Wife needs a new car

[matt1ptkn]

The hood on my car is aluminum. Never an issue. Just fyi...

[marlo]

The hood on my car is aluminum. Never an issue. Just fyi...

The Ford I owned before had an aluminum hood also, and I never had a problem in the 6 years I owned it, but an all aluminum body, make's me wonder.
anyways, I pulled the trigger on a 2015 Dodge Ram sport. well optioned 2 door 4x4. I pick it up Thursday, and will post a few pic's if anyone is interested. the best part of this deal..... They make a price mistake, and honoured it... and it wasn't small either!
Thanks for all the input

[noony]

Marlo
Sorry to hear about the problems your having with your jeep must be a Friday build. I have a 2010 ram crew cab trx off road 5.7 hemi that i purchased new it currently has 174000 on it,yes it has had a few problems (rear end pinion nut came lose twice (there is a recall for this) and rebuilt rear end once due to water entering through the vent hose that wasn't installed properly this was around 120000, both front wheel bearings and cv axles at around 135000, but like most its not stock. I added flowmasters with tail pipes ran behind the wheels (because i pull a 30 foot fifth wheel) k&n filter,diablo sport tuner,bilstein shocks with adjustable fronts for leveling,air bags in the rear 315 BF goodrichs with off set wheels (probably the cause of the front wheel bearing going out) and yes i drive it like i stole it everyday

If your thinking of getting another FCA vehicle(Chrysler) pm me I can save you some with a friends program discount

[RC10th]

Marlon, your heart says Ford but your old rig was a GM...... Are you ok?


and you bought Dodge. Congrats on the new truck.

[matt1ptkn]

[/quote]
The Ford I owned before had an aluminum hood also, and I never had a problem in the 6 years I owned it, but an all aluminum body, make's me wonder.
[/quote]

What is your concern with an all aluminum body? I'm just asking because I'm curious.

[marlo]

The Ford I owned before had an aluminum hood also, and I never had a problem in the 6 years I owned it, but an all aluminum body, make's me wonder.
[/quote]

What is your concern with an all aluminum body? I'm just asking because I'm curious.[/quote]

I had read Ford had a delay in releasing the truck with problems with the all new body. Insurance will go up because of the body (or so I've been told), and body shops might have a problem dealing with repair. Its just to new for me, one thing that comes to mind is bitd, I remember certain cars had paint peeling off the hood, roof, etc...

[PlastiZapCA+]

From what I've read there were issues with the paint peeling in the past on aluminum bodied vehicles. Ford said this has been remedied with a new painting process. I've also read that repairs are a little more pricey than standard steel bodied vehicles. Most of the cost comes from special painting requirements to avoid contamination of the aluminum (oxidation). Strength should not be an issue as quite a few military vehicles are aluminum skinned. I'm sure we'll see more vehicles being made from aluminum in the near future. I think it's a good thing myself.

Here is a link to a test Edmunds did. Seems the taillight they smashed cost almost as much as the bodywork.
http://www.edmunds.com/ford/f-150/2015/long-term-road-test/2015-ford-f-150-aluminum-body-repairs-part-1-with-video.html

[matt1ptkn]

Never thought about paint related issues, but wouldn't a polished aluminum bodied truck be awesome to see??

[PlastiZapCA+]

You'd probably get a citation for blinding other drivers. It would be cool though!

[Halgar]

Here is a link to a test Edmunds did. Seems the taillight they smashed cost almost as much as the bodywork.
http://www.edmunds.com/ford/f-150/2015/long-term-road-test/2015-ford-f-150-aluminum-body-repairs-part-1-with-video.html

Interesting article and vids.


Good thing they didn't hit it anywhere else or they'd have had to replace the ABS, GPS, CPU, SMMS (side moron monitoring system ), FMMS (front moron monitoring system ), and a host of other nifty gadgets that manufacturers insist people need to have.

[kaiser]

From what I've read there were issues with the paint peeling in the past on aluminum bodied vehicles. Ford said this has been remedied with a new painting process. I've also read that repairs are a little more pricey than standard steel bodied vehicles. Most of the cost comes from special painting requirements to avoid contamination of the aluminum (oxidation). Strength should not be an issue as quite a few military vehicles are aluminum skinned. I'm sure we'll see more vehicles being made from aluminum in the near future. I think it's a good thing myself.

Here is a link to a test Edmunds did. Seems the taillight they smashed cost almost as much as the bodywork.
http://www.edmunds.com/ford/f-150/2015/long-term-road-test/2015-ford-f-150-aluminum-body-repairs-part-1-with-video.html

a body shop needs to be certified in aluminum in order to repair it, legally.
most manufacturers have certification process/programs now.
they can't even be worked on in the same room as steel.

[RC104ever]

Well I can shed a bit of light on the aluminum body thing (Audi dealers with the A8 and R8).

YES - it must be a certified body shop that can work with aluminum. Obviously a lot more finicky to work with and much less forgiving.

YES - insurance is most definitely higher because aluminum parts are more expensive and harder to repair (most you can't repair, you just replace).

The offset is that they are lighter while being very strong torsionally. They are also immune to the normal types of corrosion that cripple steel bodied cars much earlier.

That being said, the weight savings in a truck could be significant (I heard Ford overstated the weight savings but still, there are weight savings) and that makes a lot of difference in the payload, handling, fuel economy and performance.

I personally like the new F-150 (bitter pill to swallow to say I like a Ford!) but why not try this: Go test drive ALL the trucks in that competitive segment, regardless of whether you would actually buy it (including the imports). Make an informed decision. Then once you've narrowed the choices down to two, go to 3 dealers for each brand and shop the price.

What it comes down to is how well your local dealer is going to support you during your ownership experience. Google reviews, BBB, online forums etc are all good tools for evaluating the positive / negative reviews on a store. Some are valid, others are not.

Good luck buddy!

[slapshot1979]

Dad worked for dodge 36 yrs, Mom GM. Dad's 2011 GM truck is on 3rd motor and it burns about 1L oil every 300kms. He's pissed he didnt buy the hemi.

[kaiser]

Dad worked for dodge 36 yrs, Mom GM. Dad's 2011 GM truck is on 3rd motor and it burns about 1L oil every 300kms. He's pissed he didnt buy the hemi.

the hemi's nice and all but if he did buy it, he'd be looking at doing body work instead of motor work. you can't win.

[hugger19]

i hope to get a 2015 charger scat pack. if i can find one