I am having a tough time deciding if I should buy an '01 or '05 CTD Ram and need some guidance? I have been driving an '05 on loan from the local dealership all weekend and love it....I just kind of wanted to avoid the payments for the next 4 years.

I looked at a friends husband's '01 CTD Ram 4x4 Quad Cab Long Bed (67,000 miles) earlier today and it is mint. It was cleaner than the '05 I was driving. Garage kept and babied. He has a set of 35 tires on it, 4" exhaust, and K&N air filter. He has taken it back to the dealership once for a warranty repair and I think he said it was for an erratic oil pressure gauge reading? He said he has never had any problems with the injector pump or transmission.

After reading the posts on a few different websites I am wondering if I should even consider saving the 15K ($20,000 for the '01 vs. around $35,000 for the '05) by buying the '01? I am worried about the VP44 injector pump, auto transmission, motor block (are #53 blocks bad?), and steering. His steering was much harder than the '05 truck when not moving. Can anyone give me an idea what the odds are that I buy this truck and then end up dumping a bunch of money into repairs down the road?

Also, he said he bought the truck right before the '02 models came out. It has ABS but drum brakes in the back? I thought the '01.5 models came with ABS and 4-wheel disc brakes?

 

I think the $15,000 difference would cover any potential tranny, pump or even worn out chassis parts. But, compare the long term difference in price after you figure in the different intrest rate for the used veh. ALso compare any difference in insurance prices. Still under warranty I imagine?

 

If I buy the '01 truck I will pay cash and luckily have no financing so that is another plus in its column. If I buy the '05 truck I will be financing the balance over 20K which I would not look forward to. I already checked the insurance rates and the '01 is about $100/year so it really isn't much difference.

If the #53 block is not a concern that is good as well.

Do the transmissions in the '01's typically fail at a certain milage?

The larger back seat in the '05 is a plus considering my daughter (10 months) will be riding along some times.