[Jumper]

Was on the verge of buying a ProMaster last Fall while in New England, where several Ram dealers had inventory in stock within 50 miles. Two were pretty good, one of which was only 5 minute drive. But struck out trying to find a close match, or a great deal on a reasonable match.

Had hoped things would improve after the new model year.

Returning to FL this Winter the prospects dried up locally. Closest dealer is further, but pretty poor. Next dealers are over 100 miles & still no close match. Two huge Ram truck dealers locally still don't do ProMaster.

Despite promises to find an exact match & ship it - nada. If a dealer had been more receptive I might have ordered. But they gave me the impression they didn't want to bother. The big city dealers presumed it would be financed & seemed unprepared when I told them I'd pay cash.

Also still frustrated by the internet ProMaster search. It actually seems to have gotten worse instead of better. The Ram website is particularly lame.

Is there a good ProMaster dealer in North FL? Lack of local dealer support is a turn off.

 

[GapRunr]

I have found that http://commercialtrucktrader.com is a better search engine for finding Promasters. You can sort by price or distance. I sorted by price, then clicked on "view dealer website" to see what else they had in stock. Often dealers list one or two Promasters on commercialtrucktrader but have plenty more in stock.

 

[Andrew Crane]

Jumper,

I live in Jax Beach and I have to say, the dealer information and service around here is pretty bad. While the dealer I bought mine at was pleasant and nice to work with, they seem a bit lackluster when it comes to service. I bought mine right off the lot since it was considerably cheaper than ordering a new one. While I would have rather had the silver van with a few changes, I have just done my own mods instead.

The only 2 dealers in this area I know of are Beck and Orange Park. I would highly advise avoiding OP Dodge, they dont have a clue as to what a Promaster is...even though they sell them.

 

[Quest4Adv]

Jumper, I'm in N Florida also, St Aug area.

I was in the same boat a month ago. I kept expanding my search on Autotrader and was ready to make in a deal in NC for one when I found the van I ultimately purchased in Fruitland Park FL (Just South of Ocala). They didn't have a large selection, but they had one I could live with.

Keep lookin'

 

[dooman]

The deals on th old stock made them fly off the lots. I started looking in early nov of '15, when I bought there was 16 within 100 miles. I think there are 3-4 now.


When the dealer and I worked out a deal to take my 15 for a 16 , I just sat down and ordered it. They said 4-6 weeks. So that puts it here by March 16.

Lot of dealers don't want them, then you got dealers like mine who will take a few to get extra allotment of wranglers that fly off the lots.

My dealer was taking a yellow city to get 7 more jeeps this month. Anyone looking for a yellow city? Lol

 

[Zyzzyx]

If you're looking for something quite specific, and really want it that way... order it !


Yeah, it'll take several months, and you might pay a bit more, but you'll have just what you want. Quite worth it in my experience.

 

[hotwire]

I just bought a brand new 2014 from a dealer in southwest Michigan. They have several they are looking to get rid of. I think they had some 2015's left.
If your interested PM me and i'll send you a link/info.

Hotwire

 

[Jumper]

Thanks for the encouragement. Is it verboten to name dealerships?

ultimately purchased in Fruitland Park FL (Just South of Ocala). They didn't have a large selection, but they had one I could live with.

Bill Bryan has 8 ProMasters listed on their internet inventory. Clicked on red one only to find the same old same old. Went to Window Sticker to confirm anything, only to find it was white.

Have gotten burned out going through this over & over. Could not confirm even the most basic info. After searching online & calling to confirm, drove all over creation seeking nonexistent ProMasters. Vehicles that only existed on paper. Vehicles that had been sold, traded to other dealers, were anticipated to be delivered, or mistakenly identified. Phantom vehicles.

The experience really shook my confidence in Ram Truck. Made some long trips only to be thwarted by bad info. Chewed out my fair share of incompetent sales people. Left wondering if sales dept is that inept - what's the service end like?

Still don't know why the big Ram Truck dealers near me don't sell/service ProMasters. Not thrilled by prospect of having to drive (or have it towed) over an hour to Fruitland Park to camp out for service.

Did you try the dealer in Palatka?

 

[Casavant77]

I am in the same boat, I have been searching in the New England area. There are many, but no one is willing to call back, and those who do don't want to negotiate unless I drive 200 miles and sit across from them in a chair. My feeling at this point is wait till the last day of the month go in sit down and squeeze them till I get a good deal. Ram's website is especially useless, I build it there and then have it look for local inventory and it comes back with vans that aren't even close on my build. Sad no one wants my money.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

dooman,
That van will be closer to 14-16 weeks if my experience is any guide. Be patient as it is wonderful to get the van you wanted not the one some nut at a dealer ordered.

Jumper,
Save the frustration by ordering one and have what you want, and be patient. I worked with 5 dealers to get a "best price" on an ordered 2015 and probably could have saved a few bucks on a more optioned lot rotted 2014 but it was worth it. I probably did spend less absolute money because I did not get extra options I didn't care about. I ordered March 20, the van was built June 12 and I got it July 21. 16 weeks. The wait gives you time to plan.

 

[Quest4Adv]

Thanks for the encouragement. Is it verboten to name dealerships?



Bill Bryan has 8 ProMasters listed on their internet inventory. Clicked on red one only to find the same old same old. Went to Window Sticker to confirm anything, only to find it was white.

Have gotten burned out going through this over & over. Could not confirm even the most basic info. After searching online & calling to confirm, drove all over creation seeking nonexistent ProMasters. Vehicles that only existed on paper. Vehicles that had been sold, traded to other dealers, were anticipated to be delivered, or mistakenly identified. Phantom vehicles.

