what about them keeps you interested?
I thought this would be fun to see all the answers. Why the loyal Dakota fans?

I got my '91 V8 a couple of years ago for free. It has been in my family since it had 13k miles. It now has 168k miles, and I would absolutly feel comfy taking it from coast to coast at a minutes notice.
I like the size-easy to load and unload, yet hauls a lot.
It looks good.[body, not paint!]
It is comfortable to drive long distances.
Drives / handles great even when towing. The list goes on and on and on.

I just got a second Dakota- a '92 4x4 V8. I got it to give my '91 a break! plus I wanted one in 4x4. They are identical except for mirrors and color.The Power Ram is going up for sale.

 

I wanted an old ram (70's-93), but couldn't find anything decent for the price. The first gen dakotas look similar and I found one with very little matching to my criteria but it was too mechanically nice and moderately rust free to pass up. I wanted a v8 or diesel, manual, 4wd, extended cab, long bed, w a/c. I got a v6, manual, 4wd, std cab, short bed, but it runs great! With the $ in it now, I can't see selling it. I'll never get my $ back.

 

I needed a shop truck and something with a V-8 to tow the occasional car. I like smaller vehicles so the Ram was out. I didn't want 4WD. All I was finding were V-8 4WD's or V-6 2WD's. I finally found mine, a V-8, automatic, 2WD for $900 with a bad 5.2. I got a bonus: club cab, class 3 hitch, camper shell, cruise control, and power everything. The only thing I didn't like was the color, black painted over forest green. Since I had to replace the engine I upgraded to a 5.9. I had about $2000 into it when I could finally get it emissioned and registered. I love this truck.

A.J.

 

I got my Mopar Express Dakota at age 13, I really wanted a Duster or Dart, etc. but ended up with the Dakota. Now I wouldn't trade it for a #'s matching survivor Demon, it's just a damn rare truck that draws attention everywhere. Then I got the 87 Indy 500 Dak to add to the stable of rare Daks. My dad had a 2wd longbed 88 with a 3.9 and the truck was bulletproof, and after restoring one from the ground up, and working on another's restoration I've just become very accustomed to the trucks. I even spilled it over onto my friend who's looking at getting a first car, I lead him to a 1989 Dakota Sport we'll be picking up in a week or so! I'm hoping to grab up his truck when he get's tired of it so I can have the 87-88-89 Rare trucks (although 89 sports aren't super rare)

 

I had an 89 Trans Am back in high school. (2000) The transmission was dying and I wanted to sell it. I didn't find anything I liked. I somehow ended up buying a Dodge Intrepid, it just was defiantly not me. I have to admit it did have very very nice soft suspension. After a week of complaining of buying that boring car my dad offers me a trade the car for his truck. So I took it.

LOL After a few weeks he gets bored with it and trades my sister for her to sell hers and she can take the car and give him the cash. He bought our neighbors Bronco II till he bought a brand new 2004 Z71 in 03.

V8 2wd club cab and although the Trans Am had a 350 the 5.2 still had more power. Cheep 80's chevy $hit.

I stuck with the truck thick through thin. Mostly I didn't want a $300 car payment for a new vehicle when all the money can go to building the truck or having fun!

Slowly I built the truck I wanted 5.9 then 4wd then SAS. Now working on a NV4500 and NV241 build.

Now I just have to much time and money in it to sell. Even if I wreck it I'll pull the engine and transmission and find a project to make the Dakota live on.

 

My 93LE has been in my family since it was built. Dad used to live up in PA and moved down here to TN with his job, still went up home to go deer hunting. First 2 years of living down here, he still drove his little Dodge Omni from 88 i think. Went up hunting in 92 and came home with Tank, passed it on his buddys car lot and couldn't say no. Almost like love at first sight. Was just the back and forth for his job which wasn't more than 15 miles away so it was drivin pretty easy the majority of its life. Then my sister learned to drive on it then totaled it and the brand new $40k van she hit..we drove Tank back with minor body damage and a banged up core support. then it got passed onto me in 07' with about 112k on it. Just this morning rolled it over 210,720 miles. For 19 years it has no rust whatsoever, good bushings save the control arms, and has only gone through 1 radiator(dealer broke it) 2 water pumps, a fuel pump and pressure regulator, and a couple hoses. Once i adress the wearing suspension and bushings, its getting a 5.9 and a new trans and hitch. It has a good radio, new speakers, ac blows cold, good heat, and cloth seats on a split bench. Which is all i want for creature comforts. I will drive this truck till the wheels fall off.

 

Well this is my first vehicle. When I was searching for a vehicle in highschool I had a very tight budget, and my dad told me that my aunt was selling her dakota, with only 60 000 miles on it. As you probably viewed the before and after thread on this forum you can see it was in bad shape. She did not wash the vehicle since she bought it. So I drove the 8 hours up there to have a little conversation and got it for 250 bucks. That's the reason for getting it.

The real question this should be asking is why we are still keeping these trucks. My reason is that at the time I could not afford any better, so I slowly got parts together from here and there, to make the truck some what respectable. I will eventually find a better vehicle probably my s197 mustang, then I'll debate selling this one, but chances are if I find a new engine/tranny I will keep her. So far she has 1800 bucks invested in her, from body parts, paint, to audio system. But if you look in the distant future, I doubt these vehicles will be known as classy trucks, or a hotrod.

I also wondering shouldn't this thread be moved over to the general discussion thread, since this is not a tech related post.

 

I needed a vehicle and my dad had an extra work truck for when he didn't want to drive the big manual F-350 around the city. The plan was to buy it from him for about $500 when it was in decent condition. My step-brother borrowed it for a couple months (for free none-the-less), but I still bought it and now I'm having to fix all these problems with it (hint: don't use water for coolant during the transition from winter to spring).
I'm considering getting rid of it and buying something a little more reliable ASAP.

 

i bought mine for the a/c because i am going to school in phoenix. its my first manual that i owned its actually the exact same truck i learned to drive manual in. one of my dads friends offered to teach me so i did. within the first week of owning the truck the water pump took a crap on the freeway and she started to seize. i shut it off and towed roped it about 2 miles to a friends house took the belt off and it started right up! i replaced the pump, thermostat and fan clutch and as of today it has 168k miles and a rough idle. It is unlikely that i will ever sell it. When the engine dies it will get a hemi or a 5.9 to replace its current v6. i will even leave the v6 magnum sticker on just so people think its the "small" engine.

 

I was searching for a small pickup to do a street/strip project with. I have already built 2 V8 S-10 one with a 350 and the other with a 400. I wanted something different and around where I live you see alot of the V8 S-10. So in my search I found the truck I have now, a 88 ford ranger, and a 93 nissan pickup. I ended up choosing my 95 dakota because it already had a small block, its a ext cab, all power with a/c and the truck is in very good condition inside and out. I talked back and forth with the guy selling it for about a week and a half and crunched some numbers to see wich truck would be the best investment and even though the dakota is expensive to buy performance parts for it will save the money it would have cost to get the ranger or nissan to the V8. So I ended up buying the Dakota and it had 142K when I bought it. Within the first month I replaced the water pump, idler pulley, fan clutch, tensioner pulley, and belt. Since then I have installed all the parts listed in my signature and still have a few more things to do before I start on the body work and paint. I am very happy with the decision I made on wich truck to buy. Also with all the money already invested and the tons more that it will take to complete the build I will never sell the truck and look forward to all the joy my little Dakota will bring to me and my family.