Faults:

Check Engine light appeared at least 12 times. Had 2 oxygen sensors replaced, valve rockers tightened, crank sensor replaced. It seemed like every trip I took over 200kms, the light would come on. Most of the time, the light would go off after a few days, other times, the truck made a lot of noise, or had excess vibration, so I had to bring her in.

Tires were completely finished after 45000kms, and I don't drive off road.

General Comments:

I'll start with the bad things first, the engine has no power when you need it, like passing on the highway, or climbing a steep hill, yet seems to have more than enough when you don't.

The manual tranny is not precise, and many times the trans would be very hard to shift into 1st gear or reverse.

The bed tie downs are useless, they give you 4 tie downs located at each end of the bed? How are you supposed to tie stuff down like that. They really need a rail system like in Toyota/Nissan.

Even with the limited slip diff, there's no traction whatsoever in rain or snow, you're sliding everywhere.

Now the good points, The heating, Air conditioning work great, and so does the radio. For a base sound system it packs a nice punch.

This is a solid truck, nice big doors, very comfortable interior, grab handles, and a very refined ride.

If you really need a truck, like for towing, or carrying, then this truck is hard to beat based on it's size. I would suggest buying the 4X4 though.

Faults:

Rocker arm on right side came off due to carbon build up around valve, I had valve replaced and carbon cleaned from engine. It had 12,758 miles on it at that time.

Seat belts do not retract about 50% of the time.

It will pop out of 3rd gear when going over bumps or rail road tracks.

General Comments:

This truck has good power even when loaded down.

This is a standard cab truck which is a little cramped, but the bucket seats are comfortable.

It has a short turn radius which I really like.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with my truck, at all.

General Comments:

My truck is powerful, fun to drive and has given me no problems.

My only real gripe is the gas mileage. I get roughly 13MPG in-town. I know, I know, you're probably saying "It's a V-8, what do you expect?" and I agree. I'm just sick of dumping $200 a month in gas for trips around town, when I'm hauling something in the bed less than 1% of the time.

Time to get a compact car.

Faults:

Mostly minor issues. 1) The check engine light came on about 280 miles. The computer needed a remap. Dealer had a bulliten about the issue and knew what to do. Been fine since. 2) The blinkers recently developed a funny quirk. After a few hours of highway driving, if they are used the lights will blink and then turn off, but a constant buzz in inside the dash will continue. Problem does not seem to surface in the routine city driving. All is well now.

General Comments:

Actually this is my dad's truck. I feel qualified to write a review because I bought it for him. I work in the auto industry and got a better discount. He paid for the truck. He lives 10 hours away so in the 3 months it took for him to make the trip, I broke the truck in before the hours of interstate driving.

Regarding the interior cabin, the truck is much nicer than the 1989 Dakota. (I drove that truck as a teen ager.) I felt the roof line was at the lowest position without starting to compromise the field of vision. It does however give a commanding view of the road. I felt like I was driving a bigger truck than it is.

The features on the truck are pretty base, but everything he wanted... mostly. The notable omission was cruise control. The previous Dakota did not have cruise either, but we felt a 15 year new truck should come with cruise. The plastic is cheap, but the craftsmanship (how well the parts fit together) was well done. One other thing I thought ignorant was the lack of a tilt-and-slide for the driver seat. The RH seat has the feature, but not the LH seat. Crazy! The notable additions over the '89 are the quieter cabin, nicer seat cloth and more space. There where many more cubbies in which to put stuff too. The bucket seats are convenient over the bench although the seat position is a bit high.

It is an extended cab. The extended portion is adequate for 1 adult or 2 kids under 11 yrs old. Dad mostly just want space for a gym bag, briefcase and a 2nd passenger. It works quite well in that case.

The engine was well suited for the 2-wheel drive and manual transmission. It does well with no load to light load. It does rev easily, but with a medium load or more, it begins to bogs in any gear higher than 1st. For a man who has no aggression, it is way more power than he knows what to do with! For the average driver, you will find the engine works exceedingly well for the vehicle. I can recommend it to anyone.

The transmission gets the same accolades. It does not feel like a truck transmission, but clearly not a car tranny. Shifts can be put in as desired with out much effort. No bad noises came from the tranny, engine, clutch or any other part. Clutch effort is perfect. The only thing to be sure to get is a limited slip differential. It is worth the money.

The Dakota has a decent bed for the truck class. Dad would have like to have the bed rail stake holes, but few compact trucks have these now-a-days. (Ford may still have them.)

In short, the Dakota is a very worthy competitor in the compact market. Check one out today if you are in the market.