You have to wonder how, after more than a century of automobile production, any manufacturer could still build an unreliable car. Is 100 years not long enough to figure out to screw together a high-quality vehicle? Sure, things wear out and eventually fail, but they shouldn't do so before they've worked properly for quite some time. It seems like some manufacturers view quality as nothing more than a marketing term designed to attract customers, rather than what should be an essential feature in any vehicle, right up there with a steering wheel and doors.

Quality becomes even more important for vehicles designed for heavier-duty use, like pickup trucks. Towing, hauling heavy payloads and slogging through muddy construction sites all take their toll, and if a full-size truck is to get any respect among truck buyers, it needs to be able to take abuse and just keep, uh, trucking.

In 1994, Dodge redesigned its full-size Ram pickup, giving it the big rig-inspired dropped-fender styling that set it apart from its Big Three rivals. The redesign worked to attract buyers who had previously ignored the Ram, and while a standout body will ensure a good first impression, it's what's left after the honeymoon's over that's really important.

1996 Dodge Ram Club Cab 3500 4x2. Click image to enlarge

Unfortunately for the Ram, the long-term prospects weren't great. With unreliable automatic transmissions and brakes and suspension components that were prone to premature wear, the Ram didn't hold up its end of the bargain as a durable work vehicle. In terms of the Big Three, Ford's and General Motors' big trucks are far more dependable. The lengthy list of recalls on the 94-01 Ram can be found here.

Trucks aren't generally expected to get great gas mileage, and the Ram is no exception. With four-wheel-drive and an automatic transmission, a Ram 1500 fitted with the base 175-hp, 3.9-litre V6 got a Natural Resources Canada fuel consumption rating of a little more than 16 L/100 km in the city and about 12 L/100 km on the highway. The two V8s offered - a 5.2-litre and a 5.9-litre - use about 19 and 20 L/100 km city and 13.1 and 13.5 L/100 km highway respectively.

1996 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4. Click image to enlarge

The Ram posted varied results in crash tests, with a 1997 regular-cab 1500 model earning five stars for driver protection in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) frontal impact test. A 1997 extended cab truck got four stars for driver protection and three for front passenger protection in the frontal impact test and 1998-2001 trucks got at least three stars for driver protection and four or five stars for front passenger protection. The NHTSA never tested the Ram for side impact protection.

Results from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) frontal offset crash tests paint a bleaker picture, though. Based on the Ram's performance in that test, the IIHS gave the Ram its "poor" rating citing too much deformation of the cab's structure and overall poor occupant protection.

2001 Dodge Ram 1500 4x2 Regular Cab SLT. Click image to enlarge

Price-wise, a basic 2001 Ram 1500 with four-wheel-drive and a V8 should run about $12,600, according to Canadian Red Book. At the bottom end, a 1994 Ram 1500 4x4 is worth a little less than $5,000, and a 1999 Ram, again with four-wheel-drive and a V8, is a decent deal at about $10,000. Those prices are, on average, a little cheaper than what Red Book says a similarly-equipped F-series is worth, but the Ford's superior reliability makes it a better choice.