The experience really shook my confidence in Ram Truck. Made some long trips only to be thwarted by bad info. Chewed out my fair share of incompetent sales people. Left wondering if sales dept is that inept - what's the service end like?

Still don't know why the big Ram Truck dealers near me don't sell/service ProMasters. Not thrilled by prospect of having to drive (or have it towed) over an hour to Fruitland Park to camp out for service.

Did you try the dealer in Palatka?

I did try the dealer in Palatka. Went and test drove my first PM there and worked on a deal for over a week with them. They have a bunch in stock, but they're all white work vans. My fiancee' really didn't want white, but I was willing to live with it.

Two things stopped me from buying it, and I'm glad:

1. It had a CEL during the test drive and based on my experience and others on the forum, that's NOT a good sign.

2. There was a dent in the hood, right at the point where it makes the turn down. They're solution was to "slap a bug guard on it". Yeah, that was enough to make me go look elsewhere

I'm not a patience person so ordering one just wasn't going to work for me. I would suggest to expand your search area. Make sure you check Autotrader.com. There were vans on Autotrader that didn't show up on the RAM website. The dealer in NC I was dealing with said they would credit the price of my airfare to fly up and drive back.

Good luck, and if you're in the St Aug area and want to drop by, PM me here.

 

[dooman]

dooman,
That van will be closer to 14-16 weeks if my experience is any guide. Be patient as it is wonderful to get the van you wanted not the one some nut at a dealer ordered.

Jumper,
Save the frustration by ordering one and have what you want, and be patient. I worked with 5 dealers to get a "best price" on an ordered 2015 and probably could have saved a few bucks on a more optioned lot rotted 2014 but it was worth it. I probably did spend less absolute money because I did not get extra options I didn't care about. I ordered March 20, the van was built June 12 and I got it July 21. 16 weeks. The wait gives you time to plan.

Time will tell, as soon as they issue a vin, a call with some push behind it will follow?

 

[mojogoat]

I bought my Promaster ahead of schedule due to finding a great deal. I ended up with more options than planed but a very good discount, 20% off sticker. My local small dealership offered to match any deal due to loosing so much business to the larger dealerships. I found an ad on line in my state with large discounts on Promasters, they matched the price. I was prepared to drive 600 miles to purchase it, $8000 in savings would justify a full days drive. There were no customer rebates or sales going on at the time. I deduce you should be able to buy a unit with all your options at the same discount % but you may have to live with more options than wanted. Find a unit that has all the options you want, deduct 20% from sticker, get pre approved for loan if needed , tell the dealer you will buy it today because you are on your way to the the largest volume dealer in your state to buy one. The management doesn't like loosing local deals.

 

[Quest4Adv]

Jumper, this is the one I was going to drive to NC for. Silver and has those oh so coveted Aluminum wheels


http://www.31dodge.com/new/Ram/2015...ersville-00af2d840a0a00022e7add6a24098516.htm

 

[Zoomyn]

Oh my. That almost makes me want to defect from the '14 window wagon I have now... (Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then)

 

[Jumper]

Am also basically an any color but white buyer. Don't want a black one either, but was tempted by great deal on one out of state. So I realize on the lot options are really limited.

I did try the dealer in Palatka. Went and test drove my first PM there and worked on a deal for over a week with them. They have a bunch in stock, but they're all white work vans.

Because of the lack of local dealer support, I'm willing to travel to get an exact match & risk letting the chips fall where they may. But still want a good deal.

Trouble is wading through all the misinformation to find a match. Can't really explain reluctance to order beyond not hitting it off with any dealer. Am also pizzed they dropped my fav color! The uncertainty about order delivery time may be insurmountable b/c of my travels.

Look at AutoTrader regularly, but hadn't looked at TruckTrader recently. Did a search & got 16 hits. Four were ProMaster City, 8 were white & when you add in Diesels & high roofs there was nothing for me.

Maybe Ram will upgrade the 2017 ProMaster to the new hood, headlights, grille? Any news on that front?

 

[Casavant77]

Jumper,

I am in the same boat up here in New England, no one wants to play the game. I have a lot of vans around me for 36K + but I want to be at 31K- so I am working hard to make a deal and no one will even call back. It doesn't always pay to be cheap. (I mean that for me) Oh well, anyone want to share the tactic they used to get the 20% off sticker?

 

[Zoomyn]

RAM dealer websites do try keeping web savvy people physically going to dealerships for some backwards reasoning for sure.

I mined RAM dealer's Promaster inventory by opening every 'window sticker pdf' available from their listed inventory then browsing and eliminating unwanted vans until there were a few left on screen, then those surviving window stickers web addresses held their VIN number, copied that... then a google search will recover that web page using that VIN w/o searching again.

Having fourty or more PDF's open at once was delightful but a lot more sane then depending on lazy dealerships data...

 

[Jumper]

Several times I called dealers - while sitting at computer with 'window sticker pdf' open in front of me - to confirm the details that made for a match. Lord only knows what the dealer employees did to confirm, before I committed to "physically going to dealerships" but critical errors were.

Vehicles were no longer in inventory, not yet delivered, or were customer orders - yet window stickers were on websites. In one case I discovered the idiot only checked the same website! Silly me, assumed they'd look out in their lot to actually see the ProMaster was there. Vehicle had been sold previous month, nobody updated website!

Have invested time with sales people who assured me they'd FIND matches & arranged the time to make trip, only to find deal breaker errors. When you ask for a ProMaster 1500, any color but white, gas, low roof, 136" & windows in rear & side door - They **** well had better hit all 6 out of 6 specs. Took 1 particularly long trip, on a day I had better things to do, only to find they'd missed that it was a 118" WB!

 

[dooman]

I am an any color but white guy. However black it was and the one I ordered is black as well.