legendaryandrew
Adventurer
So I bought a new truck. Let me begin by stating I don't really believe in fate much, but some times I question myself. Normally I wouldn't buy a (to me) super expensive rig that I plan to USE, but sometimes the stars line up, and things happen that you didn't expect. It started with me slowly introducing my girl to overlanding. She supported it like all good women do, but wasn't into it like I was. Then we started taking the 'burb out more and more, we went to the PNW Overland Rally last year, then again this year, and she fell in love. We bought another house, and having a truck became more of a requirement than a thought, and having multiple vehicles to fill individual roles wasn't efficient, so we discussed. We discussed replacing the beloved Suburban for a truck.
Then, this thought turned into casually perusing local dealer truck inventory. Initially we decided no more than 30k, because well, who wants to pay that much? We went out with the price limit, and the hardset requirements of having a quad cab, short bed, 4x4, heated seats, decent (more than 15mpg) gas mileage, and full size (we have 2 dogs we take with us everywhere, and one is a 110lb black lab pup). For secondary requirements we had, back up camera, sunroof, opening rear window, bed liner, not heavily modified, less than 100k miles, had to have the feel (you car people know what I mean). The idea was, make it hard to find, and we'd be less likely to impulse buy.
We started at the local Chevy dealer (she had just bought a new Equinox to replacing her dying Soul (haha) from them), and drove a half dozen vehicles, starting with a HEAVILY discounted '16 1500 quad cab 4x4. It was a middle of the pack truck, touch screen deck, cloth, no sunroof, mid size bed, white (we love white, in a not racist way). It was a nice nice truck, but...well it didn't feel like a truck to us, and just felt like our Suburban, only 30k more expensive. And stock. Plus it didn't have a short bed. We moved on.
Next up was a recent (as in, that day and still not turned over) trade. A 2015 Ram 2500 5.7. I was skeptical. It was cloth, floor shift transfer case (I love), nothing but a stereo and electric windows. But it DID have solid axles front and rear, soooo why not? We got in (remember, its still PO dirty), and fired it up. Modified exhaust. No biggie. Drove off, the lot and hit the road. Things improved. It felt great. Like a truck...but not abusive. It steered great, rode great, and was perfect. It was odd. She was HARD set on heated seats. This didn't have any. She still loved it. We got back to the dealer, told the sales guy we had some talking to do, and we'd call on the 'morrow. In the meantime, we had a few more stops.
Next up was a Ford dealer, and the new F150's. We drove a couple, 5.0 Platinum, that had EVERYTHING, and a personal chef. It was crazy nice, we just didn't like the feel of it. It was however, in our range, decently powerful, and low miles. It missed the feel requirement, so we moved to a 3.5 Ecoboost FX4. It was better. Less...gaudy, more capable, felt good. Just not great. So we went home. We talked. Everything led back to the Ram, but we weren't 100% sold on it just yet, so we searched.
Eventually we made it back to the Chevy dealer, and drove a couple more rigs, but just didn't fall in love like we had the Ram (we drove a loaded LTZ '13 1500 with a 6.2 that got 10mpg, '15 Ram 1500 lifted, among others). We went home and talked again, and I began expanding my search to the interwebz. After a couple days, another Ram popped up, a bit more money, but better equipped with the amenities we love (girls and heated seats....who am I kidding, I love 'em too!). It was 20ish miles from home, so after work we headed out. Turned out, this used car lot was actually a small branch of a much larger RV sales lot, that was having a huge event at their local fair grounds, which was where the guy on the phone said the truck was. We arrived and met a different sales guy who stayed late from work to show us the truck, which as it turns out, wasn't there. It was out getting some work done at the local Les Schwab. I was a bit peeved, but whatever, right? Then the girl is like "hey, what about that one?" and pointed to a silver truck sitting close by. I despise silver vehicles. But like a good man, I walked over to look.
