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See ya later
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
13:15:45
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 Subject: Buh bye Dakota
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I would just like to thank you all and this forum for all the help and information that you have provided me over the last few years. I have sold my truck.
Unfortunately I have to say that I will never buy another Dodge truck in my lifetime.
I have had nothing but issues with it. I loved this truck; it was a perfect size, fantastic power (had the 4.7 v-8) and looked great. But, due to all the issues, rattles, noises, creeks, 7 sets of sway bar bushings and 3-4 sets of ball joints and a rack and pinion.
I had to just get rid of it before I went crazy and drove it off a cliff or something.
However, I must say again, that this is the perfect sized truck, not too monstrous or too small. I wish other manufacturers had something like the Dakota but with better quality.
Thank you again for all your help and it has been fun reading up on what people have done to their trucks and the information I have gained from this forum. I wish you and your beloved Dakota's a long and happy ride together.
Good-bye and good luck.
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scott1981
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
13:53:51
|  RE: Buh bye Dakota
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thanks for the kind words, sorry your dak experience didnt work out so well. what did you end up getting?
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Jecht X
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
14:30:23
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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prob a ridgeline lol
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Kevin
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
16:28:54
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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He probably bought Japanese. I'm on the same path as "See ya later". I love the looks of these trucks, but the mechanical problems are more than I want to deal with. I never take my truck off-road and I baby it all the time. Still, it is falling apart underneath me. I'm going to finish paying mine off, then trade it in on something more practical.
Please don't get me wrong though. I LOVE MY TRUCK!!! I just can't see having to fix this machine all the time. I drove a Mitsubishi truck for 13 years and the only repair I needed in all that time was a timing belt. My Dak has already cost me as much money in repairs as I paid for my Mitsubishi. Face it people, it is still not safe to buy American vehicles unless your pocket book is very very deep.
I too have learned boat-loads from this website. You all have helped me on many occasions to deal with the problems that these trucks exhibit. Kudos to you all. Keep up the good work and never forget to give feedback to Chrysler, whether it be positive or negative, so that someday "Built Ram Tough" might actually mean something again.
Thanks again everybody,
Kevin
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scott1981
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
17:17:18
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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Kevin
a lemon can come from anywhere. head on over to nissanfrontier.net and look at all the problems these guys are having. i know that overall the reliability is better with nissan,toyota, ect but it isnt anything written in stone. i had a nightmare of a time with a toyota product and my dak has been trouble free. just sometimes how it works out
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modain
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
18:28:46
|  RE: Buh bye Dakota
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Wow! Call me lucky. In 2.5 years and 53K miles my Dakota has only needed a warranty balljoint replacement. I just replaced the original tires that still had plenty of tread left before being bald, and the brake pads still have well over 50% wear left to go, and no hint of warped rotors.
"See Ya Later's" truck must have been the collection point for all the bad Dakota karma...
Wouldn't it be a hoot if his replacement vehicle gave him the same experience?
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Kowalski
GenIII
3/24/2005
18:45:42
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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I wouldn't wish that on anybody - especially someone leavng pleasantly. Luckily no problems here either. :-) Some people do seem to have the Midas touch in reverse, though...
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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modain
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
19:00:45
|  RE: Buh bye Dakota
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Call me insensitive. I shouldn't have worded the last statement it in a way that made it look like I could be wishing bad things on him.
As we have seen in many examples here and in other forums automobile owners are subject to the occassional bad build. And it never is fun when that car/truck happens to be the one you got.
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jb
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
19:23:05
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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Im not too far behind either with mine 02 4wd qc. Im fed up with the crappy front end parts, crappy brakes, and the jello front suspension i now have at only 70k not to mention the poor gas milage and crappy shifting 45rfe tranny i have and the clunky rear end. And to top it all all it only took the dealer 8 trips and two heads later to fix my overheating problem that i think still hasent gone away. The truck freaking runs hot in the winter now. I loved everything about this truck when i got it now it has gone so far downhill so fast it has to go.
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ace
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
20:25:53
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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anyone else notice the complants are comming from 4wd's?
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scott1981
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
20:29:06
|  RE: Buh bye Dakota
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dont say that! i drive a 4wd!
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Dex
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
21:23:41
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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Did the people who had problems with their truck buy it used???
I have a 2000 QC 40K on it and no problems whatsoever. I've only paid for scheduled maintance.
???????????????????
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jb
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
21:36:47
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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nope mine was new, ordered form the factory and it had 1.5 miles on it when i picked it up from the dealer. I dont take it off road or beat it, its been maintained like its my job. The only thinkg i do it tow a 18' bassboat on the weekends from March till October.
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dak287
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
22:17:20
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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trators!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!just kidding sorry to hear about the luck. good luck on your new choices i guess we all need a change from time to time. now thats said dont be coming back here talkin smack about your so called better trucks we will hunt you down!!!
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Jecht X
Dodge Dakota
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3/24/2005
22:26:31
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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sorry to hear about your prob. but when it comes to any vehicle. its like playing russian rulette. you dont know if your getting a lemon or not. all manufactures has their problems. I had prob with my 89 stang. but not a lick with my 94 cougar and 95 ranger. my dads 89 b2000 never had a prob but my mom had plenty of prob with her 86 civic. I jsut hope your next vehicle is more prob free than your dak was.
