At $28,500, Is This 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel 4X4 A Tall Order?

With 245 horsepower and a massive 460 pound-feet of torque on tap, today's Nice Price or No Dice Dodge pickup should be able to get the job done. Let's see if its price works for us.

Small, budget-friendly sports cars served as Great Britain's calling card to the world after WWII. The cars proved far more palatable to American tastes than did mushy peas and something called "Spotted Dick." All that fell apart in the 1970s, though, owing to labor disputes back in Britain and unfavorable exchange rates across the Atlantic. Today, what was once a cornucopia of small sports car makers has been whittled down to two stalwart companies: Lotus Cars in Hethel, Norfolk, and Morgan in Malvern, Worcestershire. There are a few even smaller cottage makers, but those seem to come and go with the tide.

The 1976 Triumph TR7 Victory Edition we considered yesterday represents the last of Triumph's sports-car line and serves as a reminder of the dark times that faced Britain's sports-car industry in the 1970s. All bad tidings aside, our TR7 looked almost factory fresh and came with solid mechanicals that would allow its cautionary tale to be told for years to come. At $7,000, that proved a solid deal, as you all noted in the comments and the 62% 'Nice Price' win you awarded the car.

These days, the Triumph Car name belongs to BMW, having been part of the basket of brands the German company acquired when it bought the Austin Rover Group. To date, the company has chosen to let the marque remain dormant. 

That never appears to be the case over at Stellantis, the conglomerate that seems to own every third carmaker brand on the planet and three-quarters of those in Europe. Here in the U.S., Stellantis manages the Mopar brands, into which the company is investing heavily with new models on the horizon. That's all good news for fans of the brands, but today, we're going to look back rather than forward.

This 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 4X4 comes from the last year of this body style's production and, aside from some gray exterior plastics, still looks respectable at all angles. This 3/4-ton short-bed also dates to an era when Rams were still sold under the Dodge banner rather than as a stand-alone RAM brand. That happened in 2010, as the marketers sought different roles for Dodge cars and RAM trucks.

The specs on this Ram are pretty solid. Under the hood is a 5.9-liter inline-six turbodiesel sourced from Cummins. According to Dodge, that engine produces 245 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque, which would make this 4X4 a solid tow vehicle. That Cummins also weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 900 to 1,000 pounds, so don't drop it on your toe.

Behind that is a four-speed automatic transmission and a two-speed transfer case driving solid axles front and rear. It all rides higher than stock, as the truck has been given a lift kit. Another add-on is the steering damper up front. The truck also appears to roll on spaced wheels, as the big, knobby tires stick out farther than their fenders. Those wheels are aftermarket, chrome-plated, and appear to be in good condition. The Yosemite Sam "All Fired Up" mud flaps in the rear are a chef's kiss touch of truck kitsch.

According to the ad, this Ram has only done 89,000 miles and, at present, "Runs and drives great." Its Cummins has never been chipped or monkeyed with, or so the seller claims.

As noted, the only exterior flaw is some sun-faded plastic fillers under the tail lamps and at the bottom of the front bumper. Based on the mileage and appearance, this was never a working truck, lacking the pickup-equivalent of callused hands or hard-hat hair. Its metallic gray paint still appears to be in great shape, and the headlamps have been replaced with aftermarket units, so they are clear and clean.

Craigslist

The gray color theme continues in the Quad-Cab interior. In the ad, the seller touts that the cloth upholstery is free of rips or tears and that the dash plastic (so much plastic) is uncracked. There's plenty of room and seatbelts in here for six, with the belts for the two outer front seats contained in the backrest, making access to the back bench all the easier. This is a fairly well-equipped truck, too, with power windows and locks, cruise control, and manual A/C. A sliding rear window provides additional ventilation options.

According to the ad, this one-owner Ram has a clean title and current registration. It is a new enough—and light enough—truck that, if kept in California, where it currently calls home, it will require biennial smog tests for registration renewal, which is a pain but the price paid for cleaner air.

Overall, this looks to be a great opportunity for anyone looking to get into classic pickup culture. Maybe even bringing back the "Urban Cowboy" look. It's not for someone looking to "roll coal," as we don't condone that behavior here. What we do encourage is for you all to weigh in on whether this truck is a good deal at its $28,500 asking price.

What do you say? Is that a fair price for this low-mileage and well-equipped 4X4 pickup? Or is that too high for this jacked-up truck?

You decide!

San Diego, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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