Dodge dakotas

[Cow hunter]

i dunno how many ppl have dodge dakotas from late '04 to just about now but, THEY DO NOT REVERSE......... dodge put a cheaper transmission to save a lil money and as a result, without an up'ed or tow packeged trans, it is VERY easy to over torque them with any kind of load (trailer/load in bed)......kinda scary if u r on an incline anyways......... this kind of thing coulld b avoided if sum ppl werent so cheap........... and id b careful if u have one of these trucks

[Eric Cartman]

i dunno how many ppl have dodge dakotas from late '04 to just about now but, THEY DO NOT REVERSE......... dodge put a cheaper transmission to save a lil money and as a result, without an up'ed or tow packeged trans, it is VERY easy to over torque them with any kind of load (trailer/load in bed)......kinda scary if u r on an incline anyways......... this kind of thing coulld b avoided if sum ppl werent so cheap........... and id b careful if u have one of these trucks

Haven't had any problems with the tranny...yet, but it's really been a piece of crap. Had to have ball joints, control arms, fuel pump and the differential replaced all before the thing even hit 40,000 kms. I bought it new (2000) I've treated it well and always had it properly serviced. It'll be a frosty Friday in hell before I buy another Chrysler product. The company has taken huge leaps forward in appearance over the last decade, but the quality is simply not there.

[warbeak2099]

Someone who agrees with me... Chrysler sucks it really really sucks! They're quality control is the worst. Out of all the American car companies (all of which aren;t that great) Chrysler takes the cake for being cheasy and unreliable. And they must have someone at Consumer Reports on their payroll, because they were named the most reliable and best quality cars on the market or something. Wow, that's like saying a BE Talon is the most reliable and best quality pb marker on the market.

Anyhoo, Import > Domestic always. Unless you're talking about trucks. Americans make great trucks. That's about all they can do though. Ever since the 70's, everything else has just sucked. I mean, the Dodge Viper is almost $100k. Yet the interior and other parts of the car are still cheasy as a Neon. There's always a better alternative to an American car, SUV, minivan, etc. If you're going to buy a truck, definitely get a GM. Otherwise, buy an import!

[BeaverEater]

And you know whats funny, is that dodge has actually improved their trannys since the mid 90's. Think about how bad they actually used to be. Also imports have the most reliable cars and small trucks. Go american for full size trucks or fast cars.

[Bear_Claw]

HEHEHE i LOVE the Imports better than american debates, especially by those that have 0 clue on the workings of a car.

I am a mehcanic and i also own BOTH a german made VW (1987) and a AMERICAN made Ford F250(1994). I also maintaint (my familys cars) a GERMAN 2003 VW GOLF a Suzukie Grand vitara and a Pontiac Montana and a Ford Explorer.

And all of these are the same. They all have strong points and all have weaknesses. I fix em myself and maintain em so i see them all equaly maintained. The 87 VW has 320000kms (but got a new engin at 300,000). The F250 has 190,000kms, the Ford Explorer has 230,000kms, the suzuki Grand Vitara has 200,000kms, the 2003 VW golf has 147,000kms, and the Pontiac has 170,000kms.

They ALL BREAK they all get fixed and they all requier regualre maintanece. They all have strong points and they all got weak points the only MAJOR differance i see between them all is the suzuki and VW's cost more for parts.

SOOO FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP WITH THESE DANG WITCH BRAND OR WERE THEY MADE IS BETTER THAN ANOTHER. they all built the same way and they all BREAK just as offten if treated the same so QUITE IT.

[bornl33t]

Someone who agrees with me... Chrysler sucks it really really sucks! They're quality control is the worst. Out of all the American car companies (all of which aren;t that great) Chrysler takes the cake for being cheasy and unreliable. And they must have someone at Consumer Reports on their payroll, because they were named the most reliable and best quality cars on the market or something. Wow, that's like saying a BE Talon is the most reliable and best quality pb marker on the market.

Anyhoo, Import > Domestic always. Unless you're talking about trucks. Americans make great trucks. That's about all they can do though. Ever since the 70's, everything else has just sucked. I mean, the Dodge Viper is almost $100k. Yet the interior and other parts of the car are still cheasy as a Neon. There's always a better alternative to an American car, SUV, minivan, etc. If you're going to buy a truck, definitely get a GM. Otherwise, buy an import!

[Cow hunter]

ths problem is for late '04 to present dodge dakotas......... and it really is a saftey ssue if someone were in towing anything heavy on an incline.......damage could be done.......

