Finding a 3500 series truck to test drive....

[schlep1967]

Here is my dilema. I currently have a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel. I'm looking to get a new truck and I like the SRW GMC 3500's. My only issue is...nobody has any on the lot to test drive. And any that are in transit are already sold so no test driving when they get one in. How can we be expected to pay $75,000 for a vehicle we can not even take a test drive in?

So does anybody here have any experience going from an older Dodge to a newer GM? Is the ride better?
I'm sure it will be a better experience than praying the Dodge doesn't go into another death wobble when I hit the next pothole.

[shades9323]

schlep1967 wrote:
The local Dealer tells me I can order in what I want. It will be here in 7-8 months and I can test drive it then. If I don't want it they will give me my deposit back. So at that point I would either have a truck I want or I've wasted 2/3 of a year.
Maybe I should order one from each of the big 3 brands, test drive them when they get here and then choose the one I want......

That would be awesome. If only they would all arrive at the same time!

[schlep1967]

The local Dealer tells me I can order in what I want. It will be here in 7-8 months and I can test drive it then. If I don't want it they will give me my deposit back. So at that point I would either have a truck I want or I've wasted 2/3 of a year.
Maybe I should order one from each of the big 3 brands, test drive them when they get here and then choose the one I want......

[Grit_dog]

mkirsch wrote:

way2roll wrote:
I bought my F350 sight unseen and no test drive. I have a dealer friend in MD who had it on the lot. At the time it was one of only a handful on the East coast. I knew what I wanted so it didn't matter.

Look at it this way, as trucks are in such high demand, if you got it and didn't like it, you could easily sell it for what you paid if not more.

Not in my world. I'd take a $20K hit.

I’m 100% down to get an almost new truck for $20k less than the going rate for new. I’d even fly to NY to pick it up.
Send me some Dmaxes that are $20k off sticker please…

[mkirsch]

way2roll wrote:
I bought my F350 sight unseen and no test drive. I have a dealer friend in MD who had it on the lot. At the time it was one of only a handful on the East coast. I knew what I wanted so it didn't matter.

Look at it this way, as trucks are in such high demand, if you got it and didn't like it, you could easily sell it for what you paid if not more.

Not in my world. I'd take a $20K hit.

[way2roll]

I bought my F350 sight unseen and no test drive. I have a dealer friend in MD who had it on the lot. At the time it was one of only a handful on the East coast. I knew what I wanted so it didn't matter.

Look at it this way, as trucks are in such high demand, if you got it and didn't like it, you could easily sell it for what you paid if not more.

[ksss]

schlep1967 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

schlep1967 wrote:
Thanks for the replies everyone. Sorry for the no response, I was away from the computer. The older 2500 Dodge's with the diesel are well known for the poor front end. I already spent $3,000 on the front end once and 5 years later I am looking at doing it again. I am also looking at a heavier 5th wheel so I want to go to a 3500/1 ton. The length of my garage dictates it will need to be a short bed so SRW is where I need to be.
I have used the GMC search option and contacted all of the dealerships within 50 miles trying to find a truck to drive. As for Ram's, a search for them found one DRW within 200 miles.
We are getting prepared for retirement and we will be traveling across the country putting many miles on. I want to be comfortable in whatever truck I end up buying.

How many miles on the ole Dodge? "The older 2500 Dodge's with the diesel are well known for the poor front end." is just plain funny. Yes the 2nd Gens with D60 (not kingpin 60s) did wear a bit quicker.
The AAM axles and Dodge components were/are as durable as any solid axle truck out there. A great deal of the "bad" front ends were and still are customers who get suckered by shops telling them a perfectly good setup is "out of spec". I had one of those. It "needed ball joints" according to the shop at like 70k miles. Sold it at 190k with original ball joints, tie rods/ends and pittman etc. Still drove straight good tire wear and fairly tight.

Regardless, have you tried Chevy dealers and used car lots? It's not magical. They are all similar if you are in a similar trim level.
GM seats in the newest model trucks do have short seat bottoms compared to the other 2 brands. Not uncomfortable, but I'd take the 100k mile seats in my 2016 Ram over the new leather seats in my 2020 Silverado, if given the choice.

It's a 2007.5 and has just under 100,000 miles. I have already replaced $3,000 worth of front end parts and I have the early smaller wobbles starting again 2 years later. It's getting so I'm half afraid to run it on the highway because I am one pothole away from the full death wobble again. I need to go to a 3500 for the retirement fifthwheel we want to get and it would be nice to be under warranty when traveling across the country.

I had a bad case of the death wobble on a 1984 3500 SRW for a time. It can flat cause PTSD while driving. Not knowing what pothole or rough highway would cause the truck to go wild. That truck it was about 35-45 mph, hitting a bump just right, and you were going for a ride. You don't want to have that one your mind while your driving. I fixed it, and I can't remember now what did the trick. I remember putting dual stablizers on the front of it, but there was more to it than that.

[mkirsch]

I have gotten into a brand new truck and IMMEDIATELY knew I wasn't going to like it. If I had bought it sight unseen I would have been inconsolable. Probably would have parked it in the middle of the dealer lot and set it on fire rather than take the hit for trading it in.

