Have we talked about Ram Promasters?

I have been sorta shopping for a tow/hauling vehicle capable of ~7k lbs.  The Santa Fe can do what I ask but after towing to the challenge with singleslammers borrowed Tundra I am now aware of the compromises it's 5k towing capacity give.  Obviously I've looked at considered full size trucks, midsize trucks, and large SUVs.   

While shopping for these I discovered something.  EVERY Ram Promaster is rated to 6700lbs with absolutely disturbingly large payload capacities of 2500-4500lbs.  And used they are pretty darn cheap.  In my area 60-80k mile ones will be $17-22k.  I would be mostly interested in a short wheelbase high roof 2500 or 3500 with the later 9 speed transmission and the "crew" single rear seat row for 4 passenger seating.  

My coworker has one that he has put 50k miles on that has been reliable (other then apparently eating halogen bulbs) and has returned 17mpg.  

So what's the word on these?  Are they reliability nightmares?  It seems like there are numerous being sold with 300-400k miles for still real money so some people get miles out of them. 

I started looking at Sprinters/Transits but the towing on them is all 4500lb max even with Dual rear wheels except some very specific option package Mercedes sprinters.  

I'm sure they can tow more but I want to be legal if I roll across a scale.  

I'm unlikely to scratch this itch but the Vanlife in me thinks I could wrap up several of my vehicles in one of these in something that could pull commuting duty if required.  

Didn't one of the staff get one(JG?) They had to wait months and months...for a windshield?

When I was using one at a construction company we did not like the seats and it generally wasn't a nice place to be or a nice thing to drive for long distances. So there's that.

In reply to Appleseed :

JG had the little one, whatever it's called.

Edit: Promaster City

Same engine and trans as a Caravan.  

They do not have engine covers, which means that when you need to replace the oil cooler assembly, the upper intake manifold may need to be destructively removed since rainwater can fill the recesses that hold the T30/8mm headed wood screws.

Everything about them sucks to service and some components are shockingly expensive because they are Fiat parts sold through Dodge dealerships.  My favorite is the stabilizer links that are only available as a (rather expensive) stabilizer bar assembly.  That you much remove at least one link from in order to thread it in and out of the vehicle.

Their only advantage over a Sprinter is that they do not audibly rust.

How do the transmissions hold up to towing? The form factor of these vans is awesome.

My parents have a Thor camper van that's based on the Promaster. In my experience with it, the engine is pretty impressive, and the visibility from the driver seat is great, but the seats themselves and the driving position are terrible, especially if you're driving in a scenario where you can't extensively use cruise control. Leg cramps are almost guaranteed. Also, the van seems to detect when you're descending a steep hill and will downshift the transmission aggressively even if you don't want it to, which I found to be really annoying. This might be a programming thing specific to the camper but I'm not sure. I've taken a look at the engine compartment and I wouldn't want to do any major repairs in there.

Where the ProMaster differs from it's competition is being the only front wheel drive van in the class.  That made it easy for us to do EV conversions but probably doesn't help with towing.  The rear doors are wide enough to fit an Fmod and the cargo version is long enough, might make an OK camper.  And, yes, the seats are terrible, the radios suck but with a bunch of batteries under the floor they handle much better than stock.

I have a buddy in MA that is selling his low mileage 2500. It's been pretty reliable for him, but he echos everyone else in the  thread; it isn't a pleasant place to road trip

I can't get over how ugly they are.  That alone would keep me away.  Transits and Sprinters are ugly too, but the ProMaster takes the cake.  

This is probably it the greatest info but I watch a youtuber named Ryan Twomey that has one of them. He just drove his 15k miles from Florida to Alaska, obviously not in a straight line. It seemed to do it no problem with no maintenance issues. 
I drove a Ford Transit (the full size one) 400 miles one day last year, the seating position on that isn't awesome either. 

triumph7 said:

Where the ProMaster differs from it's competition is being the only front wheel drive van in the class.  That made it easy for us to do EV conversions but probably doesn't help with towing.  The rear doors are wide enough to fit an Fmod and the cargo version is long enough, might make an OK camper.  And, yes, the seats are terrible, the radios suck but with a bunch of batteries under the floor they handle much better than stock.

