I have recently found the time to tell my newest story about my 05 QC so here it goes.

As some of you may remeber from some of my previous posts I have had a few problems with my Dak, but they were mostly cosmetic and easily fixable. The difficult problem was getting the dealer to take care of them. After six months of ownership I can now say that my doors finally line up, the runs in the paint are gone and the bed is straight now.

From browsing this and other forums I came to realize that the vibration in the truck while braking was not a "charateristic" of this vehicle but actually a major problem. I took the truck in to have this fixed and the service advisor told me they needed to replace the front rotors because they were warped. I picked it up a day later and the vibration was actually worse than it had been. I returned the truck a week later and they told me that there was a TSB stating that the rear axel and drums needed to be replaced with a "matching set" and that would solve the problem. About 5 days later and I get a call from the dealer that my truck is done and I could pick it up. My wife and I went to get it the next day. (I live 65 miles from my dealer and through all of these problems they have never scoffed at giving me a loaner or a rental completley free of charge) I picked it up on a saturday and the service dept was closed so I only got to talk with the secretary. She gave us the keys and we were on our way home. From the moment I sat in the truck and felt the brake pedal it just did not feel the same as it had, but I chalked that up not having driven it in a while and the fact that my loaner this time was a 1500 Ram 4x4 QC and I had gotten used to it. BUT as soon as I got on the freeway in heavy traffic I knew we had a problem. No the vibration in the braking was not there anymore the actual brakes were not there anymore! It was almost like the master cylinder just went out. The abs light came on, the brake light came on, there was some kind of warning chime and the speedo stuck at 56 mph(we were not still going that fast the speedo was just suck there). Luckily I was able to manuver around a few vehicles and take the nearest off ramp. I slowed it down with the e brake and shifting down the automatic. We limped it back to the dealer and quicly found the Sales manager to tell him our problem. He and 3 other employees witnessed the dummy lights and the speedo at 56 mph. We told them our story and he gave us a Magnum to drive home. Monday the service manager of the dealership called me and seemed very concerned about our dilema. I drove back to the dealership on Tuesday where I was greeted by the service manager with a "we can't seem to replicate the problem and it is showing no codes that it ever happened" needless to say I was becoming quite angry. After about a half an hour of going round and round with this guy I just said" fine I'll take it and when I die in it my wife will be your boss" I then went to the receptionist to get my keys and paperwork and she was not there. I ended up having this guy get me my stuff and he asked me what was going on so I told him all about what had happened and the previous problems and then he introduced himself as the owner of the dealership and he flat out told me that there was absolutly no way I was driving that truck home and I would not drive the truck again unless he could guarantee it was safe. He asked me to give him a few days to investigate it himself and see what he could find. I told him that even if he could guarantee it safe I will never be comfortable putting my family in that vehicle. He agreed and has offered me a trade or replacement (my trade in value is actually more than I originally paid for the truck).

At the moment, this is where I stand. I am driving another Magnum from the dealer (but would much rather have a truck) I am contemplating what to do. I'm sure trying to get my actual money back would be rather difficult but I'm really not sure if I want another Dodge product. It has been 6 days since I originally spoke with the owner and he still cannot figure the problem out.

 

Sounds like you got a lemon from the bunch. I would give another Dakota a try. I've had my 05 since Jan and I've had some minor problems with it. like you, I've had my front rotors replaced, but never had a problem with them since. I've owned two daks now and I couldn't imagine owning anything outside of a Dodge truck again. If I were the owner, I would upgrade you into a SLT or Laramie to make you happy and a continuing customer.

Good Luck with your decision. Whatever one you make, will be right... unless you take back that particular truck.

 

Sorry about your problems that sucks. I would not take that truck back no matter what they did, but a replacement truck of comparable or greater value sounds good.

 

I have gone through this, well not the runaway truck part.

When I brought my '05 Dak in for the 3k mile oil change, I brought up the 'vibration under braking' issue. When I got the vehicle back, they informed me that they had ordered new axles and rear drums to fix the vibration under braking issue. They called me when the parts came in a week later, so I returned the truck for service. I picked up the truck and still had the vibration. I spoke with the customer service rep at the dealership and insisted that the next time I take the truck in, I wanted the issue resolved once and for all. I insisted that the customer service rep test drive the vehicle after the repair to ensure that it had been resolved. They agreed and assured me that they would take care of it.

I brought the truck in one more time, and picked it up the same day. They did inform me, however, that Chrysler would be contacting me about bringing the truck in one more time to replace rear brake shoes and drums, but that they had turned the existing drums to immediately address the vibration under braking issue. It worked. Stops straight and no vibration from and speed. I have not received the correspondence from Chrysler as of yet.

Perhaps you should request the same interim solution from your service dept. Use this note if it will help.

 

What wheels do you guys with this problem have? I'd heard somewhere that the optional chrome 17" wheels were more likely to have this issue. I have the 16" SLT/Laramie cast wheels and haven't had any vibration problems.

 

I've got the chrome clad 17" wheels. had to have all 4 chg'ed because of vibration issues @60-70mph. They had found 2 tires(Goodyear Wrangler SR-A's 265/65R 17's) out of round. Took a "new" truck off the lot and swapped all 4. Problem is gone.

 

Ahh. Goodyears. There's the problem right there

 

I had just the standard steel wheels on mine. I wanted to go to an aftermarket aluminum wheel but I was waiting for the problem to be fixed before I did that. (by the way the problem for my sudden lack of braking was supposedly a broken speed sensor ????????????) and after all the fixes the vibration is still there!!!!

BUT it does not matter now because I will no longer own the truck after Friday! I'm doing some type of exchange...for what I'm not sure yet, probably something my wife wants! I on the other hand am going to buy a 1969 Chevy truck and dump about $10,000 into it and if anything goes wrong with it I can fix it my self and more than likely it will never go down in value!

 

It's too bad the dealership wasn't more proactive with you. They could have written that truck off and given you a new one. Not smart for business.

Hope you're happier with your future truck. Good luck.

 

Hi everyone,

Thought I would post an update. My truck went in again for the seventh time to fix the vibration problem(s). Well, you guess it, they could'nt fixed it. No one can. They have no idea what to do. Two dealers from Alberta and British Columbia, Canada have looked at it and nothing is solved.

Here is the list of repairs to solve the vibration since March 2005

1) Rear Drums (twice)
2) Front Rotors (Twice)
3) Rear diff
4) Rear axle shafts (left and right)
5) Rear tie rods
6) Front brake pads (twice)
7) Numerous wheel alignments (I think twice or three times)

What has this cost???
This is going back to the original dealer somehow..

Good luck everyone. These trucks are junk! actually worse than that!