[ken56]

There is only one plant that produces the crew cab 2500 and 3500 HD's..and that is Flint Assembly in Flint Michigan. The chip shortage has put them way behind. They have them parked all around the area from leasing parking lots at the airport to fields waiting on the chips. My latest plant newsletter said the chip situation is improving and they are shipping more trucks to the dealers every day. The short answer is to keep calling a dealer to see when they are expecting any in. Work with a salesman to stay on top of it for you.

[Grit_dog]

@schlep1967, that’s crazy!
Have a combined almost 300k between an 07 like yours and a 2016 model sitting on a janky cheap 6” lift since new and have not touched any steering components on either truck.

[schlep1967]

Grit dog wrote:

schlep1967 wrote:
Thanks for the replies everyone. Sorry for the no response, I was away from the computer. The older 2500 Dodge's with the diesel are well known for the poor front end. I already spent $3,000 on the front end once and 5 years later I am looking at doing it again. I am also looking at a heavier 5th wheel so I want to go to a 3500/1 ton. The length of my garage dictates it will need to be a short bed so SRW is where I need to be.
I have used the GMC search option and contacted all of the dealerships within 50 miles trying to find a truck to drive. As for Ram's, a search for them found one DRW within 200 miles.
We are getting prepared for retirement and we will be traveling across the country putting many miles on. I want to be comfortable in whatever truck I end up buying.

How many miles on the ole Dodge? "The older 2500 Dodge's with the diesel are well known for the poor front end." is just plain funny. Yes the 2nd Gens with D60 (not kingpin 60s) did wear a bit quicker.
The AAM axles and Dodge components were/are as durable as any solid axle truck out there. A great deal of the "bad" front ends were and still are customers who get suckered by shops telling them a perfectly good setup is "out of spec". I had one of those. It "needed ball joints" according to the shop at like 70k miles. Sold it at 190k with original ball joints, tie rods/ends and pittman etc. Still drove straight good tire wear and fairly tight.

Regardless, have you tried Chevy dealers and used car lots? It's not magical. They are all similar if you are in a similar trim level.
GM seats in the newest model trucks do have short seat bottoms compared to the other 2 brands. Not uncomfortable, but I'd take the 100k mile seats in my 2016 Ram over the new leather seats in my 2020 Silverado, if given the choice.

It's a 2007.5 and has just under 100,000 miles. I have already replaced $3,000 worth of front end parts and I have the early smaller wobbles starting again 2 years later. It's getting so I'm half afraid to run it on the highway because I am one pothole away from the full death wobble again. I need to go to a 3500 for the retirement fifthwheel we want to get and it would be nice to be under warranty when traveling across the country.

[Krusty]

Maybe a rental outfit could rent you one for an afternoon?

[Dadoffourgirls]

If you are coming through Michigan, I just got my Silverado LTZ 3500 standard bed. If I am heading through PA, I will let you know.

[MFL]

ford truck guy wrote:

schlep1967 wrote:
Was just on GMC's website where you can chat with an expert to find the vehicle you want. He found one for me to test drive. Only a nine hour round trip for a test drive. I don't think I'm making that trip.

Only 9 hours?? that's probably $500.00 in fuel now ! ! :S

Come on now...you know you just charge that fuel cost off to a company business trip. Might even make a few bucks at xx per mile. 😉

Jerry

[Grit_dog]

schlep1967 wrote:
Thanks for the replies everyone. Sorry for the no response, I was away from the computer. The older 2500 Dodge's with the diesel are well known for the poor front end. I already spent $3,000 on the front end once and 5 years later I am looking at doing it again. I am also looking at a heavier 5th wheel so I want to go to a 3500/1 ton. The length of my garage dictates it will need to be a short bed so SRW is where I need to be.
I have used the GMC search option and contacted all of the dealerships within 50 miles trying to find a truck to drive. As for Ram's, a search for them found one DRW within 200 miles.
We are getting prepared for retirement and we will be traveling across the country putting many miles on. I want to be comfortable in whatever truck I end up buying.

How many miles on the ole Dodge? "The older 2500 Dodge's with the diesel are well known for the poor front end." is just plain funny. Yes the 2nd Gens with D60 (not kingpin 60s) did wear a bit quicker.
The AAM axles and Dodge components were/are as durable as any solid axle truck out there. A great deal of the "bad" front ends were and still are customers who get suckered by shops telling them a perfectly good setup is "out of spec". I had one of those. It "needed ball joints" according to the shop at like 70k miles. Sold it at 190k with original ball joints, tie rods/ends and pittman etc. Still drove straight good tire wear and fairly tight.

Regardless, have you tried Chevy dealers and used car lots? It's not magical. They are all similar if you are in a similar trim level.
GM seats in the newest model trucks do have short seat bottoms compared to the other 2 brands. Not uncomfortable, but I'd take the 100k mile seats in my 2016 Ram over the new leather seats in my 2020 Silverado, if given the choice.