Hi all,
I've been reading the posts on the forum, and the Dodge Dakota looks like a great truck, however I have a couple of questions.

I'm in outside sales, and I put alot of miles on my cars, usually at least 30,000 per year, and I have not bought a truck for sales yet.
1)Are the Dodge's dependable when it comes to lots of miles being put on the car, particularly stop/go/stop/go miles? I live in the city, and there is plenty of traffic, and then I gotta hit the regular roads for appts. I put approx.105 miles on my car (or soon truck perhaps!)per day.
2)Any particular service issues that show up with 3rd gen. Dakotas? I would be shy of purchasing one if there isgoing to be nickel and dime'ing going on.

Thanks for the help people, I'm looking forward to buying one, if everything works out ok.

 

ive got a 06 with 13,000 miles and just like you i put about 25 grand a year on my vehicles. to me the dakota is a great truck. i wouldnt trade it for anything although going from a scion xb to a dakota is a huge difference in gas mileage. ive had no problems to date with my truck and its off roaded and driven hard on a daily basis.

 

NOPE I HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH MINE! its ran hard on a daily basis...but i found out if ran on 89 octane and grandma'd and not taken about 2500 RPMS and cruise at bout 60 down the highway the gas mileage becomes outstanding! but yeah man its a great truck i would buy it!

 

I've had my truck for 2 1/2 years now and I've had very minor issues with it. If you're looking for a gas saver, the Daks aren't the best for that. I haven't been driving my truck that much this summer because of the price of gas.

They're great trucks and they can handle the test of time and miles.

Good luck.

 

Well, to answer the first question our specific model is still very new so it's hard to say for sure. I can tell you we have a few rams in the family (two 2nd gens and a 3rd gen) that have been very reliable, great trucks.

For the second, I haven't had many problems with my truck so far except the shocks and brake rotors. The shocks (front) keep blowing, it's covered under warranty but it is annoying. I plan to replace them with Bilstein's when they're out and that will be the end of that problem. Honestly the factory front shocks are terrible anyways, you'd want to replace them. The front rotors on my truck are warped already (16k miles), however from looking into it I've found this is a common problem with Chryslers and is due to the OEM rotors being of poor quality. I'll be buying some aftermarket rotors soon to fix that.

Even considering the problems I've had I still love the truck, the issues I've had with it aren't a huge deal for me and it's a great truck to drive. The size is just right if you don't need a full-size but still want something that's actually capable and it's comfortable for long drives (I live in Maine and go to college in NY so I've made that 5hour drive many times). The handling is actually pretty decent too, I expect it to get much better once I get some good shocks on it.

 

Unless you really feel you want a truck for that much driving in stop & go traffic I would be driving a crossover type vehicle. Something that sits higher than a car and get fairly good gas mileage, comfortable and nimble. Dakota is very a comfortable vehicle. The room is nice for the driver and a passenger with the club cab. The quad cab is quite spacious and said to have decent rear seating. I also drive about 30k a year but 95% is highway so it’s easy on the truck and on the gas in comparison to city use. We go camping and have a popup trailer we tow. I throw stuff in the toppered cover bed all the time. For me the Dakota is a perfect size truck. WTS I would not entertain a truck for 30k of city driving. That means any truck including the Dakota. It’s not that kind of transportation IMO.

 

I'll agree with everyone so far. Also, most people don't go looking for a truck of any size if they are doing outside sales, unless what you are selling is big enough for a truck. I live in San Antonio, Tx and we are up to 1.8 million people and everything is stop/go traffic. I don't get anything near what the sticker said for MPG. I average 230 miles on a tank and I have the 3.7 V-6. I agree with graything, maybe you ought to look into a cross-over or wagon. To be honest, my wife drives an 05' town & country van and its the best van we have ever owned. Its got the 3.3L V-6 and plenty of power. You can take the family (if you have one), take the boss and a client for dinner or stow all the seats and carry plenty of sales stuff, all the while it being dry and secure. They are selling 07's here for $15K. Don't get me wrong, like everyone else, I love my truck and no problems so far, but in town all the time, you'll wear out the gas card.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but I agree with everyone else. I was driving 82 miles per day to and from my old job, round trip, with the majority of it on the highway and I was still filling up every 3 days....I was spending between $300-400 per month on gas. Now all I do is drive around town and tow frequently, and still drop $200/mo. on gas. If you can afford to operate it, it's an absolutely wonderful truck. I haven't had a single problem with mine. A minivan or something like a Pacifica might be the way to go.

 

I love my Dakota its awesome not too friendly on the 'Ol wallet but thats expected from a V8. I like it more than the single cab ram i had. Both great trucks never had any issues. I agree with everyone as far as cross -overs as far as that many miles a day. I drive about 25k mi a year and my truck is at 29,985 now and no problems. But if money and miles aren't a problem go for it. You might want to look at a Tacoma there very nice as well, i had a difficult time deciding wether to by one or a Dakota, the sales people at the toyota dealership were HUGE Aholes so i refused to deal with them, and that was at two different dealerships. so i bought my DAK!