bluebull

Found a new 04, 3500 srw, 3:73, auto, HO, with a build date of 5/28/04, the dealer will make a sweet deal. I wasn't looking for a new truck so I have not been researching them. Is there anything I should be aware of. I really need to act quick so any and all good and bad things.

Thanks

HorseHauler

i was kind of waiting for others to chime in because im not much help with the 04s. by the build date it probably is the 325/600 engine, check the driver side valve cover to clarify that. one thing to check is the 70 mph vibration. take it up to speed and see if u feel anything abnormal. also u can listen to the engine to see if u can hear any ticking or knocking that may sound abnormal. some others will chime in hopefully in time for you. you will love the truck oh and to your other post, you shouldnt have any complaints pulling that trailer u talked about...

BiggRigg600

Yep, the 70 mph vib is a big one... be very throrough when test driving it and get it up to speed more than once. You'll know right away if it has the vibe... a loud resonating vibration that comes on right about 70mph. Other than that, if you can, get them to do the 18-037-04 reflash, as it will give you a few more MPG, and take care of the white smoke at startup. Also, the original door seals will tear where the pointed part of the door contacts them (near the mirror). There is a TSB for that as well.

If your dealer is anything like mine, you'll have to wait until you are actually experiencing a problem for them to fix those last two things, but just keep it on the brain for later. If it has the driveline vibe, I'd have them fix it before you sign anything.

Good luck and enjoy!

bluebull

Thanks for the info so far, doesn't look like there is too many problems.

How about the lift pump issue is there still one? If there is, is the lift pump still on the motor or located some where else? How hard to change out?

v8440

Lift pump seems to not be an issue on these, except for maybe in Canada. Something may be different about the fuel up there. You didn't say whether the truck is a 2wd or a 4wd. The 70 mph vibe only applies to the 4wd's. My dually had it, and the dealer replaced the front driveshaft. That fixed it. I have had 0 problems other than that, though I'm only at 12,000 miles.

caseyd

On your test drive be sure to zero out the Overhead put a few miles on it to see what kind of mpg it says.
I know the overheads are not that acurrate but if it says 15 or something on the lower end like that it may be a fuel hog like mine!

From all the mileage threads there seems to be some pretty big differences in mpg.
My overhead has allways read low and is always with in 1-2mpg as hand calc.

Good luck!

bluebull

o.k. so far check for vibration from 65-80 mph, fuel mileage, if poor fuel mileage get reflash and check again before signing paper work. Sorry in my haste I forgot to mention 4x4.

Dealer is still coming down in price, at $14,000 to boot, am trying to get that with tax included. The truck lists for over $43,000.00 so he is showing me almost $29,000.00 for mine. I know how the numbers game works but it sure looks good on paper. Invoice is $37,252.00 so that is still giving me $23,252.00 for mine which is over retail for this area. Personally I think my truck is worth more but whenever you ad-on on you pretty much have to eat the difference.

Thanks for listening, just had to air my excitment a little.

bluebull

Just got back from dealer and here is the story.
Arrived at dealer, bull for a few minutes, dealer myself and wife jump in truck and head down to the fuel station so he can fill it up for my road test. He fills truck up drives the long way around town out to interstate and back to the dealership. He leavs the truck running while we bull a few more minutes and then says take it out and put on a few miles I say it might be a hundred or so to get a mileage feel, he says o.k. go. Wife and I take off into a good head wind up and down rolling hills at 70 MPH. I set cruise and we drive 40 miles turn around and head back. On the return trip I goose it a little just to see if it has any power and yes I like it. Then I take it up to 80 MPH just to see if there is that vibration everyone talks about. No vibration and silking smooth at 80 MPH. We drive past town come back in on the other side of town and fill up where the sales man had filled. Get out the calculator and it averaged 15.6 MPG. I think to myself that it is a fuel hog and then start to remember the type of driving we just did and when he filled up the truck from empty there was alot more room for foam buildup which means less room for fuel before the pump shut off on him. I only had to put back in the top 5 gallons and it probably didn't agiatate the fuel enough to create as much foam as the dealer had. My thinking is the truck probably will make better hand calculated mileage if situations were a little different.

I will say these new trucks are alot better driving, power feel and shifting than the truck I now have when I bought that new. This new truck even shifts and drives better than the aftermarket transmission I have. The shifts were silky smooth and with OD on the 3rd gear lockup and then into OD lockup was fantastic.

The best part is I got him down to $13,000 to boot. I asked if it had ever been hailed on, he said No. I asked him if it has ever been in an accident, he said No. I asked him if it has ever seen the inside of a body shop, he said No. I asked him if any repair work has ever been done on the truck, he said No. I asked if it had a salvaged title, he said No.

The price makes me feel a little better about lossing money on all the after market parts I have on my truck. He will let me take off the comp but prefers I leave the rest.

If I do trade I will have a few other parts to sell also that he doesn't know about. Thanks for listening and if there is some other reason why I should not trade please let me hear them before I trade in a few days. We have an initialed agreed upon sale price but have not signed the bill of sale yet.

grizzlydiesel

I bought a new dodge diesel 4x4 long bed quad cab 3500 with 325 horse power @ 2900 rpms and I have owned it since dec 28 2004 ---- it was an 04. I have 2000 miles on it. I love this truck. I was driving in cali. last week up and down the sierra nevada mts. My truck was able to accelerate from 80 to 90 miles an hour going up really steep hills. I got the truck for 31 thousand after busting chops at the dealer for 2 days.

Good luck --- get the truck

bumpytruck

If I were you I'd find out WHY they still have a brand new 04 on the lot. Chances are there is a story behind it. I know of cars that were wrecked while on the dealers lot by lot boys driving them, stuff like that, I don't know about this kind of deal,it's an awfully popular model to have left over from May of 04. Just my .02 BUYER BEWARE! A new car manager friend of mine warned me off on a deal like this about a month ago!

bluebull

bumpytruck, How do I go about checking it out?

12PACK

A couple of months ago a local dealer had a "new" 04 with only 100 miles on it. When the truck was being delivered new, it's radio was stolen, so the dealership refused the truck. It was returned to DC, repaired, then sold as "used" to this dealer. They still wanted $34K for it . I was given this story without mentioned the mileage when I emailed the dealer. The listing in the paper didn't state which tranny it had, and that's all I asked and they volunteered this info.

Since the truck you're looking at was never sold, I don't think having the vin checked (Carmax? I'm drawing a blank on the name of that co.) or having the dealer run the vin to see what maintanace was done at Dodge dealers would help. It must still have the original oil in it.

Check the hours meter, too. Turn the key to ON, then hold the Trip Reset button in for 10 or so seconds (I think).

bumpytruck

I will try to see if my buddy can tell me how to find out the real deal on these kind of deals. I'll try to get back to you tommorow.He just warned me when I found an 04 still on a lot about a month ago,he never told me how to find out,but he was instantly suspect of something not good about it,and that was enough for me.

bluebull

Called another dealer and checked the vin number. Everything came back o.k. The truck was preped june of 04 for sale, no warrenty claims.

I will do the truck engine run time thing when I get down there to buy it tomorow night. If there is anything else I should check of do please anyone let me know. I do not want a lemon like I bought back in 1999, and have to spend mega bucks on. I just want a truck that I can start and put in drive and pull my camper. The 99 in my signature pulls good now but I will not take a chance on the 53 block cracking. I have spent enough already into this truck.

Thanks for the responses, keep them coming.