Buying 03 Dodge 2500

Tell me what it's worth and talk me out of it. Please. LOL



From the seller:
2003 Dodge Cummins 5.9 Quad Cab 4x4 Laramie
280k miles- runs, drives and shifts like a new one
Loaded with all options including power windows, locks, seats, seat heaters, ice cold AC, push button 4x4, etc,
Suncoast transmission internals
Newer Michelin tires
Complete Moog and Bilstein steering and suspension components upgrade within the last year
Recent complete brake job within the last year
Brand new Pioneer touchscreen with Apple Car Play and back up camera
Only known issue - the airbag light came on about 3 weeks ago and I have not had it checked

If you are looking for the perfect 4wd diesel truck and don't want to spend a ton of money, take a look. This truck was bought by a local SC sales rep 17 years ago as his daily driver. According to him, he never owned a boat or camper, he just preferred to drive a truck vs a car. The truck was his baby and was over maintained. If it needed something, it got it. This is evident by how flawless this truck runs and drives. It starts, runs, drives and shifts as perfect as any 5.9 Cummins on the road. No steering play, no suspension issues, no leaks, blow by, smoke, weird noises, nothing. The original owner and myself have ran nothing besides synthetic diesel oils and factory filters from break in until now. Oil changes every 5k miles and fuel filters every 10k. The truck has never had a bed hitch in it, has never been tuned and is bone stock except for a K&N filter. I drive the truck around 70 miles a day and we take it on vacations when we pull the boat.

This truck wears the original black paint, no accidents of any kind and the body is laser straight. It does not have a single mark, dent or door ding anywhere. The paint shines very well and looks incredible to be almost 18 years old. There is some checking in the clear coat on the hood and roof. Underneath the doors, the cab corners, the bed rails, the frame and undercarriage, etc are perfect. The interior is in good condition. It is not perfect inside but clean and comfortable. The drivers leather shows the most wear but isn't terrible by any means. All door panels, the passenger and rear seats and the headliner are in excellent shape. There is a nice dash cover on the top of the dash as there are some small cracks up top which these years Dodges are known for.

Seems solid from the pictures. Get a ppi pre-purchase inspection. If it comes back good...enjoy. parts are readily available and they're simple to work on. Proper maintenance and they'll run forever. You're paying for the cummins not the truck. Our 2 cummins work trucks have 350,000 and 250,000 miles on them and they get worked

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Id look for something lower mileage.
Yes, the Cummins go for a while, but at 280k its already got a big head start

Solid looking truck.

Wouldn't worry about the mileage on the cummins. Easily the best diesel offering of that era. Truly an industrial grade mill. 280K is nothing if it has been properly cared for. The rest of the truck will fall apart long before the motor.

Get the tranny serviced and shift bands adjusted. One of the most overlooked service requirements in that generation of Ram, and the most likely point of failure.

Looks pretty good. Buy it.

Ask if the engine is the high output or standard engine it’s 235 vs 305 hp so pretty significant. Looks to be in great condition for mileage/ age. With a tuner they get amazing mileage have a buddy who gets 24-26mpg on an 06. As another member stated get the trans inspected/adjusted its relatively cheap to service.

Thanks for the feedback so far. I found the posting on a boat forum and the guy has sold several $100k + boats, sight unseen, to other members because of his reputation (every buyer has been very happy). I'm feel fairly confident that the truck is as described, but a PPI will definitely be done before anything is final.

Forgot to mention it's $13,500

Ke1130 said:

Ask if the engine is the high output or standard engine it’s 235 vs 305 hp so pretty significant. Looks to be in great condition for mileage/ age. With a tuner they get amazing mileage have a buddy who gets 24-26mpg on an 06. As another member stated get the trans inspected/adjusted its relatively cheap to service.

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How can you tell SO vs HO?

_Snake_ said:

How can you tell SO vs HO?

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The Vin, 8th position

6 = SO
C= HO



There should also be a sticker somewhere on the valve cover denoting the engine spec.

I don't know much about them, and even less about what they are worth but that is a really clean looking truck for its age/mileage. Seems like a fair price to me but I could be way off base

Maybe for 11.5k but no way I’d do one that for 13.5k I purchased mine last year for 14k, 2007 2500 with a built trans, billet converter, Airdog 165, II turbo, AFR exhaust, S&B intake and air horn, etc. with 100k less miles. Not to mention the front end components (Moog specifically) that just got replaced are absolute crap and you’ll be lucky to get 50k out of them and I’m not exaggerating.

1999-2003.5 Super Duty with the 7.3.

The Cummins is a slightly better engine, but the Super Duty is a VASTLY superior truck. My opinion of course, but I've seen older Rams at work.

While the Rams can be beat on, every Super Duty that's been through the same shit is in better shape when we retire them from the fleet. This is a State DOT agency as well, so we see vehicles from all kinds of different environments.

RedVenom48 said:

1999-2003.5 Super Duty with the 7.3.

The Cummins is a slightly better engine, but the Super Duty is a VASTLY superior truck. My opinion of course, but I've seen older Rams at work.

While the Rams can be beat on, every Super Duty that's been through the same shit is in better shape when we retire them from the fleet. This is a State DOT agency as well, so we see vehicles from all kinds of different environments.

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Ford used the Cummins in their medium duty SD's during the 7.3/6.0/6.4 years, so that should tell you something. While the 7.3 was good, it never even remotely saw comparable industrial applications like the ISB. Yes, I just dropped that bomb lol

While the SD was a top notch truck for sure, it had some real POS engine offerings for several years.

RedVenom48 said:

1999-2003.5 Super Duty with the 7.3.

The Cummins is a slightly better engine, but the Super Duty is a VASTLY superior truck. My opinion of course, but I've seen older Rams at work.

While the Rams can be beat on, every Super Duty that's been through the same shit is in better shape when we retire them from the fleet. This is a State DOT agency as well, so we see vehicles from all kinds of different environments.

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Not Unless you like an ECU for everything including the transmission the fuel system the engine and every other thing you can imagine. Plus that generation powerstroke is a ****ing turd, no power.

OP that is a nice truck. I had an 06 that I miss desperately. If the trans has been gone through, you’ll never worry about anything going bad on that truck. God forbid things go south, working on it is easy as hell and parts are cheap.




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Junior00 said:

Maybe for 11.5k but no way I’d do one that for 13.5k I purchased mine last year for 14k, 2007 2500 with a built trans, billet converter, Airdog 165, II turbo, AFR exhaust, S&B intake and air horn, etc. with 100k less miles. Not to mention the front end components (Moog specifically) that just got replaced are absolute crap and you’ll be lucky to get 50k out of them and I’m not exaggerating.

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Used market is still stupid for trucks now though.

Now, I'm no expert on the value of the truck the OP is looking at. Just know values have gone up on almost every truck newer or older.

Blk04L said:

Used market is still stupid for trucks now though.

Now, I'm no expert on the value of the truck the OP is looking at. Just know values have gone up on almost every truck newer or older.

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Oh I agree, problem is they aren’t really worth it. I shopped around for quite a while before I found mine because once one person sells their vehicle for some stupid amount everyone thinks their vehicle is worth the same.

I'd look for a manual.

GTSpartan said:

The Vin, 8th position

6 = SO
C= HO



There should also be a sticker somewhere on the valve cover denoting the engine spec.

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It's a SO.

_Snake_ said:

It's a SO.

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Aren't all the autos in those years?

Junior00 said:

Oh I agree, problem is they aren’t really worth it. I shopped around for quite a while before I found mine because once one person sells their vehicle for some stupid amount everyone thinks their vehicle is worth the same.

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They are worth whatever someone will pay.