RealMiniDriver wrote: Thanks for the info, guys. You've sufficiently scared me away. I think I'll stick with S-trucks.
Nah, just buy an original Dakota and enjoy having a larger bed than the S-10, still decent mileage with the V6 and have a fairly easy to work on trucklette.
I'd avoid the real early ones though. My dad used to have a 1987 Dakota 2WD with the carb'ed 3.9 V6. It enjoyed consuming oil pumps, which was an issue with them.
Find an early 90's 318 Magnum powered one and you'll be good. A friend had a short-bed 2WD 318 Dakota with a stick. It was a fast little truck.
I'm looking fora crew cab, though. 
I had a 2001 4.7 4x4. I loved the engine but the transmission was E36 M3 from day one. I got rid of it with about 35k miles on it.
I love my 97. Agreed about the balljoint issue - but I replaced them with Moogs, which have a lifetime warranty. The magnum engines had some pinging issues, due to the belly pan being steel, while the rest of the manifold was aluminum, so they expanded and contracted at different rates. Replacing with a one-piece solves that problem.
I had a '99 or'00 small cab, 6-1/6' bed, 3.9V6, 2WD Auto, Sport package. It was a perfectly serviceable unit, but with build quality that was so-so at best. I did a water pump, hoses, ball joints and bushings and some other little stuff. It was fast enough and after the suspension was done it handled remarkably like a car.
All of this said, I had it detailed, took pics immediately in "the golden light", posted it on CL and sold it to the first person who came the next morning. She was a bus mechanic (!)and after driving it asked what was wrong with it besides having weak heat. I said "I just bought a Tacoma 'cause I wanted something with a bigger cab that was a little newer and nicer. I've never bought a better car while the previous one still ran"
She made an offer, I countered by offering to include a fiberglass bed cover with a steel rack I'd made to carry a rowing shell but which was perfect for ladders and lumber/pipe. She went for it.
The moral is: The Dakota was a perfectly acceptable utility vehicle, but that Tacoma was awesome and I actually miss it.
oldopelguy wrote: If anyone buys a first Gen and wants a topper let me know. Somehow my dad ended up with half a dozen despite only owning 3 or 4 trucks and now I'm trying to figure out what to do with them.
I would recommend building an awesome back yard fort with them.
Otherwise, great truck until about 40k miles. At that point it rusts to powder, fails miserably, the seats will develop holes, the 4x4 fails, and you'll be checking yourself into a mental institution for the noisy interior pieces.
Can you tell how much I hate Dakotas? 
Its only bigger than an S10 by a very small amount. Early ones did offer an 8' bed, but interior space is no bigger and bed width is frustrating. In my opinion, if you don't want a full size you have zero options except S10/Ranger. Dakota is not a viable truck to me. Boring, despicable pieces of tin foil that have none of the advantages of a compact and none of the benefits of a full-size. Its an S10 with 2 more inches of bed width and 1/2 ton MPG, all wrapped in a shell of pathetic mediocrity.
Hope your hootus is big enough to compensate for the awfulness of the Dakota
I'll be picking up an S10 crew cab next week.
Truth be told, my experiences with every dodge I've owned have been terrible and I therefore exaggerate. They aren't that awful, but in my humble experience there is no allure unless you really LOVE dodges. I think going from an S10 or Ranger to a Dakota, many people will be disappointed. They're just not stellar examples of vehicular perfectitude when compared to other offerings. If they were equal quality and notably bigger I would say go for it. Since they are only slightly bigger and a step backward in quality, I just simply don't recommend them in any way.
It seems like I keep giving Mopars a chance, buy one, curse myself for buying it, and sell it two months later. Then a few years later I'll be shopping for a truck and think, "they can't all be bad," and remember on the test drive why I hate them. In a moment of weakness I bought a Dakota a couple years ago... and two months later I was dying to get out of it so badly that I sold it to the first person with a little cash. Every Mopar that I have owned, driven, seen, smelled, tasted, or touched has left me vomitously hateful of the entire marque.
In reply to curtis73:
In defense of Mopar, you did buy a wrecked truck to help a "friend" out then the whole scene unraveled your life. Stick with the GMs. Your life might be a little easier.
RealMiniDriver wrote: I'll be picking up an S10 crew cab next week.
Smartest thing in this thread. My time in one left me with the thought that it was the worse of both worlds between compact and full size.
I had a 97 318 2wd extended cab for a bit. I loved it. BUT it was my first truck. Traded it in for a R/T neon (needed fuel mileage for a courier job, and commuting an hour to school every day)that I totaled 6 months later. Lusted over the ext cab R/T Dak's for a long time. Still think about them any time I see a clean one.
I will say almost every early 2k Dodge truck in the boneyards around here have the 4.7 in them. Makes me think that I would run very quickly from anything with that motor in it.
My .02 on the subject.
My truck will kick an R/T's ass, all day long :-P
In reply to Lesley:
And twice on Sunday! 
Lesley wrote: My truck will kick an R/T's ass, all day long :-P
That's like saying a Miata with a FM turbo kit will kick a stock MSM's tail. DUH....
That said... That is one SWEET truck!
My second choice was an s10, and today would be a strong contender.
I had a 1993 Sport. It was my first new car and had 10 miles when I picked it up. It was a regular bed/cab, 2wd, V6, 5 speed. Although a rear facing car seat did fit, it probably wasn't the safest installation. I traded it for home improvements in 2006. The only issues I had were a wonky speedometer (replaced under warranty) and the radiator failed after 7 or 8 years.
My only complaint with the dakota was full size fuel mileage with less than full size load capacity.
Rob_Mopar wrote: In reply to curtis73: In defense of Mopar, you did buy a wrecked truck to help a "friend" out then the whole scene unraveled your life. Stick with the GMs. Your life might be a little easier.
True that. But there were more things I disliked about that truck than just its wrecked-ness, and there were other Dodges in the past that have been sincere let-downs, but you are entirely correct.
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