I am considering a purchase of a mid 2000s Dodge SRT 10 Pickup with 50-70000 miles as a second vehicle. Other than the obvious MPG issue, are there any major common mechanical issues that I should be aware of?
Welcome new member,
As your second vehicle, obviously things like reliability and practicality are less important than for your primary driver. But I would say 2 things:
1) 10 cylinders don't just eat a lot of gas, but they require a lot of maintenance and repairs will be very expensive.
2) The previous owner(s) is likely to have beat on it. Why are they selling it? Is there deferred maintenance? Undisclosed problems? hidden repairs?
Make sure you have a THOROUGH inspection from a pro mechanic before you make an offer on it. Don't just trust the "CarFax" or whatever; vehicles like that frequently have had issues that were repaired off the grid and not reported to CarFax. And DO NOT OVERPAY because you will likely have some things that need attention in the near future and you need some reserve $$ just in case.
Have fun!
PS: Getting info on specific problems with that model/engine will be difficult because many of them are weekend toys and don't get a lot of miles. There's also not a lot of them out there. The Viper forums may have user experience. But Ram trucks in general are known for having OK mechanicals but sketchy electricals. Not usually anything catastrophic but really annoying. If you have a good auto-electric guy in your town, that will be helpful.