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Justin
Dodge Dakota
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3/25/2005
01:50:54
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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Ace~ good point! i have a cc 4x4 with 80k on it and it is really starting to give me trouble and i have noticed most 4wd are the ones that "break" also i notice 4x4 guys usually complain about their truck being "slow"....does the 4x4 really weigh that much more and it is different from the 4x2?
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Bob Lincoln
Dodge Dakota
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3/25/2005
08:03:21
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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I bought my 92 V-6 4x4 club cab from my brother, the original owner, who did not baby it. He towed a 22' sailboat cross-country with it. Got it last year at 124K miles, now have 139K, it's been great, very reliable, 19-20 mpg highway, plenty of power with no mods yet.
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jb
Dodge Dakota
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3/25/2005
09:26:46
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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I really dont consider my Dakota a "lemon". The truck was a joy to own until about 40k then it started falling apart and every issue it has has been discussed by other owners here as happening to them. I personally think its just build quality issues.
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See ya later
Dodge Dakota
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3/25/2005
14:20:29
| RE: Buh bye Dakota
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Ok, first off, I know that every manufacturer has their problems. No manufacturer is trouble free - but it's how they handle the issues, treat the customers and how severe the issues really are (broken rack and pinion VS. a tune up?). My wife's former roommate worked for Honda as a service manager, he liked his job and knew a whole lot about Honda's. He left there and went to work for Dodge as a service manager (not sure why?). He could not believe the stupid crap that broke or needed to be replaced for what ever reason. He said Honda's use to come in for the usual maintenance items - oil changes, tune ups, belts etc. He laughed and said that most of the Dodge vehicles came in because crap just flat out BROKE before it was even time for a tune up or oil change, or what ever! Mostly repair stuff than maintenance stuff. He has since left there and now works for Acura! He had enough of the BS from Dodge. (another reason I got rid of mine----- no more connections at the stealership and so no more things being covered under warranty (over 50k on the truck!)
Ever since I learnt to drive in the game reserves of Africa when I was 8 years old, my family (and then me) have had Mitsubishi's (overseas), Ford's (overseas- non US made), Toyota's, Land Rover's, Fiat's, Subaru's, Honda's, Infiniti's, Dodge, VW's and Chevy's. Ever have a turbo hose on your Diesel Land Rover blow out on you in the middle of Masai Mara (game reserve) with a few hundred elephants nearby - oh that was a high one on the Pucker Factor Scale! It all depends on what you are looking for in a vehicle. I was looking at the FX-35 since I can get one at their VPP pricing which was very tempting. Fast, sleek, a little weird to look at times, but after doing some researching on it - they too have issues. Some I can deal with and some that would bug the crap out of me! Do all FX-35's have these issues - no. Do all QC's have the same issues as mine did, no. However, every QC person I have talked to has had a list 2 pages long of issues. I did not have the tranny problems as the 3.9 V-6ers had - thank goodness!
Funny how someone mentioned the Honda Ridgeline. Have you seen this 'Thing'? ewwww! But, they do have some nice innovations like the trunk under the bed. As a friend said as the sales person looked on " You can fit a body in there!" :-) But just weird overall. Don't worry, I wouldn't put myself through the agony of driving one of those! Honda Pilot that is questioning it's gender!!!!
To the person that wishes my next vehicle has issues like my QC - may the fleas from a thousand camels infest your armpits! I would never wish anyone to have a bad experience with a vehicle - it is us (the buyers/drivers) against the dealers/manufacturers. Who are they really looking out for when they build a car?
So, what vehicle am I looking at..... well, I have looked at the gender confused Pilot (need I say more), the low roof line 4Runner, FX-35 that is JUST outside my price range and lacks utility usage that I need, Frontier and Tacoma which are MUCH smaller than the QC, Titan with it's 8mpg and way too big for my everyday needs, and the Pathfinder. Which one will I get? I may just end up geting a KTM LC8 and ride to work! That will save some mega $$$$ on gas, especially when it's now $2.33 a gallon!
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ddodge
Dodge Dakota
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3/25/2005
16:18:12
|  RE: Buh bye Dakota
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I must live a charmed life...my 2000 clubcab, 2WD, 3.9 automatic has 97K on it, and all I've done is regular maintenance, one set of pads/rotors, one set of tires, and a new power steering pump. (That last one was my fault -- a nice coating of snow "inspired" me to spin some cookies -- although I must say I was on "lap" 3 full-lock before it gave up on me :-)
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cvega
Dodge Dakota
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3/25/2005
18:41:45
|  RE: Buh bye Dakota
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I bought a '93 Dakota with the 5.2L, auto trans, 3.9LS rear end, with 128,000 in '99. Now it is '05 and it has 198,000 on it and I've only had to do mantance work on it. Needs paint but it is 12 years old and I work around chemical plants. I drive it hard and it takes it no problem. Valve guide seals are starting to leak a little, but almost 200,000 miles and no real ploblems. Afraid to get rid of it, been too good of a truck. My not get this lucky next time.
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