A note on the fwd layout: I towed a small enclosed trailer full of spare race car parts with the Thor Promaster, on a steep incline with some bumpy pavement the van felt like it was going to bounce the front wheels off the ground as it climbed the hill. This could've been more a side effect of the lazy lift kit Thor did to provide clearance for the generator, but it was unsettling.

Used our 2017 to tow a variety of things including a dump trailer loaded with firewood. Didn't skip a beat. And this was the 1500.

But, as others have pointed out, the seating and the relationship to pedals and steering wheel is uncomfortable on even short trips. Toss in a throttle pedal that has no sensitivity over the first inch of movement, then bam your moving, makes backing up to a trailer a chore.

We got out when the prices were way overpriced during the pandemic. Bought for 17000, sold for 26000. Best thing about it I can add.

We need a spreadsheet to tally up the Promaster vs Sprinter vs Transit.

I'm under the impression that the first two are both (relatively) scary for repairs. Transits, around here anyhow, seem not to be depreciating as much as Promasters.

i love the low floor and the towing capacity, and it would tickle me to get a set of Fiat badges, though I think the whole grill might be different on the Ducato..

What does tongue weight do to a FWD tow vehicle? It seems like you'd lose some amount of traction compared to a traditional RWD tow vehicle.

Its really too bad the Econolines are discontinued. At least you can still buy an Express van.  

She doesn’t tow with one, but a good friend is traveling the country in a Ram van set up for camping. 

I was looking to get a ford transit so cross shopped the dodge but stopped after reviewing crash data.

my intentions were kiddo hauler so crash safety was a priority for me: the dodges had scary (for modern production) crash results. The ford although not 5 star safety rated protect the occupants much better.

I love the size/concept, but do some research on crash data if this could be a factor in your use.

Something is wrong with me. I read that as "Ram Pornmasters".

I need some rest...

In reply to daytonaer :

Got any links or anything? A quick, dumb search gets me virtually nothing for Ram Promaster crash safety. The NHTSA hasn't rated it, good or bad, the vehicle page just states no ratings.

I suspect anything more modern will be a lot safer than my '97 F250 with no airbags... But I'm not eager to choose the less safe option, everything else being equal (which it isn't, of course).

FWIW, Transits don't all have the low towing capacity. Our SRW medium roof 250 was rated for like 8000, but that required the 3.5 eco boost and those are pretty rare. It towed great when it wasn't at the dealer, though. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Oo, and there goes the "the Transit is the safe bet for reliability" hope...

And splendid damning by faint praise. That was textbook.

In reply to nocones :

Have you towed with your motorhome? I'm guessing you're looking for a vehicle with much better towing MPG, but I've found our motorhome tows way better than the E250 & the MPG difference is negligible. 

Jesse Ransom said:

In reply to daytonaer :

Got any links or anything? A quick, dumb search gets me virtually nothing for Ram Promaster crash safety. The NHTSA hasn't rated it, good or bad, the vehicle page just states no ratings.

I suspect anything more modern will be a lot safer than my '97 F250 with no airbags... But I'm not eager to choose the less safe option, everything else being equal (which it isn't, of course).

I made have mad a mistake, are you referring to the promaster “city”? 

I cant seem to find all the data, but I recall notes about floor pans separating in crash tests etc. 

 here is is the Euro tests for fiat version of city : Euro ncap

This is equivalent to the city, if you are looking at the full-size van I am mistaken about crash data and don’t know anything. If you want a city I can try to keep digging for the test data I ran across.

93gsxturbo said:

I can't get over how ugly they are.  That alone would keep me away.  Transits and Sprinters are ugly too, but the ProMaster takes the cake.  

I like Fiats, but I would not buy a promaster. Maybe the the little one, but not the big one. The Big Ford Transit seems the best of the breed, even over the Sprinter.