I agree about the RAM, but...

That corvette is freaking awesome.

 

The F150 has evolved from the current design where as the Dodge has gone through a complete redesign: exterior, interior, and to a point, drive train. It has made a bigger wave than the Ford's latest offering.

It will be interesting to see who will be the first to release their diesel powered version and how the public will react. The race is on.

 

It sure is interesting to me how peope will defend the RAM constantly in this forum, even though it is a 2009 FORD F150 FORUM!

 

Heh heh, Dodge needed a HUGE Step just to Catch Up! The interior of the dodge still seems kinda cheap to me. I need to ride in one...

 

Yeah, seems strange to me that the interiors of the other trucks look so dated, last eyar the new Chevy and now the new Dodge. Everything seems kind of '80's with like a Nav or something slapped in giving it an odd mix of '80's styling with a few new tech gadgets crammed in to keep up with the times. I suppose if they were going for some kind of retro-look they got it pretty good. Those air vents alone... they remind me of station wagons I got driven around in as a kid...

 

I hear ya!! If they like the Dodge so much they should go visit the Dodge forums, buy a Dodge Truck and go stand in the service lines along with all of the other Dodge owners and talk about how nice their Dodges are as they're being fixed. LOL

I have owned 2 Dodge Trucks and the first one was a mistake. It's like that saying "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me".

If you want to know about the experiences I had with my Dodge trucks, email me and I'll give you my phone number to call me to let you know about the problems I had with the Dodge trucks that I owned. It would just take too long and too much time to write here what all the problems I had with just the second Truck before even getting to the first truck that I owned.

All of you that think Dodge is so great, go get one and have fun standing in the service lines at the Dodge repair facilities. Those lines are VERY long and it's not because everyone there is just getting an oil change done.

Just to let all of you know, the ones that are saying to themselves "he probably didn't take care of his trucks and beat them up", I took very well care of all of the vehicles I owned/own because of the costs of them today and just have a lot of pride in what I own.

 

So you had problems with the Dodge's you owned, like they're the only one with issues. The first 3 years I had my F150 it spent more time on the lift then it did on the road. My warranty ran out 6 months ago and this has been the most enjoyable time I've had with this truck. All the major stuff was fixed on Ford's dime (hopefully) and I've been able to just drive worry free. Do a search, there are DOZENS of threads complaining about all the problems with the NBS trucks. They range from minor, led's burning out on window switches, to major, transmission failures, driveline vibes, injector problems resulting in engine damage etc. We like to think Ford is the best but they have just as many serious issues as anyone else.

 

Not true. The numbers show fewer problems in the F150 than most cars on the road, especially the RAM.

Another thing to consider, there are HELL of a lot of F150s (MILLIONS just of the current generation alone) on the road...so see a couple posts a week about problems isn't a lot AT ALL in the whole scheme of things if you really think about it

 

True, but that doesn't mean much if you end up with one of the few F150's that have nothing but problems.

 

Heh, agreed

 

That second Dodge Truck that I had and just traded in, in October, was seriously in the shop getting repaired for something every 4 to 5 months since it was brand new (it was a 99). I don't know about you but that is way too much for any vehicle to be in the shop. I am dead serious about it being in the shop that often. I wish I would of never of let my wife talk me into keeping it as soon as I found out that it used a quart of oil every 900 to 1k miles. On the day that I bought my new Ford truck that I have now, I had to wait until the next day to pick my truck up because it was coming from another dealer, I was keeping my Dodge truck so my wife could just drive it back and forth to work, so, I'm driving home and I'll be damned if I lost the brakes completely on the Dodge half way home. Thank God that I didn't get into an accident!! Trust me, that is not the only time that I was scared in that truck and I'm not kidding about it being in the shop about every 4 or 5 months either, I could give you a list of family and friends to ask how often that truck was in the shop. The first Dodge truck that I owned wasn't a whole lot better either. They have beautiful looking products but the mechanics of them aren't worth a chit. I see that you are looking to maybe buying a Dodge truck so of course you want to defend Dodge but if you do buy one, I honestly say good luck to you!

