The Abele's
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The Abele's |
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Don's Truck Page |
2000 DODGE RAM 3500 4x4 Quad Cab
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| Front | Side | Back |
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| Side-Front | Interior | Side-Back |
General
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Standard Equipment:
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Optional Equipment:
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After-Market
Equipment:
Future After-Market
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Well, that's my baby up there. The first brand new truck I've ever bought. Other than the mini-van, it's also my first Dodge. I've previously owned a 1982 Ford F-150 4x4 V8 (302) automatic (no power), 1984 Ford F-250 4x4 V8 (351) 4 speed manual (talk about gas guzzler), and lastly a 1988 Ford F-150 4x4 straight six (300) 5 speed manual (excellent fuel economy, so-so power...missed the 351). Believe it or not, I actually bought this while looking for a USED vehicle. See, the ole Ford just didn't have much hauling power and had a standard cab. I had gotten orders to transfer from Maine to Washington State (about 3500 miles) and was going to have to haul the family and the mini-van. Well, figured it was time to trade her in. So I visited about a dozen dealerships in Maine and New Hampshire looking for a used extended cab pick-up. Didn't find a one. So inquired about new ones. Total, came up with 3: a Dodge, a GMC, and a Ford. Since the GMC dealer was in my city, I checked it out first. It wasn't 4x4 and sat lower to the ground than our mini-van, so it went to the way side. Checked out the Ford next - an F250 with all of the bells and whistles. Having previously owned so many other Fords, I was pretty much sold on it. Talked to the dealer about the $28,000 sticker price...seems they have a little "no haggle" policy about their prices. Well, I'm not about to pay them sticker price so out I went...and down to the Dodge dealership. Well, he starts to head me towards this beast when I catch a glimpse of it, "Is that the truck?" "Yeah" "Well, it's not worth our while to go down there, I can't afford it." "Aww, but just look at it..." "Nope" and I turned around. Well, the sales manager saw my quick 180 and came out. Talked to the salesman a minute who then comes over and says, "Manager says I can give you $5000 off the sticker just for looking at because it's a custom order that was never picked up and has been sitting on the lot for 4 months." Well, ok...let's check 'er out. I absolutely fell in love with it, she's got ALL the bells and whistles to put that Ford to shame. Unfortunately, she also came with the sticker price to prove it. After checking it out and even going on a test drive I find out about the $42,000 sticker price...well, even with $5000 off, and $3000 for the old Ford that's still beyond me. So after more than 2 hours I leave the lot, very sad. Well, all I could think about was that truck...and all the sales manager could think of was getting it off his lot. He called and left a message at home before I even got there. Says that they are having a sale over the weekend because of some renovations to their truck lot and would be offering $2000 off all sticker prices and maybe we could work something out. Needless to say, I went back and 3 hours later this is what I wound up with: start at $42,000 take off $5000 because that's what the moron that custom ordered it put down as a deposit, take another $2000 off for the "week-end" sale, and another $5000 (yes, $5000) for the old Ford. Brought the total down to $30,000!!! With the extended warranty (5 year, 100,000 mile) and other "add-on's" was just over $32,000. Unbelievable. And to think, this is just $4000 more than what that puny F250 was going for. After I bought it I figured since I would be owning this one for a long time, I'd accessorize her like I wanted. Added about another $3000 in after-markets to her, and still have a few more I'd like to add. As you can see from the standard options list, pretty much everything was included with this baby. Add on the optional equipment features and it doesn't leave much out. Of course the standard transmission version has more horses and torque, as well as the famed "jake brakes" I'm tired of driving a standard, and it didn't come that way anyway. When I eventually make it back to Maine I'll have the snow plow package put on her (adds height adjustment springs in the front and a transmission overheat warning lamp, plus the plow itself).
09 April 2004 - Well, I finally own the pig out-right. Paid her off in just under 4 years, not too bad. Doing really well, no issues what so ever. Currently has about 35,000 miles on her and is getting about 13.5 mpg (mixed city/highway driving).
31 July 2004 - OMG, I have not had a good time this month with the beast. It all started when I found out that the side-walls of all 6 of my tires were dry-rotting and would need to be replaced, at an estimated cost of $1200-$1500. Dodge doesn't cover them and referred me to Goodyear. The local guy says there's nothing he can do, have to go to the regional guy (mainly because they are 40,000 mile tires with 38,000 miles on them). The morning I get up to drive there, BOTH of my batteries were dead. $100 to replace them both and an hour lost driving back and forth and installing. Once I got them in, I headed off to the regional Goodyear office - 2 hours away. Got there and found out that the local guy could have taken care of it. Spent 6 hours waiting for the corporate office to call back and then get the tires put on. Of course, I then had to drive another 2 hours back home. Well, I'm not going to complain too much as I got quite a good deal. The new tires are Goodyear Wrangler AT which cost $259 a piece - with the discount I got from Goodyear I ended up paying $86 a piece for them. And, since I got the run-around on who could put them on, the regional guy didn't charge me mounting or balancing (another $300). So all totaled I dropped about $700 for what should have cost well over $2000. The batteries are 100 month (9 1/2 years) and the tires are 50,000 miles. So I should be good to go for a while. Oh, currently getting 13.7 mpg (mixed city/highway driving).
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