The truck bug is acting up again and I have found this '96 Dakota
I have ran the numbers and financing will be $100/month, insurance $270/6 month, and the "get it on the road" cost will be aprox. $500(tax, insurance, registration/plates)
+'s
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tires, 235/75R15. Super common, and I already have 2 sets from our last truck still in great shape
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Clean, no body cancer
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Cap= dry storage and easy mounting of roof rack for my shiney new kayak i just picked up
-'s
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weak auto tranny
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"Full Size" gas mileage
It wouldbe tremendously usefull to have a truck around again and 4x4 means I have something more capable than a neon to take on seasonal highways and the state trails.
Thoughts?
I'm sure the mileage will be much better than my old '91 V8 dakota. That thing was a pig!
I'd try to find a ford ranger, probably going to be much better on gas.
they have a ranger on the lot that fits the bill 100%, but it is going for $9k, and a cummings ram for $12K. As for gas, the Dakota is rated lower than the F150 i used. Thankfully it is not $4/gal and I drive far less than i did a year ago
3 grand for a 140k mile 13 year old chrysler product that is not a viper is 2 grand too much.
My boss had a dakota like that with the 3.9L v6. It was a gas pig, barely doing better than a v8 ranger would. He used it to tow a small enclosed kart trailer all over the place. It was reliable and didn't mind the towing use.
It did have a knack for going through timing chains though. They would last about 10k miles before you'd hear it over the engine and radio. It sounded like a little machine gun.
S10 is 1 million times better.
Why would you finance it at $100 a month?
I had two Dakotas, a 91 and an 01, both bought new. Both had the same problems: Transmission and overdrive issues and fuel gauges that would come and go. I sold the second one with 35k miles on it and bought a Toyota.
The Dakota is the perfect size, but I'd never buy another one
I had a Toyota Tundra, it had problems. Transmission hunted for gears, gauges were hard to read, chassis was a floppy, flexy mess that made serious towing difficult. Cheap plastic everywhere.
Got rid of it and got a Ford.
The Toyota has the perfect myth of quality, but I'd never buy another one.
BOT, my friend bought a Dakota new, has towed his racecar with it for years. Its been very reliable.
Given that you'd not be driving it every day, I wouldn't bother. Too much money, not really what you want, not all that great to drive. Don't spend that much when all you really need is a sound beater. Go drive something like this before deciding you need more/to spend more money...
http://nh.craigslist.org/ctd/1150455919.html
go find you a chebby astro... got my '96 AWD for 1k... needed to replace the front brakes (hoses, calipers, rotors, pads) think it came out to a bit over $100... also have done an oil change on it...
it's driven back and forth from MI to FL 3 or 4 times... did it just this last week with a 6x12 uhaul trailer loaded with crap on the trip home... averaged about 14mpg @ 60mph... although I did get it down to 11mpg for one shot doing 70+mph unloaded... normal around town driving I get about 19mpg...
I keep wanting to sell it... but it hauls SO MUCH STUFF... or people... and runs so well I haven't been able to bring myself to do it... going to treat it to new fluids in the coming weeks :)
