I purchased a 04 Ram 2500 Laramie H, quad cab 4x4 in MA in August. I specifically asked for the Cummins 600. I was looking at three trucks all 04 4x4 quads, all Laramies and all black. I was told that they all had the same engine/trans. config. and that only one engine was avail. in MA for 04 and it was the 600 as advertised and hyped in the Dodge ram truck brochure printed 12/03 provided by my dealer prior to making the purchase. I discovered four days later that the truck that I purchased was not a 325hp/600 but, was instead a 235 CARB Cummins... I literally thought that the sticker was a mistake. I only traded in my 03 gaser at a $5k loss to get the Cummins 600. I contacted the dealer, who stuck with their story, claiming to know nothing of this second Cummins engine option. The 04 CARB is a 24 valve inline six that on the outside looks identical to the 600. I was and am very disappointed. As the dealer would not do a thing and as Daimler Chrysler would only differ to the dealer. I sought legal council. BTW My truck was produced 12/03.

In my case this was clearly a misleading and deceptive practice and in violation of MA Law 93A, sec. 9. I'd love to hear other stories like this, our legal position would be much stronger if we were to band together against the big bad dealers and Dodge who seems to be claiming no responsibility for their misrepresenting the 04 diesel option as only the 600 in their brochure which was made the same month as my truck... We were misled and thus far I feel powerless even with council at $275 an hour... Which I really can't afford. I just want this made right. In my case this was a $41K+ purchase. I felt that I was being careful and I was taken. I believed that I was buying the ultimate truck and one that I would have for years and years and although this may still be a great truck. It is not the 600, which I asked for and was let to believe that I was getting. Please help.

 

i see no fault but your own if the truck was not ordered but bought off the lot. you have to do your homework are you telling me you never looked at the window sticker never looked at the engine did you even look at the truck before you bought it. it's common knowledge that the engine change was mid year i ordered mine on 11/26/03 and it was easy to figure out. assume the dealer knows nothing other than the price they want for the truck it's up to you to learn the rest.

 

Ouch, well if they won't take the truck back, put an Edge EZ on it and it will be a what you are looking for...Good Luck

 

ok spudman, i guess not everyone is as knowledgeable as you...we could only wish

 

He did say he saw the window sticker that said 235 but " literally thought [it] was a mistake." Let's see... take a chance with the Feds by putting the wrong sticker on a vehicle or with a potential sucker by misleading him and then playing dumb. I vote that the dealer took him in the best of "caveat emptor" or, from dictionary.com, "The axiom or principle in commerce that the buyer alone is responsible for assessing the quality of a purchase before buying."

So, he did in fact, see the window sticker. He also said he did his research and knew what to look for... except the engine plate that identifies what kind of engine was in the truck.

So, in reality, the fault is, unfortunately, his own.

Does have any recourse against the dealer? I don't know - that's why he's paying $275/hour to an attorney to tell him what his recourse is. In addition to that, I'd also be conducting a letter writing campaign to DC, to the BBB, to the MA Attorney General and to anyone else I could think of. I'd also, if I had the funds, take out ads in the local papers and even on radio accusing them of being deceptive and explaining the details of how I got taken; I don't really care that I'd be advertising that I was less than smart in this deal.

At what point do we accept responsibility for our own actions? We're always looking to blame someone else for our own shortcomings and to have them pay for it or get us out of our blunder. Put hot coffee between your legs, hit a bump and blame McDonalds. Sue McDonalds, Burger King and the like because you're fat. There's a guy (frequent, experienced gambler) suing a Vegas casino because they let him get drunk and bet too much. And so on and so on.

It really sucks that kingston got taken and maybe his lawyer can do something for him - besides relieve him of $275/hour, but in the end, it really was his error. I hope we can all learn something from it and not repeat it ourselves; I know I've made my share of 'em so far.

 

You purchased the truck in August, but since it's not a 600, it was built before 1/04. I saw a couple of non 600 04's on a lot in May, and that surprised me. Your truck spent alot of time sunning itself, either in Mexico, your dealer or somewhere in between. There were some northeast US supply issues in the spring. A couple of members had to wait 3+months for ordered trucks to arrive. One in PA actually cancelled his order and bought from a different dealer off his lot, after repeated calls about the delay to the dealer he ordered from weren't returned.

Unless your paperwork states "600" and the fact you have no way to prove what you were told by the dealership, I wouldn't bother fighting this. The 5 speed stick or auto were available with the SO, so if they meant there was one engine and one tranny, that was wrong too.

IMHO, all you can do is chalk this up as a lesson. Look on the bright side: it's not like you bought a PSD and have the issue's they're having, you still have a Cummins, the only medium duty engine available in HD pickups. Any recalls/tsbs for the 600 won't affect you and a couple of upgrades will bring you up to or surpass the 600. I just wish you would have posted some of your questions here before you signed.

 

Joel you need to read more carefully. I said I saw the window sticker, but I did not say that it said 235hp. I looked at three trucks side by side. All of which were told to be equipped with Cummins 600s. None of them had 600 listed on the window sticker. It should be noted that I used invoices to compare the three vehicles. None of them mentioned Cummins 600. How was I supposed to know what an authentic Dodge Ram HD Cummins 600 window sticker was to look like. Unfortionately, I took the dealer's word for it and was reassured by Dodge's own literature which showed that only one Cummins was avail. This whole mid year change was not mid year it began after the 04 model year had been in production for 6 weeks. I knew nothing of the sticker on the valve cover. Besides. How much evidence should one seek when trying to confirm that something is what it appears to be, is told to me by several authorities (representatives of the dealership) once in writing, and is discribed to be by it's manufacturer.

Additionally, there is a difference between doing one's due diligance as a consumer and being deceived, misled, and undermined by flawed documentation while doing this due diligence.

Finally, MA unlike RI and TX has traditionally only had one diesel engine option available, the CARB Diesel. The SO/HO options were not avail. here. Getting an HO here was a big deal.

You attempt at simplifying my situation seems to only serve one rather limited purpose and that really has nothing to do with me.

 

Please explain "CARB diesel"

Thanks,

 

235 hp is the S.O. CA emission compliant ver. sold only in CA, MA, NY, and NH prior to theavailabity of the 50 state compliant 600.

CARB- California Air Resource Board.

 

I'm sure the dealer had his best interest in mind imagine how tough it would be to sell that truck with all the cummins 600's lying around poor guy kinda got the old bait and switch

 

I am constantly amazed at people who buy these trucks and never do any research into what they are buying. Surely the phrase "buyer beware" has not been lost from the language has it?

Flame suit on!

 

SBishop,

If you believe that I did no research, then you are a fool and I appologize for not living in your tiny little hypersimplified world. Good luck in it though...

b

 

Seems like there is enough blame to go around. If you actually have this in writing, why can't this be used to skewer the dealer?

I may not have this all this correct, but if there was still a CARB diesel left around on the lot in August of 2004, DC should have made sure there was a large day-glo ribbon around it. This is beyond the reasonable risk a new buyer ought to be required to take with all the advertising about the 600. DC and the dealer ought to help this man. JMHO

jr

 

Kingston,

Look at the bright side, the 235 HP unit will probably get better mileage than the "600" anyway. Since 90% of the people on this forum end up BOMBing their trucks, enjoy the 235 HP Cummins mileage and then add a box for around $500.00 (no small chunk of change I realize) which can switch between stock and modified HP/Torque settings and kill the stock "600's" when you want to, then switch back to the stock settings for mileage.

 

Kingston,
Keep paying your lawyer $275.00/hour. You need all the help you can get.