1998 Dodge Dakota Sport 3.6 V6
Summary:
Junk!!!
Faults:
I was the second owner of this truck. Bought it at a dealership for the middle to high end retail asking price.
This truck is under powered.
It has terrible brakes in the wet.
The sport package added up to just stickers, nothing else.
I have replaced the thermostat, water pump, all coolant hoses and performed a complete tune up.
This truck has developed a clutch chatter that can't be adjusted.
The transmission itself grinds and has big time trouble going into first gear when stopped; reverse is no easier.
The ABS and check engine lights have continued to stay on, even after being checked at a Dodge dealership.
Went round and round with the service manager at the dealership over the catalytic converter going bad, even though Chrysler had a major recall out on this item.
The springs have fallen out from underneath the bucket seats.
The rear differential started to fail. By that I mean when spinning the drive shaft by hand with the truck on the ground, it had almost 2"s of play.
General Comments:
This truck was never abused and was used to commute to work only. It is a sorry excuse for a pickup and I would not recommend it to anyone unless they have a full garage of tools and know how, or plenty of cash and another unit to drive while this one's being repaired!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 2nd September, 2007
30th Oct 2008, 17:38
Sounds like you have what in the trade is called a high mileage vehicle. It means that it has high kilometers. When truck parts have high kilometers, are worn out or broken, they tend to need replacing. Routine maintenance, or lack of it, is the root cause or just about every review I see for most vehicles on this web site. Buy a service schedule for it, and take it to your local mechanic to replace worn parts and fluids, or better yet, do it yourself, and I guarantee you will have a helluva lot less trouble.