I love these trucks but Dodge has been putting them on the back burner. Kia and Hyundai have a 4.6L V8 (282ci) putting out 375-385 hp. That is is about 80 hp more than the 08 (and newer) Dakotas. If you want HP, you will be spending $

 

I have just purchased a 2005 dodge dakota 4x4 ST? 3.7L V6 with the extended cab (4dr). I dont know hw well a full size human fits, but the truck has the LATCH system for child seats and I have used it for my grandaughters car seat. Hope this helps a little.

 

Yea the latch system is nice, especially since we have two vehicles, so when you switch you just have two connecting points (3 when they are forward facing seats) and you don't have to mess around with the belts. Do you know if you can have the 40 portion of the 60/40 seat folded up with a car seat in the middle?

 

On my 08 with the 4.7, the mileage is rated at 14 and 18. Not sure where you got the 28 but it's waaaaay off. Granted, mine is a 4x4 with 3.92 gears, but even a 2WD and 3.55 gears 28 just isn't gonna happen with these trucks/engines.

 

The only way you will do well with the V6 is if you have the smaller tire option of the two sizes, and the 6-speed manual tranny. I actually do well MPG wise. I drive nice and easy with the manual tranny though.

Thats my setup, and the V6 is pretty acceptable. I have driven a V8 though, and the older ones are ok, I wasn't BLOWN away, but it IS better. The new 300HP V8 in the 2009+ dakota however is quite powerful for the truck.

 

if you plan on towing a fair bit go with the v8 i tow a decent amount between the atvs sea doos and sleds and love the v8 for the power

 

28=typo 18 yes sorry guys

 

You sound like you are considering the V6 and the only reason I can think of for that is that you are worried about mileage. To be brutally honest, the V6 gets no better mileage than the V8 (maybe as one guy said wiht a 2 wheel drive and manual that is different, but for most people its not.)
The milage on the V8 is pretty aweful too. If you do a lot of freeway driving, you can get it up over 20, but in the city expect as low as 14 MPG with u87 gas (I drove my '07 on e85 and got ~10MPG in worst case scenario city driving, but be aware that that is equivalent to about 13MPG with u87 gas.)
If you can live with that, you will absolutely LOVE these trucks. There is nothing else close to them out there. Full size truck benefits and easier to park too. I had a car seat in the back of my '05 and in the early years of my '07 (before my son grew old enough to not need them) and they fit just fine. I have taken my wife and I, my son in his car seat and my mother and father in law on long trips in them too (all were the 4 door cab versions.) While the people in back were a bit crowded, it was doable (btw all of the adults, esp me, are ummm... LARGE people to put politely.) My mother-in law said he main complaint on those trips was that she could not stretch out her legs (she has bad knees so if she can't move around for long periods they start to bug her.)

 

I'm not looking at mileage as far as the V6 vs V8 issue goes. It's more of engine longevity, transmission, transfer case etc. More power may contribute to wear more prematurely than the V6 perhaps. This is why I'm asking the questions. Everyone here that owns them knows the little things. Thanks for the replies. Oh, and when looking at used vehicles, I noticed that in my area most trucks with V8's sell for $1500-3000 more (on average) for similar mileage V6's, and the additional towing isn't what I need, so the extra cost is sort of unjustified. If you have anything else to add, keep them coming.