Power, comfort, if you get the optional Infinity sound system it sounds real nice. The 17" stock wheels are nice.

Gas milage of course, but what do you expect with a 5.9L 360 monster under the hood. (I knew that going into the deal, so I cannot complain, the good thing is that you just have to use 87 octane gas)

I would definately recommend this truck to any sports car fanatic that wants a truck. I traded a 96 Mustang GT in for it because I needed something to haul my jet ski, and bike in.

With an aftermarket intake and exhaust the truck sounds awesome. The stock 17" wheels are super nice, only thing is once the stock Goodyear RSA's wear out, dont buy them again. I would recommend the Dunlop Sportrover GTX's, they come in the same size and are excellent for wet conditions.

If you want a nice handling fast truck and cannot afford the Ford Lightning , buy this truck. It is so worth the money.

My truck is Deep Amethyst in color (dark purple), and I get nothing but praise from everybody that sees this truck.

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Never had a truck before.

Good looking truck. Comfortable, well designed interior. Roomy and comparatively comfortable rear seat. Quiet and dependable.

The step bumper was unable to tow a trailer well within the stated specifications (driven conservatively on smooth roads). Battery failed 1 day after warrantee expired. Eats gas! Crappy stock tires (Goodyear invicta).

I would highly recomend this vehicle. I have recieved numerous complements from complete strangers. It rides great and the kids don't whine about riding in the back seat. The dealer has been very pleasant and has adequately addressed the minor problems I have had, including the dead battery. This truck is a great all around utility vehicle for hauling just about anything.

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This is a very solid truck that handles well and rides like a car. It is very quiet, even at speeds over 70 mph. It has a gorgeous exterior and a well designed interior. The back seats are comfortable and there is lots of room. It's hard to believe this is considered to be a compact. I think I'll be happy with this pickup for the next 8 to 10 years.

Seat are not comfortable on a long drive and the headrest is too far back. Eats gas, but what do you expect on a 4X4 with 250 hp.

I would defintely recommend this pickup to anyone in the market. However, I bought it with every option available. It lacks for nothing except more comfortable front seats and a little better gas mileage.

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Ford F 150 - but quieter and holds the road better

In a word - Reliable. Has been there for me day in, and day out. Every day. It has taken a world of punishment, and come back for more. Has yet to lose any oil. Has been great for camping. And the fair fuel economy it returns has been a boon....especially compared to the V-6 and V-8's.

The motor is considerably weak on power (What do you expect from a 4-cylinder in a truck of this size?), but when driven within its limit (and maybe pushed a little bit beyond), it has been satisfactory. The driver-side "A" pillar is very thick, and it can sometimes hide pedestrians and cars on side roads, when turning left....Dangerous and annoying. Passenger side could use an "assistance" handle. I understand that 2000-01 models have them, now.

Would recommend it for:
1. Reliability - Has been there like a favorite horse when I need it.
2. Value - Dakotas are improving their re-sale value every year.
3. Comfort - Nice seats, strong A/C, a good sound system, and tall head room.
4. Looks - Even a '99 model is still fetching compliments in parking lots.
5. "Creature Features" - Adjustable drink holder pops out from under the middle of the seat; holds a wide range of containers (Very nice idea, but see below). Plenty of storage niches. Guages are easy to read and understand.
6. Economy - While our fuel mileage has been average (19 city/23 highway) for a 4-cylinder in an intermediate-sized truck, I know of others with the V-6 and V-8's that are getting horrendous mileage.

Would not recommend it for:
1. Towing - Remember: I AM reviewing a 4-cylinder in an intermediate truck, here. It has fun enough getting out of its own way. Don't be in a hurry.
2. Containers in the left side of the drink holder get in the way of the shift lever (Ours has a manual transmission - automatics undoubtedly don't have this problem).

For me and my family, and our limited budget, this truck has been an excellent value. We take good care of it, and it has returned the favor by being trouble-free. Am looking forward to getting a Dakota Quad Cab (with the 4.7L V-8, this time!)

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Durango 5.9L V-8, Toyota Tacoma. I like the fact that the Dakota has considerably more cab room than the Tacoma. I think Toyota made a mistake in discontinuing the T-100. Now, Dodge has the "intermediate" sized truck market to itself.

This truck is just the right size. It is a 01 Dakota quad 4x4 slt+ 4.7 will all options except full time 4x4 and engine block heater. It sounds good and strong accelerates well looks good (White/silver). leather
buckets fit me well. radio controls on steering wheel price was good, ordered the truck and got the truck at invoice and then got 1000 rebate and then 500 from fb (Check out dodge web site for details) very tight truck, looked at all others chev Z71 LT, ford Supercrew, Tacoma, Nissan Frontier and this truck beat them all reguardless of price.

truck needs passenger side electric seat, lighted vanity, rear downslinding electric window (sporttrac) Moonroof, better mpg,
even with these things I wish it had avail, I would strongly ask you to take a look at this Quad cab Because I never thought I would even buy a
dodge I always started at the chev and ford lots. But their product never convinced me to right the check. MPG 15-18.6 only 4 tanks of gas so far
hope to get better as engine gets broken in

At this point in my extended research of the product and first 1000 miles on the truck I would recommend takin a test drive in a Quad 4.7 before you buy. Also go to the quad cab owners site a edmonds.com and look at all those post, ford ,chevy, quad cab owners and you can learn a whole lot about the product, current problems likes and dislikes.

