my 2008 Dodge Ram with hemi has been a fantastic truck. It has 100k on it and has been run hard. Never had any problems. Put tires on it and brakes. Drives like a dream and has zero rust. I'd buy another one in a heart beat. Knocking on wood
Well I test drove the other truck today and liked it a lot. But the dealer only offered me 1k for my truck and I just turned around and walked out. Even with a transmission out that is an insanely low price. Sent from iPhone
I had a 2000 Durango that was in excellent condition. No dents or rust. Tires were 2 months old, new brakes, battery, alternator and shocks. Ran great, but the transmission was out. I ended up taking $600 just to get rid of it, I had that much in the tires alone. Non driving vehicles are pretty much worth their scrap metal value. Good luck.
I have an 05 ram with almost 200k on it. Only major problem has been the tranny. No rust issues at all. Only other issues have been ball joints and u joints. If buy another ram in a heart beat. Sent from my SGH-T959 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
Btw if you spend 2k to fix the tranny you could probably sell the truck for 4k or more since it has low miles for a 13 year old truck. Atleast thats what I've seen pricing used trucks. Sent from my SGH-T959 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
My truck with a good tranny I would sell for 6 to 7 thousand in a heart beat in my area. 1k for it is nuts even with a dealer. I'm going to talk to some other dealers but I might put a used tranny in myself and then trade it in Sent from iPhone
Selling cars as junk is almost ALWAYS a bad decision over fixing and selling. Get it running again, and get what its worth. Don't take a hit just to not have the headache. That said, I can't help with whether to upgrade or not. Miles matter as much as years on cars in many cases, so it may be a wash to gain 3 years along side 30k miles more. I have bounced around from truck to truck over the years. Never lost money on one, but definitely came close with the last one with repairs I had to do. I finally bit the bullet and bought a Toyota. Tacomas hold their value so well it is almost cult like, its baffling. I almost guarantee I can drive my truck for 2 years and still get what I gave for it. I bought it "used" with 5k miles.
Right now it's looking like I have to fix it. Now comes decision to repair with a used and get rid of it or put a rebuilt in and drive it for a few more years. This is a tough decision and I wish I was in a ether position financially to deal with it. Being on college makes it tough. Luckily I'm not like most college students and am not drowning in debt. Sent from iPhone
I bought a used transmission for my 97 Sierra for $400 2 years ago. 50,000 some odd miles and it hasn't missed a beat yet. I'd probably go with the used route
I say fix it. It's your truck. The money should work out about even, and you'll have less miles on a truck you already own. I don't know how many times I've looked at trading or selling my old truck (2000 F150), but I simply can't. It's been with me since '04. I bought it a few years after high school. Anyways, what I'm getting at is, do you really want to get rid of your truck? Basically trade it for one with more miles? To me it's a no brainer, fix your paid off truck. That said, I would look around on the trans. I had mine rebuilt for $900 and all I had to do was get it to the shop. Dodge's fail all the time so you can probably find it done cheaper and still good quality.
Is it fully insured? Because accidents happen, you know. Kidding! If the used truck you were looking at was another Dodge, then you probably ought to just keep and fix yours. At least it's problems are already known to you. I always look at brand new tires on a used car/truck/trailer as suspicious.
See if you can get a tranny at a salvage yard. You may find one with low mileage. I just put a tranny in my 2000 Silverado that had 94,000 miles on it. My truck (gas engine) has 331,000 miles. The tranny wasn't bad but going into hunting season, I didn't want to take a chance and miss out on a few days hunting if something went wrong, so I did this as "routine maintenance". I also didn't want to pay the $3,000 to have mine rebuilt. I paid $1,500 for the tranny, installation, new seals and fluid. I expect to drive the Chevy to 500,000 so felt the money was well spent.
Everybody likes to hate something.... I drive a '99 Dodge 2500 with a Cummins and a manual tranny, and at 210k it's still blowing black smoke to the tune of 500+ HP, and the tranny is strong as any Ford or Chevy. New Dodge HD's are now coming with Allison automatics in them, so you have the best auto made, don't let the haters scare you away. I agree older Dodge trannies like the OP's were CRAP if you got an automatic, but the standards were pretty tough.
