In December of 2022 I purchased a 2017 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel pickup from a friend's landlord with a bit more than 8000 miles on the

odometer. The gentleman had purchased the truck new from Sport Dodge in Fort Bragg, CA. He drove it for a few months then developed dementia and could not operate the vehicle. From that time until I bought it the truck was serviced at Sport Dodge and driven every 2 weeks or so which is the reason for such low mileage. On February 13th of this year, my wife and I were heading to Arcata for a show and about 2 hrs into the 3 hr trip the truck broke down. We had it towed back to Sport Dodge and they pulled the oil pan showing metal parts which indicated a major problem which requires the engine being replaced. I had put about 9000 miles on it by the time this happened for a total of around 17,000 miles on the truck.

The dealer said it contacted Ram to see if it could be replaced since the mileage was so low but they never got back to me. I contacted Ram myself and finally got an answer about a week later that they would not cover the engine under because it was out of the 5 year warranty period. They said they tried to put it through their "good will" program but that, while the mileage qualified for "good will", I did not have any "loyalty points" so they turned me down on that too.

I asked the dealer for an estimate to repair the truck. The only option was to install a new engine, which cost $7000 just a few months ago

but, since Ram discontinued that engine, the cost went up to $19,600 for just the engine. The entire bid to replace the engine came in at almost $26,000! I checked online and these engines were problematic, so it seems that Ram decided to jack up the price since there was so much demand.

I turn 68 later this month and am retired. This truck was supposed to last me for many years, but now I am going to need to get into my IRA to get this resolved by either finding someone to repair the engine or buy another vehicle.