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had a chev truck that body and drive train that gave me fits

Nice looking truck

Rotors gone at 20000 miles, had to be replaced, dealer wouldn't pay. Tires gone bald at 25000, special performance tires for the Dakota do not wear well. Truck died at 37500, appartently the fule leverer is out. Gauge read 1/8-1/4 of a tank, but bone dry, screwed up computer system. Dealer will not pay. Rotors now warping again already!! The rotors were warped on my father-in-laws '99 Dakota also and they had to be replaced.

Good price, nice looking truck. Poor parts, poor service. Cheaply made truck. Would not buy another one!! Inexpensive truck, but the maintenance and repair is killing me.

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One of the best looking trucks on the road. Good sound and power from the 4.7 SOHC V-8. 31-inch Goodyears give it a macho look and the audio system is decent with eight speakers. Rugged construction compared to other compacts I have dealt with. Perfect size for me because it's not small but not quite big either.

Nothing so far

Overall, I would recommend this truck because I've always had good luck with Mopars. I would suggest looking for a truck with 3.92 gears if you want the 31's because I have the multi-speed auto and 3.55's with these tires and it is down-shift prone on grades and hills which kills your mileage. I like the fact that it can work almost like a 1500 full size. Nice machine at this point.

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S-10, Ranger

First off it's one bad ass looking truck! All red, sport appearance group, loaded! It's the 4.7 V-8 which makes me feel good kickin' ass at any stop light. It rides pretty smooth, the interior is well designed and the X Cab has just the right amount of room in back.

The first month I had it the thing stalled out on me twice. Once at a stop light and the second time putting it in reverse. The dealer was unable to re-create it or find a code for it so it was not diagnosed. I complained that the RPM seemed a bit low at times and even would jump around on occasion. It has since happened one more time including one time when it lunged in reverse pretty bad. Still hasn't been diagnosed and I'm waiting to get a "Co-pilot" installed so it can record some diagnostics. I also don't like the acumulation of brake dust on the front and according to some service bulletins this dust can stain the wheels pretty bad. It has since stopped and I attributed it to the brakes simply being broken in. I'm not happy with the idling at times. Seems to idle rough quite frequently and I occasionally find the tach jumping all over the place when I'm at a stop (even after being warmed up for some time). Just recently I've been experiencing some kind of clicking/vibration in the front left. I think it may be the CV joints but not sure and am waiting to have it looked at. I also have the problem with my brakes feeling like they're warped. All in all it's not THAT bad. I love it and it drives well. The engine behavior has me a little frustrated but it just turned 13k miles (in 4 months!!) so I'm hoping it's break in period is over and will fix some of this?? The gas mileage is another issue...read below.

I would recomend it for sure. It has 4 wheeling potential which I plan on doing in it's older years. The gas mileage sucks but that was to be expected with the V8. However, there are plenty of things I can do to make the mileage better which I intend on doing. I would like to put a nice aftermarket exhaust on for one and then go from there. I would also like to put a really nice stereo system in it myself but I'm not sure how easy that dash comes off. If anyone reading this has done it before please email me at cyrjm@hotmail.com.

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It doesn't! It's the most powerful in its class and even more powerful then some above it. The size is right (not too big and definately not too small) and how can you say no to looks like that!!

It has plenty of power, the 175 horse V6 towed a honda accord to the shop and a 14 foot sailboat from Tucson ti Minnesota with no trouble at all. Very roomy, sturdy but smooth suspension, nice stereo, and quiet running.
Great acceration for a V6 with the towing package. With 35000 miles on it it runs like it was bran new. Handles great, and doesn't pull either right or left, straight as one could ask for.

There are only three weaknesses found, one is that the engine pings with 87 octane gas, loves 89 octane and doesn't use all of 91-93 octane. Next is that the battery died 3 months before the warrenty went up. And last there was the recall on the truck, it had something to do with the rear brakes and how the brake lines were too close to moving parts, and some people had trouble with the rear brakes failing.

I paid $17760, it has 35000 miles on it, it can tow anything that we put behind it. Roomy with a nice stereo. Everyone looking for a small to large size truck should definitely drive this truck before choosing.

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1997 Ford ranger V6, It had no guts ; 1995 chevy S-10, nice ride felt similar tot he dodge, but wasn't big enough, it had lots of power.

Powerful engine 5.9L V8 250hp

stereo system doesn't put out enough power. Puls to the right slightly. the cut off at 115mph kinda bums me out.

At the price paid i don't think you can get a faster truck
i would recomend this truck to anyone that is willing to put a little money into it to make it superfast.
or that just wnats a basic truck that has good off the line acceleration.
I am planning on getting a powerdyne supercharger and straight pipes installed in the future.
once i am sick of the weakness in that i believe i am jsut goign to put a Viper engine into it.
Good running truck for the money none the less
depends on what you wnat it for
perfet for a show truck and a sound truck

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