I bought a 2011 quad cab dodge dakota. Its the V8 longhorn model. The ticket on vehicle said 15-19 mpg. Ive noticed that my truck has been getting about 11-12 mpg. When driving on city streets the truck drives normal. meaning it will glide down hills. If I only drive in the city ill get 15mpg. Once i drive on highway or over 50mph it feels as if the truck is holding back. It will not glide at all, it just slows down when my foot is off the gas. Brought the truck to dealer. they told me it is driving fine. any comments or similar stories out there??

 

If it doesn't coast and immediately slows, check for sticky brake calipers and low tire pressure. Mine will coast for a while if I'm on a flat smooth road. I still only average 16mph.

 

I do notice a lot of wind noise in my '07 ST club cab when on the highway but it seems to be from the drivers side.

 

Really? I thought they made a 2012 model but idk :-\

 

Awesome truck!!! I'm sure you and your wife will love it. My 2007 Dakota has about 55,000 miles on it and I haven't had a single problem with it (knock on wood). I bought it with 10k miles on it. The only work that I have done is oil changes, air filter, tires, and aftermarket electronics (stereo, alarm/remote start, inverter, etc).

The gas mileage is the only thing that I don't like about my Dakota because I drive so much and I rarely use it as a truck (I just commute). My commute is 32 miles one way, all highway and I get 18MPG. Most people here will probably say that 18MPG is pretty good for a Dakota but I have the most basic model possible (with RWD) and I pretty much cruise at 65MPH all the time so I think I should get more.

 

my 04 V-6 dakota gets about 18 or 19 on the highway, like yours mine is a basic model and a 04, manual windows, locks, ect, the most i ever have gotten out of my 04 is about 20 mpg using pure gas no ethanol. think that ethanol hurts my fuel mileage..
the 11 so far has been getting about 14 or so in town maybe alittle less with my wife driving she has a real heavy foot..shes used to driving her mustang gt and drives everything else accordingly..

 

I forgot to mention that I have the smallest engine that Dodge put in the Dakota, the V6. The most I have seen is 18MPG, never any higher and I always calculate it when I fill up. It's usually between 16 and 18. It's only been lower than 16 when I was hauling loads, driving more city, and/or driving faster than usual.

Where do you even get pure gasoline and is it more expensive? I think all of the stations around here have signs on the pumps that say it can contain up to 10% ethanol.

 

http://pure-gas.org/

 

There's none near me that I could use. There are two stations that are within 60 miles from me but they are both inaccessible to vehicles because they are located on docks for boats. The notes say that I could bring a gas tank to fill but then I could only get 5 gallons cuz I would have to carry it back to my truck. Plus most of them seem to be 90 octane... idk how that would work in my truck, I always put regular 86 or 87 octane in.

 

a 90 octane should just be pricier, you probably won't see a change in how your truck runs. But buying pricier gasoline defeats the purpose of saving money on gas.. unless you're a hippy, the dakota is certainly not for hippies.