California Dealer Won't Sell 2023 Ram 2500 Laramie for $83K, AEV Package Worth $38K Alone

You can’t go wrong with a Ram 2500. It should fulfil all your heavy-duty needs, and then some. Today, you can purchase a 2024 model year Ram 2500 truck from just $45,250, although that’ll be the very rudimentary Tradesman specification. The “regular” Ram 2500 starts from $56,340 in Big Horn spec, going all the way to $85,810 for the Limited variant.

This one here is a Laramie model, which has a starting MSRP of $61,325 currently – yet cost $66,405 in this configuration (Laramie Crew Cab 4x4). It’s also got $24,000 worth of options, plus the AEV Prospector XL package, which costs $22,875 just on its own (as standard).

Let’s start with the exterior and work our way in. The first thing you’ll notice is the ground clearance, courtesy of the AEV DualSport RT suspension with a 3” lift and the AEV-specified Bilstein remote-reservoir shocks.

The truck also comes with a Bright White factory finish, black lower accents, red pinstriping, Prospector XL badging, AEV bumpers, flared fenders, a Sport Performance hood, receiver hitch, spray-on bedliner, the RamBox cargo management system, plus a set of 17” black-finished AEV Katla wheels with 40x13.5” Toyo M/T Open Country tires.

Inside, you’ll find heated and ventilated front bucket seats in black leather, a heated rear bench, AEV logos on the headrests, Laramie embroidery, a Harman Kardon sound system, power-adjustable pedals, dual-zone automatic climate control, a wireless charging pad, an 8.4” UConnect infotainment system with sat-nav, plus a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

As for performance, we’re dealing with a 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel inline-six unit, factory rated at 370 horsepower and 850 lb-ft of torque. Everything gets sent to either the rear or all four wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission, a dual-range transfer case, and a limited-slip rear differential.

More on the AEV package, it also adds the Ram HD front bumper, light bezels, HD rear bumper, custom driveshaft, windshield banner, the previously mentioned upgraded shocks, a full-size 40” spare tire, custom off-road lights and rear bumper LED lights, an exhaust tip extension, intercooler skid plate, and even a custom license plate mount, among many other goodies.

Now, I should mention that while the base price of the AEV Prospector XL package is indeed $22,875, this truck packs several other options (also courtesy of AEV), bringing the total AEV “content” to $37,986. In turn, this bumped the MSRP to $132,676.

From where I’m standing, selling this one-year-old truck for $50,000 under MSRP is quite hard to justify. So, the dealer deciding to hang on to it a while longer comes as no surprise.