It was a '13 Ram 3500 CTD, so right away I'm thinking she has no idea how expensive this thing is going to be, but I'm curious. Driver door is open, and I notice it had a full center console, and leather. I'm thinking, loaded, 45k easy. I jump in, and its comfy, feels right. I notice it has a sunroof, touch screen deck which means back up cam, digital dash (I'm a nerd) which I love. It's a short bed. Quad cab. Damn, wish it wasn't so far out of our...wait, the sticker on the window says 36k..? Hmm. High mileage. Duh. I ask for a test drive anyway, just to compare the 5.7 to the CTD. I fire it up, and notice it only has 50k miles....hmmm Put it in gear and start out of the lot. It drives nice. Really nice. We take it out, and immediately I love the power, and after the mileage settled out, I was averaging about 18 mixed, 20-22 hwy. Twice what we got with the Suburban. Shes getting on board. Wait, it has heated seats too? And the fold flat rear seat panels for the dogs? Sunroof? Bed liner? Electric opening rear window? Is this vehicular providence?!?! We're both looking at each other during the test drive like "yeah...this is it. It's exactly what we want". So like anyone else that found the vehicle of our dreams, we went home. Without it. But, not after starting the "lets make a deal" talks.
I called a week later, to see if they had it. They did, and we negotiated a bit. Still didn't meet my terms, so I ended the call. Then I called a few more days later, and they still had it. Once again, the negotiating started. I aimed high (low), and we finally settled on the numbers my girl and I agreed upon in the beginning. The deal was a go! We drove out there after work, and checked the truck out one more time. Just as good as we remembered it. So I bought it. End of story.
Not quite lol, some pics:
New next to the old
First mod
I've put about 1k miles on it so far, and love the crap out of it. She even likes driving it, so that's a plus! Plans are down the road, AEV 3" lift, AEV bumper, AEV raised intake, 37" Toyo MT, and regear and lockers. For now though, we will enjoy it as is.
P.S. I ran the VIN through Ram, and discovered this truck was spec'ed out with an over sized fuel tank! Normal is 26 gal, I had a 31. Score!!! Also has an LSD. Providence...? Hmmm.
So anyway, the girl and I are now on the same page, to the point where she even created and is managing our very own Expedition/Overland instagram profile (she started it on her own provocation, win for me!). It would be great if you guys who ig followed us, and shared in our adventures. Enjoy! https://www.instagram.com/live.love.overland/?hl=en
Then, this thought turned into casually perusing local dealer truck inventory. Initially we decided no more than 30k, because well, who wants to pay that much? We went out with the price limit, and the hardset requirements of having a quad cab, short bed, 4x4, heated seats, decent (more than 15mpg) gas mileage, and full size (we have 2 dogs we take with us everywhere, and one is a 110lb black lab pup). For secondary requirements we had, back up camera, sunroof, opening rear window, bed liner, not heavily modified, less than 100k miles, had to have the feel (you car people know what I mean). The idea was, make it hard to find, and we'd be less likely to impulse buy.
We started at the local Chevy dealer (she had just bought a new Equinox to replacing her dying Soul (haha) from them), and drove a half dozen vehicles, starting with a HEAVILY discounted '16 1500 quad cab 4x4. It was a middle of the pack truck, touch screen deck, cloth, no sunroof, mid size bed, white (we love white, in a not racist way). It was a nice nice truck, but...well it didn't feel like a truck to us, and just felt like our Suburban, only 30k more expensive. And stock. Plus it didn't have a short bed. We moved on.
Next up was a recent (as in, that day and still not turned over) trade. A 2015 Ram 2500 5.7. I was skeptical. It was cloth, floor shift transfer case (I love), nothing but a stereo and electric windows. But it DID have solid axles front and rear, soooo why not? We got in (remember, its still PO dirty), and fired it up. Modified exhaust. No biggie. Drove off, the lot and hit the road. Things improved. It felt great. Like a truck...but not abusive. It steered great, rode great, and was perfect. It was odd. She was HARD set on heated seats. This didn't have any. She still loved it. We got back to the dealer, told the sales guy we had some talking to do, and we'd call on the 'morrow. In the meantime, we had a few more stops.
