Hi guys! I need your advice on a 1995 Dodge 2500 2wd purchase. I found a truck with under 100k miles, the seller emailed me a bunch of pictures. A nice looking vehicle. Then I ran the Carfax and it reported that at 40k it was reported a lemon and was a buy-back by manufacturer. Then it went to a car auction and a private party purchased it. Since then there were 2 owners who put 60k miles on it. The seller I talked to didn't even know that his vehicle had been declared a lemon in its lifetime. The buyback was the only negative thing found by Carfax.

If I commit to the purchase, I am looking at a 20-hour trip back home in a vehicle I don't know. I did some searching around on this board, and read enough bad/good stories about lemons.

Should I contact Dodge USA and provide them with the VIN and see what the real story was? Will they even do it?

Thanks for your help!
Den

 

Hmmm. That's a risky purchase, although the idea of 190k less miles than my truck has is tempting. I guess the risk is what was it lemoned for? If transmission (auto - very likely) then there could be continuing problems, but likely not. Something minor, such as A/C work, may not be an issue. Then again, the resale value on it may be a lot less than other units, just due to the fact it was lemoned. (and until CarFax, many people would not know it had been lemoned, and why would the dealer tell them it was, anyway?)

I guess it's a money verses risk question. Sounds as if it's either been corrected in the next two owners, or disliked and therefore sold. If they are asking signifigantly lower than blue-book value, it may be worth it. If not, it sounds like too big of a risk. Look in the "general diesel" forum, Intercooler is buying a salvage-title truck in Texas, hit from behind and reapaired. There could be some good food for thought there as well. Good luck - and Welcome to DTR!

 

Honestly

it seems to good to be true, well almost, the lemon factor says alot to me right there, i wouldnt do it, especially if its 20 hours from ur house.. Welcome to DTR though, and im sure ull find a better deal, look in our classifieds.. At least u know there are honest ppl on here..

Tx

 

Thanks for the welcome note, 96_12V. Funny, as a kid and now as an adult I always had respect for diesel trucks and finally decided to buy it. So the whole purchase process turns into a very lengthy tedious hassle that I guess everyone went over.

I contacted the h/q for Dodge/Chrysler and talked to a rep. I gave him the VIN number. A few minutes later on hold and apparently talking to his supervisor, he came back saying that this was a proprietory information and he wouldn't tell me anything related to that lemon event! I asked what if this was a safety related concern that I should be aware of. Nope! 'Can't tell you' like a trained monkey/parrot he kept repeating to me. All right, 'can you give me a hint if it was an electrical, mechanical (engine, tranny) issue?' - Nope, can't do.

He advised me to take the car to a dealer and make sure it is in a safe condition. I guess for a long distance transaction this basically put a period at the end of the purchase ordeal. Unless, of course, the seller with all his honesty takes it to the dealer, pays them $$ to examine his car, and gets back to me.

Sorry for venting here, I was hoping to find a friend at Dodge h/q who would have helped me out.

Does anyone here on the board have an inside access to this super-secret Dodge VIN database? I'd really appreciate it.

Btw, the seller is asking exactly what NADA publishes on its web site.

Thanks,
Den

 

If I were in your shoes I would turn and run from that deal. Keep looking you'll find something better. Even being 20 mins from the seller I would pass. Once a lemon by back that tells me even the trained professional mechanics could not make it work right so.... Yes I understand that even dealer techs make mistakes but they have a lower "can't be fixed" rate than George down the street.

Pull up the classified here and on TDR and start another search.

 

Thanks, guys. Well I bought a different truck - this time with no lemon in CarFax :-) It is a 1994 4x4 std cab 5-speed with 102k miles, pyro and boost gauges installed. Now it has 104k miles, I drove it 2200 miles back and I must admin that Cummins engine with a turbo is a well kept secret out there. It simply hauls a$$ up the hills. I was going 75-80mph climbing 7* hills in Utah and Calif. with the cruise control on, temperatures in the range 700-800F and the water temps in the 180-190F range. Amazing.

One of the board members helped me pick it out and showed me how to change a fuel filter (what a pain). We had a nice discussion on which oils and additives to use and how to make more power etc. Thanks, Aron! At the moment I doubt I will need more :-)

A few questions:
- downshifting from OD (5th) to 3rd is simple. However from 3rd to 2nd, the RPMS shoot through the roof (up to 3k) and I am afraid I will grenade that tranny. How do you guys downshift? Any tips?
- going down the hill in the OD with the cruise control set, say, at 75mph. The engine/tranny sound like it is power braking because it manages to maintain the same speed. How does it happen? Is it a bad idea to run cruise control in this situation?
- going up the hill, turbo running at 12-16 psi continuously for 5-10 minutes, sometimes longer (temps are 700-800F, engine oil within specs, water 180-190F). Is there such a thing as wearing out the turbo parts because of such constant heavy load?

Thanks!
Den

 

don't downshift, use the brakes thats what their there for, unless you really need to slow down faster. you'll wear your clutch out alot faster down shifting

compression in the engine gives you quite a bit of engine braking, but their is no throttle so you don't really get as much as with a gas engine. I don't think your using your cruise wrong shouldn't hurt anything.

For your turbo just don't overspeed/over boost it, and dont' shut it down hot and it will last a long time.