Hi,
I am considering a 2005 or newer Dakota quad cab with a V8. Does anyone have any experience with one that they would be interested in sharing?

Questions:
gas mileage?
reliability?
driveability?

Any serious comments would be appreciated.

i know several people who have newer dakotas, and while the reliability is there, fuel mileage typically is not...but for the most part, that will be the case with most V8s without some sort of MDS...

Thanks Patrick. Any idea about the actual numbers on gas mileage? I'm considering a Chevy Silverado or a GMC Sonoma extended cab as well. I like the idea of the quad cab, but it is just too big in a full size truck to park and maneuver around town.

Thanks

im guessing that this is a 4wd?

No, I'm considering a 2WD model. I live in the city and have a second home on 12 acres in the country. The truck will be my daily driver. I want to be able to haul things when needed but have room/comfort for passengers. The truck will rarely ever be off road.

That's the reason I'm considering the Dakota. Smaller than full size, but not too small. A quad cab can fit 4 adults in comfort. I have just heard some negative things about the reliability, especially the tranny. I'm a devoted GM man, but do not like the styling of the Colorado.

Considering something gently used like this one.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=210775589&dealer_id=1327537&car_year=2005&search_type=both&num_records=25&make=DODGE&transmission=&model=DAKOTA&distance=100&make2=&address=78735&advanced=&certified=&max_mileage=&max_price=18000&bkms=1161143723466&sort_type=priceDESC&min_price=&body_code=0&end_year=2007&color=&start_year=2005&drive=&engine=&fuel=&doors=&style_flag=1&cardist=71

i wont lie to you...dodge has had its fair share of tranny problems, and then some. the 46RH is a fairly problematic trans, as are the other more recent dodge truck transmissions. I worked at a dodge dealership for a while, and i saw quite a few problems...however, i own a truck with a 46RH, which is considered to be one of the "problem transmissions", and with 120,000 miles, even with taking it to the track once in a while, it hasnt given us any problem, but i do take care of my vehicles. the people who you often hear of these awful trans problems must not keep up with preventative maintenance measures...i even know of someone who is running in the 12s with a full size ram, with the 46RH, and he has had very few problems...even making ALOT of runs.

let me ask a few people whom i know with dakotas, and see if i cant get you a real world mileage number...what type of daily driving will you be doing? do you live in a hilly area?

My daily driving will be in the city with not a lot of hills. No heavy hauling of any kind. Just hauling something ocasionally. Our second home in the hill country has some hills but nothing too extreme.

My daily commute is about 10 miles round trip. I often go to customer sites. I imagine that I will put probably about 10K miles per year on this truck.

I used to get a company car for this but my company recently switched to a car allowance. It is a generous car allowance, but my daily driver is now my 2003 Corvette. Although it is a great car, it is not the best vehicle for a field service engineer. My goal is to pay it off soon, return it to it's garage queen status and get a good truck for a daily driver.

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it.

Larry

i wouldnt want to chew up a nice vette with work miles either!

ok, my first response from an owner...he has 4.7L new dakota, with a manual transmission, and 4wd...town mileage for him is around 16...with town mileage in a more hilly area being around 13-14..ive gotten no answers from the 2wd guys, but that gives you a pretty good idea...

Thanks for the info. I'll keep waiting for some more responses. I have between 3 and 6 months before I can buy a truck. Depends how many much extra I can put towards paying the vette off. I'll continue to hang out here and monitor this and other forums.

Cheers,
Larry

ok...spoke with a few 4.7L 2wd auto dakota owners..it seems that the typical mileage around town in the summer, running the AC, is around 16-17, and one guy said that he is getting up around 20-21 in the texas winter..

That's very liveable for me. Thanks for the info Patrick.

and for what its worth, everyone who ive spoken to about this loves their truck, and the 4.7 has seemingly proven to be an excellent motor, although some would like a little more kick to it...but you have a vette to provide kick...:)

That's good to hear. Yeah, the vette has some kick to it. I have a cold air intake, ported head, cam, long tube heards, x pipe, and exhaust.
It's putting down 381rwhp and 372 tq.

very nice! have you had it on the drag strip?

I haven't taken it to the track yet. I bought it on April first. I needed a new clutch, some brake work and tires.
All that is done now and I plan on taking it down to Alamo Dragway sometime soon. I'll let you know the results.

I had a 96 Vette with a mostly stock motor and an automatic. I took it to the track twice. Best I could do with that was
13.4 @106. This vette has almost 100 more horse power at the rear wheels and is a 6 speed. I'm curious to see what
it will do.

On onother note, someone told me at lunch today that Dodge me be offering 0% interest for 60 months. Anyone heard anything about that?

dodge offers 0% APR to select buyers, i believe...

and 13.4 @ 106 is a pretty good time...and with that Et compared to that trap, i would guess that your 60 foot time wasnt very good..likely somewhere about the 2.0 area?

the 96 was an LT1 car, if im not mistaken, with the LS1 making its way into the vette the following year? im sure that you know first hand, the LS series breath alot better than the LT...but with that kind of power, traction will be your biggest enemy

The 96 was an LT1 car with an auto. I had added a vortec rammer cold air intake, 1.6 comp cams roller rockers,
a Corsa cat back and changed the programming with a Hypertech power programmer. I was running Sumitomo
275/35/17 tires. Traction was an issue. Below is the time sheet. My car is on the left. I was
running against a buddies modified 99 coupe.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/lbaird78735/track_16nov05.jpg


Here is the dyno sheet on the 96. This is before the roller rockers. I am guessing that it added another 10 or so rwhp.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/lbaird78735/dyno_6Mar05.jpg


Below is the dyno sheet on the 03. I am running 295/35/19 BFG KDWTA's on the rear. I am sure traction will still be
an issue. Even with 100 more rwhp than the 96, I anticipate running in the high 12s. I would be estatic if I made mid
to low 12s.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/lbaird78735/03_vette.jpg

I drove a quad cab V8 SLT at lunch today. The sticker was 28K. They had pin striped it,
tinted the windows and installed a bed liner. Why do they do all that crap? I could have
the windows tinted for a lot less. I could do without the pin stripes. I would get a bed
liner but for probably less money than they charge.

Anyway, my impression was that it is a very nice sound feeling truck. They are currently
offering 4K off sticker and 0% financing for 60 months. Tempting.