Just short of 2 years ago, I was in the market for a full sized pickup to replace my 2012 Mercedes C350 coupe. While I loved that car, it just wasn’t practical for my lifestyle and I needed something with a little more utility.

I should preface this by saying that prior to owning 2 Mercedes in a row I have typically always owned a Ford, GM or a Mopar vehicle. In the beginning of my search for a new truck I was looking at 2016 Ford F150s and while they are nice trucks, I noticed build quality issues with every one I looked at. After about a week of searching I found an F150 that I liked and left a deposit on it. After getting home that night, I kept thinking about it and wasn’t really all that excited about it as one should be when purchasing a new car. It was then that I decided I was going to go look at Ram 1500s the next morning.

The Test Drive

The next morning I called a salesman that works at a local CDJR dealer that my parents had previously purchased a Grand Cherokee through. I told him that I was looking for a loaded Ram 1500 Sport, he said that they had 2 left which funnily enough were sent over to them by Abbotsford Chrysler the dealer our own forum member BobbiBigWheels works at and that currently allows us to review their in stock vehicles.

Upon my arrival to the dealership, out front was a Ram 1500 Sport crew cab in Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl. Upon driving the truck I fell in love. I’ve had friends that had 2009 and 2011 Ram 1500s and always liked them, but this is the first time I had been in one of the post 2013 refresh trucks. The Hemi and ZF 8 speed combo is perfect, feeling powerful and refined, the refreshed interior looks great, fit and finish was perfect with high quality materials everywhere. I’d say the interiors of these trucks were best in class even going up against the newer GM twins and Ford F150. The ride was amazing for a full sized truck thanks to Rams unique link coil rear suspension, on all the F150s that I had test drove the rear end would pogo stick over rough roads where the Ram stayed planted and secure. I knew right away that I was buying the Ram.

After returning to the dealer I walked the lot as I really didn’t want another black vehicle and was shown the other Sport they had in stock, a Blue Streak Pearl crew cab. The second I saw it, I knew that was the one, I gave up the front and rear parking sensors that the black one had but that wasn’t a big deal, I HAD to have that colour.

This truck had almost everything except for the rear window defroster, Ram Box, air suspension or parking sensors, most were options that I didn’t want or care if I had anyways but what is important is that it had everything I was looking for. Sticker price was $64,440 Canadian, with rebates and negotiation I got them down to $49,500 and drove off the lot in my new truck on the spot. My first order of business was to drive my new truck straight to the Ford dealer and get my deposit back, when they asked why I pointed right at my new Ram sitting proudly outfront the dealer.

(In this series I will be talking about the past 2 years of ownership as well as whats to come, maintenance, modifications both present and future, off roading with it, taking it to the dragstrip etc. Stay tuned as there is a lot more to come.)