Titan Vs Hemi

excelent3 · 03-15-2004, 10:08 PM

I am nearing making a decision and have narrowed the choice to the Titan or the Dodge Ram. They both have their virtues....and the price is not an issue. Please offer any input....I am wondering if there are any former Ram owners out there that have bought a Titan? I have never owned a Nissan, but for the last few years have really admired the design, engineering, performance. Why would you, or did you buy the Titan over the others?

**CaliforniaTitan** · 03-15-2004, 10:28 PM

Excelent,

We drove them all....Chevy, Dodge, Ford, Nissan and the Toyota and I would seriously think about doing the same yourself as only you can really know what in each truck appeals and doesn't appeal to you.

Why did we buy the Titan.

1. Track history with Nissans. I have owned quite a few and have had no major issues with any of them (And I drive a LOT!).

2. Drivetrain in the Titan. Its just simply great and the light rumble from the exhaust lets you know this truck is serious.

3. Towing/Off Road with a 2WD - The combo of Pkgs we got in this 2wd give us a lot of flexibility with towing, light desert play, ingress and egress and highway commuting. This truck simply does it all well.

Good luck in your truck search and purchase!

Chris

Ltdan · 03-15-2004, 10:31 PM

I had a Tundra, used it to pull a travel trailer. Needed something with more motor and drove the Ford, Dodge and Nissan. The Dodge had a back seat area that was similiar to my Tundra, much like a church pew and little leg room. The Nissan is cavernous by comparison. The Nissan feels substantially stronger, the one I drove did have the big tow package but the hemi was unimpressive. I research the hell out of major purchases, there is now a new crew cab fully loaded LE 4x4 Titan in my garage (barely) as of Saturday. Drive them both and let us know what color Titan you bought

37L1 · 03-15-2004, 10:37 PM

Test drive, that's all it took. Drove the rest, this was by far the best!

The response to your right foot goes all the way up your spine and alerts the brain that there is something special going on.

The truck that thinks it's a muscle car, . . . . no, really!

37L1

TitanJAM · 03-15-2004, 11:35 PM

Instead of test driving the different trucks and car sales men breathing down my neck, I simply did my research. I compared them side-by-side using different literatures and web sites (edmunds.com was especially helpful).

So statistics after statistics they all point to one truck, the one, the only, Nissan Titan. Hands down, Titan is the one even without price being an issue. Sure, F150 won Truck of the Year by Motortrend, but only because it had more trim.

BTW, this is my very first truck...and I like it!

tbeecher · 03-16-2004, 12:11 AM

Here is my research:

Advantage Ram Laramie

Classic Look
20 inch wheels
Dual Zone A/C
Rear seat fold out steel floor

Advantage Titan LE

Bed tie-down system
Contemporary Look
Sprayed in Bedliner
four extra inches rear leg room
Better fuel mileage
Cargo box outside
Memory seat/pedal/mirrors
Center console w/floor shift
Automatic Headlights
Running Boards
Heated seats standard
Back seat grocery hooks
Ten speakers w/subwoofer
Two One-Touch Power Windows
Rear Power Outlet
Cargo Power Outlet

excelent3 · 03-16-2004, 12:51 AM

Thanks to all whom replied...the comparison was good, however you would have a hard time convincing me that the mileage is any better....I have read plenty from dissatisfied owners on this board regarding that issue....I will say that that I like the rear Quad doors on the Dodge as they have handles, and windows that come down. Being that I am very keen to performance and aesthetic value, the Nissan would prevail at this point, but other issues exist...I read about the "cheap interior plastic" on this board and that would torque me, as I have the same challenge in a Kia Sedona van, can scratch it with my fingernail. The interior on the Hemi is stellar, hard to mar, even when deliberatly trying to do so. I like to change my own oil, I understand the filter on the Titan is hard to get at with the Off Road package, have to check that out. I also noticed how much heavier the tailgate is on the Hemi vs the Titan, however comparitively, the Hemi hood was very light. I have driven three Hemi's today at one dealer, all were consistently good. Tommorrow I will drive the Nissan sales managers demo, an LE, and give it the gestapo interogation for an hour or so....
The masses would say stay away for another day, as it is a "first year model". Being a contrarian most of my life, that won't hold water with me. Dodge has been making trucks for a long time, and they, and everyone else has their share of problems. Of course I like everyone else would like the idealic perfect vehicle.....which does not exist!

I drove the Nissan a couple of weeks ago, it was impressive......need to drive it again, stay tuned for "the rest of the story"

BearBrawn · 03-16-2004, 01:12 AM

Talk with the service managers at both dealers...

I had fully intended to upgrade my '93 Dakota to a '04 Hemi Ram.

The problem was that Daimler-Chrysler began the cost-cutting measures anywhere possible. (New owners were suddenly wondeing why the little extras like hood insulation and console lights were missing.)

There were also many reports on the Dodge sites that Dodge service shops were refusing to cover many repairs - which were obviously warranty items.

Nissan is now the leader in versatiity for factory production - and the Big 3 are trying to catch up.

I may return to Dodge when they catch up - But Nissan is the wisest investment for my money this time around.

