1996 Dodge Ram 1500

SLT

5.9L 360Cu. In. V8 GAS OHV Naturally Aspirated

Automatic

3B7HC13Z2TG128301

Clear

Gasoline

Those of you who follow my auctions know that I am a physical therapist here in the Tucson area who has a love for all original and unmolested, low mile and usually one owner vehicles. Because I deal with many elderly and retired clients I have a unique way of tapping into some of the lowest mile and well kept vehicles in the nation. This Dodge pickup is a perfect example of this. This truck was really a one owner truck even though the CARFAX may indicate two owners because the original owners son took possession of the truck from the father who had become to disabled to drive any longer (something I unfortunately see way too often in my line of work). The son transfered title into his name for the purpose of selling the truck. This truck looks, runs, drives and even smells like a new truck. I will outline it in more detail below. HISTORY: This truck was purchased new in Phoenix, AZ in 1996 by an elderly gentleman who lived in a retirement community called Sun City which is located just outside Phoenix. Sun City is designed to have everything seniors need right there in the little community so they don't have to drive more than a few miles to get most any service. The original owner kept this truck garaged from day one and it was parked in a climate controlled garage and parked next to a very high dollar old Model 'A' that the original owner had . He would drive the truck regularly but only locally in the little community and so he really didn't put many miles on the truck. As many of you know dealers will often send out a few of their vehicles to custom shops and have them upgraded and then they put them in their showrooms all dressed up and mark up the price accordingly. That is what this truck was. It was sent out to Designer Vans which was a specialty shop in Phoenix back in 1996 and has since gone out of business. They put the ground affects, custom painted to match bed rails, custom wheels and custom seating in the truck. The truck was then sold off the lot to the original owner with all these upgrades in place. The original owner kept it in mint condition ever since and it never left the immediate Phoenix area until I purchased it and drove it down to Tucson. It never had a receiver on it or even a ball on the bumper so it has never towed anything in it's life. He had a custom built in window shade installed on the front windshield so that when he did drive he could keep the HOT Phoenix sun out of the interior when it was parked. It's a nice little retractable shade and very convenient. EXTERIOR: This truck could sit on any new car lot right now and it would fit right in. The paint looks brand new, chrome looks new, moldings look new, glass looks new, all lenses (headlights, turn signals, tail lights) look new. Underneath the truck looks new. The inside of the bed has a small dent on the inside of the tailgate but otherwise the inside of the bed looks new as well. Nothing was ever hauled in this truck. The custom alluminum wheels are in excellent condition with no road rash or oxidization. The ground affects are not chipped up faded as you often see and the area where you step up into the truck shows no wear. There is one very small door ding on the passengers door and a very shallow and small dent in the rear bumper towards the left side. There is also a small area of imperfection in the paint on the drivers front fender where it looks like something dripped two drops on the paint and it left a mark. All of these imperfections are very easy to miss and none stand out as anything that would need to be addressed. The tires have 80% treadlife left. I'm not sure how old the tires are or if they are the original tires but they show no signs of dry rot or weathering of any kind. INTERIOR: The interior is simply perfect. There is no wear on the factory floor mats even. The seats are perfect and are not cheap leather or vinyl. These are very nice, soft full leather seating that is extremely comfortable. The rear seat was never used. All carpet looks exceptional. Headliner is perfect as are sunvisors. Dash and all dash components look and function as new. AC will freeze you out on even the hottest day. EVERYTHING works as it should including cruise control. All gauges work perfect and are bright and clear...like new. The cab is quiet and comfortable and it is like you are sitting in a brand new truck. Power windows are very fast, quiet and seal nicely. Folding center console looks as if it has never had anything in the storage compartments. Factory cassette player was never used. Never smoked in. It has seating for six with the center console in an upright position. Rear slider window in perfect condition as is all glass. Window tinting looks like it was just put on yesterday. The only negative about the interior to me is that when you are driving and there is no one in the passengers seat, the passengers seat tends to want to shake from the bumps in the road etc. I haven't looked into that yet but I will be seeing if there is a way to tighten that up. It really is a beautiful interior and very nicely done. Comfortable for long drives. MECHANICAL: Not much to say here. The truck has 28k miles on it and it drives and operates like it. Needs nothing. No drips, smoking or burning of any fluids. Engine compartment and undercarriage look almost brand new. Strong and powerful 5.9L V8. Smooth acceleration and shifts as it should. Steering is very tight as you would expect. Suspension also feels like a new vehicle. I just changed the oil and it has had fully synthetic Mobil 1 since it's first oil change. No shakes, shimmies or funny noises. I hate to be redundant but EVERYTHING works as new on this truck with no issues whatsoever. SUMMARY: This is a rare opportunity to own a nearly brand new older Dodge Ram. If you are of the age that you can remember when Dodge came out with this body style in 1994 you remember that this was the truck to have. Dodge designed the truck to have the look and feel of the "big rig" truck and it was like nothing we had ever seen before and it created a stir in the truck market and Dodge sales skyrocketed and peaked in 1996. I remember when I graduated from PT school in 1994 and got my first good paying job. I went to the Dodge dealer to buy one of these but they were so popular that I had to wait months for an extended cab model so I ended up buying a single cab. I loved the truck and this one brings back those memories of when Dodge really went all out and the quality of the trucks seemed to be so much better then the trucks nowadays. This truck is beautiful from outside to inside to underneath and the color combination makes it look very elegant. It will not disappoint. As always I will be more than happy to pick up buyers from the Tucson airport if you should want to fly in and drive the truck home. I will also store the vehicle for a reasonable period of time in my garage for those who need to make shipping arrangements. I do reserve the right to end the auction at any time as the truck may be advertized in other media and could sell at any time. Check my feedback, check out the pictures and bid with confidence! If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Goodluck!