[shoddy_F-body]

If so how do you like it? Looking to buy a company vehicle. Needs to be a small pickup. I need a four door since i drop my son off on the way to work so i need a car seat in the back. My budget is $17k, I found some nice low mileage (12k miles) 4x4 quad cab Dakotas 05-07 in that price range.
I had an 04 Dakota quad cab with a 3.7 2wd that was a neat little truck. The 05's and up are redesigned I read reviews and it seems like some people say they are great and some say they are disasters. In fact i find that with most consumer reviews on any vehicle.
I also looked at the Colorado which falls in my price range but i have heard LOTS of bad about them. I test drove a 4x4 Colorado and was actually scared driving it! It felt like the front end was out of control going over bumps and the brake pedal was so low when i went to press them for the first time it was a little scary. I would really like a Nissan Frontier but they are a little more expensive. I would have to get one with upwards of 35k miles to fall into my price range. I would be getting the 3.7 V6 4x4 since i do a couple hundred miles a day and need good gas mileage. Any thoughts?

[Camaroinaz]

I have owned 3 Dakotas 97, 01 and 07. The 97 had to have the tranny replaced at about 25,000 miles. It also had to have the CD player replaced 3 times under warranty. The 2001 had to have 5 freeze plugs replaced at about 45,000 miles. The front ball joints were replaced under warranty 3 times. All with less than 60,000 miles on the truck. My 2007 ate the torque converter after about 2,000 miles. Ended up having to have the tranny replaced under warranty.

Now for the good :smile:

Other than the things mentioned above, the trucks were great. I did not want a full size, and an s-10 or Ranger just wasn't going to cut it. You can't beat the leg room, etc. over the "compact" trucks. The gas mileage isn't great, but I have had the V-8 in all three trucks. It will tow a trailer with my '69 on it with no problem. The 2007 and up are the quietest trucks I have driven.

The ball joints on the 1997 - 2006 are problematic and there is an extended warranty on those components from the factory due to their premature failure. They are non-greaseable units. Whoever thought non-greaseable front end components are a good thing should have their head examined. As you can tell by the fact I still buy the Dakota when I am in the market for a new one, even with the problems they are still a great truck. I am not a huge fan of the new front end for 2008, but that is just me. I would suggest the extended warranty if you can swing it, as the problems I have had over the years with the trucks were all covered by the extended warranty that I purchased from Dodge.

Mark

[wiskeesour]

he siad it. Tranny's. they just arent the best. HOWEVER, kept mine flushed once a year and only replaced it 3 times in 7 years. never had a problem other than that. well, nothing I coulndt fix myslef.