I'm planning on buying a dodge Dakota years 1999 to 2002. I'm wondering if there are any of these years to stay away from as far as reliability and so on.I'd like a small v8 and towing package to tow a small light travel trailer. Thanks for your input. Gary

 

Gary...best advice I can give you is to NOT buy one...no matter what year. Look at all of these forums and see how many people have problems with transmissions, front ends, back ends, etc. Just had to have my tranny rebuilt...99 Dak with 57K miles!!!

 

I like these trucks. my 99 dakota is the best truck I've ever had. sure theres some problems with them. like ball joints and trannys. but all vehicles have problems with one thing or another. with some basic maintenance they will last forever.

I would suggest you buy one with a v8, because if your planning on towin the v6 lacks a bit of power. and the gas milage is about the same.

I have 205,000kms on mine and it's still running stong. along as you maintain it then it will last. like some people who do NO maintenance and complain that theres break down.

Just look around for a bit and look at alot of them. it never hurts to shop around.
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Actually, if you do look around in these forums, you will see that the years which he is talking about actually have a bulletproof motor/tranny combo. I see that you got a lemon, and that is unfortunate, but it certainly does not reflect the majority of dakotas/durangos.

 

To be honest with you, I have had two Dakotas and I've never had any issues with either one. My first Dak was a 99 with the 5.2L V8 5spd manual. I loved it. The only down side was when it rained, I would have to start off in 2nd gear because of the amount of tq it had and as light in the *** it was.

My second one that I own now is my 05. So far, and this is with 31,000 miles on it, I've had very little trouble with it. I've had the rear drums replaced and that's it.

I haven't heard anybody say anything about the trannies before. I've heard of the older models having rear axel issues.

If I were to buy a Gen II Dakota, I'd probably go with a 1999-2001. No real reason other than they didn't change a whole lot with the cool decals.

Hope this helps.

 

From all the quality reports I have read the 99-2000 years had some issues that the 2001-2002, bottom line is set yourself a budget and I would advice getting the newest year with as low mileage you can afford and don't be in a hurry, take your time and shop around.......find that person that is moving and just has to let a nice Dakota go for cheap not because it is worn out but they need the money or what have you.......I have seen some really wild deals this year has made me think about snagging up a second Gen2.

 

My dakota is94 dakota5.2 4x4 w/ 105k and i had no problem taking it on a 6,000 mile trip a few months ago without a problem.

 

I hope you snuck an oil change in there somewhere!

 

lol

 

I have my eye on a 04 DakotaV8 with 20+ miles. Is there any major problems with thistruck or anything that Ishould be aware of?