Hi everyone, I'm from St. Louis and I'm thinking of getting a 2nd gen or maybe a 3rd gen dakota. I have seen some fairly nice ones, low miles for fairly cheap all around here. In fact, I'm thinking about a 05 dakota 4x2 SLt club cab for 10995 with 58k miles. I've been told though that Dakotas can have electrical issues. And from reading around here, it seems that may be true. I'm kind of confused because I've done research outside of forums and have read mostly good things. I've even heard first hand from someone with an 03 that it runs great and he's had no issues in the 5 years he's owned it. I'm tired of dumping money into cars (current car breaks down constantly). I'm looking for something reliable and even if the truck is cheap (why do they seem so cheap btw?), that's not going to justify having to possibly fix electrical problems down the line. I guess what I'm asking is are these issues more common with certain year dakotas or is this even a common problem at all? Any insight is really appreciated.

 

Most problems you are going to find are maintenance issues. Did they change the oil enough? Did they keep on brakes, fluids ect. As far as issues with wires it is more the pre 96 that had bad wiring issues.

 

^^x2

But for less than $300 and a weekend with a Painless box. All your wiring problems will be gone. 1st gen is easy to manuver around to replace the wiring. There's nothing to the truck to take apart.

 

well I'm not looking at pre 96, so that makes me feel better. So it's like anything else, as long as the fluids were taken care of, I should be in fairly good shape. thanks guys.

 

Don't forget suspension and steering components tool

 

if ur looking for a 2nd gen thats 96 and up.
3rd gen's are the newest.
if the trucks ur looking at r cheap its because of the v8, gas prices are up
and milage is selling better then power. thats the only reason i was able to afford mine. and i wouldn't recomend the v6 because in this heavy truck it can get worse milage.

 

Thanks for the responses. Between here and the hundreds of reviews I read on edmunds and kbb it sounds like I should be just fine with a 2nd or 3rd gen so that's what I'm looking for. I'm trying to get my home equity loan going before it sells, but I'm looking at an 03 club cab SLT 4x4 for 11,900. It only has 38K miles. Even with such low miles, I think 12k may be a little high, but we'll see what happens. Looks like in the next couple of weeks I may be a full time member here.

 

if ur worried about the price check out kellysbluebook.com (google it)
and i think theres a thread in here where people compare prices they paid.

 

kbb is why I think 12 is too high. for excellent condition, which almost no used car is, it said 11k. We'll see what happens. And it's hard to go by what others say they paid. There's too many variables involved, but I really appreciate your help.

 

yea i forgot ppl on here r spread out so prices vary.

i just noticed ur name autocad right? i going to school for the same thing.
r u a student or pro?