Test Drive: 2015 RAM 2500 Laramie Mega Cab

Take a test drive with Preston and Willie in this gorgeous, loaded 2015 RAM 2500 Laramie Mega Cab diesel pickup truck before it’s been reconditioned in our shop.

Transcript

Preston Miller (Integrity Auto Service General Manager): Here, I’ve got Willie with me. Willie is the assistant manager here at Integrity Auto Service. And we are looking at this truck. This one hasn’t been reconditioned yet. This is a new truck for our inventory. Willie, come check this thing out.

Before Reconditioning

Preston: This one hasn’t been in the shop yet, so we’ve got all kinds of things to look at that we’ve got to take care of, like these old tires. It’s got some Nitto Grapplers on it that have seen better days. They’re kind of dry-rotted; there’s not a lot of tread depth left in them. Another thing: look at these spiky nuts somebody’s put on here. Some goober put some spiky nuts on here and we’re going to take those off because those are silly looking. We’ll put a factory set of lug nuts on it and a new set of tires, for sure. But, man, what a truck, right? It’s a 2015 model, RAM 2500 Mega Cab — that’s a hard thing to find nowadays. Mega Cab means you’ve got a full four doors and you’ve also got that extended cab worth of space right here in the back. It’s a big ol’ truck in the back, and you’ve also got this space back here. You can fold those down; you can put a tool box back there — whatever you need to do. A lot of guys use these for hot shot business, and they will put a little air mattress back there to sleep in on the side of the road. It’s got your big exhaust on it, aftermarket bumper sensors, and a spray-in bed liner. One thing to notice on this truck, Willie, when you’re looking at big trucks like this, this one doesn’t have a gooseneck hitch or a fifth-wheel plate in it yet, so you can notice right off the bat that it hasn’t pulled something too big.

Willie: It hasn’t been abused.

Preston: This truck is going to need a windshield, because the windshield is cracked. It’s going to need a little bit of stuff here on the outside. Let’s go take a test drive in it, though, Willie. I’ll even let you in over here. It’s a Laramie truck, so it’s loaded with options — heated and cooled seats and stuff. It’s got a fancy key with a keyless entry on it.

Test Drive

Preston: Okay,… that’s a big ol’ truck to hop into, isn’t it?

Willie: Yeah it is. You’ve got to kind of hike up a little bit.

Preston: For us short guys it feels like you’re really up here. Let’s fire ‘er up! Something that’s special about this truck we haven’t mentioned: do you know how many miles this truck has on it?

Willie: Very little.

Preston: 81,000 miles. 81,000 actual miles. And, right off the bat, I’m seeing a few things — nothing real major — but I’m seeing a few things that reconditioning is going to have to take care of in the shop. Right off the get go, I’m noticing it’s saying we’ve got a backup light that’s out and some turn signals that are out. It’s got LED bulbs, right?

Willie: Yeah.

Preston: So, every kind of bulb that’s out on this truck, the computer knows about it and tells you, hey, you’ve got something going on here. That’s telling me that. I’ve also got a tire pressure light flashing over here. What are we going to do with that?

Willie: We’ve got a set of TPMS sensors sitting in the shop ready to go.

Preston: So when we put those new tires on there, you’re going to put new sensors in them too?

Willie: Mount, balance, new sensors,… ready to roll.

Preston: Man, this thing is like driving a semi, it’s so big.

Willie: They commonly get good reviews for ride quality, considering it’s a 3/4-ton diesel that’s meant for towing, hauling and stuff. They do ride really nice.

Preston: And another thing that adds to the ride quality of these big trucks is that extra wheel base from that Mega Cab, too. So, you’re pulling a big trailer with it, that extra wheel base kind of helps out keeping that thing not floating down the road so much.

Willie: And… heated and cooled seats.

Preston: I thought this was a work truck. But it’s a Laramie, so with the Laramie package you’re going to get all of this fancy interior stuff. So you’ve got nice, fancy leather. It’s a dark blue truck with silver trim on the outside; black heated and cooled leather on the inside. And another thing: this truck is so loaded that even the back seats are heated. So if you’ve got kids or you’re on a road trip and you’ve got friends with you, you’ve got heated seats in the back.

Willie: Job crew…

Preston: Job crew, yeah. Another thing with the Laramie is you’ve got all this fancy woodgrain, right? So you’ve got woodgrain on the door panels and on the dash, around the radio. It ads a nice luxury feel to a work truck, for sure. It’s got a full center console. One thing I love about these Dodge trucks: you know, the work trucks have a fold-down console. This one’s got a full solid console, so you’ve got all this room to put your work books, your laptop, your iPad — whatever you’re doing to run your business, which is what most guys that buy the truck are going to do with it. Pull a trailer or a horse trailer or something like that. You have all that space to keep your stuff that you need right there at your fingertips.

Willie: Something that is kind of nice that sounds kind of small and dinky: the place where you would normally put your phone in a lot of vehicles doesn’t quite fit the really big phones. They fit perfectly right there in this one.

Preston: Oh, nice!

Willie: It’s not sliding around or you’re not losing it in your center console.

Preston: I think in here, right? You’ve got USB ports there; you’ve got card for navigation in there, cigarette lighter, a place for coins. And then this opens up even more. This is where your CD changer is — factory CD changer. And all kinds of extra cargo space there, too.

132-Point Inspection and Reconditioning Process

Preston: I’m feeling another thing, Willie. I think maybe the brakes might be a bit warped on this.

Willie: Yeah, during my initial test drive I felt that. We’re definitely going to do at least the front pads and rotors. We’ll inspect the rear when we have it in the air and be able to take measurements.

Preston: And that’s just the way we do it here at Integrity. Every single car that we buy will go through an inspection process. We do a 132-point inspection in our reconditioning shop. Our techs and guys like Willie will go through the truck with a fine tooth comb, and if there’s anything that we see that is going to be a potential issue, we’re going to take care of it. Go ahead and look at our reconditioning records on our website. Every vehicle on there will have a CARFAX link. You can click on it and see the history of the car. And, if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of that CARFAX, most of the time will be our reconditioning records and you can see what we’ve done to the car. So, if you’re interested in this 81,000 mile Mega Cab diesel, four-wheel-drive, gorgeous, loaded Laramie truck, it should be ready in about a week. It needs tires, a windshield, it’s got a trim spot on that seat we’ve got to have fixed — just some minor stuff, right? We’re taking off the spiky lug nuts; we’ve got to change those goofy things.

Willie: No one wants to mess with two wheel lock keys when they’re on the side of the road. We’re also going to do both the fuel filters, the crank case filter — make sure all of that is starting fresh from square one. No worries.

Preston: On a diesel, that’s just rule of thumb. We do that on every one of them. If you’re coming down here to Integrity to buy a truck, especially a work truck that you’re going to use to run your business, we don’t want you to have to turn around and go service the truck and maintenance it and do work to it immediately. So we’re going to get them ready with new tires and brakes and make sure there’s no leaks or check engine lights. We’re going to service it with a fresh oil change, fuel filters — all the things that are required or necessary on these trucks to keep them going. And that’s the kind of quality you’re going to get here from Integrity.