Hi guys,

Well my last deal with an 02 Dakota didn't pull through, the guy I was going to buy it off of decided not to pull through, so I'm kinda bummed.

I came across another 02, this one is an automatic however. Personally, I have never owned a truck but frequent trips to the cottage certainly make one handy. It doesn't bother me to drive an automatic, however manual are always a little more fun. I'm currently driving an 04 Grand Prix which is an auto so I don't mind.

After looking around the forums and doing my research a dakota can be a reliable little truck, but in terms of automatic transmissions - are they reliable?

How many of you own an automatic? Do you like it? Why or why not.

This truck is an extended cab which is a little better than the reg cab I was looking at, and has about 70,000 miles.

Share your opinions please!

 

I have an 03 auto with the 3.9. I hear other people say they get shifts when they don't want them but I've never had a problem

 

i dont mind my auto tranny, no issues with it. a 5speed would have been nice but i dont have any problems with mine, if you do the tmr mod and sonnax you can get the trans to firm the shifts up a ton!

 

The automatic transmission in our trucks are pretty reliable and once in a while act out with sensor problems or fluid. We have 3 Dakotas a 93 Dakota 196k, 97 Dakota 206k, and another 97 Dakota 169k. They are all automatics with no rebuilds.

 

i have a 2002 with the 4.7 and auto tranny and have no problems. i like it, i just turn o/d off while driving in the city and i think it performs great

 

130k miles on mine by the way

 

i have a auto and no complaints with it really happy i test drove a 5 speed and thought it was geared to low for my liking

 

5 speed or go the f*ck home... I'm a little bias though...

I've owned both an auto Dakota and a manual and I won't touch another automatic Dakota with a 20 foot pole. I love my 5 speed 4.7. My auto sh*t the bed at ~120k miles which is really bad seeing I never towed anything or hauled much. The 5 speed nv3500 is a good manual transmission and I'll never look back now.

Just my $0.02

 

I havent had any problems with my auto but i prefer manual transmission in general. If this one goes im throwing a manual in it, it has 103,000 miles now.

 

I have a auto(44re) and It sucks im at 91k and its showing signs of going out. The auto with the 4.7's(545rh I think) they are good matched with the 4.7 and rarely there is a problem with them.