I asked a Friend about the 3.0L Ram engine.

[Uplander]

This thread started out with..."I asked a friend"...Perhaps it would be better to do some research using unbiased publications as opposed to asking a friend.

If you read enough unbiased reviews you might discover that when it comes to Diesel engines the Cummings has some high ratings...however the vehicle it ends up in might not.

The following foreign makers rate best when compared to American makes...
#1. Toyota.....#2. Honda. These are head and shoulders above the U.S. Makers for reliability and longevity and routinely go over 300,000 miles without major failures if maintained per manufacturer's recommendations.

A few years ago a friend gave me an audio tape of a radio feature that aired on PBS concerning the auto industry.
It included segments about defects that repeated in some engines and transmissions for year after year...the manufacturer never corrected the problem. It did repair the defects with more defective parts while under warranty.
It did follow the U.S. Industry practice of adding the warranty repair cost to the retail price. It was more cost effective to ignore the problem rather than asking their engineering department to redesign the engine or transmission.
Also covered in this presentation was the corporate
"engineering philosophy ". The best example was General Motors vs. Toyota....GM rewarded their engineers for saving money without regard for quality...however Toyota set engineering standards...most common was "No failures in at least 300,000 miles" ...a very lofty goal !
The assembly line policies and goals were equally surprising..
At GM it was all about speed of the line...faster is better...resulting in uninstalled parts tossed in the trunks of cars for dealers to deal with.
Meanwhile at Toyota if a line worker noted something not done right they were instructed to stop the line and call a supervisor....something never done at GM.

I found this presentation educational. If you talk to any long time GM dealer he will confirm this. The PBS radio feature was quite long...presented in many installments and loaded with details...a few segments made their way to television in a multi-part series. It should have been included in higher education courses.

When I spend my hard earned money I try to do so wisely after reading reviews in publications that are not pandering to their advertisers.
The problem with RVs is that there are no sources for reviews other than to go to Internet sites like this one and rely on the reports from members.
The major RV sites often comment on the poor overall quality of products but do not review individual manufactures. Some sites feature advertisements from RV manufacturers and that might explain why.

We are on our own and must share information...good...bad...and Ugly !

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Uplander

We are on our own and must share information...good...bad...and Ugly !

Unfortunately criticism of something someone owns is too often taken as criticism of the owner. This of course leads to undesirable arguments. Arguments chill participation. The other day in a thread discussing Scamp trailers a poster stated he would only discuss his issues via private message. On another forum he had been verbally attacked for telling his story. Raz