2002 Dodge Dakota review from North America

Severe leakage into the front floor of the passenger side was corrected by showing the dealer similar on line problems. The cause was a faulty drain arrangement on the air conditioning system. Fortunately this was still in warranty and was fully corrected by the dealer.

At 55000 miles (out of warranty) I had to replace the steering rack because of seal leakage into the bellows boots. The cost to correct this was 30% higher from the dealer than from an independent certified repair facility. I was told that the whole unit required replacement because they don't replace the seals. Would someone confirm this?

At the same time I had to replace the front rotors because of severe pitting and grooving, noting that the brake pads had very little wear. The repair facility credited this to "Chrysleritis"

Aside from the problems I thoroughly enjoy driving my Dakota. It has a 5 speed manual transmission with a V-8 (not a Hemi), and bucket seats. It's rather hard to change familiar habits having started on a farm at 12, and still, driving at 70.