Good Luck!

excelent3 · 03-16-2004, 01:21 AM

Excellent point....wise advice...I did the same before I bought my Kia, talked to every transmission guy I knew, swayed me to go the "import route". I like your color choice, it would be mine also, it is a rich color.

Radio · 03-16-2004, 05:03 AM

I have the same probleme, Titan vs Dodge, drive them , like them, can not make my mine, why is it that the frame on the dodge is 3 times the size that the frame on the Titan.

thanks

JS02 · 03-16-2004, 06:08 AM

I drove 3 hemi Rams, 3 Titans, and at least 7 GM's. The Nissan has a sportier feel that none of the other trucks have. Most of us want to compare fuel mileage to the best when we compare our Titan's. There are a lot of hemi's that get very poor fuel economy. Many of the hemi owners don't care because they are mostly interested in the power. The hemi doesn't have the low end response that a Titan has. The difference in slow speed response is amazing. The hemi really shows up the best in the 70 to 100 range. I do most of my driving at less than 100. I think most everyone else does too. The hemi does well racing but that doesn't tell the whole story about how the engine feels on the street.

I have spent a lot of time on the Dodge forums and the GM forums. The Titan buyers tend to look more at the overall truck than some of the other buyers. That is why many of them look at eveything so much. The people that I have let drive my truck have all thought it was great! I have not talked to one of them that thought the mileage of the Titan was that much worse than what he was getting with whatever he was driving and many times it was substantially better. The Titan is very hard to drive for good fuel economy particularly at first. It is so much fun to drive! People that don't appreciate that type of "responsive feel" probably drive in a manner that will produce better fuel economy numbers. You are also comparing trucks that only have a few thousand miles on them. Once these trucks are broken in more they will do better.

The Titan has some options that the Ram doesn't have available like VDC, utility bed, captains chairs with a center console, and now electronic locking differential. Drive the Nissan. That's what sold me. I've bought at least 17 new trucks in my life for personal and work and this is the best truck that I have ever owned so far and I really liked my GM trucks. They have been trouble free and have worked and played hard for me. The Titan just does it better.

bestatchess · 03-16-2004, 06:37 AM

*tortuga* · 03-16-2004, 06:41 AM

i love the feel of the "fly-by-wire" throttle response. Just think... fighter jets use the same technology. Drove my 93 dodge dakota with the 5.2 liter V8 magnum to the Nissan Dealer to test drive the Titan. After driving the Titan i was convinced on the technological advances Nissan had poured into the engine, what a night and day difference between the dodge and the Titan. plus unless dodge has somehow magically fixed their transmission problems i will never buy a dodge again. my dakota had been in and out of the dealership for transmission work 5 times between 87,000 miles and 120,000. on several occasions the engine would stall when turning. very unreliable and dangerous if crossing a busy intersection, i was scared to drive that damn thing on occasion. i still will not trust dodge again. bought the titan based off of one long test drive and hours upon hours of research on the titan versus all others. almost went with the tundra doublecab, but the advancements on the titan had me sold. i do like the look of the new Hemi Dodge rams but past experiences with Dodge tell me other wise. the only way you'll get me to drive a Dodge is if they gave it to me. just my 2 cents...

keane · 03-16-2004, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by excelent3

Thanks to all whom replied...the comparison was good, however you would have a hard time convincing me that the mileage is any better....

The mileage in the Titan is way better than in a hemi - if you drive both normally. In Canada, the Titan is rated at 14.8l /100km and the Hemi at 17.8l /100km. Both in City driving. When you do the math and convert, many people at Titantalk are getting this figure and my friend who has the Hemi is getting worse than the figure for the Hemi. We both figured out that it would cost him $20 more for a round trip to Toronto from our city. That is substantial!

Remember most of the people posting mpg are doing so with a brand new vehicle that has power. Also, many are living in cold states where the mpg drops just because of winter, sometimes up to 50%.

My buddy bought the Hemi for three reasons: price, availability, and lease! In Canada, right now there is a big lack of variety in Titans - you can't find what you want! His lease was up on his 2001 Ram and he couldn't find a Titan that met his needs. Even though the price is comparable between the Ram and Titan a three year lease on the Titan would cost him $700-800 bucks a month based on MSRP. The lease on the Ram $452 per month! The difference is the extra high residual on the RAM and 0% financing. This was the base Titan XE CC 4x4 which still has a lot more features than the same priced Ram.

The Dodge dealer also let him turn in a Ram that had bumps and scrapes and way too much mileage without charging him. By the way, the value of his 2001 ram was 13k and the buy out was 20k. They sure don't hold their value.

Good luck on your decision!

rrumaner · 03-16-2004, 07:53 AM

I traded in a Dodge Durango 5.2 V8 with 100K miles on it. At 40K miles the ball joints started to go bad. Every other person I know with a Durango or Ram has the same problem. So far Dodge has ignored the problem and has not issued a recall. 4 people I know had front tires fall off while driving, 2 of them ended up in the hospital due to injuries caused by this problem. I was fortunate that my wheels stayed on. The last time I took it in for service, I was told that the ball joints were so bad that they would not work on the vehicle's front end and couldn't do an alignment anymore. They wanted over $2,500 to fix them and they were not covered under the warranty.

That was not the only problem I had with the Durango, but it was enough to make me leave Dodge far behind and never look back.