2000 Dodge Dakota Sport 5.9 V8 Magnum from North America

Summary:

A beautiful piece of junk!

Faults:

Most recently the head gaskets have blew.

It kept overheating; which turned out to need a new clutch motor fan, thermostat, and a new radiator cap. The total out of pocket cost was $168 since I had purchased an extended warranty. Not to mention the time lost at work.

The ball joints were bad; but I received a refund on the replacement costs since there is a recall on them.

The transmission keeps slipping. I now have to have a rebuilt transmission.

The door lock stopped working. It cost $100 to have it fixed.

I have to weight it down in the winter or it slides really bad!

It had to have a tune up; which was expected seeing it had over 100,000 miles on it.

General Comments:

A beautiful piece of junk! I've always wanted a Dakota. It drove great for the first 8 months! Then everything seemed to go wrong. I did regular maintenance on it.

It has a lot of power! I even outran a Mustang!

4x4 is great! No complaints there!

It is a comfortable ride. I have no problems with the steering that most people have.

Gas mileage is HORRIBLE! I only get around 11 miles to the gallon! Of course I will admit that I have a lead foot; so that may be the reason!

All in all my Dodge Stratus drove better than my Dakota though! For looks I have to give the Dakota a 10!

There isn't much room in the extended cab! Forget putting anything, but small children in the back seat!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th June, 2005

2000 Dodge Dakota SLT 4X4 Quad Cab 5.9L Magnum V8 from North America

Summary:

Lots of power, nice looks, great ride, lot's of room!

Faults:

I'm told if you want to avoid real trouble, have your transmission flushed/serviced every 30,000 miles.

General Comments:

Bought it used and so far have had very little to complain about. This truck is beautiful, rides great, has loads of power, and there is plenty of room in the back seat for my children and their car seats.

It is.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th February, 2005

25th Feb 2005, 04:55

I could not agree with you more! My 03 Quad Cab 4X4 is the perfect family man truck. I have my 6-month olds car seat installed right behind the driver seat, so I can still flip up the other 3/4 portion of the rear seat for more storage space. My Dakota has the 4.7 liter V-8 and it really can move if you want it to. I can only imagine the power you have with the 5.9 liter in yours. Additionally, I average 16 to 18mpg, which is on par with most V-6 engines out there, with more power and torque to boot.

Where did you hear about flushing the transmission every 30K miles? Mine has 28K and I wonder if I should have this done now?

Thanks-

2000 Dodge Dakota Sport 3.9L V6 Magnum from North America

Summary:

Very nice all year round truck

Faults:

My brake caliper resistance spring was missing on date of purchase.

It caused the truck to drift and cause excessive wear on the tires.

General Comments:

This is my first vehicle, and I am very proud to be the owner. Performance is great, having a 3.9L V6 engine allows great power when needed, and has a good fuel economy rate.

I haven't spent any money on maintenance yet. It's a very solid truck, and I recommend this truck to anyone looking to buy a truck for the first time.

I own a 2000 Dodge Dakota Sport straight cab.

I purchased this vehicle at a very low price for only 6,400. Nothing to fancy came with the truck. It's pretty much stock everything.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th October, 2004

20th Mar 2007, 22:01

I own a 2000 Dodge Dakota (V6, 3.9L, 2wd) and saw the sensors within the transmission go at 29,000 miles. Next I saw the rear differential go at 50,000 miles. Both of these repairs should have been covered by the extended warranty on the vehicle, but Dodge refused to pay. My mechanic, that eventually fixed the problem with the rear, looked over the warranty and could not decipher what was even covered. Complete waste of buying an extended warranty. Nothing seems to be covered ever, has too many loopholes for them to decline paying. Clear coat on these trucks is terrible; roof of the cab continues to peel off. I have been preventing spread of the peeling, but it is starting to get bad.

Customer service is terrible at corporate Dodge, spoke with someone who actually yelled at me when I asked if the repairs were covered, Yelled at me! I was stunned; it was like being 5 years old and scolded by your parents for doing something wrong. Terrible.

After this I would never recommend buying a Dodge to anyone, ever.