Ram Reviews

Water damage to a car will only be considered a warranty job if it entered the car through a dud rubber seal or other defect in the car’s body. If the water got in through the car being partly submerged in floodwaters or a window left open in a torrential downpour, then that would be classed as accidental damage and not a warranty issue.

So, job one is to work out how the water entered the car. Don’t forget that the Laramie is converted to right-hand-drive in Australia (and the cabin basically rebuilt from scratch in the process) so make sure that nothing was left out or overlooked in that process.

The problem in many new cars is that the computer controlling a lot of the car’s functions often sits on the floor (under the passenger’s seat) where even a small amount of water ingress can cause lots of electrical problems to the ECU, wiring and harness connectors. It’s for this reason that once a car has been water damaged, many insurance companies will write the vehicle off, knowing that it will be a problem child down the track if they don’t.

The rule of thumb is that a float with two horses on board is around the 2000kg mark, so that’s the absolute bare minimum towing limit you’d be looking at. Even then, by the time you add a couple of saddles, some feed bins and whatever else it is horsey people cart around, you could easily be looking at 2.5 or even three tonnes.

With that in mind, the smart move would be to buy a dual-cab ute with as much towing capacity as possible. The good news there is that many of the popular choices can tow a braked trailer weighing anything up to 3.5 tonnes. Think about it; if a ute can tow 3.5 tonnes, it should cope easily with two tonnes.

If, on the other hand, we’re talking a three-axle float and a pair of Clydesdale horses, you might have to look at one of the US-made utes from the likes of RAM or other US-market brands. And even then, you need to be careful: Even though some versions of the RAM ute can legally tow 4500kg with a braked trailer, to do so and not exceed the GCM (the combined mass of the vehicle and trailer) the payload in the tray falls to less than 100kg.

It’s not legal to use a 3500 kg rated tow vehicle to tow 4500 kg, and your insurance wouldn’t cover you in the event of a crash. Step up to the bigger vehicle, or maybe look at something like a RAM pickup.