Anyone have experience with dodge dakotas?

im thinking about buying a 1998 or 1999 dodge dakota with the 5.2 v8 and auto tranny. has anyone had experience with these trucks? are they reliable? any common problems? would you recommend buying one?

thanks guys

My wifes old boss had one of these, it was a POS, at 200 thou the trans went out.OH it was a work truck and treated like so by his guys if you know what i mean.I would buy one if the price was right.His was a 99.
HTH

My wife had a 1999. Bought it new, sold it in 2004 when we bought a full-size Ram. When we sold it, it had 145,000 miles on it.

It was fully loaded with all the options, extended cab, 5.2 L V-8, auto, full/part time 4wd, 3.91 axles, LS in the rear. 31 x 10.50 x 15 tires, Class 4 towing group, power windows, locks, Infinity stereo, etc.

Observations:

Poor gas mileage - over thousands of miles of combo city/highway, it got about 13 mpg.

Plenty of power for anything we needed to do. Didn't tow with it much, but occasionally would tow a load of hay. Double axle trailer probably weighed in about 7,000 lbs. Yes, you could certainly feel it back there, but it could do freeway speeds without too much difficulty.

Maintenance consisted of front unit bearings, ball joints, brakes a few times, and tires. Standard oil changes every 6,000 miles. Changed the trans fluid at 80,000, and flushed the radiator at 120,000. That was about it.

When we sold it, it was virtually rust free. No spots in the body, surface rust on the frame. No bad considering we live in the salt belt during the winter.

It was a very comfortable truck. While our son was younger, the forward facing rear seat was much better than the side facing seat in other extended cab mid-size pickups. By the time he was 14, it was a bit cramped, part of the reason we next bought a full-size.

David Bricker / SYR

I hate them.... Do your self a favor and stop looking for one.


Justin

thanks for the replies guys..

justin, what is a good midsized pickup with a v8 that you do like?

New truck, I would say go for a GMC Canyon with a 5.3L
I used to have a 92 Dakota, never had any issues with it. The 5.2L is a decent engine.
They can be had reasonably priced. Fairly easy to work on, reliable, decent power/milege. I prefer the 2nd gen, but 3rd gen is nice as well. Check out the dakota-durango.com forums if you want to find out more.

If you can find a newer one with a 4.7l 2000+ you will be better off. The 5.2l is a pile. Seems like everyone withh have a cylinder 5/7 missfire and end up needing heads. The 4.7 is smaller, gets alot better mpg, and just seems to run alot better. Theres a reason why the 3.9/5.2/5.9's are no longer made.

I had a 93 with the 5.2. Never had any issues, but I only had it for miles 140k-155k. I reallly did like the truck though. Light foot on the freeway and i could get over 20mpg (of course I can do that in my cummins with a heavy foot now). Had plenty of power and I thought it was comfortable. It was 4x4, but never used it much.

The older ones seemed to work alot better Pre-97ish. From there it seemed down hill, untill they put the 4.7l/45rfe in them. I thought about buying a 2003-04 4-door version a while back but instead bought a GC with the same drivetrain. The 4.7l will get good MPG, way better than a 5.2l, It won't leak coolant or burn oil like a 5.2 either.

I would avoid it, I had a 2000 durango until recently that had a 4.7 and never had any real big issues with it. It had 210k on it and was getting tired so it was time.

Now I have a 2001 Ram with a 5.9 with just over 33k. Hoping I get the same from it.

sounds like its best to wait till i can afford a newer one thanks guys