Bought the truck brand new. Spark knocking started at 9K miles. Now has 112K miles and still knocking. Can't recall all the visits to the dealer and parts replaced. Should have considered lemon law.
Transmission was replaced at 23K miles. $100 deductible.
Kick myself for not getting the V8. V6 has been a real dog. Gas mileage is 16-17 mpg. I get better gas mileage in my wife's Impala SS. Wish I could swap engines :) May consider lowering rear end ratio.
On the plus side, I do love the size of the truck. Long bed has been used several times. Trucks with smaller beds never would have fit.
I'm a big Dodge fan and I'll have to agree with the purchase of the 3.9 V-6. I did some research up front and knew I wanted to get the 318. From what I read the 3.9 V-6 does not get much better mileage and it lacks in power. I haven't owned one, just read into it. I think if you have one of the lighter short-box Dakota's you'd be OK. I just attained a LE 4x4 with a V-8. Now the fun begins!!
I don't know about you, but I own a 1992 Dakota 4x4 with the V6 and it gets the 16-17 mpg as stated in this review, and frankly, I'm tickled with that. I had a 1990 Jeep Cherokee 4.0L that got 11 mpg in town. 16-17 mpg is excellent for a 4x4 truck. And the V6 does get better than the V8, which normally, all depending on how its driven, gets around 13-14 mpg.
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