Ford has been the best products for me. I have owned 4 ford vehicles so far and every one of them have or had been great vehicles without any problems at all (knock on wood). I still have my 94 Mustang GT that I purchased new sitting in the garage, has 82K miles on it and haven't put a dime into that vehicle besides the regular maintance that it requires.

 

You people need to realize that manufacturer's design vehicles to break. How else are they going to make money?

My dad had a 01 Ram when I was younger. That thing was a champ. It had the 5.9 and a sick LS in the rear. My brother beat the **** out of it and it just kept on runnin. It was a well-built beast and I wish I would have gotten it. Unfortunately he sold it for monetary reasons.

He also had a 04 a few years later and it was a hoss as well. It didn't have the hemi, but it out-performed any Ford I've been in. The only issue we had was with the trans. Going 80mph up a steep incline with 5000lbs behind it made the cruise freak out. It was very minor and only happened once.

Every truck is going to have issues.. Chevy, Ford, Dodge.. Tundra..

Get off your high horses about "brand - superiority" and face the facts, vehicles don't last forever.

 

Congratulations on the good luck you've had with Dodge trucks. I mean it. I wish only good luck to anyone who buys any truck........but here's how I gauge the difference between trucks:

Ford--(except for the 2009 which doesn't impress me.) Ford trucks are all over the friggin' place, which attests to their popularity. They look good and generally stay looking good. The service lines seem to be much shorter than the others. That says a lot.
.........and they outsell the others by far.
Chevy--The service lines I see for Chevys are looooong. I mean, they remind me of the pictures of the bread lines in the old Soviet Union. They actually have people queuing for service, like in a crowded McDonald's. Not a good sign. One thumbs up for GMC, however, is that I regularly detail an Acadia and the thing drives like a dream. It's one fine vehicle, if pricey.
Dodge--I don't have a lot of experience with Dodge, but I did drive a rental once. It's not my cup of tea. More to the point, Dodge trucks just don't stay looking good for very long. Seems like a couple of years of wear and tear just takes the starch out of 'em. I'm also aware of the horror stories about rear ends.
.........besides, any company that gets bought and sold and put on the auction block as often as Chrysler does seems to have problems that just can't be solved. I'll buy elsewhere.
Honda--A Ridgeline ain't a truck. They should stick to cars.
Nissan--The Titan looks kind of cool, and I liked my little '96 PU because it was so dependable, if ever so small. The Titan, however, is just too pricey. Nissan quality is overall very good, though.
Toyota--Quality? Any Toyota will be chock full of that, but there's a point at which there can be too much quality to justify the price.

For the money, I really do objectively see Ford as the truck to have.

Then again, seems like with the 2009 you'll get more grill than truck.

 

I don't really see any new innovations on the 09' F150. There is the new 6-speed automatic, which now just makes us even with everyone else. The engines seem to be just "warmed" over, with no real major improvement in power. I know some better engines are around the corner, but we are under-gunned now!

The styling (which was a strong point) on the F150 seems to have taken a step backwards. It does have that nice tailgate step thingy, but I really like that Ram Box system in the new Ram.

Either way, I can't make up my mind until I see them in person.

 

Thanks for your perspective, much appreciated. My '04 F150 was in the shop about as often as the Dodges you've had. Two months after I drove it out of the showroom it was in the shop to have the clutch pack replaced in the rear diff to fix a vibe on acceleration when turning and it just didn't stop from there. To be fair though, it does appear that it was all "first run" stuff that crops up with a new design because since the warranty ran out it's been one rock solid truck. Every 5K it gets whatever service is needed at that interval, other then that all I've had to do is fill the tank and drive. Time will tell how solid it is. I'd like to stay with Ford but the '09's don't impress me, which I've been vocal about (to be honest, some of my posts are just to stir the chit ).

I'm going to reserve judgment until both are on the lots and I can actually drive them. It wouldn't be the worst thing to happen though, if I had to keep my '04 a few more years.