General Comments:
My Ram 1500 Hemi is a sweet ride; she looks fine, rides fine, her power is unbelievable, and she shines like a diamond.
I take very good care of my cars, especially my Hemi. She is washed & waxed weekly, serviced every 3,000 miles without a hiccup, and looked over 100% when serviced.
After working at a Toyota dealership for over 8 years, seeing how Toyota recommends service to their vehicles, I started applying that same quality of service to all my American made cars, and they all keep running wonderfully.
Minor repairs are to be expected as any vehicle, and at times it's inconvenient, but listen if you're not servicing your car, watching when to do an oil changes, servicing the transmission, services differential, coolant system, fuel filter, brake inspection, tire rotations, efi service, and so on, your vehicle is going to break down on you!! It's just a matter of time.
Look, nothing is perfect, but I bet you eat right, and see a doctor a few times a year right? Well if the doctor says look you need to stop smoking, your lungs are shot, are you going to keep smoking? No, well let's hope you said no!
Service your car, make it last as long as you want it to last!! You be the one to decide it's time for a new car!! Not the car telling you it's time you traded me in..
Best of luck, safe motoring..
Dale R.