2001 Dodge Dakota Sport from North America - Comments

I bought my 2001 Dakota ClubCab new and ordered it with the 4.7 v-8, towing pkg, heavy duty cooling/radiator/battery pkg.

I treat my vehicles like I'm going to keep it forever. I was getting 17-20 mpg in town and on the road. It developed a rough idle at 8500 miles. Took it to the dealer and they flashed the computer with an upgrade. After that, it got 14 mpg! After going around and around with the dealer for over 6 months, there was nothing they could do to restoe the previous mileage. I found out during this mess, all it needed was to clean the throttle body.

Also, I have replaced the front rotors 4 times in 85K miles, repaired the HVAC system 3 times, replaced rear pinion bearing, 3 EKG valves.

The truck runs great, looks wonderful, but it is the first and last time I buy a Mopar product. I've purchased 30 vehicles in my 45+ years of driving and only bought foriegn once. It lasted 16 years and had over 275K miles.

I bought my Dak in the winter of 2003. The only problem, I've had with was the ball joints went out, but as this was a factory defect, the local Dodge Dealer fixed them free of charger. Other than that, I had a rough idle which I fixed by replacing the TPS for about 25 bucks at Autozone.

I love this truck!!! I've got the V-8 and it has incredible power. Fuel economy could be better, but if I was concerned with that I would have bought the V-6.

The majority of the problems I've read here (gas cap, O2 sensor, TPS, chipped paint, etc...) are all just minor maintenance issues that are going to pop up regardless of the make or model.

After reading all of these comments, it appears there is a lack of Quality control at Dodge.. Some people are lucky and get trucks built on Wednesday. Sounds like a lot of Monday and Friday units out there. Differential issues, ball joints, brakes are not minor issues. If you've got a good one, you're probably lucky and not a superior owner as a lot of you seem to believe. Sounds like the dealerships are pretty poor in general as far as troubleshooting and repair. Not too surprising. The old Internationals were like that. Some were great, some should have been taken from the dealer to the crusher. I was looking at a Dakota, but think I'll pass.

I have a comment; my wife has a 2002 Dodge Dakota which she bought new back in 2002, and I have a 2008 Toyota Tacoma 4door extended cab with a 4.0liter v6 engine. We go camping every March near her parents house in Tampa Florida. We tow our camper from NY to Florida every year. To make a long story short, we used the Tacoma since it was new, and should have been less of a worry (since she has 105,000 miles on the Dakota). We got as far as Virgina with the Toyota, and guess what? The transmission blew the front seal. I had thought Toyota was so great; I just didn't understand it. We were left stranded on the side of Rt.95 with smoke poring out from underneath the truck. We had a hard time finding a dealer down there also. I have lost faith in these newer Japanese vehicles, and am frustrated and mad from NY.

I have a 2004 Dodge Dakota 4x4 with the 4.7 V8. It is a monster; all the power I could ever want. It has 130500 miles on her and runs like a top; factory everything.

The oil has been changed every 6000-7000 miles. I replaced the front rotors at 126000.

Best truck I have ever owned.

If you don't a use your truck like a truck, then it will never be what you want. Scratches, dents, paint chips are part of driving. All vehicles new come in with paint flaws and the dealer fixes them before sale. Dodge is number 1.

I have 181,000 miles on my V8 extended cab Dakota. It's a company vehicle, so I could care less what name is on the front.

It is stop started many times a day, and rides nice, almost car-like with the extended cab.

I'll give credit where credit is due; this is one really nice vehicle.

I'd stay away from 4 and 6 cylinder trucks... the V8 is nice as far as great power, and I recommend the tow package with cooling, suspension upgrades. I carry a lot of equipment and weight climbing steep hills etc, and the V8 is well worth the added fuel.