2001 Dodge Dakota SLT Quad Cab review from North America

Within a few weeks of purchase, the 'engine malfunction' light came on. The dealer said nothing was wrong and reset the indicator. A few weeks later, the same thing happened. The dealer still couldn't find anything wrong and reset the light again. It came on again a few weeks later, and I had to threaten to take action under the 'lemon law' to get dealer to finally find the problem--the gas tank had a hole in it, which, according to the dealer, cause the emission protocol to fail lighting the 'engine malfunction' light.

After 3 months, the truck had problems shifting into reverse. Dealer did something (I don't recall what exactly) to address problem. It was mostly fixed, but there were still minor shifting problems occasionally.

The first spring, I noticed the truck blew warm air through vents, even if it was cool outside. In the summer, the AC doesn't cool cab very well. Dealer said nothing could be done.

At 43,000 miles, the 'engine malfunction' light came on and first gear stopped engaging. The dealer said it needed a completely new transmission and it wasn't covered under warranty, which it said ended at 36,000 miles. Cost was $4,300. Outrageous!

I like the room in the cab to put my kids in the full back seat, and we have used this as our only vehicle since we bought it. However, given the numerous problems, I cannot recommend these trucks, and we will be replacing.