[vf-xx]

SOOO FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP WITH THESE DANG WITCH BRAND OR WERE THEY MADE IS BETTER THAN ANOTHER. they all built the same way and they all BREAK just as offten if treated the same so QUITE IT.

While I generally agree with your statements, I disbelieve that they're all equally made. For comparison, just look at all the various brands of PB Guns, some are better quality than others. I've helped maintain a handful of cars all older than me and I understand the benifits of good maintenance.

Another way to check would be to see who has the least amount of safety recalls and service bullitens. Granted no one's perfect but some companies have less than others.

[PyRo]

I don't think there will ever be a company that will make a better SUV then Jeep. I'm undecided about their latest stuff but the cherokees are tanks and will outlast MANY foreign SUV’s and that at a fraction of the price.

Got Jeeps?




The best part is they're all broken
The Grand Cherokee is burning oil like it's its job.
The white Wrangler went over and I got it cheap because the guy just slapped about 3in of bondo on it. That wasn't a fun repair. Please if you have no clue when it comes to body work don't try it or atleast read a book or somthing first.
The red one has a locked up differential so I got it cheap.

I need to stop buying jeeps. Anyone want a cheap grand cherokee?

[BlackVCG]

You mean to tell me there are trees where you live?

[PyRo]

You mean to tell me there are trees where you live?

Their are a few left. I don't get why every time someone builds a new house they feel the need to remove every tree from the lot. Don't they realize it looks like crap?

[skife]

Their are a few left. I don't get why every time someone builds a new house they feel the need to remove every tree from the lot. Don't they realize it looks like crap?

It also doesn't help with keeping the house cool in the summer time.
I mean we can't all afford air conditioning, some of use use the old method of shade.
stupid devlopments.

[wanna-b-ballin']

speaking of dodges having bad transmissions...

i read this thread the other day thinking to myself, "hmmm, my dodge has been a pretty good car with no transmission problems" then this past sunday on my way to go paintballing, BAM! the transmission dies on me.
'96 dodge caravan with 156 K miles on it. dead transmission = my car is now worth nothing.

[PyRo]

156k isn't bad. Did you service the transmission every 20,000 miles? Most people don't and it can make a big differance in the life of your transmission as can your driving style.

My fathers Pontiac Trans Sport minivan blew a tranny at 80k.
What happend was he goes to Auto Spa (locally known at Auto Slob, a quicklube place) for an oil change. They show him the tranny fluid and inform him it's dirty and needs to be changed. So not knowing much has them do it. $110 later he has new trasmission fluid. The next day rolls around and the van is stuck in second or third gear (I can't remember which). Apparently the guys at Auto Slob don't know or don't care that once you go passed 25k or so on transmission fluid it should never be changed.
I told him this and he didn't believe me. When he went to the tranny shop the conversation went somthing like this.
"I have a 96 Pontiac Transport with 80,000 miles and the fluid looked dirty". The guy cuts him off...
"Has it ever been changed before?"
"I don't think so."
"Don't change it."
"I already did."
"That's why you're here isn't it"
After that he started listening to me more. So the guys at Auto Slob deny all responsibility and refuse to so much as refund the cost of the fluid change. So $2200 later the transmission fluid is finally changed properly.
I wanted him to take them to small claims court for the cost of the transmission because any mechanic especially a transmission mechanic will tell you that the fluid should never have been changed. He probably would have ended up getting somthing out of it, probably not the full cost but at least somthing towords it.

Unfortunatly he has bad luck with mechanics and won't do anything about it when he gets ripped off.

$300 for labor and eight bolts to install a front drive shaft when the old one was already removed
His truck had a starting problem so the mechanic just threw parts at it left and right. New fuel pump, filters, lines. That was a $1,000 bill when he never authorized the work. To top it off it didn't fix the problem. I'd be telling them they're more then welcom to put the old parts back in but I never authorized the work and won't be paying anything.
$300 for rear brakes then $300 for rear brakes again three months later. I never knew about the first time he had it dont so I'm not sure if they didn't even do the work the first time or if they did somthing seriously wrong causing them to wear out so quickly the first time. My father is very easy on his brakes, he managed 86,000 on the factory pads so it definatly wasn't his driving that killed them.

[Cow hunter]

i got a '98 caravan 135k on it ....... but i took the time an put n a diesel runs like nothing else.......