I'm new here, but not new to Dodges as a few family members have Dodge vehicles. I recently came upon the opportunity to get a 2003 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab, 2WD, 4.7L V8, 3.53 limited slip, with 54,000 miles on it for a good price. I currently drive a '99 Ford F-150 Super Cab, 2WD, 5.4L V8, 81,000 miles, and it has a few problems (rear window frame is cracked, infamous door cracks, clearcoat is peeling, etc), and I'm seriously considering the Dakota, but I personally have always avoided Daimler Chrysler products, so if you all could ease my worries, that'd be great.

1. Bad Transmissions
Okay, I've been reading through this and other forums, and it seems like a hit-or-miss on wether or not a transmission is bad. One of my friends has had 9 Dodge vehicles in the past, and none of the trannys lasted more than 65,000 miles. He drives like a grandma, to boot. I know how the Dakota I might be getting has been driven, and it's been driven pretty gently. No hard acclerations, no towing anything, nothing much except commuting. The Dakota I might be getting has the 5 speed automatic, which I read was new for 2003, and supposedly more reliable, but I'd rather not be in the shop spending $2K for a tranny rebuild in 11,000 miles.

2. Intermittent/Spastic Power Locks
I've personally never seen this first-hand, but I have heard of it happening. Supposedly, when it rains, water leaks into where the power lock motors are, and causes the doors to lock/unlock randomly.

3. No power
I've driven the Dakota I might buy, and is it me, or do they have no accleration? I had the pedal to the floor on an uphill onramp to the freeway, and I was only going 45MPH at 1900RPMs by the time I had to merge into traffic. My F-150 muscles up the same ramp in 3rd gear at 65MPH at 4000RPMs, with the pedal maybe 1/2 way down.

If the Dakota will last another 30,000 miles with no issues (or tranny implosions), then I think it'll be a definate go on it, because it does get 15MPG compared to my 8MPG in the F-150, as well as the Dakota has 54,000 miles now, and not a single issue. My F-150 has had a few problems, but they were mostly warrenty repairs (when it was new) and right now, I'm coping with a leaky back window, door cracks, and a few other minor things, but I have heard of late model (1997-2004) F-150s lasting 100,000-300,000 miles, although I have never heard of a Dakota lasting more than 100,000 miles.

 

Well, I have a dakota and problems seem to not be too bad, Iv had tranny issues but they were my fault, it had a cork gasket on the bottom and I decided to go 4x4ing in a big mud hole...

About the no power, not sure about that, it should be pretty good and the throttle is electronically controlled to the tranny, sounds like you might have a stretched out throttle cable or something. It should be kicking down. Unless it can't The v8 does have a fair bit of power and should run with a ford even like that. It should drive like a charm, The acceleration should be better than your ford inn-fact.
My v6 dakota can probably keep up with my parents expedition, except on the highway but for acceleration to 0-60 it would probably do it. plus i got bigger tires.

Btw even if you fork out for a rebuild, atleast you can make sure it is done right. By taking it somewhere good and getting it rebuilt pretty heavy duty. But the new tranny 5 speed is a lot more durable than the 42,44 and 46. This one this bandless. It's all electronic though.

 

the trans behind the 4.7 is a good one, pretty reliable. The thing that worries me is you said that it didnt want to get moving when you drove it. A 4.7 dak should be as fast or faster than a f-150 5.4, maybe drive it again and beat the snot out of it and see how it performs before you make a decision.

 

i definitaly think its worth it im sure the dakota will last well past 100k as long as its taken care of i would just double check on the power thing like everyone else said. i raced my buddy with a f-150 5.4 and if i wasn't so leary about missing third i would have definitaly beat him so i would make sure the truck is right in that aspect first before you get it.

 

Thanks for the replies. I don't know at this moment which route to go as I kind of have a pride thing going on when I'm behind the wheel of my full size, 1/2 ton F-150 and I can look down at all the midsize and compact cars and trucks. Additionally, one of my friends keeps saying that Dodges are "for girly men" and that "the Dakota is a piece of [feces] because it's a Dodge". He even showed me deductive reasoning behind his opinion, although I beg to differ. But I don't know because he is an ASE certified mechanic, but he is the only one that said that Dodges are bad. That, and logic tells me that if several Dakotas have tranny issues, then the one I might get has a high probability of having tranny issues. Although, last time I used logic to buy a car, I ended up with a 1/2 ton F-150 that has been back to the dealer a dozen times.

On another note, where would be a good place to put one (maybe two) 10-12" subs and an amp in a quad cab? The OEM audio system kinda sucks, so if I do decide to go the Dakota route, I'd like to get an amp and some subs to bolster the sound system. I don't want to replace the OEM head unit, although with what I'm after, I might as well:

-Auxilary audio input jack (the OEM one doesn't have it, so I'd get an aftermarket one)
-1000-1600w amp
-1 or 2 10-12" subs
-sub box

 

The transmission on the 4.7 are very good. it is the same one behind the hemi and is alot better then the older trannies like in my truck.