I was recently talking with someone and expressed an interest in buying a 3rd generation Dakota. He advised me to stay away from them and all Dodges due to a lot of transmission issues. Any truth to those rumors?

 

Every vehicle has its issues...But I believe the newer gen Dodges aren't nearly as bad as the older generations...all I know is my truck and car (both Dodges) are both 15 years old and have never given me any major problems nor have they ever broke down.

 

I would agree with D4lyfe, the 3 gen has a different transmission and i have not heard of many issues. It does have a lot of front end issues, ball joints/tie rods/racks/etc. If you are going to get one, get the 2008 or newer with the dual spark plugs per cylinder V8, i hear the are amazing.

 

i know for sure chrysler has a problem with the rp steering going out after 2k miles...but i haven't heard anything lately on it. as a matter of fact my neighbor jsut told me that dodges are junk. my mom has owned 5 in my lifetime and my dad has owned about 40, never had a problem with them(at least anything major). as long as you know how take care of a vehicle and do a routine check up even the most problematic vehicles are less of a hassle to the owner.

 

I haven't had any trouble with my transmission and I do put it under alot of stress, lol.

 

I agree, the old gens were the problem children

 

Just get the 6 speed!

It does appear that the automatics are now pretty trustworthy. Used to be a different story...

My truck has been almost perfect, I've replaced a wheel bearing, which is just bad luck on any vehicle, and a tie rod end, which is pretty typical.

 

Pre 2000 they had problems with the tranny's. My 2000 Dakota with first year 4.7 was going strong when I sold it with 140k on the odometer. Same tranny with the Daks and Rams now, only with the added gear, or different programing for the converter lock up. I personally know at least 10 guys at work with the same tranny that have never had a problem. 6 cylinders have a different tranny though, dont know about that one.

 

i abuse the snot out of my 05 and have not had any issues, every 30000 miles it goes in for a complete trans axle service. truck now has 91000 miles on it

 

When I was looking at two left-over ST models, one was silver with a automatic, the other was red with a 6-speed manual, I opted for the manual based on Dodge's history. The getrag is nice, but its not really available anymore with a V8.