Next up was a Ford dealer, and the new F150's. We drove a couple, 5.0 Platinum, that had EVERYTHING, and a personal chef. It was crazy nice, we just didn't like the feel of it. It was however, in our range, decently powerful, and low miles. It missed the feel requirement, so we moved to a 3.5 Ecoboost FX4. It was better. Less...gaudy, more capable, felt good. Just not great. So we went home. We talked. Everything led back to the Ram, but we weren't 100% sold on it just yet, so we searched.
Eventually we made it back to the Chevy dealer, and drove a couple more rigs, but just didn't fall in love like we had the Ram (we drove a loaded LTZ '13 1500 with a 6.2 that got 10mpg, '15 Ram 1500 lifted, among others). We went home and talked again, and I began expanding my search to the interwebz. After a couple days, another Ram popped up, a bit more money, but better equipped with the amenities we love (girls and heated seats....who am I kidding, I love 'em too!). It was 20ish miles from home, so after work we headed out. Turned out, this used car lot was actually a small branch of a much larger RV sales lot, that was having a huge event at their local fair grounds, which was where the guy on the phone said the truck was. We arrived and met a different sales guy who stayed late from work to show us the truck, which as it turns out, wasn't there. It was out getting some work done at the local Les Schwab. I was a bit peeved, but whatever, right? Then the girl is like "hey, what about that one?" and pointed to a silver truck sitting close by. I despise silver vehicles. But like a good man, I walked over to look.
It was a '13 Ram 3500 CTD, so right away I'm thinking she has no idea how expensive this thing is going to be, but I'm curious. Driver door is open, and I notice it had a full center console, and leather. I'm thinking, loaded, 45k easy. I jump in, and its comfy, feels right. I notice it has a sunroof, touch screen deck which means back up cam, digital dash (I'm a nerd) which I love. It's a short bed. Quad cab. Damn, wish it wasn't so far out of our...wait, the sticker on the window says 36k..? Hmm. High mileage. Duh. I ask for a test drive anyway, just to compare the 5.7 to the CTD. I fire it up, and notice it only has 50k miles....hmmm Put it in gear and start out of the lot. It drives nice. Really nice. We take it out, and immediately I love the power, and after the mileage settled out, I was averaging about 18 mixed, 20-22 hwy. Twice what we got with the Suburban. Shes getting on board. Wait, it has heated seats too? And the fold flat rear seat panels for the dogs? Sunroof? Bed liner? Electric opening rear window? Is this vehicular providence?!?! We're both looking at each other during the test drive like "yeah...this is it. It's exactly what we want". So like anyone else that found the vehicle of our dreams, we went home. Without it. But, not after starting the "lets make a deal" talks.
I called a week later, to see if they had it. They did, and we negotiated a bit. Still didn't meet my terms, so I ended the call. Then I called a few more days later, and they still had it. Once again, the negotiating started. I aimed high (low), and we finally settled on the numbers my girl and I agreed upon in the beginning. The deal was a go! We drove out there after work, and checked the truck out one more time. Just as good as we remembered it. So I bought it. End of story.
Not quite lol, some pics:
New next to the old
First mod
I've put about 1k miles on it so far, and love the crap out of it. She even likes driving it, so that's a plus! Plans are down the road, AEV 3" lift, AEV bumper, AEV raised intake, 37" Toyo MT, and regear and lockers. For now though, we will enjoy it as is.
P.S. I ran the VIN through Ram, and discovered this truck was spec'ed out with an over sized fuel tank! Normal is 26 gal, I had a 31. Score!!! Also has an LSD. Providence...? Hmmm.
So anyway, the girl and I are now on the same page, to the point where she even created and is managing our very own Expedition/Overland instagram profile (she started it on her own provocation, win for me!). It would be great if you guys who ig followed us, and shared in our adventures. Enjoy! https://www.instagram.com/live.love.overland/?hl=en
Last edited:
