Tell you what. You buy a new Ram. I'll buy a new F-150. We will maintain them better than the company requires. Do you honestly believe a new Ram will have fewer issues?
2022 XL, EcoBoost, 4k with options
18,600 trouble-free miles. Taken it on 12-hour trips. Absolutely flawless, except for the back window not working. But hey, I have yet to own a Ford product where the windows do not mess up.
Friend, your '93 Dakota was not made my Fiat/Stellantius. My point is that the current company is not near the quality of earlier products. Even then, I must admit, I am not sure they were always "ahead of the curve."
So far, 93 with NO problems and 9 with some. 10.33% issues only.
There have been 123,600 Mavericks built in the US since 2021. So, 12,360 with at least a minor issue that has prevented temporary usage (or worse) if you extrapolate this data.