Owners' Reviews

I got my Truck used in 02 with 12000 miles on it already, it's a single cab,2 door,5 speed,has a 22gal tank,with the 3.9 V6,it came with 16" wheels but caused the truck to bounce like the wheels were to big for the truck so I found someone with 15" wheels on their 4 door Dakota and did a even swap, it now rides better and looks better, the other guys truck looks better too. It now has 178,000 miles and has only had a few problems,the brakes have always been kind of jumpy when I need to apply them in a hurry, like they don't want to catch,I've put it in the brake shop to have them checked and was told nothing was wrong with them,other than that it stops very good in normal traffic.I removed the large air filter that came with it and put on a 6" filter,put in AC plugs and new wires,changing the oil every 4000 miles and oil filter too,I get between 19-20 miles a gal.the AC will freeze you out and the heater will run you out,The body is in great shape,added fog lights in the front bumper and running lights down the side,I have been very pleased with my 2002 Dakota these past years and will buy another one if this one ever wears out.

Looks good, interior good, 6 has no power gear ratio feels wrong cant drive it on the interstate cant pull a small hills and for get the big hills. Highway gas milage poor, loose ball joints already at 75,000. Good for local driving only!

This had been a great truck. The Dakota is a perfect size vehicle with plenty of power and a nice ride. The few issuues I've had were within a few weeks of purchase the AC relay failed and was replaced under warranty. The Milage has been dissapointing for a mid size. MPG started around 14 combined. I gained 1mpg with a cold air intake and 1.5 mpg after 80,000 miles which it has held onto to its current 104,000 miles with a best tank of 18.5mpg and fairly regular combined tanks of 17mpg. Front brakes don't last but the rears are original. 4 allignments by 104,000 miles. 104,000 miles 2 rear passenger exhaust bolts broke causing a bad exhaust leak. 2 $5 bolts from the dealer and 1/2 hour of my time fixed that. Love the style, power and ride of the truck but the glorified 4 speed auto needs 2 more gears to keep up with Ford and Chevy full size fuel economy and performance, even the old ranger has a 5 speed auto.