in order to get the air suspension option I wanted. Apparently that isn't available on the Quad Cab I wanted (with the longer bed length for the bikes), but IS available on the Crew Cab short box. Given how little I haul the bikes, it was an easy swap...but cost me an extra 2 grand as Crew Cabs simply cost more. Thankfully the dealer stepped in with an extra $500 discount, RAMs own discount went up by $500 and I have a Friends and Family discount coming for another $500+, so that all took the sting out of the extra cost.
With the standard Class IV hitch, and a nice bike hauler, I can easily haul the KTM on the hitch, with the air suspension leveling everything nicely. The Tenere would need to crawl in back (after I lower that air suspension, of course) and get strapped in place, with the tailgate..."sorted" somehow...LOL Might get a bed extender for back there - we'll see if the measuring tape says its doable.
Going to miss the Tacoma, but really looking forward to...get this...the 28 mpg these RAMs are pulling down on the highway! Some drivers with 2wd models have seen over 31 mpg on back roads, and many 4WD drivers are seeing 27+ routinely on the highway...
Next step: though the deposit went down on Friday last week, the order gets accepted or rejected by Chrysler this week. If accepted (I'm having it very selectively optioned), I should get a VIN number in the next couple of weeks (I'm thinking early May as this order will be applied to next month's allocation for the dealer), and in about 8 weeks, its off to Idaho to drop off one truck (if not sold by then) and take home the new one.
Looking forward to seeing this thing in person...LOL
And while you may think its nuts to buy a truck unseen, it's the way it is if you want in early. I drove a RAM 1500 Laramie with the Hemi to check the ride quality, noise levels, handling, transmission shifting and ergos (I did NOT give it the beans least I became immediately addicted to that power!). I then test drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the same 3.0 litre diesel my RAM will have to get an idea of turbo lag, passing power, off the line torque, etc. The rear axle ratios and weight between these two rigs differ, but it gives you a decent idea (Jeep is lighter, but RAM has a lower rear ratio). Checking online stats gives clues to things like "0-60" times. That full sized, 4x4 truck hits 60 in about the same time as our Beetle it turns out. 8.5 seconds, so not neck snapping by any means, but we love the Beetle's performance on our daily drives, so the truck should be just fine.
This might sound like a gamble, but I'm feeling good about it. I've covered the bases as best I can. I expect a few surprises, but I'm OK with them. No trucks exist locally with the air suspension, so there's no way to test drive with that set up. My test drive was very plush, so the air suspension should be a step up from even that.
We shall see. Getting excited, but will be really "kid at Christmas" when I get my VIN number - then I can start tracking it through production and delivery online.
With the lingering, background desire we've both had to have a full size truck, the recent improvements in fuel economy, the use of new technologies and the plain old march of time, we stopped by a local GMC dealer. We were impressed, but, ah...a little surprised at the $52,000 sticker price...sheesh...
So the research began...
And it quickly led me to somewhere I wasn't expecting. Seems RAM just released a new V6 diesel for the 1500 series trucks. Hmmm...you have my attention! We already have a Beetle TDI (love it) and I've owned a highly modified Golf TDI before. So we're already sold on diesel.
After much test driving, hand wringing, research and planning, I dropped my deposit on a 2014 RAM 1500 Crew Cab 4WD Short Box Diesel. By following a friend's advice, and shopping out of state (Idaho), I ended up getting a price anywhere from $3 grand to $6 grand cheaper than local dealers were quoting me.
Color is Prairie Pearl and looks nothing like this (though this IS from their site and they call it Prairie Pearl)...LOL It's darker in person and has pearl added, so reflects light nicely.
I had to trade the 6'4" bed for the 5'7" in order to get the air suspension option I wanted. Apparently that isn't available on the Quad Cab I wanted (with the longer bed length for the bikes), but IS available on the Crew Cab short box. Given how little I haul the bikes, it was an easy swap...but cost me an extra 2 grand as Crew Cabs simply cost more. Thankfully the dealer stepped in with an extra $500 discount, RAMs own discount went up by $500 and I have a Friends and Family discount coming for another $500+, so that all took the sting out of the extra cost.
With the standard Class IV hitch, and a nice bike hauler, I can easily haul the KTM on the hitch, with the air suspension leveling everything nicely. The Tenere would need to crawl in back (after I lower that air suspension, of course) and get strapped in place, with the tailgate..."sorted" somehow...LOL Might get a bed extender for back there - we'll see if the measuring tape says its doable.
Going to miss the Tacoma, but really looking forward to...get this...the 28 mpg these RAMs are pulling down on the highway! Some drivers with 2wd models have seen over 31 mpg on back roads, and many 4WD drivers are seeing 27+ routinely on the highway...
Next step: though the deposit went down on Friday last week, the order gets accepted or rejected by Chrysler this week. If accepted (I'm having it very selectively optioned), I should get a VIN number in the next couple of weeks (I'm thinking early May as this order will be applied to next month's allocation for the dealer), and in about 8 weeks, its off to Idaho to drop off one truck (if not sold by then) and take home the new one.
Looking forward to seeing this thing in person...LOL
And while you may think its nuts to buy a truck unseen, it's the way it is if you want in early. I drove a RAM 1500 Laramie with the Hemi to check the ride quality, noise levels, handling, transmission shifting and ergos (I did NOT give it the beans least I became immediately addicted to that power!). I then test drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the same 3.0 litre diesel my RAM will have to get an idea of turbo lag, passing power, off the line torque, etc. The rear axle ratios and weight between these two rigs differ, but it gives you a decent idea (Jeep is lighter, but RAM has a lower rear ratio). Checking online stats gives clues to things like "0-60" times. That full sized, 4x4 truck hits 60 in about the same time as our Beetle it turns out. 8.5 seconds, so not neck snapping by any means, but we love the Beetle's performance on our daily drives, so the truck should be just fine.
This might sound like a gamble, but I'm feeling good about it. I've covered the bases as best I can. I expect a few surprises, but I'm OK with them. No trucks exist locally with the air suspension, so there's no way to test drive with that set up. My test drive was very plush, so the air suspension should be a step up from even that.
We shall see. Getting excited, but will be really "kid at Christmas" when I get my VIN number - then I can start tracking it through production and delivery online.
