So this thread isn't really a technical thread or anything like that but I just kind of wanted to get people's thoughts on this. I am a loyal to Ford through and through especially when it comes to trucks. My family has owned a lot of different car brands over the years like Honda, VW, Mazda, but when it comes to trucks it's always been a Ford. My dad drove ford trucks ever since I was a little kid from a ranger all the way to a f250. He grew up with his family owning all kinds of vehicles but he gravitated to Ford and now everyone in my family including my in laws drive nothing but Ford's. I guess in this thread I want to see if it bothers people when they have friends or family that buy different brand vehicles? My scenario is I just had a friend buy 2 brand new ram trucks. He just started looking for a new truck and I said I have a good friend that sells Ford's he is actually the sales manager and I have known him all my life, I trust him, why don't you go look at what they have and see what they can do for you. He went and looked and the next day went and bought 2 new ram trucks one for his business and one for personal. I saw the deal the guy I know gave him on a ford and it was a great deal. To me there is no comparison ford makes the best trucks out there and fiat owning dodge, Chrysler, jeep, and ram would concern me (No offense to anyone that owns any of those brands just my personal opinion). Obviously I'm not going to not be friends anymore because he bought a ram but I guess I found out that for me it does kind of bug me to see a good friend buy something that I feel isn't as good as what he could have got. Just figured I would get everyone else's thoughts I guess my passion and loyalty towards Ford runs deeper than I thought and it's probably from growing up with my Dad being a Ford guy but when it comes to trucks no one does it better than Ford and it just stings a little seeing a good friend buy a truck other than a Ford.

 

You can lead a horse to water but ya can't make em drink. Seriously though I just can't get with any other brand I've morphed into a diehard as well. I like the other trucks don't get me wrong but for me Ford is just where it's at

 

Just relax. Let him live and learn. He might have felt you were pushing the issue too much, or just liked the Ram better.

If everyone liked the same thing as you there'd be a long line of guys waiting to visit your wife or girlfriend.

 

To each his or her own.

 

My sister is a die hard Chevy person. It does not bother me. In Fact my Brother in law has a Ram power wagon, 2012 or so model year.


To each his own. I can out pull her any day of the week but her truck does what it needs to do same as mine.

 

A good friend of mine was a Ford guy forever. Then he got married to a very insistent Chevy woman. Another good man goes down.

 

If you just look at website pricing of Ram vs Ford, you'll see why Ram is moving more trucks in this segment. I did a bunch of builds online of Ford, Chevy and Ram and almost in every case, the Ram came out a couple thousand dollars less than Ford and Chevy. The Chevy was almost always cheaper also, but by hundreds rather than thousands.
All three make really nice trucks but look at them ten years down the road. The Ram is rotting out and the suspension is going to heck - The Chevy is hanging in there but starting to show body deterioration - The Ford just needs a set of shocks and maybe another set of tires...

Ram dealers do discount from MSRP as well, but not as deeply as Ford dealers. Must be less hold back - not sure...

I would not even consider the Toyota or Nissan trucks to be in the same league with the F-Series trucks on any level.

 

Thanks for all the replies obviously I am still going to be friends with him he was in my wedding helped me remodel my house and is a good friend so it's not something I'm going to hold against him. I guess it's just something to me that is you drive a ford then drive a ram I can't see what would make you want the ram to me it's just no comparison but if I had to guess it was probably price as was stated in the thread. I guess it's one of those things we will see what happens down the road but with them being owned by fiat you couldn't get me to buy one fiat isn't know for making anything real reliable plus I work for an insurance company and have so many customers call in that have ram trucks that are being bought back off them for various issues. Oh well like people have said live and learn it is what it is at this point I guess we will see how well they hold up in the future and how much he likes them at that point.

 

For the casual truck user, every half ton truck on the road will meet everyone's needs very easily. Where they make the separation is heavy towing and pay load.

The other day I gave my buddy a ride to pick his 2013 Ram up from the oil change place after work. My truck has 75K miles on it and his comments were all about remembering when I bought the truck six years ago and how smooth, quiet and clean it still is.

My buddy has always been a Ram / Dodge / Chrysler and I'm guessing that much of t hat comes from very positive dealership experiences that have gained his loyalty. His Ram is a very nice truck, I like the interior and it's plenty peppy enough but it just doesn't feel right to me. It's not a Ford.

 

I don't care what my friends buy. Sure I'll give them some friendly heckling, but it's their money, they can do what they want with it.

 

I don't get upset, i say drive what you like and can afford. I have a son in law that has driven my last three Screws, a 5.4, 07 and 2 3.5 Eco's, 12 and 15. He absolutely loved them he said, and he knows the Eco's out accelerated His Hemi's, but he keeps buying Rams even after a multitude of problems. Told me it was mainly the lower payment on the Ram's. I just keep getting my oil changed and tires rotated with no other work done to them! The 07 5.4 was the only one to even have a problem and that was a leaking steering rack.

 

I look at brand loyalty as being derived from many things. Looks, reliability, dependability, customer service, word of mouth and on and on.. I knew years ago when we began talking about needing a new truck, that it would be a Ford. It wouldn't look right towing a mustang with a Dodge, Chevy or other...that's sacrilegious. And the racer friends of mine would disown me and we can't have that.

 

I don't care one bit what others do with their money. Pushing your vehicle preference on them is like them pushing their religious preferences on you.

If there was only 1 right answer, there wouldn't be other options. If your friendship is so superficial that vehicle brand upsets it, you're not really friends. You've pretty much blown my mind that you feel you can dictate someone else's choice of vehicle. I get that you feel they could have done better, but you could be wrong....and certainly they think you are wrong because given the choices at hand they decided a different vehicle was a better fit for them (which could be for any amount of various reasons).

I do applaud you for trying to hook them up with a good deal, but that's as far as you can really go.

 

So I figured I would get some of these responses with this post and that is fine. Maybe I should rephrase what I mean when I say upset. Anyone can do what they please with there money especially a friend I mean I'm not trying to dictate what someone buys. I have a passion for ford trucks I feel that if you put each truck side by side overall ford puts out the supierior product, not everyone will like it and that is fine. I tried to help by getting him in contact with someone who would treat him right and that I trust and that's all I can do I can't make anyone buy anything. Maybe my initial post made it sound more dire than it is i just kind of took what was on my mind and wondered how other people felt about it. I wouldn't say my friendship is superficial it's not like I'm not going to be his friend or talk to him or something like that I just feel ford put out the superior product when it comes to trucks and wondered how others felt when a close friend or family member buys something else. If I made it sound more severe than it was when I posted initially my bad it was late and I was probably half sleeping when I wrote it but just figured i would get other people's thoughts that's all.

 

That sounds more reasonable.

I've suggested to people that 'have you looked at XYZ?' when they have come to me for advice. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't. I never take it personally, because I don't have a vested interest in their decision.

Look, you tried to help him out. That's what friends do. But, once they have made their decision, you have to trust that they did so knowing what they wanted or needed.

LoL....I had a buddy once make what I thought was a terrible decision....just chalk it up to having friends that are not good at picking vehicles.

I would like to emphasize:
What really matters, in the end, is that THEY are happy with their purchase.