Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Dodge Ram 3.0 diesel made by Fiat.

I test drove one and it was quiet and smooth even at 80 mph. They are made by Fiat. Would 28 mpg be enough reason to try one?
whelennut

Depends - what is the price premium between it and a comparable gasser? What is the fuel economy difference? Some simple math will tell you how long the payback will take.

I wonder if it will hold up for as many miles as the larger diesels.

Ram claims that with the 5.7 Hemi 25 mpg is possible on highway miles.
8 speed transmission is helpful I am sure.
Figuring out the price on a new vehicle depends on rebates, incentives, and financing and your haircut?
My son is a salesman and he thinks I should get the diesel but I am retired so I don't drive much. I am more concerned with maintenance costs and reliability.
I like to buy Made in USA as well.
whelennut

My Ram was made in Mexico. I don't know where the new ones are made.

Personally I'd give them a few years before even considering one. Made by Fiat would not give me any comfort either, personally.
Mileage won't give you much economy if maintenance is killing you. How much per year will that kind of mileage save you vs. the same model in gas? Then balance that against maintenance and fuel costs, and initial truck upcharge, and you get your break even point.

IIRC the payload ratings on them are really, really low compared to the hemi and especially other half tons.

Sometimes fuel is the cheapest thing you put in a vehicle.

I'm 1yr in on my 2014 Ram 1500 Big Horn, 4x4, 5.7l Hemi. I like the truck and it gets the best mileage I've ever gotten on a truck. Highway driving it's easy to be 20+mpg.

There are some things starting to go wrong that bug me. I have 43,000 miles on the truck.

- The touch screen controls are flashing an emergency 911 dial. I don't have this service or I think it would actually call them.

- the front suspension is starting to feel like a car with 100k on it.

- The mirrors suck.

- sits really low in the front.

Some things I like

- PLENTY of power for anything I do. With nearly 400hp, it hauls ass when you need it to. I have the 3.23 rear and notice no issues pulling what I need it to.

- 8sp transmission. Smooth shifts, real low in the first few gears for pulling or burn-outs, nice tall gears for the rest.

- MPG. I don't usually care too much about it, but it's good enough in this truck to notice.

- Price. I'm a Ford guy, but for $7K more and a lesser equipped truck, I couldn't afford the F-150.

I have a bumper to bumper 100K mile warranty so I'll have the "issues" fixed and keep the truck to 100k. So about another year and a half. I don't keep vehicles long, so that works out fine for me.

Fuel savings is better now that diesel is close to gas in price but the premium that most of the companies are charging for the diesel motor will take several years to make up. For example, the new 4 cyl. diesel in the Chevy Colorado is about $3800 more than the gas motor.

And they'll sell plenty of them. I'm willing to wait and see how they work out. By the time the bugs get worked out, I'll be needing a truck.

The engine is made by VM Motori, an italian engine maker. It's owned by Fiat now but has been traded around over the years, it used to be owned mostly by GM. I have a 2006 jeep liberty with a VM Motori 2.8L four cylinder diesel. I also have a 1999 dodge with the cummins diesel. The cummins is a much more reliable engine by several orders of magnitude, the jeep is having head gasket issues right now and will likely need a new one soon.

I'd caution anyone buying one that thinks it's going to hold up like a cummins. VM Motori products are not in that league.

Thanks for that info. I am going to wait for Toyota to put a diesel in a one ton.

Well I looked at one, and I just looked, Sunday the dealer in town is closed and is the best time to window shop! 65K on the sticker, that is way to much money in my view and even if I could afford to write a check for that amount! I drove diesel cars for 33 years- and once you get over some of the little quirks, its not a bad way to go- no computers to deal with, those were the days! But unless you are going to keep one till the wheels fall off or that its so old, like my 1991 VW Jetta was and parts become very hard to get or even find, then it really makes no sense over a gas fueled model! My current car is a gas fueled one and it has a computer and sensors and I been having never ending issues to deal with- the one thing about the old jetta was you fixed and issue and then when the part wore out in 50 to 100 thousand miles you just replace it and that was it! If I was in need of a Truck, I think I would go with a Second Gen Dodge Cummins with a standard transmission and just take some of the money I didn't spend on a new one and just do a rebuild!

I think you'll have a long wait. They don't even make a 3/4 yet.

Don't know anything about Cummins, but VM diesels have been used in quite a few 4x4's here in the UK..Older Range Rovers and Jeep Cheorokee's spring to mind. They weren't terrible engines but they weren't known for their stellar reliability either. Todays folks seem to be pleased if they get 150K to 200K miles out of them, when really a good diesel should just about be running in at that point.

Pete,

The little SUV that's called the Cherokee in the UK is named the Liberty in the U.S. That's the one I've got, it's got the same 2.8L VM in it as in the U.K. but thanks to our EPA they hang a lot more emissions crap on it for U.S. sale. The extra emissions stuff caused some problems with the engines here, lots of soot build up in the oil due to the exhaust gas recirculation system of the U.S. version.

Jeep didn't want to use the name "Liberty" in the U.K. due to our little family spat some 240 years back.

The one I drove had a sticker of 52 thousand.
It could be had for less after rebates and discounts.

The Cherokee I am thinking about was the old XJ body style which I think was the first Cherokee marketed in the UK??

I think the VM was used in that and the Grand Cherokee that replaced it, but I am not sure about later models.

To be honest, I’ve lost interest in more recent offerings from Jeep as they have followed the fad for yuppifying their vehicles.

While the original XJ was no Wrangler, it was still more than capable off road and a very useful size for the conditions over here.