2,000-Mile Ram TRX Breaks Down While Off-Roading, Owner Regrets Selling Raptor

With the Ford F-150 Raptor stuck in its admittedly tried and tested V6 ways, the TRX became the only option for enthusiasts of both V8 power and off-road truck action. The only real drawback was the hefty price, with the Stellantis truck regularly commanding over $100,000 from its prospective buyers.

The inevitable comparisons between the two models revealed that Ford's worries were warranted. The TRX wasn't just any truck with a powerful V8 engine but a well-thought-out package that looked at everything the Raptor did and sought to do it better. And, according to those who tried them out, it was pretty much mission achieved for Ram Trucks.

Perhaps the best exemplification for the TRX's success is the fact that some Raptor owners have given the new Ram model a go. That's despite the fact that Ford doing its best to let everyone know the Raptor will get a V8 engine in the near future. The lure of the V8 power is strong.

One such particular case is Ben Hardy, a YouTuber based in Utah who regularly pays visits to his local dealers and tests out various vehicles - mostly trucks. He was a Ford Raptor owner, but after test driving the 2021 TRX, he decided to go for the Ram truck. Unfortunately for him, he also made another decision, one that he's thoroughly regretting at the moment: selling the old Raptor.

No matter how many people try out a new model and sing its praise, you can always end up being the unlucky one who just gets a bad example. Look no further than what happened to The Fast Lane channel and their Land Rover Defender. Not once, but twice.

In Ben's case, it's not exactly clear what happened at this moment. It might not even be the truck's fault, but rather just the wrong stone being in the wrong place at the wrong time, just as his brand-new neon-green 2021 Ram TRX went over. By the looks of it, though, it doesn't necessarily seem as though there was any serious impact with something in the environment.

According to Ben's description, it all happened just as he floored the throttle, looking to get a little bit of that good stuff that makes the TRX stand out among its peers. However, instead of a power surge, he ended up with a lit dashboard, a message telling him to service the Electronic Stability Control, and a leak of some sort. Not to mention a 2,000-mile (3,200-km) truck that cost nearly $100,000 now turned into a little more than trail furniture.

To be fair, the TRX did start afterward, but you can understand Ben's reluctance to force the issue while out off the beaten path, choosing instead to have it towed by the Ford Raptor that was accompanying them.

At the moment, Ben has managed to limp the TRX on its own wheels all the way to the dealership and is waiting for a diagnosis. Judging by all the symptoms - not to mention the way he was swapping gears for fun during his short-lived off-road adventure - we'd be surprised if it's not something to do with the eight-speed automatic transmission. If that turns out to be the case, though, regardless of Ben's driving style, it would still be a bad mark for the truck's build quality - one of the aspects it's been praised for so far.

Like Ben, all we can do now is wait and see what caused the situation and how serious the damage really is. Luckily, the grieved owner promises to keep us updated with how it all unfolds, so we should eventually reach a conclusion. Both TRX and Raptor fans are probably just as curious, though for different reasons, and it's hard to say in which of the two categories Ben finds himself in at the moment.