Lightman

Heres the situation. I can get either an 03 or 04 for invoice less rebates. I've found 03's with most of the options I want.

My jetta is probably going to be selling tomorrow, so I'll be out of a tow vehicle for my ATV and Jetski. I have another car to drive in the meantime but its not able to tow.

Pros of 03:
- available now
- no EGR 8)
- $2500 cash back or 0-2.9 financing
- ability to play on weekends with toys

Cons of 03:
- year of depreciation compared to 04
- cheesy woodgrain

Pros of 04:
- exact options I want
- silver dash trim, other trim upgrades 8)

Cons of 04:
- no current announced incentives or financing
- EGR??
- 6 to 8 week wait with no atv or jetskiing :'(

Arrrrghhh what to do!? I have been going over this backwards and forwards, such a tough decision, I could argue it either way. I could have an 03 now, for less money and no egr, but the 04 will have my exact options. Not sure if having those exact options is worth the $3000 difference or so and the 2 month wait. If I'm keeping the truck for a long long time, it probably doesn't make a difference. If something happens or if I fall in love with some other vehicle 3 years from now(doubt it), the model year will make a difference.

I can't seem to find any 03's that have rear window defrosters ??? I know living up north in cleveland I certainly used mine a lot when the window was iced over. Is this still a problem considering a trucks rear window is vertical? First truck ;D

Also, none of the trucks I saw elected to get side airbags. Do ppl think these aren't necesary on such a big truck? I know if my passenger got hit in the door, and was gouged or something, i'd feel awful for not getting the airbags, or in the stretcher on the way to the hospital I'd be cursing myself for not getting them.

Any and all insight welcomed and appreciated!!

Mexstan

Will not even try and answer the financing questions. It is a rough choice. Been there. I can however answer about the defrosted rear window. Have owned trucks in a lot colder climate than where you live. I never ever had a need for one, even in the worst storms.
I had the same problem with my truck when I bought it re the side air bags. I wanted them but it was a special order plus in the end the final truck price would have been more. Found a truck with everything I wanted except the side air bags. So finally after much thought made the decision to go without them. Was it a wise choice? Will never know unless I get hit in the side.

Lightman

mex stan, I'm moving up to cleveland in less than a year, I should have mentioned that. It gets very cold there and snows a ton on the east side where I will live. The truck will get snow and ice on it occasionally. This thing is gonna be the ultimate snowboard road trip vehicle 8)

Mexstan

I lived in a climate where occasionally the ploughs pushed the snow high enough that you could walk on top of the piles and touch the telephone wires. Had our share of really bad ice storms. Still never had any use for a rear window defroster. Come to think of it, it was not an option either at that time. Think Cleveland gets any worse than that?

Lightman

Stan I'm not interested in a who's got more snow competition. : As far as the defroster goes, possibly the truck rear window being vertical causes it to not get as much stuff on it. I will say, I parked outside two winters ago and my car window would have 6 inches to a foot of snow on it each morning. Sometimes the windows and windshield were covered with thick ice, and I'd start the car, and defrosters, and go back inside for a few mins. The ice and snow would always be melted off. They are very useful. I am just trying to determine if they're not necessary for trucks at all, or its just southern trucks that don't need them.

The defroster dilemma is one of the many above pros cons that I'm trying to weigh. Anyone have any input, and why did they choose 04 over 03 or vice versa?

doug

Here's my take: imagine yourself after the 2 months of instant gratification is over, and you have the 03 truck with woodgrain trim, body color grill trim instead of Chrome, body color side moldings instead of chrome etc., no rear headrests, and without some of the options you would really prefer. will you be happy with this truck in two years?

also, bag the rear window defroast. in my opinion it isn't necessary and the rear window slider is much more practical (you can't have both). Also, get the light group on the 04 -- you get lighted vanity mirrors on the sun visors, auto-dim rear view mirror, a light under the hood, in the ashtray, and probably something I forgot. Just don't get the offroad package unless you really want a 4.10 axle of course. all the "offroad" stuff can be had with other packages.

To me, if I were interested in the Laramie -- those minor trim details might grow in importance over time. I really like the 04 laramie a lot better than the 03. and I like the rear adjustable headrests and the light group!

So my bottom line advice is to ignore the instant gratification of the next two months and concentrate on the truck you really want to be driving a year from now. Otherwise, all of a sudden she'll be staring at you without her left front tooth :-)

Lightman

Thanks for the input. I agree the 04 is the truck I want more exactly by far. I do know that the defroster is great up north, but not sure on trucks as I posted above. I should have noted, I'm getting this thing loaded. Laramie, light group, sport package, trailer hitch, anti-spin diff, etc.

The incentives do mean something, the 03 will be about $3k cheaper, but some of that is gained back in the lack of depreciation of the 04.

I'm leaning toward the 04, but not jetskiing or atv'ing for the next 2 out of 10 months I have left in Florida, is a big cost to me as well. I'm usually out doing that stuff every weekend.

What are the body vs chrome color side moldings? I'm not sure I'm picturing what those are. I'm getting a black truck, and kinda like the body color grille, although I haven't seen a pic of what the 04 will look like, and it sounds like the front will have billet inserts with the sport pkg etc. Sounds cool.

:- :- :- :- :'( :P ;D

Scotty

I tried to find an 03 to match my needs/wants...for several weeks.
Found nothing, ordered the 04.

The Laramie has the light group correct? At least my dealer said its included in the Laramie pkg.

Never had a rear defrost on any truck and I dislike the easy to enter rear sliders...simply cuz of theft.

I know the snow as high as the telephone wires and the ice...the rear glass rarely gets it but I took that option on the Laramie as I did not want the slider.

Lightman

The light group is a separate option on top of the laramie pkg, although not a particularly expensive one. I'm leaning toward ordering an 04. Saving the $ and getting a comparable black laramie 03 is tempting though.

c5racer

I ordered the rear defroster to keep the window from fogging up on the inside if you got people in there with hot breath.

hotdram

Lightman,
I grew up in Erie, about 2 hours east of where you will be moving to. We got much the same weather as Cleveland. I don't recall ever wishing I had a rear defroster on my '97 when I had it up there. Also, as was said before, I would get what you will be happy with in a year from now. Nothin' worse than a case of the "I wish I would of's". If you get the '03 and then decide you can't live without the '04 and go purchase one, you will take the depreciation hit on the '03 early.

Doug,
I have a question about the "Off Road" option. When Dodge introduced the "Off-Road" option on the 1500's (the ones that actually say "Off-Road" on the tailgate), that meant that you could not get 4 wheel ABS. Is that the case with the '04s?

Lightman

in the info I've gotten, I've not seen an '0ff road' package offered.... ???

Festus

I've never noticed the back window getting frosty in mine. I've used my truck in temps down to -40 Celcius out near hunting camp and can't remember ever wanting a rear defroster. JMHO of course, but I think it'll just be something additional to break. :-

deje

Its more like 4k difference in price between 03 and 04 the 04 laramie is 1400.00 more than an 03 and 2500.00 rebate on the 03 and i managed 3.9% on an 03 when an 04 was going to be 4.9 I got 98% of what i wanted in an 03 plus some things that they wont offer in 04

Lightman

deje you have to take out a years depreciation of the 03 from the difference.